30. Date With Romeo
1620 Words
I open my eyes, and we're sleeping on a couch. He's on his back, and I'm on top of him. Kane and Marcus are laid back in chairs sleeping. Ruby is sleeping on another couch. There's a tarp over the area, but it's open with lots of breeze. It's a nice place to nap. I straddle him and stretch my arms up.
He grabs my legs and his eyes go dark.
I giggle and plop back down on him. "Good morning."
"That was a good nap. Are you still taking it?" He rubs my back lightly, and I try to figure out how to get off him. He eventually sits up and puts me beside him. "There you go."
"I took a nap."
"Yea, you did. You girls ran us in circles. We all needed a nap." He motions at Kane.
I snuggle into his side. "He needed a nap anyway. He was cranky."
He laughs and puts his arm around me. "Yea, he was. Bring us some cake and fruit please. And a glass of wine."
The servant nods.
"They don't call you sir?"
"They stay silent when someone's sleeping."
"That's smart."
We drink and eat some grapes. "So, what do you think of this?"
"This is the best party I've ever been to. Except the ones where the fancy people spit all over."
He laughs and nearly chokes on a grape.
I pat his back and smile. "It's beautiful here. Everyone is happy and friendly. And this is the perfect spot to nap."
"Nice breeze here." He pushes some hair out of my eye. Then he looks at my lips and his eyes darken a shade. "Can I kiss you?" His thumb grazes over my cheek.
I lean towards him.
"No." Marcus stands up. "She's drinking. Are you trying to get her drunk?"
"You were sleeping. Go back to sleep." I stand up and put my hands on my hips.
"He does not get to get a teenager drunk."
"I've had 1 sip. Kane, you're not doing your job."
"Sorry. Fell asleep." He stretches.
"WE HAVE TO BE SEEN." Ruby pulls me over to the rail.
"I think I should fix myself before I'm seen. I don't even know where the tiara went." I feel my head. It's not there.
Romeo steps up behind me and puts it back. The crowd cheers so loudly.
Ruby and I look over to see what they're cheering at. They are pointing at us.
She smiles. "We're popular here."
"Yea we are."
Marcus rubs his eyes and busts out laughing. Then Romeo and Kane start in.
"THERE HE IS." I jump up and down, pointing.
"WHERE?" She grabs me.
"Where who is?" Romeo tries to see who I'm pointing at.
"Prince Finnegan."
"I SEE HIM. I SEE HIM." She waves.
He smiles and walks towards us.
"Is he coming over here?"
I nod. "Yes, seems to be."
"I NEED TO FIX EVERYTHING. I WAS SLEEPING ON MY FACE. SERVANTS HELP." They run over, and the boys lose it.
"What is the commotion?" The king comes into our box.
"Nap time is over dear. Let them wake up."
"There's a prince coming to see Ruby, mom."
"A prince. Let's fix that curl."
"No. He can go right back the way he came from. Romeo, you get rid of that boy. I don't care if you have to stab him."
"Harold, be nice. He's just a boy." The queen goes back to Ruby's hair and the king makes a stabbing gesture at Romeo.
"Am I ok? I think I was sleeping on my face too."
Romeo moves the hair out of my eye. "You're perfect."
I hug him. I like him.
The prince enters the box and greets everyone by rank. It takes a minute. He gets to me and smiles. "I didn't get your name."
I say, "Star." and Ruby says, "Evie." At the same time.
I smile. "We'll figure it out eventually. There's Ruby." I point at her.
"Hi again Princess Ruby." He turns pink.
"Hi Prince Finnegan."
"Would you like to attend a ball with me next weekend?"
"I would love to, sir."
"No. She's too young for that." Her dad shakes his head.
I smirk. "Are you going to the same ball?"
"Yes, I do believe we are." The queen smiles. "We would be there the entire time, Harold."
"We could sit together, daddy."
"I suppose. But you're traveling with us. You can get introduced with Prince Finnegan and sit with him."
"Thank you, daddy."
He grumbles, and the queen drags him off.
They smile at each other and I get bored. I walk to the rail and wave. The crowd erupts with cheers and I flip back around. "Sorry, I forgot they get excited when I wave. You two wave, and we'll see if the place blows up."
