CHAPTER 3

Melody slipped out of her yellow silk gown and laid it out on the bed for her to put on again when she returned. She laid out towels on the floor and then climbed out of the window in her underclothes. She crawled down the trellis and snuck toward the edge of the water, looking anxiously over her shoulder every few steps. She sunk in and swam quietly to the tunnel. She slipped through the hole between the bars, one of which she had left out of place from the day before, and then struck out for the cove.

When she reached the line of rocks, she was disappointed to see that the brooch was no longer on the largest rock. She swam around it a few times to check and make sure that it hadn't just fallen off, but that that boy, Aiden, had really taken it. She surfaced and sighed; she had really wanted that brooch for her collection. She thought about going to find Aiden and asking for it back, but that would obviously reveal that it had actually been she he had seen, so she threw the idea out. She would just have to live without it.

She dove down into the cove again and peered down toward the grotto floor, looking for the glint of gold she had seen the day before, but the tide had covered up whatever she had seen, and she knew she wouldn't have enough oxygen to go searching for it for long. She turned her attention, instead, to a large shiny goblet on one of the upper shelves that glistened where the sun struck it through the clear water. She brought it up to the surface and examined it in the bright midmorning light, wiping the smooth surface clean. Once she was satisfied with its sheen, she balanced it upon the rock and dove back beneath the water for more treasures.

She picked up another shiny bauble, scrutinized it and turned to resurface. She nearly gulped in a mouthful of water when she saw the boy, Aiden, standing on the rock directly above her. She fought to keep herself underwater and watched him as he picked up the goblet she had just salvaged. He turned it over in his hands, frowning slightly. He shaded his eyes and looked out in all directions. Melody's lungs were aching with the familiar burn that told her to breathe, so she swam around behind him, to the other side of the rock, and surfaced, trying to gasp quietly.

Aiden whirled around at her breath, and promptly fell off the rock with a yelp of surprise. He floundered around in the water, and the thought struck Melody that he might not know how to swim. Her assumption was confirmed when he sank below the water, still struggling futilely. Throwing her new treasure up on one of the other nearby rocks, she dove beneath the water. Aiden was sinking fast, due to his heavy work clothes, and she had to strike out hard to reach him. She grabbed him around the chest from behind and kicked frantically for the surface.

When they broke the surface again, she hauled him to the shoreline a hundred yards away. He didn't seem to be breathing. She pushed on his chest a few times and was just about to give him mouth to mouth when he coughed violently, a fountain of seawater spewing out of his mouth. He sat up and wiped his mouth on the back of his wet sleeve, trying unsuccessfully to still his coughing fit. Melody waited for them to subside, watching him worriedly; it was, after all, her fault that he had been out there.

When he was finally able to catch his breath, Aiden looked at her incredulously and said, "So it was you!"

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Do you come—" Aiden began, but he began to cough again and Melody leaned forward worriedly. "Do you come out here every day?" he finished hoarsely.

"Almost. Whenever I can get away," she admitted. "Usually in midmorning, between breakfast and lunch. I don't have anything else to fill the time. Are you okay?" she added when he began coughing again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said, his voice gravelly, waving his hand dismissively at her. He ran his fingers through his hair, squeezing a drizzle of water down the back of his neck and making him shiver. He was freezing, despite his layers and the fact that it was mid-May. He shivered again and said through chattering teeth, "How can you stand being out here dressed like this when the water is this cold?"

"I guess I've just gotten used to it," she said, shrugging. "I've been out here in November before. I don't even notice the temperature anymore." She frowned as another shudder wracked him. "We need to get you inside. Come on." She stood up and seized him by the arm, pulling him to his feet with surprising strength for someone of her size. "Do you think that you could hold your breath long enough for me to pull you under the wall? You only have to kick your feet."

His eyes widened slightly in fear. "I, uh…Yeah, I-I think I can do that," he said, hoping to convince himself. Melody smiled slightly and took him by the hand, pulling him along the shoreline so quickly that Aiden had to jog to keep up. They skirted the small inlet and ended up back at the wall, a few yards from the tunnel with the loose bars.

"You stay here for a second so I can make sure you can get through," she told him. He nodded. Melody waded into the water again and slipped under, swimming swiftly toward the bars. One of them was still pushed to the side. She pushed it even farther and swam through it once, then back again, making sure that Aiden would be able to fit through the opening. Then she resurfaced and beckoned to the shivering boy.

"Get in," she said. He hesitated at the waters edge. "The water is shallow here, and you're taller than me so you may be able to touch the ground over here. You'll only be under for a few seconds. I promise I won't let you drown," she assured him, only a little bit patronizingly. He looked at her for a moment, then decided to trust her and stepped into the water. He waded toward her, grimacing at the chill of the water, until he was in up to his chest. Melody gestured to him and he followed her along the wall until he felt it disappear from under his fingers.

Melody took a deep breath and slid under the water. Aiden warred against his fear of drowning for just a moment before he filled his lungs to the bursting point and forced himself under the water. It was terrifying! She took his hand, though, and pulled him behind her. He could see a large semi-circle opening at the base of the wall with bars set into the soil. One of the bars was pulled out of its hole and wedged out of the way. He worried that he wouldn't be able to fit through the small opening, but Melody pulled him through it without too much trouble. On the other side, she pulled him to the surface slowly.

She shushed him hurriedly and pulled him back into the water when he tried to stand, looking around frantically to make sure no one was outside of the castle. She tugged him by the sleeve through the shallow water, practically sliding on their stomachs, until they were within sight of the vine-covered trellis that ran up the side of the castle. Checking their surroundings once more, Melody stood and hurried toward it, beginning to climb it without so much as a glance downward. Aiden, however, balked. When she saw him still on the ground, she sighed.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you're afraid of heights, too?" she whispered exasperatedly. Aiden scowled at her.

