Arcanum [WATTYS 2016]

PART SIX; 6

It was hardly morning anymore as Miriabella was awoken by the sound of loud banging on her front door. She groggily walked to the door, swinging it open to see a guard standing there with his hands folded in front of him.

"What time is it?" She mumbled, looking up at whoever it was.

He looked down at her, flipping up the visor of his helmet. "It's three in the afternoon and you're still in yesterday's dress?"

"I went to bed in it."

"Why?"

"I couldn't find any comfortable pyjamas," Miriabella shrugged. Kylo sighed.

"You can ask for these things, you know. Clothes, medical help. It's not going to kill anyone to help you out a little bit," he replied.

She raised an eyebrow at him, wrinkling the bandage on her face. "That's what you think. What do you want, anyway?"

"That's no way to talk to your guide."

"What?"

"I'm guiding you on a tour around the palace. Start catching on quicker." He joked, but a narrowing of her eyes sparked regret, so he quickly apologized.

"It's fine," she mumbled, "just give me a few minutes." She closed the door in his face before he could protest.

He leaned against her door frame, grumbling under his breath about her rudeness. She emerged from the room almost ten minutes later, and turned to look at Kylo, now standing in black slim-fit jeans and a grey, long sleeved shirt. She'd brushed out her hair with an actual brush, finally, and scrubbed her teeth clean with toothpaste. The bandages on her face were gone to reveal a thin cut across her eyebrow that no one had been able to completely see before. It wasn't as bad as she thought it was, very shallow, but it still stung sometimes. Her hands were still wrapped in gauze, but the pain was starting to dull. The bruises still ached.

"Why didn't you just wear that to bed?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. Every time he did that, she thought of the night almost a week ago that he told her he would watch out for her as she slept. He knew he had, judging by how tired he was the next morning.

She looked at him, cocking her head to the side as well to mock him. "No one wears jeans to bed."

He rolled his eyes, then turned to walk, "come on. Where do you want to go first? There's the library, the stables, the courtyard, the pet carrier, the training room, the other ballrooms, or I can take you to the different floors of the castle."

She followed closely behind him. "I've already been to the library, so let's try the stables?" She asked. He nodded, "anywhere you want to go."

It was quite a walk, since the stables were housed just outside of the castle's courtyard walls. As they passed the gate entrance, they saw the stable master shoeing a large clydesdale.

"Oro!" Kylo exclaimed, picking up the pace a little bit. Miriabella continued as she had before, watching in slight embarrassment as he rushed up to the man and embraced him.

"Kylo, boy! What are you doing here?" The elderly man, Oro, replied, letting out a laugh. Kylo took a few steps back and motioned to Miriabella.

"The king picked up a new recruit, I suppose you could call her."

"Is this Miriabella?" Oro asked. She nodded, doing her best to force a smile. It was the first one Kylo had seen.

"Lovely young lady," Oro continued, giving a sweet, old smile as he held his hand out to her. She took it and shook it, then they both allowed their hands to fall to their sides.