The Aldean Chronicles: Hidden

Mika, Kat and I arrive at the hotel by 3 pm. It's been on high alert all day and the reception is almost empty. Only guests who booked a room weeks prior to the event are present. The manager greets us at the door and shows us to our room.

"I handled your checking in arrangements, wouldn't want you going through the hassle." He says cheerily. "And also, your room is on the 19th floor, due to such short booking it's the best we could do." He presses a button on the elevator panel and swipes a key card. "The top floors can only be assessed by people with this card. Yours are waiting for you in your room."

I suppress my smile, I've never had such special treatment before. Kat and Mika look unfazed. We ride the elevator to our floor and walk a short distance to our room. The manager swipes his card on the handle and the double doors swing open slowly.

I'm standing in a living room with walls made of glass. I make out a door that leads to a spacious balcony, the balcony has a seating area complete with a little table and two chairs. A small open kitchen is on my right and a door that leads to the bathroom is on the left wall. I walk deeper into the room and see a set of stairs. It's a penthouse, I squeal silently.

I run upstairs and see a short corridor with two doors on either side. The doors on the left are bedrooms while the doors on the right are a bathroom and a little closet.

I hear footsteps behind me. It's two hotel workers carrying our luggage, they drop them off in the first room. I follow them downstairs. "I hope the room is to your liking Miss... Miss Cassandra?" I nod. "I remember you from when you came with Mr. Oisin."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Simmons," Kat says to him. "We'll be sure to let you know if we need anything."

"Of course, Princess Katya." Mr. Simmons says. "I'll even get one of the royal guards to personally guard your room. The guard can also follow you around, in case you decide to come down to check on the decorations."

"That sounds amazing," Kat walks towards the door, she makes sure he's following her. "Thank you again." As soon as he's out the door, she shuts it. "Well ladies, what are we doing first? Massages or room service?"

I collapse on the long white sofa in the middle of the room. "I never want to leave. Can I just move in?"

"My uncle lived here once." Mika laughs. "He spent his first three months in Aldean here." Mika's family, the Rosedales are what's considered New Money. They own a chain of shopping malls all over Illyria. Her aunt hit the old family jackpot when she married a grandson of the Emperor of Varron. Mika is the first in her family to attend Brimstone, she got in as an Earth elemental. "I need a massage."

Kat picks up the nearest landline and the brochure next to it. "What kind of massage do we want?" She thinks for a second. "Surprise us."

We get the massages and order room service after. After that, Kat and Mika go to check on the decorations. The company they hired sent its workers that morning, they should be done before the party tomorrow. I'm studying in the living room when they back.

"You need to see the room, Cass. It's amazing, Kat did a great job." Mika says. "And Nathan, you should have seen his face." She laughs.

Nathan is the head of the company they hired, he was supposed to personally organize such a high-profile event. Kat declined his help, he's still salty about it. "The concierge should be here soon. Cassie, can you please direct her to the balcony when she arrives."

"Sure," I say as she and Mika head to the balcony and settle on the chairs. The sun is setting behind them, they use that as the backdrop for their pictures. I go back to my reading. The concierge arrives a few minutes later. Her face drops when she sees me.

"Pardon me, is Princess Katya in this room?" She asks. "I was told she needed something."

I shift away from the door frame. "She's on the balcony." I gesture for her to get in and close the door. I go back to my reading, I'm currently reviewing the Calais revolution of 1856, when the citizens realized that the monarchy was overrated and decided to take matters into their hands. They held their first election and have managed to uphold a democracy since then, more or less.

I fall asleep on my books and wake up around midnight, I shrug off the blanket mysteriously placed on me and go upstairs. I hear laughter and chatter coming from one of the rooms. I open the door to find Kat and Mika with clear face masks and a bottle of white wine.

"Look who's up," Kat says. "Were your books boring you that much?"

I yawn. "I'm so tired, I'm taking the second bedroom." I'm ready to argue for it.

"Kay, goodnight," Mika doesn't look up from her phone. "Look at this." She shows Kat her screen and they both laugh.