"No, I am not afraid of heights!" he shot back, stung. "I'm just a smidge surprised to see the Princess climbing up a trellis in her underwear." It was only half a lie; he was indeed a little bit shocked at the present situation, but he still wasn't keen on climbing three stories up a castle wall and into a princess's bedroom. He quashed these feelings, however, dragged himself onto the trellis, and began pulling himself upward. He was determined not to look down, but, of course, he did so anyway. He gulped as he saw the ground falling away. He shook himself and continued after the apparently fearless princess.

Aiden clambered through the window behind her, falling not-so-gracefully onto one of the towels that covered the floor beneath it. He glared at Melody when he heard her giggling at him. He scrambled to his feet.

"You wait here for a minute. I have to change into dry clothes," Melody said awkwardly. "I'll be back in a minute. Then we can try and find you something dry to wear." She grabbed a pile of fabric off of her bed and hurried into the adjoining bathroom, leaving him alone in her room. At a loss for what he was supposed to do, Aiden examined his surroundings.

It was a spacious, rectangular room. The walls and ceiling were painted a soft, pale pink and the floor was completely covered in a lush burgundy carpet that was so thick, he thought it would probably he more comfortable to sleep on than his mattress at home. He was tempted to test this theory, but was reminded that his clothes were sopping wet and quickly soaking through the fluffy towel he was standing on. He stepped forward onto the next one, trying to keep from getting the carpet too wet.

The bed he was standing beside was tucked into the corner beside the window, and was surely much larger than the petite 15-year-old girl needed, he thought. It was nearly five feet wide and seven feet long. It was nearly the height of his waist, with a thick, pink downy comforter that draped over the side almost to the floor. It was piled high with large, reddish-purple pillows that matched the carpeting. There was even a fine mesh canopy attached to the ceiling that flowed down around the bed, currently tied back to the ornately carved bedposts.

Just past the extravagant bed was a large bureau of the same dark glossy wood as the bedposts. It was a good deal taller than he was, more than twice as wide, and would've held Aiden's entire wardrobe four or five times over. It had two heavy doors, each with fine engravings and patterns etched in its surface and a gracefully sculpted brass handle on the center edge, and three large drawers beneath it with similar decorations. On either side there was a row of much smaller doors and drawers that he assumed held jewelry and tiaras and such.

Aiden turned to see an elaborate and delicate vanity set, complete with a huge oval mirror surrounded by a fragile-looking gilt frame. It sat upon a desk of the same wood as the bureau that was covered with bottles and boxes and things that he couldn't identify but assumed were makeup of some sort. It had several drawers as well, but he didn't bother to guess what girly necessities they might contain. There was a line of differently-colored shoes lined up on a shelf underneath them.

On the other side of the vanity set was a bookcase as tall as the ceiling. It was covered in a surprisingly large collection of weathered, beat-up books. Spying a few that he had read as well, Aiden itched to go check them out but was once again conscious of dripping onto the carpet. Instead, he sighed and looked upward to examine the ornate chandelier. It was several feet wide, made of silver, with over twenty tall white candles shedding flickering light over the room.

Aiden was about to move on to the third towel when Melody emerged from the bathroom, now dressed in an elegant purple gown, her slightly damp hair flowing around her shoulders. He found himself shuffling his feet and averting his eyes; she looked suddenly much more like a princess, even as barefooted and awkward as she was at the moment.

"Oh, Aiden, you look freezing," she said, looking at him pityingly. "Go on and take that heavy coat off, it's keeping you from drying off." Aiden stripped off his jacket and placed it in her outstretched hands. She went to hang it up in the bathroom and brought back another stack of fluffy towels. She wrapped one around his shoulders and laid another on the chair in front of her vanity so that he could sit. He did so without comment, wondering exactly how he was supposed to react to this scenario; it was not one that he had ever planned to encounter. She sat down on the edge of her bed, looking every bit as awkward as he felt.

"So, uh…" Melody began, looking at her hands, which were clasped in her lap. "As you probably know, I, as the Princess, am not allowed by my parents to go anywhere near the ocean; it's 'too dangerous.' However, I have been breaking that rule for several years. Now that you know that, I need you to promise not to tell anyone." She looked up and caught his eye earnestly. "Please."

Aiden thought about it for a moment. There must have been some reason for that rule to be set in place, some stimulus that convinced the King and Queen that the ocean was too dangerous a place for their daughter. But, then, Melody said she had been swimming in the ocean for years without ever having been hurt in any way. So, was there any reason to tell anyone? Seeing the pleading look on her face made up his mind for him, and he nodded. She beamed at him.

"Thank you, Aiden, thank you!" she squealed. "You don't know how much that means to me!" He smiled at her, trying to suppress another shiver. "Oh, I'm sorry, you're still wet. Um…I don't know if I have anything that you could wear, unless you want to walk out of her wearing a dress…" she said apologetically.

"That's all right, Princess," Aiden insisted. "I'll just head home and change when I get there." He stood and removed the towel from his shoulders. He laid it on the floor in front of him, angling it toward the door, and placed the one he had been sitting on ahead of it so that he could reach the door without soiling the carpet with his wet boots.

"But what will you tell your parents got you all wet?" she asked.

"The truth," he said. "I fell in the bay. Have a good night, Princess."

"You, too, Aiden," she returned, giving him a sweet smile. "Sorry I almost got you drowned."

"No problem. No problem at all."