Chapter One
Esmeralda
I grabbed a piece of bread from one of the trays it was cooling on.
“Esme Napier!” Mrs. Browning, the cook, scolded.
“I’m hungry,” I said.
“You’re always hungry and dinner is going to be served in just a few short hours.”
It was late afternoon so dinner was still a few hours off which was not “just a few short hours” as she claimed. I grabbed another piece of bread, smiled at her sweetly and went up the stairs that led up to the main level and out of the kitchen. I walked and ended up in a dining room on the north side of the castle where my stepmother, Camille was standing with my brother, Alec.
“Where have you been, Esmeralda?” she asked.
“Probably watching the soldiers train,” Alec said.
I rolled my eyes.
“Why would she be watching the soldiers?”
“She likes Griffin Huntington.”
“No, I do not!”
“You should tell your face that when you see him. It just lights up and breaks into a big smile.”
“Shut up,” I said.
“You just hate when I’m right,” he shot back.
Camille sighed like she always did when we got started and said, “Children, please.”
Alec stuck his tongue out at me as Camille turned back around to talk to a woman who was also present. I stuck my tongue out at him too.
“Why are you in here? Shouldn’t you be at your lessons with Mr. Beringar?”
“The same lessons you should be at,” he shot back.
“Both of you need to leave. I cannot deal with your bickering right now.”
“Sorry, Mother,” he said.
“Stick up.”
“Go,” Camille said in a stern voice.
We left the dining room and I headed towards our father’s office.
“Where’re you going?”
“To talk to Father.”
He shrugged and split off from me just before we got to his office. I did not ask where he was going since I did not really care. Sun streamed in through the long windows that lined the back wall I was traveling along. I stopped in front of my father’s office and knocked softly. I opened the door and stepped inside.
He sat behind his massive desk and looked up at me when I entered. His wide smile caused a smile to grace my lips as well. His thick, dark hair was starting to gray at the temples and his gray eyes crinkled as he smiled. I looked like my father. I had his gray eyes but they were shaped like my mother’s. Or so I’ve been told. I also had his creamy brown complexion.
“King Napier,” I said with a mock curtsey.
He laughed and stood to come around the desk. He enveloped me in a bear hug.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked, settling on the edge of his desk.
“I just wanted to come visit and see what you were doing,” I said.
“Aren’t you supposed to be having history lessons with Mr. Beringar?”
“Yes.”
“Is your brother there?”
“I don’t think so since I just saw him and he was not heading in the direction of the classrooms.”
He shook his head. “Why do you two do everything you can to get out of those lessons?”
“It’s mainly because Mr. Beringar is dull and boring and I don’t know what more we need to learn about our history. We’ve been learning it since we were children.”
“I thought he was teaching you about the southern countries.”
“That ended weeks ago and he went back to what he knows.”
My father chuckled, shaking his head again. “You only have a week left of lessons.”
“No, just a few more days.”
“You’ll go tomorrow and make sure Alec goes too?”
“Of course. I apologize in advance for you having to listen to Mr. Beringar complain about your insolent children.”
He chuckled affectionately and I kissed his cheek. There was a knock on the door and my father’s steward came into the office after my father called for him to come in. I slipped out and back into the hall. Maria, Vincent’s nanny, came up to me from the direction of the kitchen.
“Have you seen Vincent?”
“Not since lunch,” I said.
She let out a long breath. “Can you help me find him? I’m going to look upstairs.”
“Of course, Maria. Anything for you.”
She gave me a tight-lipped smile showing me she wasn’t amused by my comment and headed for some stairs to take her to the second level of the castle.
I turned to head in the opposite direction and ran into someone. I looked up into Griffin’s beautiful face. He had a smile playing on his lips. His dark eyes looked amused. I loved how wavy his dark hair was and how the sun seemed to catch in it. His maple brown skin was flawless and unblemished.
“Princess Esmeralda.”
“Griffin.”
“I’m quite sorry for running into you, Princess.”
“Oh, no. Please. It was my fault. I was not looking where I was going.”
“Neither was I.”
“So, we’re both sorry and were not paying attention to our surroundings,” I said. “I have to go. I’m looking for my brother.”
“Which one?”
“Vincent.”
“You should probably check the dining room.”
I laughed. “Thanks. That’s where I’m headed. Bye.”
I started back down the hall towards the dining room at the end of the hall which happened to be a different one than the one Camille was occupying. It was located just down the hall from that one. I did not get why we needed two dining rooms so close to one another but I hadn’t designed the castle so I would never know.
I walked to the dining room. There were tables lined against the wall across the room. Linen tablecloths hung down over the tables, creating a perfect space for a little boy to hide. I walked to one of the tables and lifted the tablecloth. No one was under there. I lifted another one and again found it empty. I went to the other end and lifted the tablecloth and found my little brother. His gray eyes looked back at me and he was grinning.
“Why must you always cause mischief, Vincent?”
“What’s mischief?” he asked, climbing out from under the table.
“Trouble.”
“Oh,” he said. “I don’t know.”
“Maria is looking for you,” I said.
“I know. I was hiding from her. I left my lessons.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Alec and I also skipped our lessons for today. Must be something we ate.”
“Or our instructors are just boring.”
I shook my head at my seven-year-old brother. He had the same creamy brown skin as me, Alec, and our father. His hair was thick and wavy black hair like our father. My brothers and I all had our father’s dark gray eyes. Alec’s hair was dark brown and wavy while mine was honey brown. Again I think I got my coloring from my mother.
“Maybe we should find Alec and do something before dinner.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“We can go riding.”
“Okay!”
“There you are,” Maria said, coming into the dining room. She scowled at me.
“I was just about to come tell you I found him.”
“I do not know why I still work here,” she said. “You and Alec were a handful as children so I should have known Vincent would be too.”
She kept muttering as she left the dining room. I exchanged a look with Vincent who shrugged.
“You’ll go to your lessons tomorrow and stay. And don’t give Maria a hard time.”
“Deal,” he said. “Let’s find Alec.”
