Chapter 13: Where Is She?!
In the early morning back at the palace in Dunhurst, a servant had left his room to go start his shift for the day but stopped when he heard a knocking sound. Shaking his head, he continued walking, but the closer he made it towards the stairs, the louder the noise became. The palace was centuries-old, but he had never heard of ghosts haunting it before, but anything was possible, especially with the sound coming from the broom closet!
Terror started to creep in; his body began to tremble as he slowly walked towards the closet; the closer he got, the more he began to hear a man yelling. The servant wiped his now clammy hands on his trousers before reaching out to open the door, but on trying to pull it open, he found that it was locked. Looking around for the key, he finally found it situated on the floor. How odd. What was the key doing on the floor? Picking it up shakily, he started to put the key in the lock; after the third attempt of missing the hole, it finally went in, making the yelling immediately die down. On opening the door, his heart stopped, and he jumped in horror at the sight of a man bursting through the door’s entrance. After the man exited, he spun back around and grabbed the servant by his shoulders,
"What is the time!?" The man barked, the servant noticed how his eyes were squinting at the lightened corridor.
"T-the time is, it is nearly 8 in the morn-" Before the terrified servant could finish, the man ran up the stairs and out of the servant’s quarters.
Sir Hugh took two steps at a time up the stairs; his head felt like there was a hammer banging from the inside of his skull. Evanna knocked him out cold; he did not even know she knew how to do that. That girl had a wild streak in her, and Hugh knew it was not from the King. He had been friends with the King since he was a young prince; they grew up together, and he watched his rebellious side before they started going to battle together. There was no comparison; Evanna must have taken after her mother; if not, then it was the freedom of not being a legitimate heir.
Evanna had been in trouble so often he had lost count; he sometimes felt more like a babysitter as she grew up. Despite that, he cared about her and her well-being. If he had not caught her sneaking across the hall and into the servant’s quarters, he would hate to think how much longer the palace would go unaware of her disappearance.
He was furious with himself for being locked in the closet; the longer she was away, the harder it would be to catch her. This was not one of her childish attempts at freedom. She was gone. With that thought passing through his mind, worry started to etch onto his features.
He ran to the great hall, opening the door to find it empty, his brows furrowed, then he remembered the King was always scheduled to see his subjects at 9. He was most likely having breakfast with his family at this time. Turning around, Hugh ran to the opposite side of the palace, darting in and out of servants and guards as he went. Swinging open the dining-room door, he had to stop himself from falling forwards. The room was quiet with the sounds of metal clinking against china as the royal family ate their breakfast and drank their tea.
"Hugh, what.." The King started, confused; he quietened when he saw the man red in the face and puffing for breath. His wife, Queen Eleanor, sat at the opposite end of the table to the King. She brought her head around the chair and glared at the intruder.