Chapter 70: Gilded Cage
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?"