Ruby laughs and drags him to the rail. They wave and the crowd is so damn loud, I have to plug my ears.
Romeo pulls them back. "Don't do that. We're going deaf in here."
"You try." She pushes us to the rail.
He hugs me and they go crazy. I laugh and lay my head on his chest. Then he kisses my head.
Marcus pulls us back. "Let's find something else to do."
"Kane, he needs to be entertained again."
"I'm on break. Make Romeo do it."
"Prince Lincoln is requesting entrance, sir."
Romeo's muscles tighten up. I see red immediately.
Kane gives me a double take. "How are you?"
"I am fine, King Kane. Thank you for asking. Prince Romeo's muscles tightened up, and I am not doing the last 70 years again. So, here I am, sir."
"She?" Romeo bends a little and looks at my eyes. He's still holding me.
"It's her dragon. She doesn't have control. You scared her when you tightened up."
"Sorry, I just don't know him. I don't think he's a threat."
"We will see."
"Ok. Send him in."
"Yes, sir."
"Let him go, Evie. You can stand by him, but don't squish him."
I let go, and the prince comes in. Finnegan leaves and Ruby pulls me over to the couch. "So, you're her dragon?"
"Yes."
"She lets you take her over?"
"Yes. If I want to."
"Can I do that too?"
"Yes."
Her eyes go red.
We stare at each other. Then we each grab a cup of wine.
"Wine's good."
"Yes, it is." She gets another bottle and we have another cup.
"I DO NOT BELIEVE EITHER OF YOU. PUT IT DOWN AND GIVE THEM BACK RIGHT NOW." The queen's pissed. The boys turn and look at us.
Both of us throw the cups at the table and release control.
"Girls, get up."
I stretch. "I must have fallen asleep."
"Why is there wine everywhere, momma?"
"Never mind that. We had a table issue. It's time to eat. You're going to the ballroom now. You both need to eat." She walks out.
Kane shakes his head. "These two are a handful. How is your dragon, Evie?"
That other prince is gone now. "She is fine. But she had 8,000 ways planned out to kill that poor man. She's still telling me what they are."
Ruby cracks up laughing. "I think they drank the wine."
I stand up and stagger forward. "Yes. Yes, they did."
"Let's go eat. I'm hungry." She grabs my arm and pulls me.
I nearly fall over, and she falls onto a chair.
"Can we get the express route, boys?"
"Yea." Kane makes a door for us.
We are the first people in the ballroom. Romeo leads me to the head table and puts me beside him.
"I think the dragon drank my limit of wine for the night."
"Seems like it. You ok?"
"I need some water. Why did she do that?"
"She was bored. You'll be alright." He motions for water. "Keep it full and no wine for her."
"Yes, sir."
We have a nice dinner and listen to the king thank everyone for coming.
"You want to watch the fireworks?"
"I like fireworks. But is it ok? I've been here a long time already."
"I like having you here."
I smile and look down. I like being beside him.
"Come on. We'll go sit in the field. We have a royal spot for this too."
We walk into a field of wild flowers. "I want to smell all of these too."
"Well, you'll be here a while." He chuckles and leads me to a clearing. It has tables and chairs and couches set up. "You can go pick some flowers."
I run to the field and pick the prettiest ones. All 3 of his sisters show up and pick flowers with me. We laugh and run all over the place.
"SNAKE."
"AAAHHHH!" We run in different directions.
"DADDY."
"It's dead. Come on back." Romeo puts his sword away, laughing.
"It's fine Rose. Your brother got rid of it. You pick momma some flowers."
I pick out some new flowers to take home. I threw the last bunch into the air. Then I sit on the couch with Romeo and watch the fireworks. He puts his arm around me and touches my fingers lightly. I wonder if he'll stay in the games. He already knows about me. He knows the truth. I lay my head on his shoulder and watch the lights. This is perfect.
I wake up when Marcus hands me to Collin. "We stayed and watched the fireworks. And her dragon drank a half bottle of wine. I don't think I'd try too hard to wake her up."
"Why is she covered in dirt?"
"Wild flower field. The girls had to get flowers."
- Writer