I walk to the next room and fall on the bed with a sigh. It's so big and warm and comfortable. How have I been surviving on the tiny beds that school has been torturing us with. I find it a bit hard to go back to sleep so I pick up my phone. I see a text from Paisley and Tristan. I reply Paisley first, telling her where I am and asking how she is, she's probably asleep now hence her not responding.

I tell Tristan that I'm awake and having fun here. I don't expect him to respond. He does by asking if I'm going to sleep soon. I reply no, he doesn't respond to my text.

My ringtone goes off. It's him.

I take deep breaths to steady my voice before picking up. "You're up late," I say in a cool voice, at least I hope it's a cool voice.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep." He replies. "What's your excuse?"

"Couldn't sleep is not a viable excuse." He laughs softly. "And secondly, I have slept, I just woke up and can't go back."

"You should order room service, they can get you something. I don't know like tea or whatever." He offers.

I hear a distant laugh in the background. "What did you just say?" A muffled voice asks. "Who are you talking to?"

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping, Jamie?" Tristan asks. "And also, it's Cassie."

"Cassie?" Jamie sounds confused. "Why are you talking to her this late?"

"That's a very rude question to ask Jamison," Tristan says. "I'm just talking to a friend and keeping her company till her tea arrives."

I pick up the phone on the bedside table and call reception. I ask the concierge if tea can be delivered to my room. He says it will take at least ten minutes.

"I'm still worried about tomorrow," I tell Tristan. "It's one of the things keeping me up."

He sighs. "Me too, I'll have to face all those people and take their judgment."

"Why are you so scared?" I ask. "Everybody likes you, I'm sure you're just over exaggerating to make me feel better."

He's silent for a second. "They're a lot of things you don't know about me, Cassandra."

"Like what? You're too responsible or not from an old, powerful family. Or not well-liked among Aldean high society." I joke.

His voice is tense. "No, things that maybe you'll know if all you ever talked about wasn't yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"What, you only talk about yourself. You know absolutely nothing about me."

"That's not true," I argue.

"Oh really, what's my middle name?" He waits patiently for an answer.

I think about that for a minute. I come up with nothing.

He exhales. "I mentioned it a few weeks ago. It's Aidan, after my grandfather. I told you that I'm scared of not being able to live up to his name. Here's another question, when's my birthday?" I'm silent. "I have also mentioned that and if you want it to be fair. I'll mention yours, June 12th."

I sit up and rest my back on the white cushioned headboard. "I'm sorry I haven't been paying attention."

"It's like you don't even care, you say you like me but then you show no interest in my life or things I like." He continues. "Did you know that I'm a really good piano player?" He laughs drily. "I had to give up trying out for the lacrosse team because I spend my Saturday mornings training you."

"I didn't know that," I say quietly.

"I know you didn't." He doesn't speak for a second. "I shouldn't have brought that up, I don't blame you for that. That was unfair of me, I'm just really stressed."

"I'm sorry I don't ask you more about yourself. That was selfish." I take a deep breath. "And a little immature."

He doesn't comment on that. "Why don't you ever ask? Whenever we talk, it's always about you and your problems, all the time." Then he lowers his voice. "Cass, I don't want to be your Jamie."

My Jamie, my emotional support. "You probably don't blame my friends for leaving me. Do you hate me too?"

"I don't hate you. And neither do they." He says. "Just, I don't know. Be more considerate." He sighs. "It's late, I need to go to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day, if you listened more, you'll know why. Goodnight Cassie." And he ends the call.

I sit there thinking about his words, am I really that selfish? I lay back down and stare up at the ceiling, I reflect on my behavior these past few months. I hear a ring and jump up, thinking it's Tristan. A millisecond later, I remember that that's not my ringtone, it's the landline. My tea is here.

I retrieve it from the front door and go back to my room. The tea calms my nerves and before long, I feel sleepy. The thought floating through my mind as I fall asleep is that Tristan always helps me and I don't even know his middle name. I am a bad friend.