Chapter 3

"So, Eliza, tell us about James," Rachel said, causing Eliza to spurt out her drink in a rather unladylike fashion.

"Ew, don't spit on me!" Sophia laughed as she wiped the water from her arm. "Didn't you ever learn your manners?"

"Actually, no, I didn't. I was left in the dark over such things. Winters was a particularly unpleasant man." Eliza thought back to her time at the bookshop. Mr Winters had the manners of a pig, and Eliza was very glad that she had picked none of them up. She couldn't understand how he had a wife before everything that happened. But perhaps he had changed since then. Not many people stay the same after their wife and child die and they begin looking after a kidnapped princess.

"Was it really bad?" Sophia asked, regretting the fact that she had brought it up in conversation. Her voice was suddenly very serious, and she looked down to the ground.

"It wasn't great. But it is all in the past now," Eliza said, cheerily. She didn't want to make them upset. Sophia was only young, and she didn't deserve to have to hear what dreadful things that her sister had been through.

Rachel had been looking on with a thoughtful expression, "You can talk to us if you'd like to. We don't mind listening."

Rachel and the other siblings had actually discussed Eliza's lack of speaking about the past. They seemed to think that it would help her recover if she were to tell them.

Eliza sighed. They had had the conversation many times. "If I want to talk, I will." She said, with a large sigh. She knew that she would never tell them everything.

"Back to the unanswered question," Sophia exclaimed.

Eliza just rolled her eyes.

They were sat outside, on a patch of grass overlooking the lake. Rachel and Sophia had wanted to act as proper ladies and find a nice bench to sit on, but Eliza had insisted that the floor would do. The three knew that they would likely be chastised for the grass stains on their dresses. But Eliza knew that there were more important things than grass stains on a dress.

It really was beautiful, a word which Eliza felt she had overused in the previous weeks. The lake was glistening in the sun, and although the temperature was getting colder, Eliza didn't notice. She had on a thick coat to protect her from the chilly winds.

The only thing that seemed to be missing were people. It didn't seem right that such a beautiful space was enjoyed by the royals and staff only.

"Don't think that you can get out of this! It's what sisters are for." Rachel added, her character completely changed.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Eliza asked nervously. She wasn't used to talking to people about her life and how she was feeling. Heck, she wasn't used to talking to people at all.

Sophia's face was bright with wonder, "Do you love him?"

"No, I hardly know the man. I can't make a judgement in such a short period of time." Eliza said, but she was blushing deeply.

The other girls smiled at the blush but moved on nonetheless. After all, they didn't want to stop her talking.

"How did you meet him?" was a more sensible and less embarrassing question from Rachel.

"I have always seen him around the village since I was younger, but it wasn't until a couple of months ago that he first spoke to me," Eliza replied, so grateful that the question was not humiliating.

"But why didn't you speak to him before?" Sophia asked as she picked a flower and carefully studied it.

Eliza hesitated, thinking about what she should say. "Well, I wasn't allowed. You have to understand that Winters wasn't kind, and he would do anything to hide me away."

"If that was the case, how come he let you visit the market and walk around near people?"

"Because sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. But that didn't mean that I was allowed to make friends." Eliza answered, staring at a flake of grass.

"Weren't you lonely?" Sophia asked, looking at her older sister.

Eliza smiled. "Perhaps we could get back to the question?"

Sophia immediately cheered up.

"Anyway, I dropped a package and he picked it up for me. And then he insisted that I needed an escort to visit the old mayor's house. So clearly he was needed." Eliza said in a slightly sarcastic voice.

"Oh, that is so romantic!" Sophia smiled with bright eyes.

"Hardly. We barely even spoke at first."

"Well, I think it is," Sophia announced.

"What do you think, Sophia?" came a male voice from behind them. The three girls turned to look up at Danny.

"Nothing," Eliza quickly answered, blushing. Danny grinned at her, before turning back to Sophia.

"What, Sophia?"

"Just that Eliza and James met in a very romantic way." She said.

"Perhaps we could continue this discussion another time?" Eliza asked, desperate for the conversation to be over. She was feeling rather uncomfortable.

"What conversation?" they heard Oliver ask. Oliver and Andrew sat down on the grass next to the girls.

"It was nothing," Eliza insisted.

"I don't believe you!" Andrew said, watching his sister squirm. It was times like these that he really felt so grateful to have her here. Well, he was actually grateful all of the time, but right now he was especially grateful.

"Eliza was just telling us about her life before," Rachel said, sending Eliza a smile.

She couldn't be more grateful for her older sister.

"Will you tell us, too?" Oliver asked. Eliza had said very little about her life from before, and she always avoided the topic. He was shocked that she was willingly talking about it.

"There really isn't much to say," she said, sending a desperate look at Andrew. "What would you like me to tell you?"

"What were your friends like?"

Eliza sighed. "Truthfully, I didn't have any friends. I was very much controlled by Winters, and he would not allow me to be sociable."

She had all of her siblings' attention now.

"Could you not just have ignored him?" Oliver asked.

"If I ignored him, I would be punished."

"How?" Andrew asked, staring at his sister with questioning eyes. He knew a fair bit about what she had been through, but the details had been kept very private.

She looked her older brother in the eye. "You know I can't answer that."

"Why?" he asked, his eyes not leaving hers. They had almost forgotten about the other siblings in that moment.

"It's in the past. Everything is in the past. Why can't we just forget?" Eliza had tears in her eyes. She quickly got up and brushed the dust off her dress. "I think it is time that I prepare for lunch," she said, before leaving her brothers and sisters sat in the grass, wondering what just happened.

Eliza had a while before lunch, but when she reached her room, she took her hair out of the braids. Only when the door was shut and she had checked that there was no maid around did she begin to cry.

She cried for her past. For everything that that man had done to her, and everything that she had to live for.

She was sat under the window, looking over the lake, and clutching her knees to her chest.

That was where the queen found her a little while later. Penelope's other children had reported back to her, and the queen had been looking around for a while.

When she was close enough, she pulled her daughter into a tight hug, and let her cry all of her tears.

But all that the queen could think about was the heart-breaking news that would soon be to come. And how crushed her daughter would be when she found out.

A/N- Some sibling bonding time!! And Eliza's sisters are clearly fangirling over Jaliza!!

At the moment updates are going to be on Wednesdays and Saturdays (I can't update on Fridays anymore because I have sailing) I hope that is okay :)