𝐒𝐨 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮

Chapter 7

     After a while, we finally arrived at the castle. I watched Robin and Mr. De Noir get out of their carriage as we pulled to a slow stop. Mr. De Noir came towards our carriage, with Robin carefully following him. Digweed opened the door, and Mr. De Noir, smiling, which is one of the few times I have ever seen him smile, said, "Welcome to our home."

     Uncle Benjamin stepped out of the carriage first, then Mr. De Noir patiently offered his hand to help me out. When I got out, I noticed some other guys who looked to be about Robin's age, a year older than me, talking to Robin. I recognized them. They helped Robin while he was trying to kidnap me.

     "Ahem," Mr. De Noir cleared his voice as Digweed closed the carriage door. He turned to Robin and me. "Sir Benjamin and I have a few things to discuss. Then we will head to lunch. I'm sure, Robin, you will mind your manners and show Maria to the dining hall." Uncle Benjamin hasn't quite taken a liking to Robin yet. So when he heard this, he opened his mouth to say something but then figured it would be useless and closed it back again. Loveday has tried to convince him that Robin isn't bad, but when Uncle Benjamin decides something, it's almost impossible to change his mind.

     "Yes, Father." Robin's friends struggled to contain their laughter because one had slipped, bringing the other two down.

     Robin stepped away while his Father sternly told Robin's friends, "You three get up and stop acting so foolish." Robin hurried to help his friends up. Then Mr. De Noir continued, "Sir Benjamin, if will you follow me this way to my study." As he passed by Robin and his friends, he whispered to them loudly and said, "Behave." They nodded. As soon as Mr. De Noir and Uncle Benjamin left, they burst into laughter.

     "Robin, did you see your Father's face? He looked furious." One of his friends said, still laughing. I just stood there watching, not sure what to do. I hoped we could go inside soon because I didn't like being so close to the forest because of how weird it felt.

     One of his other friends looked at me, then at his friends, and said, "Hi, moon princess. Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Adam." He took a few steps away from Robin and his two other friends and shook my hand, then said, "Sorry about them."

     "It's alright," I said with a laugh, then continued, "But please call me Maria."

     "She needs to get used to being called that since everyone is going to start calling her that." As Robin said, his other two friends pushed him to the ground. He was still on the floor but quickly grabbed them and pulled them down with him.

     "I guess it's my turn to help them up," Adam said. He pulled them up, and they all agreed that they would come to a stop for now.

     "Sorry about that, princess. This is Henry," Robin pointed at the guy on his right, then he pointed at the other guy and said, "And this is John."

     "Come on, y'all, we better head inside." Said Henry.

     "Let's give the moon princess the grand tour, but this time we don't have to include the dungeons. They haven't changed much since last time." John chuckled. Robin elbowed him. "What? Did I say something wrong?" He said with a smirk.

     "So this is the dining hall, but we'll return to this later," Adam said.

     Robin let his friends take the lead, and he came to walk beside me. I was happy that he was acting like himself again. He said, "How are you enjoying the tour?"

     "It's been fun. Hey, did James tell you why his parents wanted to talk to Uncle Benjamin and Mr. De Noir?" I asked.

     "Yeah, he did. I doubt that it will happen anytime soon, though. Why?"