Charmed

Chapter Four

The tolling bell woke me the next morning, which was odd. Normally the sun filtering through the small window in the chamber would be enough to wake me up. I stretched, my joints clicking in pleasure. I sat up to find Lisa staring at me, a glare smeared across her face. I had never been a morning person but I was still on cloud nine from last night, despite it only being shoes - I really didn't have the patience to deal with her.

"What are these?" she asked. Her tone seemed like she was trying to maintain her anger.

I looked at what she was holding to see my new shoes firmly in her grasp. "Hey! Put those back. They don't belong to you."

"Nor you."

"Actually, they do." I stood up and snatched them from her grasp, forcing them on my feet. "The prince gave them to me."

"The prince?" Lisa didn't even try to hide the disbelief in her voice. "I thought you hated him."

"I did," I told her. "But people change. He's nicer to me now."

I began dressing without looking over to her simply because I knew what her face would look like – a fierce scowl. I had to hurry to wake Darius before his parents arrived and help Claude look her best for them.

"What is this, Gwen?" Lisa finally snapped from where she was sat in her bed. I rolled my eyes while my back was turned. "Are you sleeping with the prince and in return he gives you things?"

I whirled around to face her, my eyes narrowed. "No! How dare you! He's just being kind. He doesn't seek anything in return. And neither do I when I serve him. He already lets me stay in the castle and provides food."

Lisa held her hands up. "Alright. Whatever you say. I just had to check."

I tugged the last string of my corset and tied it tightly, slipping my head over my dress furiously. "If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." I felt her eyes follow me as I stormed out of our chambers, but I was too angry to care.

Who did she think I was? As if I would just go sleeping around, and for shoes no less! The cloud I was floating on last night had well and truly been bust, and although I tried to calm myself down, I couldn't.

I stomped into the kitchen and grabbed Darius' breakfast before marching to the royal tower. I forced Darius' chamber door open and deposited the breakfast tray on the table. I yanked at the curtains, flooding the room with sunlight.

Darius jerked awake in the bed, rubbing his eyes and shielding them from the sudden light. I moved to his other curtains, opening them, too, and then set about laying the breakfast out, slamming the cutlery onto the table.

"Gwen?" Darius' voice was husky from sleep. My sudden change of feeling towards him made it sound all the better. "Is everything alright?"

I plastered a fake smile on my face and nodded. "Mmhmm. Everything is wonderful."

Darius padded over to me, but he didn't sit down like he usually did. Instead he stood beside me, gripping my shoulders and moving me away from the table. "If you slam the fork down any harder it'll surely break. And it's steel, no less. Now, what's happened?"

I took a deep sigh and started rambling about Lisa's accusations. When I told him, I knew I was flushing. It amused me to see Darius' cheeks also turn a little red as I mentioned the deal Lisa presumed we had made.

"That's preposterous," he chuckled, looking at anything but me.

"Exactly what I said," I sighed, running my hand down my temple. Silence formed over us. "You should really eat, Darius. Your parents will be here soon. We both know what you're like when you haven't eaten breakfast."