A Princess Named Harry: Book 2

Chapter 20

The music changed again, and the dancing ended. Of course, one could keep dancing if they changed partners. Most people changed partners and continued to dance the night away. Harry and Lianne were part of the few who didn't.

Lianne dropped Harry's hand and bowed. "It was a lovely dance, thank you."

Harry smiled and wondered how Lianne could be a monster. She bowed too and replied respectfully.

Harry was about to walk away when Varian came running up to her. He tightly grabbed her arm to keep her from getting away from him. "What are you doing?" he huffed. "Are you going to keep dancing forever?"

"N-no!" Harry stuttered. "I'm finished dancing. I was just about to head out to the terrace for some fresh air."

Varian sighed, "Good, I thought you were about to dance with someone else."

"Who would I dance with? I've already danced with everyone I know."

Varian's response and Harry's question left a sudden awkwardness in the air.

"You could've gone and found yourself a random person to dance with," he answered embarrassingly. "You know . . . like a guy here for example."

Harry didn't know how to respond to that. She gave him a big smile and silently pointed to the terrace. Varian grumbled because he felt stupid, but he still led Harry outside. Harry sat down on a long marble bench while Varian stood in front of her.

"Let me see," Varian said suddenly.

"See what?" Harry asked, but she knew. She was about to take off her glass heels to see what state her feet were in.

Varian didn't say anything. He was already bent down, taking off her heels. "You-" he grumbled. "What's with your habit of hurting yourself?"

Harry stared at her feet. They weren't as bad as she had thought. They were red, and her ankle and the soles of her feet hurt a lot.

It felt like she had giant knots on the bottoms of them.

"I don't have a habit like that," Harry replied.

"You do, don't try to tell me otherwise."

Varian's voice was stern, but Harry knew that he meant well.

"You always put others first, even when you're in pain."

"I was going to stop after dancing with Lianne. She needed it."

"Needed, you say." Varian put Harry's shoes far away from her on the edge of the bench. "Just like you needed to rest."

Harry kept her smile and remained optimistic as she answered, "I planned to stop after I danced with everyone. Besides, these are the effects of wearing heels."

Varian looked at her sternly as he replied, "I don't like it."

"I don't wear heels often, so I'm not used to the after-effects."

The two continued with their stare-off for a long time. Neither gave an inch to the other.

"Harry."

"Varian."

Varian shook his head and said in an annoyed tone. "You know you never take care of yourself."

Harry frowned; for the first time in a while, she frowned.

"I do-"

"You don't. Don't you know that the person you should take care of the most is yourself? How can you expect to survive in a harsh environment if you don't care about yourself? You'll never make it if you continue to live a life like that."

Harry felt a weight behind Varian's words. He sounded confident about the topic. Like he knew exactly what he was talking about. How had Varian been living before? Was his life as a nobleman hard? What things had Varian been through to be able to say those words with such conviction?

Harry felt her body get tense. She squeezed her fists as she decided to ask the question that had been on her mind for a long time.

"Varian . . . why do you always worry about me?" Varian looked at the ground. He didn't seem to want to give her an answer. Harry's back straightened as she decided to ask that question now. "Do you perhaps like-"

Suddenly, there was a loud boom that made both Harry's and Varian's heads turn.

"An explosion?!" she shouted.

Varian instinctively reached down to his side for his sword, but he quickly realized he didn't have it on him. He felt weak and naked without it. He hadn't realized how dependent he had become on it.

"Wa-wait!" Harry said. She extended her finger out towards the sky. Fireworks were lighting up the skies once again. "Fireworks," Harry sighed. She thought about the reason for the fireworks. "I guess King Henry is really going all out for his childrens' birthday."

Varian lowered a tense hand and gave a sigh of relief. "That damn king," he said bitterly.

Harry turned to him startled by his words. When he realized what he had said, he quickly looked up at Harry and gave her a cheerful smile. It was similar to the smile she would always wear, it seemed genuine, but Harry still felt something was off.

"I was startled," he said with a small laugh. He still had a bit of grimace in his voice. "I don't want anything to happen to you or your family."

Something about the way Varian had expressed his concern put Harry off. Without another word, they both turned towards the sky to watch the spectacle. The weird feeling soon disappeared from both of them.

The display lasted for a long time. It was just as extra and flamboyant as the Taram king was. Soon enough though, it ended, and the sky became dark and still again. Harry and Varian continued to sit on the bench just to make sure that there wasn't going to be an encore.

After a while of sitting in silence, Harry said nervously, "Um . . . I think the fireworks are over."

"Yeah," Varian replied. "Seems that way."

Harry gave a small nod and reached for her shoes. She was almost about to reach them when she felt her body being lifted.

"Var-Varian!" she squeaked. "What-what are you doing? I-I-I can walk!"

Varian gave her a sneaky grin. He could barely feel any weight while holding her.

"Do you want to injure yourself more?" he asked.

Harry looked at him with a defeated expression.

"I'm just doing my job, Your Highness."

Harry didn't like it when Varian referred to her as 'Your Highness.' Varian knew that. He held her with one arm and held her shoes in the other.

"I'll take you back to your room."

"Okay."

Harry didn't even try to fight him anymore. She could, but if she managed to convince him to let her go, what would she do? Wander around to her room barefoot? She didn't want to do that, nor was it proper for her to do so. The old her might have done something like that, but she had changed. She was no longer as naive as she was when she had first stepped foot into the royal palace. Thinking about the Cardiaire palace made her miss home.

"I want to go home," she said in a tired voice.

"I know," Varian replied. "You'll get to go back first thing in the morning."

Harry gave a soft nod and closed her eyes. She suddenly felt tired. After such a fun night, she was certain she would have only good dreams.