“I still cannot believe Lord Eastwei came to see you!”

The squeal came from Arian as she sat at the table with me in my humble abode. I blushed and swatted her arm. “You make it sound like he came to see me. All he wanted was some chocolate.”

“But he hardly ever visits anyone!” she insisted.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Lord Eastwei has few friends and even fewer whom he would consider close,” she explained as she squirmed atop her mat. “And he chose you to visit!”

I snorted and shook my head. “You’re reading too much into this. All he wanted was some food and that was almost a week ago. I doubt he’ll ever step foot in my gardens again.” I clapped my hands and rubbed them together. “Now then, what’s there to do today?”

“You could make more brownies for the children,” Arian suggested. “The kitchen shouldn’t be used for anything other than the meals.”

I furrowed my brow. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. I don’t want the kids to think they need that stuff every other day.”

“Lady Roberts! Lady Roberts!” Speaking of the little demons.

Arian and I didn’t even have a chance to stand before a herd of a half dozen children scurried through the open doors. The little prince himself was in the lead and the loudest among them as he ran up to me and grabbed my hand.

“You didn’t play with us the other day!” he scolded me as he tugged on my hand. “So you must play with us now!”

I set my hand atop his and laughed. “Why must I play with you now?”

“Because you won’t know any of the hiding spots so we’ll find you easy,” one of the other ones spoke up.

A sly twinkle slipped into my eyes. “So that’s the game, huh? Hide and seek? And you want someone to be ‘it?’”

“You don’t have to be it right away,” little Lia assured me.

“But you will have to be ‘it’ if you’re found first,” the prince insisted as he tugged on my hand. “Now will you play or not?”

I laughed and stood. “I’ll play but you have to give me my arm back.”

“After we get to the forest!” he promised as he pulled me out of the house.

The ‘forest’ was a quaint little grove of trees with a stone path through the center. The buildings that surrounded the acre of trees were larger than the homes and were without walls. I noticed one of them was a bathhouse where Arian undoubtedly would have taken the young prince for his chocolate cleaning.

As promised, Kean released my hand after we arrived and turned to face me. “I will be it the first time and anyone found first will be it the second time and so forth. You can hide anywhere around the grove but you can’t go beyond the path around the public buildings. Does everyone understand?” The children bobbed their heads so I did the same, even though I wasn’t sure to which path he was referring. “Very well. I will start counting to fifty and you hide.”

He skipped over to a nearby tree and closed his eyes before he pressed his forehead against the smooth bark. “One. Two. Three.”

The children squealed and scattered in all directions. I hurried along the path searching for a place big enough to hide me. All the little giggles in the area told me the children were well aware of my greater girth. I would be ‘it’ forever unless I could find a really good spot every time.

I rushed past the last of the trees and found myself on a wide path that seemed to make a ring around the grove. This then was the fabled boundary Kean had mentioned. Fortunately for me, he hadn’t said I couldn’t use it to find a good spot around the grove. I hurried onward with one half of my mind trying to count down the seconds until my inevitable doom. There wasn’t a single spot among the benches, tiny bushes, and large boulders where I could hide.

I arrived at an intersection where the path turned all the usual three other ways. My heart pounded in my chest as my panicked feet led me rightward down the boundary line. A deep canal with a stream ran on my right and my left was a single large building with a domed top. The gilded windows and wide stairs with three tiers told me it was something important.

My best chance at a hiding spot.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I hurried up the steps as the countdown in my head reached zero. He would be looking for me soon. I reached the pair of doors and opened one, hurrying inside without giving the interior a thought. I spun around and pushed the door shut with my arms. All I could hear was my heart as I pressed my ear against the wood. Nothing could be heard from outside.

“What are you doing?”

My body froze before I whipped my head around. The building I’d entered was obviously a performing hall with stairs just behind me that led up to the elevated ground floor. The interior was shaped like an amphitheater with curved seating that faced a large open stage on a low platform.

My heart skipped a beat when I beheld the stoic of Lord Eastwei seated cross-legged on the stage. A wooden flute lay in his lap and his hands were tucked into the sleeves of his robe. He stared at me with those intense eyes.

I’d just interrupted his practice.

“I-I’m so sorry,” I stuttered as I pawed at the door behind me with both hands and finally found the handle. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”

“Why did you come in here?” he wondered.

“I was just playing a game,” I told him as I tightened my grip on the handle. I turned my face toward the door as I futilely tried to hide my shaking. “But I’ll be going now-”

“Wait a moment.” I glanced over my shoulder with confusion in my eyes. He grasped the flute in both hands and held it up to his lips. “I would have your opinion on this instrument.”

I shook my head. “I don’t really know anything about music.”

He lowered the flute and nodded. “Then you are perfect. A trained musician be prejudiced against any other style but their own while a novice would have no such scruples.”

My face fell as I tried to decipher his meaning. Had he just insulted or complimented me?

I half-turned and gave him my best inauthentic smile. “Since I’m such a novice I doubt I’d be very helpful to you.”

“I will be the judge of that,” he countered as he lifted the flute to his lips.

The lord closed his eyes and blew. A sweet melody floated out of the instrument and glided over the room, filling the auditorium with a sweet, romantic sound. I didn’t recognize the tune but the melody was like a gentle lullaby.

What was most amazing of all, however, were the butterflies that flew out of the singing air. They formed from the sound itself and were translucent wonders of magic colored with all the hues I could imagine and then some. The magical figures flitted about the center of the room leaving a trail of stardust behind them. I couldn’t help but move up the stairs and step into their midst. They danced around me and I followed them, spinning in circles as laughter burst out of me.

The sweet melody faded and the butterflies also vanished. I turned to the lord and furiously clapped. “That was wonderful!”

He lowered the flute and lifted an eyebrow at me. “The common courtesy would be for you to bow.”

Some of the color drained from my face and I clapped my hands against my front before I bowed my head. “I-I’m so sorry!” There was no sudden response and I looked up to find him rising with the flute grasped in one hand. He didn’t look irritated but he didn’t quite have that indifferent expression I’d come to expect, either. The imperious lord almost looked. . .pleased?

“There you are!”

The noise came from behind me and I spun around to find Prince Yushir and Prince Kean entering through the doors. The elder prince strolled but the younger one was having none of it. He rushed up to me and grabbed my hand.

A frown creased his pouting lips as he tugged on my limb. “You went beyond the bounds! That means you’re ‘it!’”

I grasped his hand and cast a furtive glance at the imperious lord to see if he wasn’t still irritated with me. He had the usual impassive expression. “That’s fine. I’ll be it all day long if you want.”

Kean blinked at me. “Really?”

I bobbed my head. “Really and I’m ready to start the next game right now.”

I swept us past the elder prince and made a quick bow of my head. He returned the gesture with a smile playing on his lips. We left the music hall behind us along with my awkward mistake.