Zephra's Arrangement by Zainab Tavewas (philippa perry book .TXT) 📕

accent that was vaguely familiar.
“Sure.” I say shrugging.I turn to Alex “you want to come?”
“Unless you’re going to come looking for me later, I’ll pass” he says still smiling.
“Very funny,” I mumble “let’s go Trevor.”

We walk towards my mom’s throne room. The only sounds are our shoes clacking against the marble floors.
“If she’s not there you’re on your own” I say breaking the silence. “Do you know my mother?”
“Not personally,” he says “but our parents do business together. I’m supposed to spend some time here due to an enga- I mean arrangement.” Then he stops talking like he’d said something he shouldn’t have.
“Well here’s the door.” I say awkwardly. “I’ll open it.” I’m about to push open the large wooden door when he places his hand on it.
“It’s okay. I’ve got it.”
“Suit yourself” I shrug my shoulders. He pushes open the door. My mother was now reading. When we enter she looks up.
“Guests, what a pleasant surprise.” My mother exclaims. “Though haven’t you already visited me today Zephra”
“Trevor said he needed to see you.” I say
“Ah, yes, Trevor. Zephra will show you to your room. Won’t you honey?”
“I will?” I say pouting.
“Yes you will. Now turn that frown upside down. You’re so much prettier when you smile.” She says giving me the, I might not act like it but I’m still your mother, look.
“Let’s go, Trevor” I grumble.
I showed Trevor to the guest room. It was pretty big and Alex was on the same floor. I opened the mahogany door.
“This is your-” he went in and shut the door “room. What’s his rush?” I say under my breath. Probably one of those no girls allowed things.
I went to visit my mom for, what I hoped was, the last time today.
“Mother, who is Trevor” I ask as soon as I enter.
“Honey again. I’ve spent more time with you today than I do in a whole week.” She exclaims.
“That’s very nice. So who’s Trevor?” I try not to sound impatient.
“You’re direct and to the point just like your father, though those aren’t very good qualities in a girl.”
“Mother!”
“Okay, Trevor is just an acquaintance’s son. He’s staying here while his parents are abroad.” She says
“He has the same eyes as you.” I say, though I wasn’t going to admit my jealousy.
“He does?” she says thoughtfully.
“One more question. Where’s dad?” Maybe he can tell me about Trevor.
“Stable”
“Thank you”
“My eyes?” I hear her murmur before I leave. “My

eyes?”

Luckily, my dad was in the stable. Thanks to the stable boys the stable always smells like fresh hay. My father was brushing his horse, Oleander. He always insists on brushing him himself.
“Hello, Princess.” He smiles. He had strawberry blond hair and brown eyes like mine.
I smile back. “Dad do you know a Trevor?” He frowns.
“Yes.”
“Do you know why he’s here?” I ask. His frown deepens.
“I have work to do Zephra come back later.” He gently propels me towards the door.
Something fishy was going on. My father only calls me Zephra when he was lying or angry. So which was it? If my parents won’t tell me about Trevor I’ll find out myself.

Spying

I decided to spy on Trevor. It wasn't likely I would learn more about him any other way. I thought about enlisting Alex's help in my adventure, but quickly decided against it. He'll probably say I shouldn't invade his privacy, or something.
I quietly walked towards Trevor's room. When I got there I was lucky enough to see that his door was open. I slowly stepped to the doorway and peeked in. Huh? No one here. I stepped into the lavishly furnished room and looked around.
It was neat. not a thing out of place. It didn't look like anybody was staying here.
I whipped my head around so fast that my hair slapped my cheeks. Uh oh. Footsteps. This was going to be hard to explain. I looked around for a hiding spot. I dove behind the thick velvet curtains and stood absolutely still.
Someone entered the room and sat on the bed. I peered through a crack in the curtain and saw Trevor lying on the bed reading a book. I recognized it as one of Alex's books on jousting. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a white furry creature step in through the door. Snowball. Could my luck get any worse.
Trevor looked up from his book and stared at Snow. "Where did you come from?" he wondered. Snowball stalked towards the curtains like a predator. He sat at the foot of the curtains and looked through the tiny crack and directly at my face.
Trevor got up and walked towards the curtains. I closed my eyes and waited. I heard the curtains swish open and I felt the cool air fan my face. "Uh. Zephra?" he asked.
I opened my eyes. He was staring at me. "Yeah?"
" What are you doing here?"
I thought fast. "PLaying hide and seek." I said casually, like it was completely normal.
"Really?" He said raising an eyebrow, "With who?"
"Well, Snowball of course." I replied. I bended down and picked up Snow. "Its a well known fact that cats are excellent at playing hide and seek."
"Ok." he said "I'm going to pretend that I believe that. Now can you please get out of my room."
"Technically " I said walking towards the door with him following behind me, "This is my palace, so all the rooms are my room"
"Bye" he said once again closing the door in my face.

Ok. So that spying attempt was foiled by Snow, but so what. I would have many more opportunities.

Imprint

Publication Date: 08-25-2011

All Rights Reserved