C9 Cat and Mice

"Good morning, Princess Rose." They said in unison. Now, why on Earth are they being creepy?

And...UGH! I hate being called a princess!

"By any chance. Have you heard what we were talking about just now?" One twin asked curiously while batting his lashes at me innocently.

"Of course not. Because that is rude. And...not nice." I avoided their gaze. I was not that good at lying.

"Something tells me that she did hear us." Ren sang, having an evil glint in his eyes as he communicated with his brother with his eyes. Nate and Fred were quick to notice this, and suddenly, all heads turned to me again.

Only one thought screamed in my mind: Run.

Picking up my dress, I ran. I could hear the boys shuffling and the sounds of footsteps echoing inside. I made swift turns, not knowing where to go but as long as I could get away from them.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. Why was I running when I was already aware that the queen intended for me to have my training since yesterday? I know that I wasn't ready for the training, but that isn't enough of a reason to run away. Maybe it's the thought of being chased that triggered a sort of reaction from me to run.

I stopped running when I put a reasonable distance between us and put both my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. With the size of this castle, it's easy to lose them. And it's easy for me to say that I, too, am lost.

"Great," I muttered.

I continued to stroll, savoring the breathtaking views from the floor-to-ceiling windows. A crimson curtain on both sides frames each window. It's as though you're walking through a scene from a Disney film. White marble was used to make the floor. Several booths with flower vases filled with various flowers gave the castle a beautiful perfume. I'm assuming they change the flowers every day and utilize flowers from the garden outside my door. Because the other flowers aren't supposed to blossom in this season, it's as if there's some sort of magic involved in growing the blooms.

From the ache on both of my feet, I'm guessing that I have walked for a long time. I even think that I have toured only a half of this castle. I also remembered some places, which would be helpful in the near future in case I need to hide for emergencies.

I went straight and saw that up ahead, there are two ways which I needed to choose from, three if you consider going straight. I was deciding whether I should go to the right, left, or straight when not one but two Princes emerge from both sides.

Ren and Dan both stopped to look at each other, panting, before shaking their heads. I guess they haven't seen me yet, which I am currently standing at least 20 feet away from them.

No place to hide, so I covered my face with my hands as if it would help. Why doesn't my brain work at the best of time!?

They were about to turn when their heads snapped in my direction. A bright grin plastered on their faces as they composed their posture.

"Hello there, Princess!" One greeted me while the other gave me a boyish smirk. "Going somewhere?"

"Princess? I am the castle ghost. I am not a p-princess." I stuttered. They began to advance at me slowly as a predator would to a prey. And I don't want to be the prey. "Actually," I said as I slowly took a step backward. "I'm kinda busy today, and I guess you guys are too, so let's just call this a day, Okay? You do your thing, and I’ll do my thing. It's a win-win. What do you say?" I offered.

One of them shook his head while the other was the one who talked. "You are our thing, so we can't call it a day as you say." He paused. "Hey, it rhymed!"

I hate running...I should just give up.

I took long strides backward to keep a lot of distance between the Princes and me. One of them shook his head. "I think she's going to run away any minute now, brother. That means that we will have to chase her again." Ren nodded his head in agreement. "I know. The only problem is a rule that says 'no running in the castle.’" Then he had a mischievous grin on his face before he added. "But I don't consider this running. I call this chasing." He smiled that evil smile of his.

That was all I needed as I ran to the way I came from and away from the brothers. Both were now hot on my heels.

"Better run fast, Princess, cause we're catching up pretty fast!" Dan called, and his voice was dangerously closed. He's taunting me.

"Jerks!" I called back and ran faster and almost tripped on my foot but quickly regained balance.

One of them blew in my ear. I screamed and ran faster, if that was even possible. I heard both of them crackling with laughter behind me, and I stopped in my tracks—both of them clutching their stomachs from laughing. What I saw in front of me made my blood boil.

They were toying with me.

Out of anger, I took both of my shoes off and aimed each one to their heads. Unfortunately, they caught each one with their hand. Now each twin was holding one pair of my shoes.

Dan smiled again. "You know, Ren. I think we should return this to her." He said, indicating my shoe, which they now have in their hands.

"I think you're right. It's only proper for a gentleman like us to give this to her personally." Ren winked.

