Chapter 70: Gilded Cage

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Once Evanna finished her meal, she wished to sit outside for longer. Arawn was correct earlier when he thought she would want some fresh air. Not only because she had been locked away in a cell for a few days, but she enjoyed the outdoors more. She escaped her own palace many times, not only to be among the commoners but to see the sights outside the stony walls.

In the times she fled to the forest or the fields, she was not Princess Evanna Goodrich; she was not the bastard child of the king. She was just a girl running among the wilderness—free of duty and drama that lay within the palace walls of Dunhurst.

Evanna sighed in content and played with the gemstone of her necklace; the power radiating from it soothed her even further. That was until she reminded herself of the reason behind the view before her and the food she just ate. Her mother was ill, and here she was relaxing on a balcony enjoying her ’freedom’, which, of course, was not the case. She was a prisoner in a gilded cage.

Granted, it was of her own doing. But the guilt she felt for falling for such small pleasures of luxury gnawed at her. If there was a way for her to contact her mother and Ger, then she would. She needed to know the gem was safe and on its way to her mother.

"My lady, should I dress you now?" Rina asked, ripping her from her spiralling reverie. Evanna’s gaze at the view before her flickered back to the servant then down at her blood-splattered dress. With a nod, she rose from her seat and went back to her room, only to get changed, with the help of Rina and return some minutes later. Evanna sat back down now in a nightdress on her seat overlooking the grounds and river.

"You may go, Rina," She dismissed her handmaiden.

Rina curtsied and began to walk away but stopped and faced her again, "My lady-"

"Evanna"

Rina blinked back at her with wide eyes before furrowing her brow, "Lady Evanna?"

"Please, just call me Evanna. I would prefer it," Evanna muttered before glancing back to the view and leaning her head upon her hand where her elbow now rested on the table. She could not look back at Rina for fear that the tears in her eyes would fall. She used to repeat herself to Maggie every day to address her by her name and not her title. She smiled, albeit solemnly, at the memory.

"My lady, his highness, would not be pleased if I addressed you improperly. I’m sorry-"

"I understand," Evanna replied quietly without glancing her way.

"I was told to repeat something to you," Rina continued with a slight quaver to her voice.

This made Evanna look at her with concern.

"Prince Arawn wishes to remind you to not try anything tonight, and he is only one door away."

Evanna’s teeth clenched together, and her eyelids dropped slightly by another reminder of her imprisonment and the consequences of her actions if she tried to escape. Was this why Rina was nervous? Did she know she was a prisoner? But of course, the handmaiden must have known at least of the prince’s cruel ways.

"How very kind of him to remind me," Evanna replied drily and swore she heard a laugh from behind her. She twisted in her seat to look but internally rolled her eyes when all she could see was the trellis. It had been a rather ’exciting’ evening; maybe her mind was replaying Arawn’s laugh after the night’s events.

She glanced back at the somewhat confused looking servant and smiled, "Thank you, Rina."

Rina curtsied again and left. Once the princess was alone, she immediately stood up and began looking over the balcony. If she somehow did escape, possibly via the patio, at least she would be too far away by the time the prince was aware of her absence to use a servant as a means of punishment.

Evanna climbed on top of it, this time keeping herself steady by using the trellis. Her balance was adequate, but she felt better for holding onto something after the last time she climbed the prince’s balcony. The drop was as significant as she remembered it; this time, she could not imagine a vine magically helping her for the second time if she fell.

Evanna pulled back and lowered herself down, so she sat comfortably on the smooth white surface and leaned against the trellis behind her. Her hand slid along the twisted vines and instantly felt the life force of the plant. It felt almost like it was glowing beneath her; there was no light for her to see, just the rush of power flowing through it. She could not understand what happened when she fell, but she had a feeling that she would soon find out.

"* There is so much you still have to teach me, mother..*" She whispered into the night.

For the next twenty minutes, she watched in a daze, willing her bundling thoughts away and feeling herself becoming calm and one with the still night. With her head resting comfortably against the trellis and her gaze on the water beside her, she felt her eyelids becoming heavy as her heart settled down to a steady rhythm.

Unbeknown to the sleeping princess, Arawn had been leaning against his own trellis on his balcony, listening to Evanna’s activities. He wouldn’t call it stalking per se, more like keeping an eye on her. And a good thing too, he climbed over the trellis and leapt onto her balcony, landing soundlessly.

He tightened his light blue silk robe together after it became undone slightly, revealing his chiselled chest beneath. He turned to look at his sweet rose before him. She, too, was blooming against the trellis with the other flowers, but her visage he could look upon for hours without ever getting bored.

Arawn cleared his throat and was surprised when she did not wake. The last time he was near her, she woke up in alarm in the forest, yet now, she did not even stir when he made a sound. What a foolish girl to fall asleep in such a ridiculous spot; it was almost as if she craved for danger.

Maybe that was why she left her life of luxury?

He banished the thought from his mind. He could see from how Evanna stubbornly kept her secrets guarded to her chest and that what she sought, the gemstone, was a necessity. But he could not understand why. There were so many questions unanswered that swirled around the mysterious woman before him. But she was not something for him to pass the time and learn such things about her; no, he admired her sorely.

With one last look at her relaxed face, he stepped towards her and put his arms behind her knees and back, lifting her with ease and strolled towards her bed, placing her down gently. Once her head was against the pillow, he moved strands of her hair away from her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb longingly.

Evanna was his now, and there was no way she was going to escape.

He would make sure of that.

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