Royal Misfits

Chapter Eight- From the Horse's Mouth

Lizetta's POV

After the incident with the towel, Tate and I actively avoided each other. I didn't mind not seeing his annoying but very handsome face, but the circumstances made it feel all wrong. I obviously felt embarrassed because he saw me almost naked, but also for the way I reacted and how I acted ever since. My wonderful parents gave me chance to make things right with him, something I felt was necessary to do for some reason. The four of us, Amelia, Ethan, Tate and I, were to go horse riding. Given the state I was in last time I was on a horse, I declined. Then I remembered that I didn't have a say in the matter and reluctantly went along with the plan. I arrived at the stables earlier than everyone else so that I'd get to choose my horse first. A flash of black caught my eye, as I approached it I saw a completely black horse staring straight at me. I smiled, "Hello, beautiful" I stepped forward and placed my hand on its face. I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. I picked up a brush and began to groom it, talking to it as I brushed its shiny black mane. "You're so beautiful and rare. I'm so keeping you for myself.", I said as I undid a tangle in its mane. "I bet you wish someone would say that to you.", a voice came from behind me followed by a chuckle. I sighed and carried on brushing, "Oh yes, I'd love that. Especially if it were you, Tate" I rolled my eyes and kept my back to him. I heard him walk towards me, "I've been dying to say those exact words to you. Glad you feel the same way too demon princess." I turned around and he was right in front of me, I gasped as I almost fell onto him. I looked up at him and tried to look as menacing as possible, "Well, I'm right here. What's stopping you?" He smirked and stepped closer, I stepped back and we repeated this until I was against the wall of the stable. He placed his hand on the wall and leaned over me, staring down at me. I met his gaze, my eyes occasionally finding themselves looking at his lips. We stayed like this for a while, just staring at each other, until we heard a cough. Tate spun around and I tried to create as much space between us as possible. Ethan and Amelia were standing there and smiling at us as if they were trying not to laugh, Amelia finally spoke after a while of awkward silence, "Well, looks like this is turning into something we do see everyday."

On the trail, I was still reeling from Tate's actions. Where did that come from? He never behaved like that before, I needed to confront him about it. Going through what had happened over again, I lost control of the horse and veered off the trail slightly before I realised what was happening. The others stopped and waited for me to catch up, I could feel Tate's gaze on me and kept my head down. I felt shyness for the first time in my life and I did not like how it made me feel. Just thinking about how close his lips were to mine made me feel like running and not stopping until I couldn't stand. We rode in silence until the campsite, we split up into two groups of two. Of course I got stuck with Tate since Amelia and Ethan were a couple now. Ethan, being a self proclaimed camping expert ordered us around, "Amelia and I set up here and I need you two to get some wood for a fire." I sighed and stalked off, with Tate in tow. I tried to ignore him and gather wood, but it seemed contact was inevitable. Trying to grab a dry branch, I fell forward and screamed, "Ahhh!" As I hit the ground Tate was by my side, he looked at me with concern on his face while brushing away the dirt on my face, "Are you okay Lizetta?" Still in shock, all I could manage was a nod. He helped me to my feet wearing an serious expression for once, "About what happened in the stables... I'm sorry, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to do that for a while now." He looked at the ground and took in a deep breath before facing me again, "I think I may have a little crush on you demon princess." He smiled at me, but his smile was completely innocent, absent from his usual smugness. I blinked a couple of times while I tried to process what he just said, I saw his smile fading slightly in the face of my uneasiness. I gathered what ever courage I had and spoke, "I might have a tiny crush on you too. Don't get too excited." I rolled my eyes,but couldn't hold back the smile on my face. His smile returned and he nodded before setting off to find more wood for our camp.

Amelia's POV

I watched Lizetta and Tate as they walked off and smiled to myself. "May I know the reason behind your smile, Princess?", Ethan asked as he made his way over to me and handed me one side of the tent. We worked while we spoke, "I was just thinking about Tate and Lizetta, they're adorable. And you don't have to call me princess, Ethan."

We moved onto the next tent. Ethan stopped and thought for a momemt, "Well, Amelia, I wanted my own name for you.... I... I thought princess would be sweet but I realise how common that is for you now." I shook my head, "It's not that I don't like it, it's just that sometimes I like to forget that I am a princess, so I can feel normal at times."

He walked over with a smirk and wrapped his arm around me, I placed my hands on his chest to keep a distance between us, "What...what are you doing?". He leaned in closer, so close that his breath tickled my cheek, "I, Ethan, a normal guy is showing you, Amelia, what normal couples do.." he leaned in for a kiss as I closed my eyes to prepare myself but to my surprise that kiss never came. Ethan picked me up over his shoulder and ran.

"Ethan! Put me down! Where are you taking me?" I protested but received no answer. He laughed, a laugh that wasn't his usual sweet laugh and made me nervous about his answer. Before I could ask again, he spoke, "Brace yourself". The next thing I knew was that I was in the water, yeah that's right, he jumped into the lake, with me on his shoulder. Mad wasn't even the word to describe how I felt.

"Aaah, so it's like that. Time for revenge my Prince." I thought and then proceeded to act as if I was drowning. "Help. Ethan. I can't....."I cried out. Immediately, Ethan swam towards me and cradled me in his arms, "Oh gosh, Amelia I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I won't forgive myself for-". I burst into laughter which only gained a startled look from Ethan. I tried to contain my laughter, "What? Haha... I thought you said we were doing what normal couples do."

"Amelia..." he groaned. My smiled up at him innocently. "What am I going to do with you?" He stated rather than asked as he placed a kiss on my forehead.  I blushed and continued our conversation from before, "So about the princess thing...".
Ethan held up his hand for me to stop speaking, "Don't worry Amelia, I won't call you that and I am not offended in any way". He came over to me and placed his hands on my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled up at him, "Thank you".
Ethan pushed back my hair from my face, "I'll just call you Scarlett my love."

Before I could respond I spotted Lizetta from a distance, "Ethan, I see Lizetta and Tate coming. Let's hide from them." I said with a mischievous smile.
He nodded, " Perfect idea", he tried to supress his laughter as we swam away to hide behind some bushes.