25 July 2012
Chapter 4 The Intruder
Rhododendron had just come back from her well-earned supper of soup and broad beans. She had polished the ovens, the cutlery, the picture frames, the metal ornaments and the royal plates and cups. There was one cup she had not cleaned. It was the princess's cup, the gold one with jewelled flowers round the rim. She had not noticed it, sitting at the back of the cupboard, dull and unused. The princess only drank out of it at special occasions. She had not realised it was there, and by the time she had, the bell rang for supper. Food or flower cup? Drinks or duty? Her stomach said 'Supper!' her mind said 'Polish!' Well, she was near starved, and if she didn't eat soon she wouldn't be able to polish another cup. She went to the dining hall, and forgot all about it. Until now. She couldn't decide whether it was worth her while to go back and polish it. It was only ten o'clock. She had seven whole hours before she was meant to wake up. It would give her self satisfaction. It would lose get sleep. Her mind was battling again. 'Sleep!' screamed her weary limbs. 'Polish!' screamed her restless mind. She was still thinking it over, walking down the deserted corridor. She was about to lift the tapestry, when her mind won. She couldn't sleep if there was anything on her mind anyway. So she went back up the corridor, and into the cleaning cupboard. Finding a cloth and some wax, she set off upstairs. She climbed the stairs and walked towards the Royal corridor. Where was the room that kept all the crockery in? She glided about the the place, like a silent ghost, stepping over half asleep guards, and winding round endless halls. At long last she found the room. She prised the door open, and crept inside. She slid over to the cabinet that held the cups, and looked around in the back for the flower cup. It wasn't there. Where could it be? The princess's room. That's where it would be. It was hers after all. She snuck along the corridor to Princess Reskyra's bed chamber. She hopped delicately over the guard, asleep, drunk, most likely. She pushed the door open, and looked around inside. She had never seen such luxury. Goose feather down pillows, and silk fabrics smoother than a flower petal, and scents sweeter than a honey bee's nectar. She saw the cup, resting on a gold-leaf covered cabinet. She went straight over to it, and polished it for the best part of half an hour. As she was cleaning, she was aware of someone watching her, and she thought she saw a figure out of the corner of her eye, bit it vanished as soon as it had come. After a thorough polish, she carefully put the cup back, and went back to her conservatory to find a broad shouldered boy around the same age as her with flame red hair lying in the middle if the floor...
Oaks, Pines And Willows • Opuss № I