Child of a King

Chapter thirty - It's not you

On my way up to the third floor, I dreamed of a warm bubble bath that could ease my sore muscles. Maybe I could even ask someone to braid my hair afterwards so I could get pretty waves in the morning.

I froze in my spot when an obstacle hindered me from continuing down the bedroom corridor. How I had even made it all the way up here without noticing was a mystery to me. Guess that's what happens when you let your mind wander.

Slowly moving my gaze up from the sock clad feet in front of me, my mouth parted in surprise and a bit in nervousness too.

"Do you have a moment?" Marc asked, his voice remarkably different. It wasn't loud. It wasn't a growl or intimidating. It was... gentle. "It won't take long, and I would really like to talk with you. If that's okay", he added when I remained glued to my spot with my mouth agape.

Wow, he was even being nice. I hadn't dared dream of him continuing to be nice to me after he handed me back the green LEGO piece from two days ago. Considering his words, I felt a little torn as I was unprepared for this moment. The reason for me to be excused from the dinner table was the fact that I needed to get my complicated brother off my mind and now he stood in front of me. On the other hand, I longed for some kind of closure, and he was the only person in this world I could get it from.

"O-okay", I mumbled, nervously licking my lips.

"Okay, uhm that's- ", Marc scratched the back of his neck with a tattooed hand. "Let's sit". With the same hand, he pointed towards his bedroom.

With small steps, I entered inside his private space that I had never even seen a glimpse of before. The sight of it caught me off guard. I expected something dark and smelly, with scary posters on the wall. Instead, I was met by a light and open space. It was smaller than I anticipated, almost the same size as mine. The floor to ceiling windows showed the forest side of our house, equally beautiful to the lake side. His armchairs were made of brown leather, the color seeming to be centric for his entire bedroom. It complimented the white walls and the splash of deep green that there was on his throw pillows and the blanket that had been carelessly tossed over the wide bed. I felt like running my finger across every surface as it was spotless clean, not a single mess as far as my vision could see. Not even a pair of boxers on the floor.

To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Our maids clean for us, but only do what's necessary in our bedrooms. Like gathering our laundry, taking our trash out and vacuum and mop the floors. I heard dad say something about that it was healthy to clean up after oneself and that it's important to do so to learn how to take responsibility for your own things. Coming from a home without maids I thought it was a reasonable thing to clean up after yourself. Sometimes I even enjoyed wiping down the shelves in my room. I just hadn't envisioned Marc to be a neat freak.

"Do you want to sit?" He gestured for me to sit on the tall bed that was the centerpiece of his bedroom.

"Yes, thank you", I mumbled, awkwardly trying to scoot my butt up on the soft mattress that felt like a cloud. The silk-like sheets made it hard though as I kept sliding down.

"May I help you?" His polite offer made me blush as I thought how stupid I must have looked trying to climb on this mountain of a bed.

"Yes, please". It felt strange how polite and kind my brother was acting. I couldn't quite figure out how to deal with it. I loved that he was treating me more nicely but never experiencing him like this before made me tense and a little confused.

As if I was made of the rarest glass, I felt his hands gently grabbing me underneath my armpits, lifting me carefully on top of his bed.

"All good?" He asked, holding his hands out in front of me, ready to catch me if I might fall. I doubt anything serious would happen to me if I did, but Marc almost seemed worried or scared as he watched me like a hawk.