The King's Lover-Chapter 263: The Day Of Departure

Rose was woken up long before dawn. She was surprised when Welma, Chelsy, and Isla appeared in her room holding a lamp. Rose didn’t think she’d heard them knock—she just opened her eyes, and they were at the foot of her bed, staring at her.

If it wasn’t for the candle Chelsy held, Rose would have feared the worst. She put a hand to her chest as the initial fright subsided.

"What are you doing?" she asked in horror, not the least bit amused.

"I am sorry," Chelsy whispered.

"We didn’t mean to frighten you," Isla added. "We tried to be as quiet as possible."

That was the problem, if they were here to wake her up why would they need to be quiet about it? Rose pulled herself to a sitting position.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she glanced toward the slightly open curtains. "It’s too early."

"Mister Henry said we have to get you ready before dawn," Welma explained.

Rose shook her head and grabbed it with her palm. "And whose bright idea was it to wake me up in this manner? You nearly scared me to death."

"We are sorry," Chelsy and Isla said with their heads bent, looking truly apologetic. Welma had a smug look on her face.

"We had to be as quiet as possible," Welma explained. "The castle is still asleep." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Rose glared at Welma, but she didn’t say more on the matter. She pulled the covers off her body and started to get out of bed.

"Is there anything in particular you’d like to take on your journey?"

Rose shook her head.

"I’m fine with anything," she replied, and the girls started to pack up.

Rose made her way to the washroom, and by the time she returned, the sisters had packed up two bags. Rose’s eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. She had more clothes now, but it was still a ridiculous amount for a few days’ trip.

"Two bags are too much," Rose said.

"I don’t think so," Isla said.

"I’m sorry, I left her for a while as I tried to find the best dress for the journey, and she already packed up this many."

"That’s too many for a few days," Rose said.

"It’s not for a few days," Isla explained. "Mister Henry said it would take at least a week, and we should pack enough for a month. Snow is coming, and you might get stuck there. Better to be safe." Isla nodded her head as she explained.

Rose sighed but didn’t argue. If it was too much, she could always just keep one bag. She let them dress her up, and when they were done, she wrapped a scarf around her neck.

Rose wished she had thicker clothing, but the scarf would have to do, and this time around she didn’t forget to wear gloves. She wished she had a hat or something to cover the top of her head, but she could always use the scarf, so it wasn’t a complete necessity.

When it was time for her to leave, a knock echoed on the door and it opened to reveal Mister Henry.

"Are you all set, Rose?"

Rose nodded and walked toward the door. She had also taken the swallows, her flute, the drug Lady Delphine gave her, and had used the excuse of putting all these in her bag to hide the map in there too.

It would be unsafe to keep it on her person, as she never knew when the crown prince would have one of his wild ideas. As she had experienced, he didn’t care about where they were—and she would rather not be caught with something so incriminating.

"Yes," she said and stepped out the door, just as the crown prince was also stepping out of his room.

"Perfect," Mister Henry said and stood to the side.

Rose suddenly felt sweaty, even though the temperature was freezing. Did she have to walk with him? It shouldn’t have been a surprise—they were going to travel together but she still disliked it.

Caius walked toward them with long confident strides, and Rose curtsied. The maids did the same, even though it was particularly hard to do so with the bags.

Caius didn’t even glance in their direction. He just walked past them, and Mister Henry muttered, "Hurry," so they could go after the crown prince.

Rose nodded her head and followed behind him, after the guards. She stuck closer to the maids, but when they got out of the crown prince’s wing, guards took the bags from them and the maids were dismissed. Rose waved at them, and Isla looked like she might cry.

The castle was dark, but torches lit up the pathway as they made their way to the main entrance. Rose couldn’t fathom why they had to leave this early.

She walked right behind Caius, but not once did he look back, and she was stuck staring at his back. She couldn’t help but notice just how broad his shoulders were. A flash of the scars she saw on his back appeared in her mind, and Rose’s brows furrowed. She doubted she would ever know what happened.

Eventually, they reached the main entrance, and the door was thrown open—just as a loud voice said, "Don’t tell me you’re going to leave without telling your mother goodbye?"

They all turned around simultaneously to see the Queen approaching them, her ladies-in-waiting in tow.

The guards’ reaction was instantaneous. All of them bowed, and Rose wasted no time in doing the same, while trying to hide behind a guard. She was at the back, which meant the Queen could easily see her.

"Mother," Caius called, his voice devoid of any emotion. "You should be in bed."

"And not tell you goodbye? What kind of mother would I be?" she said as she sauntered toward the crown prince.

A path was made for the Queen, and Rose did her best to stay hidden, hoping the slight darkness would keep her from the Queen’s eyes.