Ancient Guardians The Legacy of the Key (14 page)

“Miss Bryant, is
there something wrong the gown?” Jasmeen asked with concern.

A tiny smile drew
up on Reece’s mouth, “Jasmeen, I’m not really in the mood to stand out in the
crowd today. I think we’d better stick to your fashions. Is there another gown,
possibly like whatever the other ladies will be wearing today?”

Jasmeen’s
expression radiated with excitement. “Are you absolutely sure? We do not want
you to be uncomfortable in any way.”

Reece laughed, “If
I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t have asked. Go get the dress, Jasmeen, and please try
to keep it simple.” Reece finished with a reproachful gaze.

Jasmeen returned
with a pale gown, it was simple in such a way, that it did not have rich
colors, nor was it embellished with hundreds of jewels.

Once Jasmeen
finished helping Reece into the dress, Reece was surprised to find that wearing
a corset was not as horrible as she had expected. The gown was exquisite, with
embroidered striped silk satin of champagne and coral. The square neckline and
capped sleeves exposed Reece’s soft, cream colored skin. As she studied herself
in the mirror, Jasmeen brought a delicate strand of pearls around her neck.
Whether Reece wanted to admit it or not, she was a perfect picture of nobility.

Well, I guess
this is what you get when you live with the royal family, and the empress
designs your wardrobe,
she laughed to
herself.

Jasmeen smiled, “It
appears you like the dress, Reece. I’m delighted!”

Reece tilted her
head, “Let’s not get carried away just yet, Jasmeen. It’s a lot more
comfortable than I expected; however, I am only trying to make sure I blend in
with the ladies when we go into town today. If I go with them in some different
style, I’m afraid I might be attracting unneeded attention to myself.”

Jasmeen chuckled,
“You should not have to worry about that, Reece. Now, here are your shoes. They
may appear uncomfortable, but I believe you will find they are quite the
opposite.”

Jasmeen bent down
and helped Reece to put on a pair of champagne colored heels. Comfortable or
not, Reece did not really know if she would make it through an entire day
wearing heels. This was definitely something she would have to get used to.

Jasmeen finished
off the look with matching pearl earrings, and dismissed herself to attend to
Reece’s tea, leaving Reece standing there, staring at this unimaginable image
of herself.

She made her way
over to the large room, and found a concerned Jasmeen walking toward her.

 “Is everything all
right, Jasmeen?” She asked.

Jasmeen snapped out
of her silent thoughts. “No. I mean, everything will be all right, I am sure.
But the Princess Elizabeth was in an accident on her way home to the Palace.”
She walked toward Reece. “Lord Navarre, Lady Allestaine, and Masters Levi and
Harrison are en route to her this very moment. I have been directed give you
this letter from Lady Allestaine.” She handed the letter to Reece.

Reece unfolded the
letter.

 
Dearest Reece,

I am sorry you
must receive this news by letter. We received the news of our daughter’s
accident only moments ago, and are leaving in haste. She is being cared for in
a kingdom that is a little over a day’s journey from Pasidian. We hope to find
her recovering, but, of course, nothing is certain.

Mistress
Lillian, Harrison’s sister, has volunteered to help keep you company in our
absence. She and I have discussed how I wish for you to be attended to. She
understands my concern over the importance of standing in my place to care for
you.

I look forward
to spending time together when we return. Until then, please enjoy your stay,
and the things the young women are looking forward to showing you.

Warm regards,

       
Allestaine

Reece
looked at Jasmeen, concerned. “Does she need to be seen by someone on Earth?”

Jasmeen responded,
“Reece, she will be attended to by the finest doctors in Pemdas; the Emperor
and Empress, however, will not rest easy unless they are there in person to
give comfort to the Princess.”

Reece was reminded
of her conversation with Levi about the intelligence of the Pemdai people, and
figured that Earth was probably in the dark ages as far as medical treatment
went. “Well, that is good to know.”

  A few moments
later, a knock at the door announced Lillian’s arrival.

“Hello, Reece.”
Lillian gave a small, forced smile. “Miss Bryant, if you are ready, I shall
bring you down for breakfast.”

“I am, thanks. Will
everything be okay with Elizabeth?”

Lillian’s eyes
narrowed, “The Princess will be fine.” She looked down at the note in Reece’s
hand, “I wasn’t aware that you had been the given news already.”

Why wouldn’t I
have? What’s her problem?
“Yes, Jasmeen
just told me, and gave me this letter from Lady Allestaine.”

Something seemed to
bother Lillian about Reece being informed, however, she removed any evidence of
it from her face and forced another smile upon it. “Shall we go, Reece? The
ladies will meet us in the dining room.”

Well, this day
already seems to be promising,
Reece
thought as she followed the young woman from the room.

Two servants opened
the large double doors to the dining hall, and Reece followed Lillian into the
room where Simone and her sister Catherine were already seated at the far side
of the table. Reece quickly found a seat across from Simone, and next to
Catherine.

“Good morning,
Ladies.” She said trying to engage them in conversation. Simone smiled
brilliantly then sobered. “It is good to see you up and feeling well this
morning, Reece, but have you heard about our dearest Princess Elizabeth’s
accident?”

“Yes, Lady
Allestaine wrote me a note before she left. I hope she’s going to be okay?”

Simone’s eyebrows
shot up in shock; then she recovered, and sent a charming smile to Reece. “That
is interesting, indeed. Perhaps, girls, Lady Allestaine is still concerned
about yesterday evening? She must have not trusted us enough to give you the
news ourselves.”

