The Inner Circle | A Midnight Quartet

Chapter 16 | Carmen Foster

Y'all prepare yourselves. This chapter is insane...

Again with the suits! Carmen pulls at the dark blue linen blazer, feeling a bead of sweat break out across his forward. Normally he is ecstatic to be outside, but with the sun beating down, he can hardly think of anything but the deadly rays. He looks up, squinting into the sun, willing a small cloud to move just a couple inches to the left to cover the massive light. It doesn't budge.

Darcy and him are searching the crowd for someone they could get to reveal something about the princess. He spots Aspen and Miles talking to a lively old woman. A quick scan and he finds Ernest tucked into a shady corner of the garden, a book covering his face. He can hear the snores from here. Typical-

He suddenly yelps as he feels a cold drop of sweat slide down his torso. Darcy flashes him a look then leans over and says, "Do I want to know?"

He fervently shakes his head. "Not unless you want to hear about my body sweat."

She flushes at the thought and purses her lips, looking extremely uncomfortable. He grins shamelessly. It was too easy.

"Shall we?" He holds out his arm for her to take. They head off to a nearby food stand. It is covered in all different kinds of pies, tarts, and cakes. His mouth waters at the array as Darcy taps his shoulder and points to one of the servers. He nods and he saunters over to the nearest tray of tarts. He grabs one and makes a show of bringing it up to his lips, slowly biting into the gooey center. "My goodness! This is the most delicious tart I have ever had!" He turns to the server, who is staring at Carmen with wide eyes. "You, sir! Are you the one who has created these divine treats?"

"N-no, I just serve them."

"Ah well, give my compliments to the chef, er, baker!"

"I will, sir." The man gives an awkward incline of his head.

Carmen casually rests his arm on the table, nearly landing his elbow on one of the tarts. "Tell me... what's it like to work in the castle?"

"Well I-" The young man narrows his eyes. "Wait a minute... haven't I seen you before?"

Carmen pastes a relaxed smile on his face. "I doubt it! This is my first time visiting your beautiful country! You see, I hail from..." He shouldn't have said that. "from... Bellamy!" He switches to an accent mimicking Darcy's. "It's a quite beautiful country! Now, what's it like to serve the Ruler of Derowen, King Carnelian himself!"

The server frowns, looking completely confused. He opens his mouth to say something when a partygoer loudly waves him over. He mumbles an apology and turns away. Carmen sighs. So much for that. He spins around, searching for Darcy. She is a few feet away, crouched down, talking adamantly with a young child. A smile pulls at the corners of his mouth. She is so lovely. The flowy white dress she is wearing makes her look like an angel and the joy on her face makes his heart begin to hammer. The kid waves goodbye and rushes over to what Carmen assumes is his mother. He walks over to Darcy and settles a hand on the top of her head. Her hair is as soft as it looks. She looks up and flashes a smile.

"Success?" She asks as she accepts his hand, rising from the ground.

"Nope, not a thing. How about you, did that grubby child know anything?" He looks at the kid and wrinkles his nose.

She laughs and swats him on the shoulder. "No, he just wanted to talk."

"About what?" He frowns, still watching the young boy.

"He wanted to tell me he thinks I am 'very lovely'." She says with a shy smile.

Carmen laughs and turns back to her. A convenient breeze sweeps by and pulls a strand of hair from her loose braid. Without realizing what he is doing, he lifts a hand to tuck it back behind her ear. She stiffens and her eyes fly to his. "You are very lovely." He murmurs.