by K. Lyn Hill
“Do you always put the hearts?”
Carly smiled and nodded. “I think it adds a little something extra, don’t you think?”
Aerity laughed. “You know what I think adds a little something extra?” Before Carly had a chance to answer, Aerity leaned over to dip her finger in the ink and splashed it at the maid.
Her reaction was priceless right before her friend grinned and reached for the pot herself.
And that began the ink war.
Guess she would be bathing again after this.
By the end of their ridiculous fight they were both rolling on the floor in laughter. Someone banged on the wall for them to be quiet, only making their laugher turn to wheezes.
“I can’t believe you just threw ink on me!” Carly exclaimed trying to rub off the ink from her face, only smearing it more.
“You threw it back.” Aerity reasoned and started snickering again when Carly accidentally smeared it over her entire face.
“You have something, right here...” Aerity pointed to her face in demonstration.
Carly glared, grabbing the nearest pillow and hurled it at her face. “So do you, dip stick.”
She wasn’t even going to bother wiping the ink away. She was going to embrace it.
Carly stared at her pensively.
“What?”
“I’ve never had a friend like you.”
Aerity knew exactly how she felt. She was close to Mya and of course Eli, but it was hard for her to make friends with girls her own age. “Me neither. Part of me is glad to be here because of you. You make this whole thing a lot easier.”
Carly smiled sadly before her eyes brightened. “And I’m sure it helps to be fought over by two sexy princes.” Carly wiggled her eyebrows.
Aerity rolled her eyes. “That would mean Damien was actually speaking to me.”
“Maybe he’s busy. You know. Running a kingdom.” Carly teased.
“Yeah whatever.” Aerity smiled, launching the pillow right back. “I’m gonna go to my room and clean up.” She smirked at Carly one more time before jumping up to head back to her room smothered in ink.
She tiptoed, cringing every time the floor creaked. The castle was super creepy and unnerving at night and every sound made her jump. Getting turned around in the hallways, she cursed under her breath when she found that she went the wrong way. The first clue was immediately recognizing Damien’s office door. A light peeked out the bottom of the doorway and she slowly spun back the way she came.
She took one step only to hear a voice from behind her. “Aerity?” Her body tensed. She was busted. And by Damien no less.
Trying to hide her face, she kept to the shadows tucking her chin down. “Yeah I turned down the wrong hallway going back to my room.” There was silence. She knew instantly what he was thinking and would bet all she had that he questioned if she was with another guy. Thankfully he didn’t ask, and she didn’t give him more details than necessary.
“I’ll walk you back to your room.”
She cringed. Not wanting him to see her inked up face, she said, “Oh that’s not necessary. I can get back alone.” She didn’t realize he had stepped closer until she felt him at her back.
“I insist. The castle is no place for you to wander by yourself at night. It’s not safe.”
Ahhhh she wanted him to drop it. “I can take care of myself. Thank you though.” He stepped in front of her and she sighed. Guess there was no hiding her face now. He scanned her, his eyebrows curving in. Gentle fingers touched her chin, tipping it up into the moonlight pouring in from a nearby window.
“What is all over your face?” He asked more gently than she thought possible of him.
“Ink.” Was all she answered with.
“Whyyyy?” He drawled.
“Sooo me and Carly might have been having an ink war.” He visibly relaxed hearing Carly’s name. Yup. She had been right. He assumed she had been with Siel.
“And you did this, because?”
“Because, it was fun?” It was meant to come out as a statement but ended up turning into a question.
“We should get you cleaned up.” Without allowing her to argue, he gently took hold of her wrist, gently pulling her into his office. A water basin sat in the corner with a cloth hanging precariously over the edge of the bowl. She watched him release her hand, dipping the rag in water. Was he going to clean it for her? Or just hand her the rag?
Coming to stand in front of her, he motioned for her to sit on the couch as he bent down on his knee in front of her. She had to admit the sight made her heart rate speed up. She wondered how Damien would have performed a real proposal if he wasn’t a prince.
“Should I take the rag?” She asked even though she really wanted to see this gentler side of him. He had been such a brute so far; she didn’t know how to handle this.
“I don’t have any looking glass in here. It will be easier for me to get it because I can see it.” Without allowing for a response, he softly pressed the rag to her face and proceeded to wipe away the ink. She was frozen by the act. Freakin deer in headlights.
“You’re up late.” She said in way of conversation when the silence became strained. He met her eyes and then went back to his task. The smoldering look on his face made her insides clench.
“I have a lot of work to get done.”
Right. Stuff that he wouldn’t let her have anything to do with. “I could help you, ya know. There’s a lot of stuff I know how to do. Filing, accounts, numbers.”
His lips pinched like he was trying to hold back from saying something and let out a slow puff of air. “Coming from someone who just had an ink war, that doesn’t sound too promising.”
And just like that it felt like he had slapped her. Without realizing it, she must have moved back from his touch because he looked up confused. “What?”
