Princess of Erodaire III: Part Three

      I stretched once again and slid off the bed and onto the cold, wooden floor. It took me a few seconds to be able to stand straight, since my legs felt weak; I must've slept for a long time. When my legs finally awoke themselves, I crossed the room and opened the door opposite my bed.

      "Ooph," I said angrily as I shielded my eyes from the bright moonlight. I blinked a few times before I was able to see clearly again; before me I saw a large, square window bordered in pastel green curtains that hung to the floor. Kreludor seemed as if it were hanging right outside my window since it looked so incredibly bright and large; I looked into the distance, but all I could see was miles and miles of green grass, rolling in the wind. I withdrew my eyes away from the window and looked around the room I was in now. It was long and narrow; it was as wide as the width of the room before, and it had no doors...only one, large window. Sighing, I glanced out the window once more, staring absently at the endless land. It didn't take long for me to realize where I was.

      I was finally in the Endless Plains, the place where the Summer Castle is located.

      With even slower steps, I turned around and walked back into my room, carefully walking over and around the many bags that were littered upon the floor. I felt uneasy for some odd reason, and also as if I didn't belong here...that was no surprise, though. Just as I was about to jump into my bed, I tripped over one of my smaller bags and landed face first upon the hard floor.

      "Oh, as if life couldn't be any more unfair," I muttered angrily to myself as I brushed some dust off my face. With shaking hands, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and rested my head on my bed's soft mattress. Luck definitely wasn't with me today.

      As I sat there, my mind started to wander like it always did. Faint images of my mother flashed in my mind, her soft eyes, her warm smile, her soothing voice. I always had faint dreams of me as a baby, laying in her arms and looking up at her serene face as she sung me a lullaby. When I was with her, it was almost like we were the only ones in Neopia...she made me feel like I was one of a kind. She was a great mother.

      "Then why did she leave..." I whispered to myself, keeping the tears the threatened to spill intact. Instinctively, my hand flew to my neck in search of the silver chain that I expected to be there; I was disappointed when I discovered that it wasn't, and reluctantly placed my hand back down on the floor quickly.

      Thump

      My ears perked up when I heard that hollow sound. I quickly tapped the floor once more. Thump The empty sound resonated in my ears; there was a space underneath the floor of my room. My hands started moving along the floor, trying to find some sort of latch or knob that will reveal this hidden place, but I couldn't find anything. Whatever was beneath my floor was unreachable. I groaned in frustration as I realized this uncomforting fact and pounded my fist angrily upon the floor. The hollow thump sound filled the room once more, almost as if it was taunting me at the fact that I couldn't discover it's hidden secrets. Determination filled my mind in an instant. I needed to know what was underneath my floor.

      I once again pounded my fist upon the floor, harder this time, but the only reaction was a louder thump noise. Frustrated once again, I pounded both my fists even harder upon the smooth, wooden floor. This time, there was a slight improvement. I heard a small crack, and I bent down to inspect the floor. My eyes flickered around the golden yet dark wood until they finally rested on a small crack upon the floor. I brought my hands up once more and pounded them down even harder onto the floor. The crack became wider.

      For a few minutes I continued pounding on the floor until I was finally able to stick my hand through the crack. At first, the only thing I felt was stone...stone that was as cold as ice. My hand touched a few cobwebs of Spyders here and there, and I could feel the dirt and dust build up on my arm. Finally, my hand landed on something that felt smooth and leathery. It was a rectangular shape, and I could feel little bumps on it's front. I quickly grabbed the object and pull it through the wide crack. It was a book.

      "How did this get down here..." I whispered to myself and brushed off the many years of dust that layered it's surface. It was colored a dark red with a black binding, and the bumps along it's surface created strange figures on the cover. I traced the bumps slowly with my finger and tried to recall any language upon Neopia that followed this foreign script, but I came up with nothing. Carefully, I lifted the cover slowly to the first page, and another dust covered page met my eyes.

      With a flick of my wrist, I cleared off most of the dust and was able to see golden-colored words printed both neatly and straight in the middle of the page. "Property of Rune: Caretaker of the Erodairian Children of Royalty," I whispered as I read the words slowly. "Rune? I've never heard of him before..." I said to myself before I carefully turned the page once more. "I'm pretty sure he won't mind me intruding in his journal..."

      Brushing the dirt off the next page once more, I was able to see Rune's small, neat handwriting printed all over the page in a golden colored ink. I turned to the next few pages as well, and they all resembled the beginning. I bit my lip and flipped back to the first page after examining the other's and read, "Month of Eating. The 14th Day...

      The King and Queen of Erodaire are quite happy today, for they have an egg. An egg! My dear, finally after many months of a heir-less kingdom, now Erodaire has a heir! Of course, the egg is the nephew of the Queens, but the Royal Blood still runs thick and strong in the dear boy. I cannot wait until his hatching, and then I shall have a little Prince to teach about the manners of royalty, and give him an education worthy of the Mighty Faerie's Above. Doctor Naelone informed the King and Queen that the egg shall hatch in a few months, most likely during the middays of Collecting. That is five months away, and I do believe that I shall not be able to dawdle about the castle with nothing to do for that long. I do declare, if I weren't the King and the King's Grandfather's caretaker back in the olden days, I would be immediately thrown out the castle. Now that would be a dear tragedy, would it not?

      I stopped reading after the first paragraph, mostly because I was confused by the beginning. I had no idea which generation of King and Queens this certain caretaker was speaking of, and I dearly hoped that he wasn't talking about my father. It would pain me to know that I'm not related to my father, and that all these past years were a mere lie. Sighing, I glanced down at the page once more and continued to read the journal entries...

      Now, I shall quit talking about the good things of life, for life isn't all good. War rests upon the eaves of Erodaire currently. The enemy kingdom, the kingdom of Lorezai, has already sent his troops a few miles north of the main gate of Erodaire. I wish to fight them already, for their presence has already brought much stress and weight upon the King's shoulders. I am still able to wield a sword, and although most say that I speak with the words of an old one, I am still quite young at heart and form. I feel in my bones that Lorezai's attack shall come soon; the generals of Erodaire's army had already rallied their soldiers to the weakest points of Erodaire, and so-and-so soldiers are already stationed at the four towers. Weeks before, I begged the King to let me follow in the general's steps and help defend the kingdom as well, but he quickly said no. Even if I am a few dozens age older than his Majesty, I am still able to fight better than he does; I hope that in the future, Neopians shall judge people by their skill instead of by their age.

      The Serving Shoyrus are coming now...I must blow out my candle now so that they shall not complain about my lack of sleep.

      Ending of the Entry of the 14th Day of the Month of Eating.

      Darn it all, before I end this entry, I have forgotten to place the most important detail of today's day. The King and Queen had allowed me the honor of naming the nameless egg, the future king of Erodaire. I have a few names in mind, but I have already decided on one that sounds both kingly and kind. It's the perfect name for the King of Erodaire.

      I had decided on his name to be Prince Alastare...

To be continued...