Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,93

we would like to drink them. Janna said she needed to go to ask her maid to bring her something I could wear over my clothes, and without further explanation, she was gone.

“Are you okay, Princess?” Mona asked, setting the tray on one of the three small tables that were placed in the corner I was standing near.

“Um, yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You seem a little distant,” she said. “Is there anything you’d like for me to do or get for you?”

“No, no, I’m fine. I just need to get dressed.” I thought that if Mona was able to tell that something was off with me so easily, the prince would be able to tell even easier, and that wouldn’t be good. I had to get it together.

The prince…

The thought of getting out of here was more pleasant than I could ever say. Something I’d wanted from the very same second I’d stepped foot in this kingdom. Heck, I didn’t even want to be here in the first place. But now, thinking about what I’d be leaving behind–or to be clearer, who I was leaving behind–the thought just wasn’t as great as I’d thought it would be. Which was disgustingly crazy. I was being crazy. I knew I was.

Mona helped me out of the yellow dress, that I’d only worn to meet with Janna since ‘it wasn’t appropriate to meet her in the pajamas I’d been wearing,’ Mona had said, and then into the jeans and the dark red blouse.

When she brought me the shoes, I didn’t want to wear them, not after what had happened last night with the sandals I was wearing, and not after knowing that I’d be in a situation soon where broken stuff wouldn’t be much of a help. No matter that the shoes were designed to be worn inside or outside or how expensive they were, I just didn’t trust them anymore. I wanted my own.

“Do you happen to have the heels I wore on the night of the wedding?” I asked Mona.

“The silver ones?” she asked and I nodded. “Yes, do you want me to get them?”

“Yes, please,” I said, and it took her only two minutes to come back to me with the heels in her hands. I decided to wear them once I was finished with my hair, so I walked barefoot to one of the two dressers that were placed in the middle of the closet.

It was so foolish of me to question if I was doing the right thing by leaving like that. I mean, what the heck did I want more than this? Why was I having such strange feelings that made me doubt if what I was doing was the best thing for myself at this point? Why was I trying to cover worry and uncertainly, when what I should be trying to hide were my happiness and the joy and the excitement I should be feeling at the thought of leaving this place? Why?

I couldn’t understand myself.

“I’m surprised the queen agreed to breaking a rule so easily,” I thought with a loud voice.

“Queen Shams would go way too far to make her nieces happy,” Mona smiled. “But I’m also sure that Princess Janna was convincing enough to make her agree.”

Hmm!

“Princess Rosanna lives on the same floor, right?” I asked Mona.

“Yes, Princess. Though her wing is separated from yours completely.”

“Yeah, the prince told me,” I replied. “Why didn’t she come to the wedding?”

“Princess Rosanna is on bed rest as her doctor has ordered; she’s in the first trimester of her sixth pregnancy, and hardly ever leaves the bed,” Mona explained, moving the brush through my hair.

“Sixth pregnancy?” I asked in shock.

“Yes, the poor young lady has lost all of her unborn babies every time she’s gotten pregnant,” she replied in sorrow.

“Oh, God! That is horrible!” I commented.

“It is,” she said. “We all pray from our hearts for God to give them as many healthy children as they might desire one day.”

“Amen,” I found myself saying. I didn’t even think twice about it. My one-word comment earned me a warm smile from Mona, which she delivered to me through the dresser mirror’s reflection.

Another minute passed before I asked another question, “If she has a boy, will he be the heir of the king?” I wondered if she was already pregnant, wouldn’t that mean that the prince’s chances of becoming king were already blown? Maybe I wanted to believe that so I wouldn’t feel so guilty about him not