A Flowers Enigma

15- The Royal Ball (Part One)

I was distraught. My mother was in the hospital, only Queen Felicity with access to visit her right now- because she was the Queen. From what I knew, she'd be fine. It's very possible she'd walk with a limp for most of her life, but she's currently going through surgery to prevent that. Her hip is fractured, and her pinky finger broke. She was under a lot of stress, but we already talked on the phone for hours.

The security cameras didn't catch whoever pushed my mother down the stairs. They were cut off strategically, as if someone had full access to them. Queen Felicity says she was the target, but since my mother was beside her she ended up being the victim. I, and everyone in the castle feared for their lives. If someone was going around pushing people down the stairs, we were all targets.

The prime target was me, though. The graffiti words on my wall was just removed. I resorted to staying awake and watching the police men investigate the castle. So I was tired, worried, and angry. My mother told me to rest in a guest room for tomorrow. The ball was coming fast, everyone focused on it but me.

I hadn't talked to Jasper or Yannara in a while. I could tell Jasper wanted to comfort me, but couldn't exactly find the words. And I felt as if I should comfort him. It'd have been his mom down those stairs if it weren't for my mother. We were both so stressed, with the ball coming and a psychopath in the castle. Yannara strayed far away, glaring at me whenever we were around. Nothing could help the guilt I felt towards her. How would things be if I didn't have to marry Jasper?

The King was of no help. He lazed around the castle, leaving all the business to Jasper and the Hand of the King. He didn't care that my mother and his wife nearly died. If anything, he worried if the psychopath stole some of his wine and liquors. Asshole. I was too tired to even go find him and give him a piece of my mind.

"You can sleep in my room."

I look up from whatever I was spacing out at, to meet eyes with Jasper. He had a worried expression on his face, hazel brown eyes sparkling.

"I'll be fine." I look back down and focus my eyes to the fireplace nearby me. I was in another one of the libraries, sitting in the comfy chairs.

"You need rest. You haven't slept since yesterday, and the ball is tomorrow." He tries to reason with me.

"I'll be fine."

"Your mother... she's going to be okay. We have the best doctors working on her-"

"I said I'll be fine!" I snap. And as if to contradict my statement, tears start to flow down my face. I curl into a ball, sobbing convulsively. The tears wouldn't stop flowing. A warm, huge hand caressed my back. I felt eased, at peace. It was like a remedy was given to my worries.

"Come on."

He budges, carefully taking my hand in his and leading me up the stairs to his room. I shakily follow after, not complaining as I wiped the remaining tears off my face. I bit on my lip, blinking quickly as the halls began to get darker with the night. I could hardly see, but Jasper must've had this place memorized after years of living here.

We finally reach his room, and I glance at my room. The door was cut off with police tape, firmly closed shut. A shudder runs down my spine. We enter his room, and the lights are cut off. He turns them on, letting go of my hand to head for his drawer. He pulls out a large black shirt and some basketball shorts, handing them to me.

"Shower."

"Thank you." I murmur, heading to his bathroom. I close the door tightly, heading towards his shower. It barely looked different than my own room and bathroom, but the designs on the walls were different. This time, it was paintings of Raemon Bloodwyn in the Lock War. King Sebastian was the spitting image of him, both with dark black hair and cerulean eyes.