The Inner Circle | A Midnight Quartet

Chapter 20 | Carmen Foster

 "Nope. Absolutely not." Ernest Carnelian crosses his stringy arms over his half-clothed chest.

"Sir," Carmen's voice is laced with annoyance. "I assure you I am perfectly fine. It was just a small cut."

"I don't care how or why you got it. You are not dressing me with blood running down your neck."

He rolls his eyes, "There is not blood running down my neck. See look, all stitched up! Now please stop your whining and let me help."

Ernest makes a show of flicking out his arms and raising them to his shirt, beginning to button the white cloth. "I am twenty-five years old! I can surely dress myself by now!"

Carmen watches as he turns to the mirror, surveying his work. Half the buttons are undone and the other half are in the wrong holes. "Yes, very capable. I can see that now." He bows mockingly low. "Good day, Sir."

He makes it all of two steps to the door before Ernest calls out, "Wait! Fine. I-I might need a little help..."

He turns back, not bothering to keep himself from smirking. "Do you now?"

Unfortunately, it takes entirely too long to dress a twenty-five-year-old. And he is late.

Carmen weaves through the servants and staff, at one point crashing into a tray of leftover tarts. He snatches one, nearly choking on the flaky crust as he runs the rest of the way to the library. He throws open the door and stumbles into the room. "I'm here!"

Darcy yelps and swivels around to the door. "Don't do that!" She places a dainty hand over her chest, her expression softening as she looks at him. "You scared me."

He can't keep a wide grin from his face, "Sorry, love." He steps close, leaning down to look her in the eyes. "Hi." His breath stirs the hairs framing her face.

A lovely blush spreads across her cheeks and she smiles back. "Hi."

"Can I kiss you again?"

She slowly nods her head and he grabs her around the waist, pulling her to him. He tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear before bringing his lips to her.

The door to the library suddenly bangs open and they jump away from each other.

"Oh!" Aspen's eyes are wide, her hand intertwined with Miles. "Wait a minute... are you guys...?" One look at Darcy's and his reddened faces and she clasps her hands together, laughing. "Finally! Sure took you long enough!" She winks at him. He cringes. Aspen sidles up between him and Darcy, squeezing their shoulders to draw them closer, "So..." She pulls her voice out in excitement. "How did it happen?"

Darcy winces beside him. He clears his throat, "Well... I told her I loved her... and she told me she was a spy and that she can't love me. But then she changed her mind, I guess."

There is an awkward silence till Miles claps him on the back. "Proud of you, buddy. You had a chance so you took it." Aspen gives him a weak thumbs up.

"Can we please change the subject?" Darcy asks desperately.

Aspen straightens her back and nods. "Right. Darcy, what time did you schedule our appointment with the king?"

Darcy looks surprised at the sudden shift but answers, "Two o'clock."

"Perfect! We have about fifteen minutes. Does everyone remember the plan?"

"Yes, of course we remember." Carmen says. He, in fact, does not remember the plan. But where's the fun in admitting that!

They talk for a few minutes till the clock chimes. In time with the two strikes, Carmen feels his heart take a strange dip. Anything could happen when talking to the king. He is unpredictable, prone to sudden bursts of anger or laughter. It was all ridiculous, the formal greetings, the fancy clothes. It feels like some grand cover-up for the biggest con in history.