Maddie frowned, this was more than strange, it was worrying. There was no one in the dining hall, the table was empty and now that she thought about it, she had not seen any maids on her way down.
"Guys," she called again. She was not one to begin panicking immediately. For all she knew, they could have decided to play a prank on her, a very nasty prank that she did not like and would certainly pay them back for.
With no response, she closed her eyes and tried to communicate with Annie and Matt using a mind link but for some odd reason, she could not get through to them.
Now Maddie was extremely worried. Either they were in serious trouble or they left without her.
She doubted that they would dare leave without her, so she believed it was the former.
Maddie scoffed, now she had to try to communicate with the blondie. She did the same but still could not reach him either.
Maddie groaned, this was so annoying. She was sure that they all decided to play a prank on her simply because she did not come down in time.
Well, she was hungry and definitely not ready to play such a childish game, so she went in search of them.
Maddie walked out of the dining hall and went in search of some castle servants. Perhaps they knew where their prince was.
Maddie was very annoyed, here she was ready to eat and instead she was tasked with playing hide and seek with those three young adults who wanted to be children. She scoffed again.
"Where are all the servants?!".
She walked up and down the stairs and could find no one in sight. Considering how the blondie was, she had a feeling he had made sure all the servants who did not agree with her presence here to not show up.
As nice as that was, it was very annoying when she was trying to find someone to ask questions.
Maddie walked back downstairs, she needed to find the kitchen. Luckily, she knew where the kitchen was since Annie made some cookies there.
Maddie entered into the kitchen, to her luck, there was someone there that she recognized.
"Good morning," Maddie said.
The maid Adi turned around, she was startled when she saw it was Maddie. Instinctively, she began to shiver silently.
"Good morning, Miss Maddie," she looked down and fumbled with her hands.
"Adi, right?" Maddie smiled. She remembered her well, she was the one who she had scared and had to apologize to with cookies. Now, if she had eaten the cookies or not, was none of her business.
"Yes, Miss Maddie," she nodded.
"Lovely, now, could you please tell me if you know where the blondie and those other children are?" Maddie smiled.
"Who?" Adi asked confused.
"The crown prince and my friends, where are they, do you know?".
"Oh, umm, I don't know," she shook her head.
"Of course, those three are probably up to something," Maddie scoffed.
Adi was shaking, she did not want to get in trouble, neither did she want to accidentally offend Maddie.
"Did you see or hear anything dangerous or deadly happen?" Maddie asked.
"No, Miss Maddie, I did not hear or see such," she replied.
"Did they eat breakfast in the main dining hall?".
"Yes, Miss Maddie, breakfast was served in the main dining hall," Adi nodded.
"How long ago?".
"About an hour ago or so," she replied.
"Do you have an idea of where the crown prince might be hiding?" Maddie asked.
In a castle heavily guarded and filled with magically skilled people, she doubted that anything bad had happened to Ollie, Matt and Annie. Besides, they were also well skilled in magic, and there were definitely no serious threats after Azazel's defeat. So in Maddie's mind, she was sure that they were simply playing a prank on her.
"No, unfortunately, not, Miss Maddie," Adi shook her head.
"Are you sure? Are you sure you are not lying to me, because if you are, I do have my ways of finding out," Maddie took a step forward that instantly intimidated Adi.
Adi instinctively took a step back and began to cower.
Maddie saw this and took a step back, she sighed.
"I did not mean to scare you, I am just very annoyed at the moment. Don't mind me, I would never do anything to you," she said.
She knew that she had to be nicer, most people were already scared of her, she did not need to give them a true reason to be.
Adi did not say anything, she merely nodded and stood up straight.
"It is alright, I will just go and look for them," Maddie said.
She was about to leave when Adi felt a bit guilty. From what Ollie had explained to her and the rest of the castle servants, she was not a bad person at all. Far from it, and she was simply looking for her friends.
"Umm Miss Maddie," she called.
"Yes?" Maddie turned around.
"When the crown prince has little time to spend in the castle, he is usually always in the courtyard, maybe you should check there," she said.
"Thank you, I will check there. You're a darling, Adi, a real one," Maddie smiled before taking her leave.
Adi did not know how to feel, it was all so shocking to her, and the worst thing was that Maddie sounded so sincere.
Maddie walked through the halls, her steps were heavy and directed. She did not waste any time. Adi had given her a good idea, one that she would probably try later.
Maddie marched straight into the courtyard and lo and behold, there were her three friends lounging about on the grass while she was looking for them up and down.
"Maddie, good morning," Matt smiled. He was the first one to notice her, and that was because he felt a cold presence that sent a shiver down his spine. Annie and Ollie turned to see Maddie.
"Good morning, good morning, good morning indeed! It is not a good morning, all of you are idiots!!" Maddie began, clearly she was enraged.
Annie and Matt had expected this, they simply laughed while Ollie seemed a bit worried.
"You made me walk up and down the castle like a goose. I thought that something back happened to you, and then I realized that you aren't babies, so you were probably playing a prank on me, which makes you babies!" Maddie said.
"Oh relax, Maddie, you are making a big deal out of nothing," Annie said.
Maddie found herself getting more irritated as she heard Annie and Matt continue to laugh.
"Nothing?! This is not nothing!" Maddie shouted.
Matt simply pulled her down by the hand and she fell on the grass. She almost hit him but he saw it coming and dodged it.
"You should chill Maddie, so you're allowed to play pranks on us but we can't even play a tiny one on you? How is that fair?" Matt shook his head.
"It's not. Life is not fair, the sooner you learn that, the better," she replied.
"Hey, you should be thanking us that we didn't actually leave without you, because that was the plan," Annie said.
"Oh, so you would really leave without me?" Maddie scoffed.
"Of course we would. I warned you, I woke you up and you told me fifteen minutes, which was definitely not fifteen minutes," Annie shook her head. "It would be nice for you to enjoy some time over here with Ollie.".
"Oh heck no, that would never happen. I will no be stuck here with the blondie," Maddie said.
Ollie laughed now that Maddie seemed to have calmed down, he could relax more.
"I agree, I told them that won;t be advisable," he laughed.
"Well, you're lucky that he talked us out of it, or else, we would have been on our way to the palace by now," Matt said.
"Good, you finally did something sensible for once," she turned to him.
"For once? I always so sensible Maddie you know that," Ollie said.
"Mhmm, right. I don't care about this. What's the rush anyway? It's not like we have something so important to do at the palace," Maddie scoffed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, but the longer we stay here, the harder it will be to leave," Annie said.
"When the time comes, we will do what needs to be done," she replied.
"If you say so," Matt laughed.
"So you all were hiding here or what?".
"Not hiding, just relaxing and enjoying the day. It's so beautiful and warm," Ollie smiled.
"Mhmm, well I'm hungry!".
"And whose fault is that?" Annie asked.
"Yours for leaving the dining hall. I'm hungry and I want to eat!" Maddie kicked her feet in the air like a child.
Annie, Matt and Ollie exchanged knowing glances and laughed.