Flames left behind

8{Ronin}

**This is a long chapter, so buckle up and enjoy*- A/N

 I dropped my cake. The cake I didn't realize I was holding. God dammit, it was chocolate, my absolute favorite flavor of all time. Basic, I know, but at least it wasn't vanilla. That is completely basic.

Ronin mumbled a comment about my clumsiness, and as we both stooped simultaneously, our heads collided. This isn't every other love story where a charming man goes above and beyond to aid a damsel in distress, ending in a blissful marriage. It's simply irritating. Now, my head throbs with pain—much appreciated. And this man is certainly not my Prince Charming. In fact, my Prince Charming is nonexistent. I am my own savior.

I resisted the urge to smack him.

He gestured for me to back off, so he could clean the mess, but I hissed at him, and he held up his hands in surrender. A smear of chocolate found its way across my now soiled dress. The world has it against me.

I groaned. He laughed.

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

My mouth dropped, horrified. He grinned. This man was so uncultured. Definitely not a charmer.

"What? Something wrong with what I said, Princess?" I didn't like the way he emphasized the princess, like he knew what I was thinking of him. It made me shiver, and not necessarily just in the bad way.

I stood up to look him in the eyes. My presence wasn't at all intimidating considering I was a certified midget, and he was easily over 6". So, I tilted my head up, catching a whiff of his scent. He smelled like air and pine trees, with a hint of lemon and lavender. I sniffed myself subtly, pulling it off pretending like I was looking at the new soil that covered my dress. I smelled of roses and lavender and lemon. And chocolate. Delicious. I took a step towards him to get another sniff, and he made no effort to move.

"A man should never use inappropriate language like that in front of a lady. It is completely uncalled for."

His smile grew.

"Well darling, I'm not in the presence of a lady, am I?"

I huffed, and my hands automatically flew to my hips. Oh yes, I'm bringing on the sass.

"What am I then?"

"A faean."

"I'm still a lady. A lady faean, if you must, but a lady nonetheless."

I said lady too much, out of pure nervousness.

He stepped closer, licking his bottom lip and lowering his voice.

"I have a feeling that you Amber, are not a lady. You seem like the kind of girl that would chase a pretty ruffled up hat that flew off in the wind, trudge knee deep in the mud, and wrestle with a duck for the ribbon. And then curse the breeze though it was just your foolishness of not tying the ribbon tight enough under your chin."

I couldn't help myself. I laughed. I laughed so hard I started wheezing. I dropped to my knees, uncaring of all the eyes on me. I mean, I'm sure I'm a sight to see. A lovely girl in a beautiful dress with a chocolate smear on the front, uncontrollably laughing with tears falling from her eyes. Then I heard my dress rip and started laughing even harder. I don't think I was completely laughing just from the situation, but the fact that fate is never on my side. Everything that could go wrong does go wrong when I'm around, and it's irritating.

Ronin sunk down to my level, the smile not once leaving his face, only faltering a little around the edges when he realized that not all my tears were from joy. I turned away from his gaze, making it seem like I would start laughing again if I looked at him.