Peril

Chapter 4

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU KNEW THE KING?” Etta yelled slapping my bare arm.

“I didn’t know he was the king when I first met him Etta.” I replied rubbing the red skin on my arm. “He seemed like a regular guy. He wore sunglasses and a beanie and a t-shirt and jeans. He looked like a common person.”

It had been two weeks since the banquet and I had heard nothing from the king, which was perfectly fine with me. (I didn’t want to hear from him ever again.) In the past few days, the entire mansion was filled with endless gossip and rumors about me and the king. There were multiple rumors: the king and I are secretly dating, we were engaged, I was pregnant with his child, we had a secret love affair, we were going to elope, etc. None of them were true, but no matter how many times I denied them, nobody seemed to believe me. It got annoying after the first two days so I’ve locked myself in my room, without any connection to the world outside my wooden door.

Master Christopher has relieved me of any of my duties, due to the fact that I can’t go anywhere without being mobbed- including the mansion. It’s been one hell of a week, and a boring one. I’ve sat here for the past few days, alone with my thoughts, journal, and guitar. At first, it was great to have time off and relax, but after the third day I was just plain bored.

Today was the first day I’ve let anyone but Matthew into my room, and the only reason he was aloud in was because he brought me food. Everyone else has been exiled. The only time I have left my room was late last night to check on my father, who was still unconscious. But that’s about the only time I’ve left the four walls of my bedroom.

“That’s not possible. You must have known he was royalty.” She continued to whine.

“No, Etta, I didn’t.” I snapped. She rolled her eyes and huffed. This only made me more annoyed and angry. “Look. The reason I let you in here was so that I could have some girl time. Which I haven’t had in the past two weeks. So if you could drag you attention away from the king that would be nice.”

“Sorry.” She mumbled. “I’m just a little star struck. Okay?”

“I know, I get it. But please let’s change the subject to something different.”

“Ugh okay fine.”

“So…. What’s going on with you?”

“Same old chores, same old duties. Nothing really new.”

“How’s Josh?”

All the sudden her eyes got glassy as she looked down at her hands. “He uhm… He broke up with me for Eva.”

I opened my arms and let her fall into them. “Oh Etta. I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged, playing with a loose strand on the hem of her shirt. This was one of the few times that Etta didn’t want to speak, and that scared me. After a few very silent seconds, I walked to the corner of the room and grabbed my guitar.

“Play White horse for me please?” She asked laying back.

“Okay.”

I positioned myself on the other end of my bed, strumming random chords before playing the actual song.

Say you're sorry
that face of an angel
comes out just when you need it to
as I paced back and forth all this time
because I honestly believed in you

Holding on
The days drag on
Stupid girl,
I should have known, I should have known

That I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale,
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet,
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town,
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down,
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around