Reign

Shame Pt. 1

Cecily paced back and forth as she waited for Condé to show up. She hated it but he made her extremely nervous. Nervous in a good way, a way she hadn't felt in a while. She took a deep breath before she stopped pacing and picked up a glass of wine and took a few large gulps.

"I see you have something you are trying to drink away as well," Cecily turned to see Condé, a little startled by his presence, even though she knew he would be here.

"I didn't mean to sneak up on you, your doorman let me in," he said with a smile.

"Would you like a drink?" Was all Cecily could manage to spit out as butterflies took over. She motioned towards a couch like chair behind the small table where the wine was set out along with her glass, and one for him.

He walked over and sat down on one end and she did the same. Cecily poured him a drink as silence filled the room. She handed it to him and he took a drink.

"How are you, after what happened this afternoon?" She asked.

"I'd rather not talk about that," he told her.

Cecily looked down at her glass that she had picked up and took a drink, hoping that if she started to get a buzz she would feel less awkward.

"You always seem so on edge Cecily," he told her.

Cecily felt embarrassed that she was so obvious.

"Why?" He asked bluntly.

"Let's just say I have a bad track record befriending men of noble birth. Or any man for that matter," she said with a chuckle.

Condé let out a laugh as well making Cecily feel a little more at ease.

"Well I'm not like most men," he told her giving her a flirty look.

She smiled at him.

"I'd like to think that, but I'm afraid, Prince Condé, that I've heard talk around the castle and your very famous for ruining marriages," she decided to play it risky.

Or maybe the wine she was drinking for the past hour was starting to kick in.

He took a few gulps of his drink before he met her with a sly smile.

"I'd deny it but that would make me a lair, which I am not,"

"Honesty is key," Cecily said in a flirty tone.

Condé scooted a bit closer to her in the couch and gently took the almost empty glass out her her hand. His fingers brushed up against Cecily's, jump starting the butterflies.

He set it on the table next to his glass and filled them up high before he handed the glass back to her.

"Everyone has a past, I'm just not ashamed of mine," he told her.

Her eyes flickered from him quickly to the glass as she ran her finger over the rim. Shame is a great burden to bare, and it weighed heavily on Cecily. Condé could tell.

"But your ashamed of yours," he said bluntly. Cecily looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know that," she defended herself.

Cecily was ashamed, but she figured if she didn't talk about it it be easier to hide.

"Then tell me about your past, if your not ashamed that is?" He pried.

Cecily wondered what he was getting at. Was he truly trying to just converse with her, or was he trying to make a fool of her? He was so hard for Cecily to read.

"Why would I tell you anything? Especially if, hypothetically, that is, I was ashamed?" She questioned him.

He smiled at her.