Fall Into You

11

i played right into your fantasy

The only light coming into the bedroom was the sunlight illuminating through the window. Nicollette kept any and all lights off, the small pounding in her head more than enough to cause her to stay in bed.

Thankfully, she'd done all of her giving for the town the last two days. She'd managed to get permission to stay in her room, claiming she was 'too frail and sickly' to attend any fancy brunches. Since she'd attended every other one, Estella allowed it.

Estella felt more sympathy for her daughter than Merlin did. Merlin, being the right-hand man to the king was ALL about pleasing the man that allowed him and his family to live so comfortably. Of course, with the job description Merlin had, that much was expected. But Merlin and Gerald had grown to be best friends, and so even with the bit of favoritism, he still respected the King more than enough not to use that to his advantage.

Although she loved her parents dearly, she hated how much they tied themselves down to the King and Queen. Workers or not, friends or not, they never had any ounce of freedom outside the palace due to their loyalty to the royals. And that is a good thing, sure, but not when it comes to their own daughter. They rarely spent the time with Nicollette that she craved, unless she went out of her way to do exactly as they did every day in the kingdom.

It was either she bowed down to the King and Queen, like some personal doormat, or did her own thing and lost the little bit of time she could get with her parents. A lose-lose, really.

Staring at the ceiling in thought, she thought about what Charles may be doing. She hadn't seen him in a while, much to her dismay. She was used to seeing him almost daily, and it was the thing she usually looked forward to doing each morning she woke up.

Finally, she decided to go ahead and head down. She needed some time with her best friend, and there was no other perfect time than now.

It didn't take too long for her to get ready, dressing in her usual daytime clothes. She brushed her hair and left it as it was, putting an extra ponytail holder on her left wrist in case she ended up helping him with something and needed to tie her hair back.

After shoving some shoes on she was out the door, leaving her phone and everything else in her room as she didn't find any need to have it on her.

Usually, when she found herself in the stables with Charles, her phone was the last thing on her mind. She often forgot to look at it, even as Charles pulled his own phone from his pocket. She could care less for it, not having much use as she loved spending her time with him in the stables. She loved to feed Maximus treats and help with whatever needed tended to at the time, so any screen time wasn't needed.

The halls were quiet. The house seemed empty, which she expected it to be so since her mother was busy doing something for the Queen while her father spent his days with the King. Malia was only around when the Queen ordered her to come over to the Terilow house, to help with getting Nicollette ready for any gatherings, so she hadn't been present either.

She took in her surroundings as she walked. It didn't take long for her to exit the house and begin the pathway down toward the stables, but she didn't get very far before a familiar voice stopped her.

"Nicollette!"

Turning around, the blonde saw Maria heading in her direction. She lifted her puffy dress up to jog in her direction, a bright smile on her features as she greeted Nicollette. "Where are you headed to?" She asked as she approached, stopping directly in front of Nicollette.