Hurt feelings
about a note, just what we need today.
Reece thought it would be wise to salvage whatever rapport she had with them.
The family was gone, and she had no other companions. She reached for some
fruit. “It didn’t seem that way at all, Simone. She only wrote about how sorry
she felt for having to leave, and mentioned that I would be in good hands with
all of you.”

Reece knew she was
embellishing the letter’s contents slightly, but it wouldn’t hurt to allow the
women to believe what she said. She was determined to keep the peace while the
family was away.

“I’m sure that is
exactly what she said.” Lillian muttered.

Catherine finally
spoke up, while buttering her toast. “Oh, let’s move forward, shall we? Reece,
are you still in the mood to shop in town with us today?”

“It sounds like
fun,” Reece said.

“Oh, indeed! It
will be marvelous.”

Chapter 9

H
alf an hour later, Reece was being helped into a carriage by a footman.
“I’m curious about something?” She said, when they were on their way.

Simone
furrowed her eyebrows. “Yes, and what exactly are you curious about?”

 “If Princess
Elizabeth is in a kingdom at least a day away, are there a lot of different
kingdoms like that around here?”

“Reece,
unfortunately I am unable to give you an accurate answer about exactly how big
Pemdas is. You probably should have asked the men last night when you had them
to yourself.” She glanced quickly at the other two women in the carriage, and
then back to Reece. “However, if you must know, there are roughly a hundred
kingdoms in the diverse areas that Lord Navarre oversees.”

“Oversees? Aren’t
there kings or something like that? How does that work? It’s not like that on
Earth; and from what you are saying, Pemdas seems to be almost as large, but
there isn’t one man who stands rule over everything.”

Lillian let out an
exhale, “Reece, if you must know, Lord Navarre rules over the entire realm of
Pemdas. Yes, there are many different kingdoms throughout our world that are
run individually by their appointed kings. The kings ultimately answer to Lord
Navarre, their Emperor. For example, my father rules the Kingdom of Vinsmonth,
and sets the standards for the kingdom; however, if there are problems with his
leadership, or corruption in his government, the Emperor will step in and see
that it is corrected.”

Now that’s
interesting.
Simone must have seen
the look of disbelief on Reece’s face, and therefore, quickly added, “Reece, I
do hope you understand the importance of the family which has decided to take
you in. Pasidian Palace is an honorable place to be, even for a servant. You
could probably understand now, when I tell you how astonished I was to find
that someone from Earth would be allowed to reside there.”

 
“Well, Simone, maybe you can trust the judgment of the
family you admire so much, since it was their decision for me to stay there
with them.”

Simone stared
speculatively at Reece’s gown. “It is truly admirable for you to decide upon
our fashion style today, Reece. The gown you wore to dinner last evening had me
wondering who was attending you, or if you were being attending to at all.”

Simone giggled as
she glanced over to her two friends, who were trying to suppress their laughs.

Reece felt the heat
rushing to her face, angered by the comment. She would not let Simone degrade
her. She quickly stifled her rage and replied, “Well, if you think you were
distressed by my choice of dress last night, you should have seen my
attendant’s reaction.” Reece laughed.

Simone’s expression
at first was that of utter repulsion, before it quickly softened, and she
laughed. “Reece, dear, forgive me. I must have forgotten about your delicate
position. I believe my scolding from the Empress would be dreadful if she knew
I had caused you any distress.”

Reece
could go back and forth with Simone all day, but she knew that in the end, it
would all be pointless. She decided it was best to change the subject. Even
though it had seemed longer, it had only been about ten minutes since they left
the Palace, and were now in the village in the valley below it. It was the same
village she had ridden through with Harrison and Levi through the previous day.

“Is this the place
where you shop?” She looked at Catherine, who seemed to be the only young woman
that was attempting politeness in the group. Unfortunately, it was Simone who
felt she needed to inform the ignorant Earth girl about everything.

“Reece, darling,”
Simone giggled, “Of course we do not shop in this village. This is where all of
the produce, meat, and all other necessities the Palace might require, come
from. For the most part, the people here are bakers, butchers, farmers, and
their families.”

 “Oh, well that’s
interesting. So, where is it that we’re going then? I didn’t see any other
towns but this one yesterday.”

“The town we are
taking you to is about a thirty-minute journey from the Palace. It is very
large, and I believe you shall enjoy it.” Catherine replied.

Simone rolled her
eyes, and let out an exasperated exhale, “So, Reece, what was it like to ride a
horse with a man? I am curious as to whom you rode with upon your arrival into
Pemdas yesterday?” Her eyes stared darkly at Reece awaiting a response.

Whoa! Where did
that come from?
“I’m not sure what
you are getting at, Simone?”
And I’m not sure why we are having this
conversation.

Simone laughed,
“Now don’t you dare avoid the question, Reece. We ladies want to know what it
was like.”

“Riding a horse?
Um, a little uncomfortable. I’d rather…”

“Reece,” Simone
interrupted, “You must not be getting my point. Yesterday, you rode horse back
with the two most sought after men in all of Pemdas. I don’t know of any woman
that would not be envious of that. What was it like?” She giggled.

Oh, please! Is
she serious?
Reece didn’t know how to
answer the question. Simone had definitely made it clear that she had some
bizarre obsession with Levi and Harrison. This was probably half the reason
Simone had been acting so rude to her.

“If you must know,
I rode with Harrison; and given the fact that I had much more important things
on my mind at the time, and I didn’t know who either man was, I couldn’t say
that it was an enjoyable experience. But now that you have made me aware of
whom they are, I’ll be sure to report back to you next time.”