The Hybrid

28: Willow

"So this the guest house," Olivia says over her shoulder as we enter the 'house' down the road from the castle. "Or one of them, at least. There's another one next door. This is usually where guests from other kingdoms stay when visiting."

The houses she's referring to are closer to mini-mansions than houses. This place screams luxury from the inside out. I feel out of place walking into such an elegant environment with my beat-up vans, jeans, and ratty flannel. I slip my shoes off immediately upon entrance to avoid walking over the shiny marble floors in dirty shoes and keep my hands off the cream-colored banister as she leads me up the winding staircase.

"There's plenty of rooms. Pick whichever you like." She says, smiling and gesturing to the long hallway of many doors.

Going to the first door on my right, I decided this will be my room for the night. It's simple like my room back at the castle. It has everything you'd find in a standard bedroom, a bed and dresser with a few cool amenities like the TV on the wall, a walk-in closet, a chalkboard wall, and a jack-and-jill bathroom that connects to another bedroom.

"Great, I'll just take the other room. It'll be easier to take care of you if I'm closer."

She crosses the bathroom and drops her bag off into what she's claimed as her room for the night before coming through the bathroom again back into my room.

"You don't have to take care of me, Olivia."

"If this heat is even remotely as intense as I think it's going to be you're going to need all the help you can get." She says, chuckling. "Besides, I'm a doctor. Taking care of people is my job and it's what I like doing so don't even try to argue your way out of this."

Smiling I ask, "Has anyone ever told you that you can be pretty bossy?"

She laughs and then gasps, holding a hand to her chest as if shocked, "I like to think of myself as assertive. Thank you very much."

"Bennett said they restocked the kitchen for us. I'm gonna go ransack it, wanna come?"

"I'm gonna settle in up here first. I'll meet you down there soon."

"Okay, but don't be mad if all the good snacks are gone by the time you do." She says, shrugging and exiting the room.

Shaking my head, I begin unpacking my small pack. I didn't bring much aside from an extra change of clothes and a toiletry bag filled with the essentials. By the time I'm done finding places for my stuff and heading down the stairs, Olivia is letting in a small group of men and women. I count 6 of them, I pluck one familiar face out of the group. Penny offers me a small smile when we catch each other's eyes. I don't return it, my eyes skidding over her to the rest of the people around her in a quick assessment.

I notice they all don the informal uniform you'll likely catch most members of the royal guard wearing on a normal day; black combat boots, a pair of black cargos with a black cargo jacket to match that has the kingdom's insignia stitched with black thread into the left breast pocket. The insignia is a cursive C and K wrapping around each other in a whimsical yet elegant fashion. It's simple, but distinguished, easily identifiable. It's the same insignia I realized every citizen of the CK has tattooed on their body somewhere like some sort of brand.

A tall man with brown skin a few shades lighter than mine and low-cut hair steps forward. His muscles are huge and noticeable even through his jacket, very different from Beck who is also muscular but possesses a more athletic build in comparison to the bodybuilder in front of me. Beck's body is perfect, not too big and not too small either. He's just right. Everything about him is just right. I can't help picturing what it would be like to have his hard body on top of me, between my legs, running my hands through his thick dark hair as our lips collide and-