The Inner Circle | A Midnight Quartet

Chapter 9 | Aspen Cooper

2 years ago

Aspen rubbed her hands down the front of her apron as she pressed her back farther into the wall, disappearing in the shadows with Darcy at her side.

"Girls?!" The head chef's shrill voice rang through the air and Aspen and Darcy fought the urge to giggle as they hid in basically plain sight. "We only have an hour before the garden party and I can't make all this food by myself! Come out here, you lousy shrimps!"

Her voice slowly became softer, indicating that she had moved past their hiding spot once again. Darcy let out a soft snort and looped her arm through her friend's. They shuffled to the left, looked around for any sign of people, before bolting into the light to reach a hallway. Darcy led the way, expertly remembering all of the passages in the castle despite her having only started working here about 7 months ago. They walked through an external door and the Royal Stables came into view.

Aspen groaned. "Darcy," She stretched out the name in mock annoyance. "They can't see me while I'm like this!" She desperately tried to flatten her messy hair and smooth out her work smock as they continued getting closer to the open doors of the building.

"I thought you and Miles were just friends?" Darcy slyly said while poking her in the arm.

"We are," Aspen insisted.

They walked up to the doors and peeked their heads inside, not wanting to be seen yet. They watched Miles and his older brother, Livingston, shovel hay from a stack into individual stalls to feed the various horses in each one. Darcy lightly blushed at seeing the handsome 25-year-old in action alongside his brother, as Darcy was still struggling to get rid of her stubborn crush on him. The boys shared the same green eyes and black hair, but other than that, not much signified that they are related. Livingston throws compliments and smiles around like sweets, whereas Miles is more unmoveable and orderly. Aspen had always had a crush on him but recently it had been becoming more apparent to herself--but hopefully not to others--that she often wondered if he liked her back.

Miles senses that they are being watched and looks at his brother and jerks his head towards the two mischievous girls as they both set down their forks for the hay. Livingston flashes a sweet smile at them. "Hey you two troublemakers. Got kicked out of the kitchen again?"

Aspen turns to Darcy, expecting a quick answer from her, but she just looks anywhere beside him. "No, we snuck out." Aspen steps in, risking a quick glance at Miles to find that he is looking at her. They give each other a small smile and she wishes she could just talk with him for hours as he works.

"Ah, why am I not surprised. Well, as much fun as it is to have you both stand here and gawk at my muscles, you really should get back to your work before you really land yourself in actual trouble." Livingston winks at Darcy specifically. She gives a little squeak before running back towards the castle. Aspen gives a little wave to the two boys and walks after her friend, hearing a few little words from Miles before she gets out of earshot.

"Livingston, you gotta stop flirting with Darcy! Carmen already has his eye on her. Besides, she's only 14!" His brother just laughed and said something, but Aspen was already running back to the secret outside door that allowed access to the kitchen to tell her friend what she had just heard.

Aspen tunes back into the conversation that Darcy is having with a maid they randomly stopped in the hallway. It also happens to be the exact hallway where they had walked together a bit less than two years ago each time they wanted to sneak out to the stables. Maybe that's what had prompted that specific memory to be brought back to the forefront of her mind.