Shut Up, Cinderella

What You Are Under Pressure

The next morning, when Cinder and Gem came down for breakfast, they both looked sleep-deprived and exceptionally miserable.

"Whoa!" Olive greeted them, visibly wondering if she had made a mistake to put them both in a room after all. "Whatever happened to you both?"

"He did," Gem and Cinder said in unison, pointing accusingly at each other.

"He threw a pillow at me!" Gem added, glaring at Cinder. "In the middle of the night!"

"He woke me up with his snoring first!" Cinder shot back.

"Not my fault you're such a light sleeper," Gem answered, crossing his arms.

"Oh, really? Like you wouldn't wake up from the sound of someone sawing a forest in half!"

Gem stuck out his tongue. "Still no reason to throw a pillow at me like a spoiled kid."

"Says the guy sticking out his tongue at me!"

"Alright, stop," Olive interrupted them both. "So after Cinder woke you up with the pillow...what exactly happened?"

"I threw it back, of course," Gem answered, puffing up his chest. "I couldn't just leave it at that!"

"So I retaliated," Cinder admitted, feeling a lot less proud of himself than Gem did.

Olive raised her eyebrows. "Let me guess," she said. "And then it escalated just like the snowball fight did."

Gem and Cinder stared off in opposite directions. Neither of them wanted to own up to the extent of their childishness. They also didn't want to tell Olive the rest of the story: that eventually, exhausted from the chaos, they had fallen asleep right where they sat and woken up on the floor.

"I'm never sleeping in the same room as you again," Cinder muttered, taking a seat at the breakfast table. "Should've just let me sleep in the corridor. I'd have gotten more rest there."

"Hey, I was trying to be nice." Gem gave a huff and sat down. "You should thank me, you ungrateful prick."

Still sulking, they both scarfed down their breakfast without speaking a word to each other. Gem was done first and looked around for the innkeeper, who was nowhere to be found. "I'm getting seconds," he muttered and stood up.

Cinder glanced at Olive, who made no attempt to follow him. "Shouldn't you look after him?"

The knight, however, shook her head. "He'll be right back," she said. "And people here don't know who he is unless you tell them. They'll just think he's some noble on a trip."

Cinder frowned. He didn't feel like Gem was the best at going incognito; he was too honest and too proud and would blab out the truth sooner or later. Then again, Olive knew him better. He should trust her judgment.

"Why?" she asked, eyeing him closely. "Are you worried about him?"

"Just surprised," Cinder replied, his voice coming out sharp. "I always thought they were horribly paranoid about the crown prince's safety."

"Normally, yes. But I think it's better to lay low in places where they don't recognize him." She nodded into the direction where he had gone. "I had him dress like a regular nobleman, for example. He's more dressed up at home."

Cinder nodded slowly. "Princes don't stay at inns anyway, do they?"

"No...not unless they can help it. But look at him." Olive gave a laugh. "He enjoys being normal, don't you think?"

Cinder didn't answer. From the look on her face, the tone of her voice he could easily tell what she was getting at: that he, too, was part of the normality Gem enjoyed, and that being his friend would be good for her brother. He knew all that already. She had told him.