"You can have it! As a token of my hatred." I hissed and ran again. This time, not looking back. "Damn it!"

"Language!!" They both shouted, amusement clear in their voice.

"Shut up!" I yelled. I always wanted a prince to chase me while holding one of my shoes in his hands as he carefully put it on my foot and lived happily ever after in a castle. You know, all those cliché love story things. But never did I dream of having two of those Princes chasing me and me running away from them in a castle, plus running around barefooted.

Why can't I be transported to a place with decent princes!?

I was busy fussing with my dreams that I overlooked that both Fred and Nate were walking far ahead of me. I prayed that they wouldn't look here, but I guess that this isn't my lucky day since they just turned in my direction. They both grinned and made their way in our direction.

"Princess!" Nate and Fred called.

oh @#$%^&*()!!!

I stopped as I realized that I was completely trapped. Behind me were the twins, and in front of me were Nate and Fred.

Since I didn’t really have a choice right now, the only thing I did was stop and pray. The next thing I knew was Dan and Ren crashing into Fred and Nate when they tried to dodge me. Both sides hit the ground with a thud.

I take it back. Luck was still on my side. "Hallelujah!!" I screamed and clapped my hands in delight. Not wasting any more time, I ran in the opposite direction. The boys were just getting on their feet when they saw me running and went after me. Since I was barefooted, I can now run faster without slipping.

When I turned to the right, I went inside the room that I saw first and locked it behind me. I leaned against it while covering my mouth with both of my hands as I listened for them outside. My heart pounded in my chest. I could hear their voices and footsteps, and then they were gone.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I praise God for my incredible fortune. I think I made it through the day without the training.

Someone cleared their throat which startled me. I gave out a loud squeak and dropped to the ground.

"Spare me, please! I just don't want to go to the training. I just want to go home! Please kill the Queen and not me." I begged. I don't know what came up to me when I said this.

"Easy child. It's just me. And why would I kill my beloved wife?" I raised my eyes and was met with yellow orbs that stared back at me. I let out the breath that I didn't notice that I was holding.

"Oh. It's just you 'uncle.’" I said as I rolled my eyes. King or not, he's still a part of this plan that I have no idea. He was sitting on a chair with a wooden table in front of him. To his right were large bookshelves and to his left was a table with a bottle of wine on top of it and a painting on the wall.

The King chuckled, wrinkles showing on his forehead. "You amuse me, child. No one has ever rolled their eyes at me or told me to kill my wife for fear that they may lose their head."

"So am I gonna lose my head now?" I raise an eyebrow at him. He didn't seem like the king who would do that.

He shook his head; amusement still lingered on his face. "No." he paused and looked at my form, which is still by the door. "By the way, child. Who are you hiding from?"

"If I tell you, will you promise not to give me away?" I looked at his eyes so I would know that he wouldn't be lying. I can always tell if a person is lying by just looking through their eyes. I don't know, but their eyes would twitch if they did.

The King shrugged. "Depends on the reason." When he saw my expression, he took it back. "Okay, I promise I won't."

I saw that truth in his eyes and decided to tell him. "I was hiding from the Princes."

The King had a confused look on his face, probably wondering why I would do such a thing. "Well, why are you hiding then? They didn't do anything inappropriate, did they?"

I shook my head. "No, that's not it. I don't know if you know of this, but did you remember what the Queen said yesterday about my training to be a Princess?" I asked.

The King nodded. "Yeah, good luck with that." He muttered to himself, but it was loud enough that I could hear it.

I pointed a finger at him. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that." He raised both hands as if in surrender. "Anyway, the princes are playing a game of catch to see who goes first. Guess who's the prey?" I exclaimed.

"You?" The King gasped dramatically. "And is that the reason why you're running? Wouldn't it be better if you just let them catch you and get it over with?" He looked at me with pity but I could still see the hint of a grin.

"Oh shut up! The least you can do is help your lovely niece." I joked. His smile lowered a little, and he looked to the side as if thinking of something. Guilt was present in his eyes. "Actually, I didn't know. I just expected this. It seems that she has made her move pretty fast." He said so low that I couldn't almost hear it.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

The King jumped in his seat. He probably didn't mean for me to hear it. "Nothing." His eyes twitched. He's lying.