The King's Artist

Ch 29: A Friend?

It didn't take Adelaide long to realize that she had no idea how to properly wear a dress. The clothes that Charity had graciously given her were foreign and bizarre, made with too many buttons and layers. She fumbled for several long moments trying to find where her head was supposed to be and how the undergarments were assumed to fit, before giving up and falling back onto her bed.

When she had been younger, Adelaide had never cared about wearing nice things. She never had the money for it anyway. She often dressed in Marian's old clothes or something from her late mother but hadn't concerned herself with whether or not she looked pretty, and never checked if she was wearing the attire correctly.

Sighing in annoyance, Adelaide discarded the clothes with a heavy shove, watching them tumble off her bed into a large heap. A remaining skirt was chucked across the room and Adelaide felt like pulling her hair out as she groaned in frustration.

To add to the stress of her disastrous plan, Adelaide was now unable to back out of the story she had fabricated. Charity, as it would turn out, was a major gossip. Everyone knew about Arthur's hidden sister before noon the next day, causing Adelaide to have to take shelter in her room from the onslaught of questions.

As a knock sounded at her door, Adelaide groaned again, rolling to her side to look at the large, wooden door with intense annoyance for whoever was on the other side of it. She had planned to ignore the other individual, but their insistent knocking continued, irritating Adelaide to the point that she was gritting her teeth painfully. Checking to make sure the clothes were out of sight, Adelaide creaked the door open a little and wasn't surprised to see Kayden standing on the other side with what was obviously a very flabbergasted expression.

Without a word of greeting, Kayden pushed his way past Adelaide and slammed the door behind himself. Bewildered by his sudden forcefulness, Adelaide stumbled backward but was righted by Kayden before he spun and pinned her against the door. The sudden closeness should have embarrassed Adelaide, but her shock and confusion outweighed any other emotion at the moment.

"What exactly are you thinking?" Kayden asked very seriously, both hands on either side of Adelaide's face, sealing off any exit plan she had formulated. With a gaping mouth, Adelaide was beginning to explain, but the severe glare Kayden was giving her had her closing her mouth sheepishly. For a long while, they did nothing but stare at each other.

"It made sense in the moment," Adelaide mumbled after a long silence, looking over Kayden's shoulder and out the window of her bedroom. Kayden eventually sighed and stepped away from her, lowering his arms to his side and looking down at Adelaide disappointed.

"What could make you possibly think this was a good idea?" He asked sincerely, his eyebrows furrowing. Again, Adelaide opened her mouth only to shut it immediately. Her plan had formulated nicely in her mind at the time, but the more she thought about the more it just seemed bizarre. Kayden sighed loudly, running a hand over his face. He pinched the bridge of his nose stressfully before looking at Adelaide again. "Well, I hope you know that everyone within walking distance to the castle now thinks you have a twin sister."

"Sorry," muttered Adelaide apologetically. "I didn't think the news would spread so quickly."

"Why didn't you just tell me you were planning this?" Kayden asked the hurt in his voice practically malleable. Adelaide blinked several times confused by his reaction and cocked her head to the side.

"Why would I have dragged you into this?" She questioned. Kayden's face flushed a little, his mind straying for a moment to how adorable she looked with her head tilted to the side, before he looked away quickly, covering up his blush with a series of loud, jarring coughs.

"We're friends, aren't we?" Kayden resumed, pretending as if he hadn't just hacked up his lungs. Adelaide was at a lost for words as she considered his question. True, after everything that had happened she did indeed consider Kayden a friend now, but she wondered if that meant she had to share with him everything she would have typically shared with Henry. While plotting her sister story, Adelaide hadn't considered Kayden even once, her mind focused only on herself and, occasionally, Henry. Her lack of awareness of how her actions would impact Kayden, and even Jasper, now that she thought about it, was making her seem like a rather selfish human being.

"Sorry," repeated Adelaide, unsure of what else to say. Kayden's earlier hurt and anger at her completely disregarding his existence gradually retreated at he stared down at the pitiful and small Adelaide who now looked rightfully miserable. For some reason, she reminded him of a scolded puppy.

Unconsciously, Kayden placed a soft hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair in a playful manner. The curls were soft as they threaded through his fingers and he found himself wanting to bury his hands in the golden locks. He resisted, though, and reclined his hand so that Adelaide could raise her head. Only, she didn't.

Confused, Kayden bent down to get a look at Adelaide's face, already conjuring up a series of apologies in his head to make up for yelling at her. But the words froze in Kayden's throat as he registered the expression on her face. Adelaide's cheeks were flaming red, the color reaching all the way to her ears. Her lips were partially open and her eyes locked with his briefly before darting away in bewilderment.

"I'll make sure to consult with you in the future," stuttered Adelaide, her voice too high. She turned away from Kayden hastily, going behind him to shove him outside. Unsure of how to comprehend what had just happened, Kayden allowed himself to be easily displaced from the room, the door shutting loudly behind him.

Adelaide leaned against the doorframe heavily, her worries momentarily forgotten as she tried to calm her heart. In her thoughts, she touched the top of her head lightly. Kayden's actions had startled her, the pat-on-the-head being unexpected. Even though Jasper had done something similar in the past, she couldn't help but find the two instances extremely different. Jasper patting her head had been comforting and gentle, fatherly in every sense of the word. However, with Kayden, all Adelaide could think about was how hot his hand had been, how large his palm was, and how her stomach had twisted violently when his fingers had become slightly entangled in her hair. She hiccupped just at the memory.

If Adelaide hadn't looked at Kayden as a man before, she certainly was beginning to now.