Sweet Cries of a Canary

I was walking inside the forest, taking in the smell from the wet trees, touching the wood and that nice natural fragrance. It was then that I felt my feet were wet. I looked down at my feet realizing I was barefooted. Where were my shoes? Did I leave the mansion barefoot?

And then out of nowhere, I heard a voice like someone was whispering into my ear. I could almost feel their breath on my neck as they spoke, ‘’Agatha? Come to me, Agatha.’’

I turned around but no one was there. ‘’Who is this?’’ I asked in a loud voice into the air, but no one replied. Was I imagining things? No, I knew I wasn’t. I walked towards the place where the moon was lighting it and I stood on the side of the huge and heavy rocks as I stared at a very high cliff. No human would ever survive falling from there.

I decided to sit on the biggest rock as I climbed to it barefoot without any difficulty. It wasn’t comfortable to sit on but I wanted to bask into the glow of the moon. The moon was always so beautiful; lonely but with a melancholic yet comforting light.

As I sat there with no care in the world, I heard that voice again. Sweet, melodic even… ‘’Agatha, where are you? I’m waiting for you, Agatha. Come to me.’’ A shiver run through my spine and I turned around, just in time to feel a pair of hands pushing me down towards the cliff and I felt myself falling. I couldn’t make out the other person’s face. Everything in my view was black except from a pair of strong arms and his chest. It was a man I didn’t know, or did I?

I kept falling and falling…

‘’Agatha! You’re Agatha, right?’’ I opened my eyes; blinking a couple times and a small face came into view.

I yawned hugely, not really caring and closed my eyes again. ‘’Go away. You're sick and it’s not polite to just walk into someone’s room without knocking first.’’

The child pouted and sat down saying, ‘’I’m sorry. Then, if I go out and knock before getting in, will you be my friend?’’

I looked at the child and smiled sleepily, ‘’Yes, that would be great.’’ He smiled at me and got up from the bed and went outside the room. He closed the door and then I heard him knocking on the door with his small hands.

‘’Come in!’’ I responded and he came in.

I saw the kid giving me an innocent and filled with joy smile before he said, ‘’Good morning!’’

‘’Good morning to you too. You must be Tristan. I’m Agatha. Nice to meet you, young price.’’ I said to him returning his joyful smile with a nice smile of my own.

‘’Nice to meet you, Agatha. I was so excited to meet you.’’ He beamed with joy. His head was covered in small beautiful honey brown curls and his eyes were baby blue. He was so cute I could eat him. ‘’Did you like my mom? You met yesterday, right?’’

‘’She is a very beautiful and kind woman but since you weren’t feeling good, she left quickly before we could introduce ourselves properly. What’s your mother’s name?’’ I asked, thinking I never heard her name last night. I hope she didn’t tell me and I wasn’t forgetting it because I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself.

The kid blinked as if he was shocked and then asked ‘’really?’’ in disbelief. ‘’I’m making her worry too much. I’m a grown-up. She shouldn’t worry that much. It was just a fever.’’ His smile had dropped. ‘’Her name is Olivia.’’ He added answering to my question but he still seemed really worried over his mother’s actions, even though it was only natural for a mother to act like this. He was only six years old after all.

‘’It’s fine. She is worried because she loves you too much and she wants you to be healthy.’’ I smiled at him and caressed his cheek. ‘’You are so cute.’’ I added trying to make him smile.

‘’What? I’m not cute.’’ He said and crossed his hands as if he was angry but I could see the small smile in his lips. ‘’I’m handsome.’’ He stated and smiled a million euros smile.

My stomach decided to growl at that moment and Tristan grinned saying, ‘’Come on! My mom is making pancakes for breakfast instead of the maids and the cook so let’s go.’’ He grabbed my hand in the way that you hold hands with a small child to cross the street or take him home back from school. I was going to die from his cuteness. I already loved the kid.

I laughed and asked, ‘’When did she start making pancakes?’’

‘’As I came to get you, she went to the kitchen. Why?’’ he asked puzzled.

‘’Then let me change real quick and get washed up first because even though I speak like I’ve completely woken up, I still feel sleepy from traveling for so many hours yesterday.’’ I said and he nodded his head. I nearly tripped over my suitcases at the foot of the bed as I had just gotten up from the bed.

‘’Can I wait for you here?’’ The small prince asked as he played with his hands shyly.

‘’Sure! I’ll be ready in a few minutes.’’ I responded and walked to the bathroom’s door next to the walk-in closet. I grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom. I took a five minute shower; washing my hair and body real quick before getting out; drying off and dressing in ripped tight fitting black jeans and a comfortable rotten apple t-shirt that was a bit tight around my curvy form.

I stepped out into the room throwing my hair up into a sloppy bun and wore my black high boots. ‘’Okay, I’m ready.’’I said to the impatiently waiting six year old boy.

‘’That was fast!’’ He said. ‘’Most of my brothers’ girlfriends take hours in the bathroom.’’ He scoffed and I just smiled tightly. So my husband-to-Be's nightly habits of entertaining seemed to be a constant thing with changing partners. Just great! What sort of example were they giving to the youngest prince?

