The Oak, a novel

Chapter 10: The Letter

Prince Ryland was in his bedroom. He sat at the small desk beside the window. The window’s view was beautiful, but he never put anything under it, just in case Emali decided to come visit him at night. She used to do it often, when she couldn’t get to sleep or had a brilliant idea. But as they got older it was not a good thing to have a girl sneak in your window at night. But she did do it occasionally, like that night…it seemed like forever ago, but it had just been a week.

I guess I can have something under the window now, he thought to himself gloomily; for she was never coming back to sneak into his window. She was gone; lost in the world beyond his kingdom. Not for long, he argued. In fact at that very moment he was writing Emali a letter. His letter said:

Dear Emali,

I have missed you. It has felt like a lifetime since I last saw you, but alas it has only been a week. I hope your journey was successful. I did not have a chance to ask you the final destination, but I will give this to your parents, who hopefully know of your whereabouts. I am writing to tell you that I want you home. I hope that you miss me, but I will understand if you don’t want to. I know it must be an excellent experience to live in a different kingdom. But I wanted to tell you, that, so if you ever wanted to leave, you are ALWAYS welcome here.

Not much has changed since you left, but the oaks are starting to bud, soon they will be a beautiful sight, like every summer. If you wish me to keep sending you news, then I shall send you a photo of the trees.

Another thing, my father wants Prince Ton to come and spend the summer with us before he is crowned. I really hope that he doesn’t.

I haven’t really done anything around here. Nothing special. Oh and the date for my coronation has been set. It will be towards the end of next summer. By that time I have to have a bride, and LOTS of training. If it is possible I would love for you to come to the coronation, it would mean a lot to me. But if you can’t I understand.

I hope you are happy in the new kingdom.

Your Best Friend,

Ryland

PS: I miss you, a lot.

Ryland reread his letter. Man I sound pathetic, he thought. But he did not crumple it up and write another one. He had always been honest with Emali, and he wrote what he felt. The prince folded the letter in half and tucked it inside the envelope.

When he looked at the neat letter, he did not know how to address it. He knew Emali’s parents would get the letter to her, but what should he put on the outside? He settled for just the plain and simple. After printing Emali’s name on the back he got up and headed out into the corridor.

He casually left the castle and started down the road to Emali’s house. Although he had not been to Emali’s very often, he knew where it was.

When Ryland had reached the right residence, he knocked on the door.

A young girl, about 10 years of age, answered the door. She had curly, but frizzy, dirty blonde hair. Her features were similar to Emali’s but this girl had freckles and was slightly different. Her pale blue eyes gazed into his.

“Yes? Who are you?” she asked, in a kind of snotty way.

“I am Prince Ryland. Are you Gessa or Shawny?” he asked politely.

“Gessa, and Emali isn’t here anymore,” looking at him accusingly.

“I know, I was wondering if I could speak with your parents?” he replied, still very polite.

Gessa sighed, “Yeah, one sec…..MOM!” she yelled, looking behind her.

A small, thin woman with flyaway blonde hair rushed into the hallway.

“Who do we have here, Gessa?” she said coming to the door. “Why if it isn’t the prince himself! How do you do, your majesty?” she said curtsying.

“You may call me Ryland, and I was wondering if you could give Emali something for me?” he asked.

“Sure! We were just about to send her a care package. What is it you have to give her?” she asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

“Just a letter, Mrs. Vance.”

“Well alright then, I’ll be sure to put it in with the other things. Thank you for stopping by,” she said, taking the letter.

“Thank you for your time, and helping me,” the prince responded. He turned to go.

“Your highness?” he turned around. Mrs. Vance had gone back to where she had been before, but Gessa stood in the doorway.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to let you know…Emali loved you,” she said, full of certainty.

“I loved her too,” he said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear. She nodded and shut the door, leaving Ryland alone, again, with only his thoughts.

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