Was he kidding right now? “What do you mean, what? I’m highly capable of being serious but when you don’t allow me to be involved in anything important, I’m going to get bored. Hence finding ways to entertain myself.” She crossed her hands over her chest defensively. Did he really think her useless?
“These are not matters for a princess. They are weighty and require deep thought.”
She huffed. “So you’re saying I’m not capable of having deep thoughts?”
He rolled his neck as if it were HER frustrating HIM. Gah! Men! He dropped the rag and pinched the bridge of his nose. She waited patiently for him to dig his hole deeper. “That is not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?” She refused to give this up. It was one thing for him to think her a slut. Whatever, he could say what he wanted. But to think her incapable of performing intelligent tasks? How would he ever respect her as queen? Would he ever give her assignments in their marriage that actually meant something?
“You’re blowing this out of proportion.”
She snorted. “Of course, I am. Says every man each time they’re being an ass.” She snapped.
“I’m just saying, you could be riding horses or embroidering.”
“Soooo useless things.”
“Aerity, you just had an ink fight. For fun. And you expect me to trust you with kingdom account numbers?”
Her jaw clenched and she glared at him. Hard. He did think she was dumb. “Are you that much of a stick in the mud that someone can’t laugh and have fun without being a moron? There is a balance you know. Life was meant for living.”
"And that’s what I’m telling you to do. Live. Have your ink fights and leave important kingdom matters to me.”
She stood still for a moment until he reached up to dab the rag on her face again. Snatching it out of his hands, she slid along the couch to get out of his space. “Then clearly I can handle something as menial as cleaning the ink off my own face. Don’t let me stop you from your important kingdom matters.” Shoving out of her seat, she stormed to the door, slamming it behind her. God, he had a way of pissing her off. And to think that she was actually excite
d to be in his office alone with him. What a freakin joke.
Apparently in his eyes, that was exactly what she was.
∞∞∞
Damien
God, she was so infuriating! How did he manage to always say the wrong things every time he opened his mouth? Didn’t most princesses just want to be pampered and taken care of?! What woman wanted to take on tedious, menial kingdom tasks? He thought he was doing her a favor but apparently, he got that wrong too. Without all that to consider, the accounts were no joking matter. If the numbers were off by even a coin, his father would have his head. Figuratively or literally, depending on which mood he found himself in. Seeing as though she did come back from an ink war like a misbehaved toddler, did she really have any grounds to get upset at him for questioning her ability to do complex math? Damian swore she would be the death of him and they weren’t even married yet.
An abrupt knock on the door jarred him from his aggravation. “Come in.”
Elias instantly stepped through the door, a neutral look on his face. Damien always wished he could tell what his friend was thinking but Elias had a way of masking his emotions. It always made Damien curious what made him the way he was but never bothered to ask because for one, Elias would never speak of his feelings and two, his qualities made him the best general this kingdom had ever seen. The king allowed Damien to assign the position even though he managed to assign someone his father didn’t approve of. Surprise surprise.
He never did understand why the king hated Elias so much but then again, his father hated him too so there wasn’t much more to say on the matter.
“I came to tell you that I must leave for business after the hunt tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
Damien was always curious where Elias went on his business trips but he trusted him, so he let it go. “Thank you for letting me know. Enjoy whatever it is you go to do.” Damien smirked.
By his apparent scowl, Elias knew exactly what he was insinuating. They had this running joke that Elias didn’t do business dealings at all but went to visit a secret lover. The first time he mentioned it, Elias had tensed but then relaxed when he noticed it was a joke. They grew up together as boys, so Damien was confident that he wasn’t up to anything nefarious but still, he wished Elias would trust him as a friend and tell him. He certainly liked his secrets.
“Speaking of secret dalliances, why did Aerity storm out of your office a minute ago? I see you’re trying to work the charm.” Elias said dryly despite the growing smug smirk on his face.
“Ah yes, apparently, I said the wrong thing yet again.”
Elias chuckled, a sound that didn’t make an appearance regularly. “And what did you say this time to the viper?”
It bothered him Elias kept referring to his fiancé as a serpent but how could he blame him? She’s spewed venom a few times already, it wasn’t that inaccurate of a depiction. “She wants to help with the accounts.”
That wiped the smirk clean off Elias’ face. “The accounts are extremely sensitive.”
“That’s what I said.”
Understanding seemed to dawn on his face. “Ah.”
“Exactly.”
“You should watch her then. Heaven knows she runs straight into Siel’s arms when she finds you displeasing.” Elias replied.
Curse it, if that didn’t make him want to grab at his aching chest. His friend wasn’t wrong though and that was the problem. “Yes well, regardless, I must do what’s best for the kingdom. Even if that means marriage to someone who flocks to my brother.” He said bitterly.
Elias’ eyes shot to the ground and when they came back up were filled with...regret? “You’re a good man Damien. I wish things could have been different.” Why did he get the feeling that Elias was speaking about something else entirely? “I must go get supplies ready for my trip. Do you need anything before I go?”
Emotion displaying Elias vanished and, in its place, stood the stoic statue Damian knew so well. “No, that will be all. Inform me when you return.”
