Chapter 2

A Chapter by Cassie

What did Poquen find in the room?

In the corner of the room, a large desk had been rummaged through. Erin Josephine Ahkan, the youngest member of the Royal family and the trickiest, was shuffling through a collection of papers that she had taken from the bottom drawer. "Remi Erin, you know what people will think if they see you in here. I advise you to get out of this room and forget whatever it is you're so intent on reading." Startled, Erin looked up from her papers, hastily trying to tuck the pages back into the open draw without her brother noticing. Whenever Poquen confronted one of his relatives, he used formal phrasing as much as possible. As the elder sibling, he had the right to call her simply Erin, however he also used the blood relative female honorific, Remi to show that he knew she was in a bad position.

"Oh but Raqa! I was only in here looking for Dolly. Reina said that she accidentally left her in one of these rooms. I couldn't leave her out all alone at night time! She might get scared. Plus, I couldn't find Dolly so I thought she might have got scared already and climbed into the desk." Poquen let her try to sidle her way out of punishment. He knew that most other people fell for her tricks, however after years or falling at the wrong end of her pranks and decievings, he had learnt that there was rarely a word that she said that wasn't meticulously thought over from every angle to see if anyone would object. 'If Erin stopped acting like a child and put her mind to it, she would be an extremely powerful leader,' Poquen thought. Though Erin could not be Queen until the current King and Queen; her mother and father, Josiah and Poquen had all perished heirless, he did not question that she was ambitious for the position. If she did decide to quit her tomfoolery, serious treasonous problems might occur, and Erin would be behind them. He doubted that Erin would ever attempt to tamper with her parents rein, however he would not put it past her to have himself and Josiah killed.

"Remi! Oh there you are! I've been looking for you all over! Mistress Amber says it's time for our baths. Then maybe we can try to get some sweets from the kitchen. The new maids have arrived so they won't know were not allowed them before bed!" Reina skipped casually into the room, dressed in a frilly pink dress that could have fooled anyone into thinking that she was as innocent as she sounded. Ever faithful to Erin, she had arrived at the perfect time to save the princess from a difficult situation.

"You're lucky that you have such a reliable friend to get you out of your troubles. Though Reina, try not to jump in every time the princess needs saving, okay? Otherwise people might think that you're always suspiciously close at hand. And we don't want that, do we?" Looking up at Poquen, Reina slyly smiled.

"Oh but My Prince, I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about! I guessed that Remi would be here because I told her this is where I left Dolly. I mean no offence by talking so blatantly, however you must not always be so judgmental of Lady Erin and I. People will begin to think that you are acting suspiciously." Chuckling to himself, Poquen let the verbal jab slide. Reina would protect the Princess no matter what kind of attack was used. Simple sparring of words would not crack the thick barrier that the pair had created to hide their intentions.

"Come on Reina, lets leave. He's just a big bully." Glaring up at Poquen, he could tell that he had foiled her plans. Whatever she had hoped to gain by searching this room, she had not found. As the pair left the room, Poquen let his eyes slip to the hastily closed drawer. Pulling out the thick bundle of papers that the girl had been looking at, he quickly noticed the crowned deer antlers on the top right of the first paper.

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