The Hidden Orphan (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 2)

Four · · · Evangelene (.3)

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice like a song. He looked handsome and his voice beautiful, but Eva was in no way attracted to him.

"To sit," Eva replied sharply. She glared into his green eyes and transparent glasses and then turned away, her hand slipping from his.

Halfway to her throne, his voice cut through all others as he asked, "Why?"

"I... I'm tired," Eva mumbled not knowing what to say. It was a lie, but she would rather not tell him the real reason.

Siend's voice turned sarcastic when he said, "Yeah right. The whole day to rest and no room for a dance. Would you say yes if I asked, Princess Evangelene?"

Eva's upper lip twitched at the name. She hated the title but she didn't want to give him her nickname so she said slowly, "No princess, please. Just Evangelene will be fine."

Eva eyed him as he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care," he blurted. He crossed his arms in defiance waiting for Eva to do something.

Enraged, Eva could feel her face getting red. She wanted to run at him and scratch his face, tear at his throat, anything to make him suffer talking back to his authority, his ruler, his betrothed, his fiancée, his princess, his queen. Eva wanted to scream at him. Was he always this sarcastically foolish in school?

When she spotted the crowd, their loud voices making themselves known to her again, his fixed her composure and smoothed out her dress to help her stay calm. She slowly turned around and looked Siend in the eye. He had a smug expression on his face that Eva so desperately wanted to wipe away.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice full of annoyance.

Siend almost laughed at her reaction. "Who said I wanted anything," he replied.

Eva watched him uncross his arms and take a few steps forward, only a few ips away. She felt like his hands were wrapped around her waist again, making a shiver run up and down her spine. To make the feeling go away, Eva put her hands on her hips. Another odd feeling surged through her body when she noticed that Siend was watching her.

"Everybody wants something," Eva said through gritted teeth.

Smiling Siend shot back, "What would you think if I said that I'm not everybody?"

Eva scrunched up her nose at his comment. "I would think that you are a liar. A big, fat liar that has no business being here."

Siend snarled at her for show, smiling afterward. "And I would think yes, everybody's a liar at some point in their life, but then I would wonder why you think I'm lying. After all, I'm not a very good liar and would be especially difficult for me to lie to a princess. Can't you tell, Evangelene?"

Eva didn't respond. She stared at him a little longer, contemplating if she should walk to her throne and ignore him altogether but then again, it wouldn't look good in front of the public and her father wouldn't have that.

Again, she asked him, "What do you want, Siend? I don't have all night."

Finally, he caved in and said, "I just wanted a dance. Just one. With you and me. I want to get to know you, Evangelene."

"Liar," Eva spat, making him laugh. "You lied to me. You said you didn't want anything. By what you just said, you obviously do."

All Siend's confidence disappeared making him look like the fifteen birth old he was. "Will you dance with me, please?" He stepped closer, his whole body shaking with nerves.

Hands still on her hips, Eva pursed her lips. "I don't know now. You lied to me and I have a long history of not trusting liars."

"Please?" he asked again, his voice getting more desperate by the second. Siend looked down into her eyes, pleading. His breathing was heavy, sending a chill through Eva's body every time his warm breath blew over her nose. Eva wondered what he was thinking.

Below, a slow song started to play. Eva knew that it was definitely for the couples of the court. For some reason, it sounded like the way Siend spoke the first time he said anything to her that night, the cello playing its beautiful melody.

"You're in luck," Eva stared say. "They're playing my favorite song. You just have to ask in the right way."

Siend smiled again and took her hand that sat on her skinny hips. A blush went through Eva's body, letting him drag her to the stairs.

In the cheesiest of ways, Siend asked, "May I have this dance?"

Eva rolled her eyes, unable to control her emotions. Siend didn't think it was rude though and laughed instead.

Eva's descent of that stairs was the only yes Siend needed. They walked arm in arm, Siend a head taller than Eva.

Halfway down, Eva pulled on Siend's expensive sleeve, bringing his ear to her lips. The jolt of his body being pulled surprised him, almost making him trip and fall down the steps. If it wasn't for Eva's grip on his arm, he probably would've fallen the rest of the way down.

When Siend righted himself, Eva leaned in and whispered in his ear, her warm breath against his cold skin, "Eva. All the people I like, I let them call me Eva."