Elias nodded and was out the door before Damien could interpret what that look of regret had been for.
Chapter Seventeen
Aerity
“Good morning sunshine!” Siel beamed and then his face dropped the moment he saw hers. “Uh oh, why do you look like you’re going to kill someone?”
She was still fuming from her conversation with Damien the night before but Siel didn’t deserve her ire, so she took a deep breath and pasted on a smile.
He raised an eyebrow. “Uh okay now you just look crazy.” He said cautiously as if she would strike out against him.
“Your brother’s a freakin turd nugget.” She growled, slipping her hand through his offered arm aggressively to head down to breakfast.
“Well yeah, we all know that already. What did he do now?” Siel asked almost humorously.
She glared. “It’s not funny. He’s one of the biggest tools I’ve ever met. Cocky, arrogant.” She began ticking things off on her fingers. “Rude, obtuse. Just...uggg!” She blew out a frustrated breath and Siel couldn’t help but chuckle. When she narrowed her eyes, he held up his hands in defeat.
“I’m sorry but the look on your face is hilarious. Now tell me what he did.”
She told him about the night before and at the end he smirked. “An ink fight huh? Was there any clothes ripped off? Man, I wish I could have been the judge to who had won and helped the winner clean off the ink.” He winked and it made her crack a smile regardless of how pissed off she was before. That’s why she loved Siel. He understood her joy in life and knew how to laugh. Unlike his douche bag brother.
“I’m sad to say, the clothes stayed on.”
Siel’s smile dropped. “Darn. No wonder Damien was so cranky. How can you blame him?”
She smacked his arm and he laughed again. “Damien really has a way of crawling under your skin.” He said and she could only agree. No one set her off like he did.
“I’m pretty sure your brother is incarnated from the devil.”
Siel looked wounded. “Harsh. We should go tell him you said that so I can watch one of your fights.” He joked. She rolled her eyes.
They made it to breakfast only to find that Damien had some business to attend to before the grand event for the day, so they ate and joked around in peace.
That was, until she got back to her rooms to get ready for that day’s event.
"You're on crack!"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Crack, cocaine, marijuana, smokin that pipe....drugs." She practically growled, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance.
"I am under no such influence! That is forbidden in the kingdom!"
Aerity sighed, staring down at the hideous brown fabric that was currently making her skin crawl. "I'm not putting this on. You couldn't pay me to wear this."
"It is from the prince and you will wear it."
Aerity grumbled to herself, eyeing the dress with distain. Of course, it was from Damien. Because he was bent on making her stay here as miserable as possible. "You seriously expect me to wear that? The servants have less ugly dresses than this! Aren’t you concerned about my reputation here?"
One of the ladies at court was throwing a tea party while all the men hunted. Can you say sexist much? The women were to stand on the side lines looking pretty, encouraging their big burly men with promises of the coming night if they return with meat. The notion was insane and barbaric, making her wish for all that was holy they would let her hunt with them. Damien put his foot down, yet again demanding she do this one simple thing. The urge to spit in his eyes overcame her but she refrained, to which she was quite proud of herself. She was holding her temper back remarkably well. Hand. Pats. Back.
Normally, she would have been plotting her very revenge if not for the distraction of hosting the ‘ugliest dress in the world’ competition. This one looked like layered poop. Literally. Crusty, old, poop.
That was no exaggeration either
. It had the ridges and accurate hues to go with the description. She would have spoken aloud and interjected that they probably used poop for the dye, if not for the fear that it would give them another brilliant idea of how to add to her misery. The dress looked straight out of a Halloween magazine except without the slutty sex appeal...nope, this was just scary in a bad way.
"Feathers are all the rage here now. You will fit right in." Elias’ voice practically sang with dark amusement.
She balled up her fists at his annoying nasally voice. "No, I'll fit in with a flock of dead rotting geese on the side of the road. You could lay me among them and no one would be the wiser."
Elias seemed to perk up at that idea. She glared. She no longer calling him Eli. He was a stranger who didn’t deserve the nickname of her cherished friend. This spawn of Satan was something else entirely. The lovely general was quite a joy. Insert sarcasm. He thrived on her suffering. He was doing this on purpose. Each day Elias brought in a new dress and each day it was uglier than the last. Which meant that today must be the grand finale.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Elias snarked.
She shot him a glare and tilted her head hoping that staring at the dress sideways would make it less ugly. Nope....still grosser than an old, fat man in a speedo. "Are you trying to make me ugly? Don't you want me attractive for your prince?" She hoped this line of reasoning would work for her, but she was sorely disappointed when he opened his mouth.
"Well since we sent all your clothes back after you ran away, we have to make do with what we have available. As apologetic as I am for your plight, you don't have much of a choice."
He didn't even have the decency to sound the least bit apologetic. Jerk.
She mumbled to herself. Who does that? Who just sends clothes away? Especially when they knew they were going to chase that person down. Her theory? Elias just said that. He secretly walks around his room in them after hours when everyone goes to bed. She imagined him in bright red lipstick, and it made her smile. It would be a horrible shade for his complexion.