‘’Well, I don't take that long. Not ever.’’ I smiled at him before taking his small hand in mine like he had done before and walked towards the door. Layla leapt up at that moment and ran towards the door right behind me.

I opened the door and stepped out, smacking right into a tall, firm, and cold as ice body. I jumped back rubbing my nose and snarled saying, ‘’Watch where you're going, please. It’s not polite to stand in front of someone’s bedroom door and just stand there with no reason whatsoever’’ and with that, I pushed past the extremely tall man.

Tristan seemed shocked as he looked up at me, but then grinned widely. I heard Layla start to growl but I gave a shrill whistle and Layla came padding down the stairs beside me. I patted her head and smiled saying, ‘’Good girl. Layla is such a good girl.’’

I felt a pair of eyes sending daggers into me and heard a shrill feminine voice say, ‘’that was really rude. She didn't even address your royal name, Ryan. I think that woman needs to be punished severely, don’t you think?’’

So, that was my husband-to-be. Oh, boy! I came to an abrupt halt and snarled loud enough for that woman to hear me, if you could call her type actually a woman and not a child through puberty. ‘’Come within three feet of me and we’ll see who needs to be punished. And you better llearn how to speak, dear. I don’t have to treat you or him with respect as things stand, but you should know your place.’’ I said my piece and walked off like a queen.

I saw Tristan turn his head and make a gesture but I ignored it even as I felt eyes boring into me from behind. If my husband-to-be was finally in the mood for meeting me, he should have came alone and actually knocked on my door instead of just waiting there in silence, or even better he should have waited till breakfast.

In the kitchen however the fresh smell of pancakes permeated the air and I breathed in deep saying to Tristan, ‘’your mom smells like a really good cook.’’ I smiled at him and let go of his hand.

I looked around the kitchen that was combined with the dining area. At least half of the kitchen room you could see it from the dining room, and the rest was behind walls. I nodded my head in approval. It was spacious with sour cherry colored cabinets, a stove, washing machine and an atoll in the middle where Olivia was mixing batter for the pancakes and on the marble top counter beside the stove was a plate piled high with pancakes and my stomach growled again at the sight of them.

Olivia looked up and upon seeing us, she smiled warmly. ‘’Good morning, dear!’’

‘’Good morning, Olivia!’’ I replied smiling back at her. I could have gotten used to this kind of mornings.

‘’Oh! You know my name...’’ She trailed off as she motioned for me to sit. I sat down next to Tristan and grinned, wriggling my eyebrows and he laughed. ‘’I’m so happy you’re so energetic Tristan. You scared me yesterday with that high fever.’’ She said to her young son.

‘’Mom, I’m a man. I’m strong.’’ He replied, blinking his eyes at her while he smiled.

‘’Yes, you are.’’ She smiled at her son. ‘’You are so strong you can save mommy if someone tries to do something bad to me. You’re my knight in shinning armor.’’ She said to him as she looked really homely with flour and pancake matter covering her. She even had a baker’s hat on.

‘’Yes, I’ll protect mommy.’’

It was a nice scene. For the lonely me that hadn’t even lived with her father long and only just a few years in the beginning and even while I was growing up with my mother and her husband number two, I never felt that innocent happiness that was displayed in front of me right now, and maybe that was the reason why I seemed to enjoy the environment though I wasn’t expecting it to be like that.

‘’Tristan is such a gentleman. He knocked on my door and woke me up.’’ I said as I watched her serving us.

‘’I’m glad you two are getting along. Have you met Ryan yet, Agatha?’’ she asked.

Tristan was wise to keep his mouth shut though he was just a small boy and I nodded my head yes before I responded, ‘’Yes, I met him before coming downstairs but it felt like I was meeting whoever he was entertaining than him.’’ I sighed and sat back as she came forward with another plate filled with bacon strips.

Olivia sighed and wiped her floury hands before she shook her head. I turned back around and found two pieces of bacon left. I looked at Tristan with a questioning look and he just shrugged his shoulders even as his cheeks were filled up like a chipmunk. I wanted to take one with my fork but I got both of them and when I separated the two pieces and tried to put the second one back to its place, Layla snatched the last piece of bacon out of my hand and took off running since we had left the kitchen’s door open so others could join us for breakfast if they wanted.

I got up and followed her yelling, ‘’Layla! You give that back!’’ Layla didn’t have manners from what had just happened and I wanted to train her so she wouldn’t do that, especially if there were guests in the mansion. This place wasn’t my home and it was a means to an end job; that I had to do as my father had commanded me from when I was young.

As I passed the kitchen’s door running, I saw a man taller than me. He was a handsome blond and I knew he wasn't my husband-to-be, but someone else. I was running too fast after Layla to stop fast enough so I ran right into him. I made a small ‘’oomph’’ sound and fell back on my arse. I jumped up quickly, excused myself and went running after Layla who had already disappeared but I knew she hadn't gone far.

That was when I heard a masculine voice from the stairs say, ‘’Looking for this?’’ and I spun around to see my husband-to-be on the stairs with the last piece of bacon in his hand.