Book Four
The light spilled through the window shining on the clean cut pages that made up Princess Gemma Esperite's favorite book. Filled with forbidden romance, a beautiful princess and a lowly farmer… It was too hard to resist for the ginger haired 15-year-old girl. A contented sigh escaped her painted lips and she stood, the floor creaking angrily at its new addition of weight. "Shut it…" she muttered sleepily stretching her pale arms above her head. "Aww... Stay up past your bedtime?" Gemma didn't need look around her before replying grumpily, "You as well Gavin." She said pulling her slender frame out of the chair and towards the door trying at all costs to avoid the boy covered in the shadows cast from the countless shelves of books. "I'm playing Gem. Please don't leave, I'll cry." He said with a smirk meeting her where she stood. He wrapped his pale arms around her almost non-existent waist looking down into her near famous deep green eyes. "Go away..." she muttered pushing him backwards with one hand and trying again to exit the library. "You have truly hurt me luv." Gemma turned back towards him sticking her tongue out at him before completing her journey out of the room.
"One day you will end up much like the poor mercilessly slaughtered dragons in those books I read." He grinned, "No I prefer to think that I will end up like the handsome prince that wins the fair ladies heart." She opened her mouth to retort before the now visible boy answered, "If there were a fair ladies heart I could win." She laughed looking over at him happy to have her dearest friends humor even at this early an hour. "Your quite amiable to be sure." She said looking over the average sized boy. He stood at around 5'7" and was muscled in the chest as was shown through the rich fabrics he wore to tightly, mostly to show off. He had long black hair that had was parted very far on the left as he pulled his bangs over his blue eyes and let the left hair hang on his pale cheek on the other side the back of it hung randomly and was cut just above his neck. "Why thank you…" he then imitated the action Gemma had performed by looking her over. She in turn, was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous what with her hourglass figure (that she adored to show off). She was much shorter then him at 5'1" with a mop of ginger ringlets that dropped past her shoulders. Her eyes were an almost black forest green color with sunbeams of gold that started on the outer layer of her cornea and branched a little from where it resided. As was said before she loved to show herself off, which was proven with the dress she wore at this moment. It was a green velvet with a neck line the plunged far below what was acceptable for young ladies, and was equipped with a ribbon about the middle making sure that the eye was drawn to her two best attributes.
"And I must say the same about you though without that dress you may lose some ground on appeal." She already knowing that some comment would be made raised her ready hand to his arm striking it playfully but hard. "One…" they said in unison. Ever since childhood, when they had first met, had counted the times she was hit him throughout the day, he then was given the privilege at the end of the year to count the numbers and divide it by the age he was that year (four years above Gemma) and read that pages of her journal that the number stated. She hadn't minded it up till her 11th birthday in which she had revealed her undying love for him at which he had laughed at. Truly her feelings hadn't changed since then. She still loved him, handsome, funny, and wealthy… But as was over-apparent, he did not return the feelings. He had replied only the year before when Gemma had again admitted how she felt, that they were just best of friends and nothing more.
"And what do you have planned today oh genius one?" he looked over at her, "Say that last part again and I'll tell." She smirked and stopped in her tracks making him do the same. She then proceeded to move closer to him and place her arms around his neck and stand on her toes so that she was closer to his face, "Oh genius one…" she said slowly in a whisper. "There we are…" he said in return leaning his face closer to hers and picking her up making her gasp a little. "Your at my mercy now dearest Princess." He said quoting a book they used to read a long time previous. She grinned, "Woe is me…" she said rolling her eyes. "Oh so opposed fair lady." She laughed, "Aren't I getting heavy?" she asked looking down at him. "Nope…" he replied letting her go and turning around bending to her level, "Hop on Running Water." She raised her eyebrow by climbed atop his back nonetheless wrapping her arms lightly around his neck and her legs around his middle. "And why the name dare I ask?" he looked around to face her, "I dunno…" she threw her head back laughing as he bolted off making sure nobody saw them on their way out.
Putting their status as well as gender into calculations, their friendship wasn't seen as acceptable. Hence they figured Gemma with her feet around his waist and his arms around her shins holding her as they raced off into the surrounding forest, wouldn't go over to well.
Gemma closed her eyes as the wind rushed past her face, losing all grumpiness and sleepiness letting it all rush past her with ease floating off in the breeze. "Here we are…" said Gavin letting Gemma down. "I never knew we were coming here…" she said with a laugh looking around at the oh so familiar place what with it's wind bent trees that provided the characteristic shade of C'est Bella as Gemma had named it, describing it well. She then let her eyes search the river that ran through the thick greenery that had seen much more corset and trousers-clad Gemma and Gavin then all of Drahavlen. Well truly it was the only inhabitant of the town that had seen a glimpse of their relationship, other then her sisters, whom had come to trust Gavin over the years. Though other then that, they didn't much trust her with any guy or any guy with her. Their speculations of the man's intentions (and most of the time hers) were painfully accurate, though she tried not to admit it. She didn't try to be as seductive around men as she always knew she was, but all in all, she couldn't help showing herself off in a manner that made any man drop to his knees with one question on his lips. But it was Gavin she wanted, no matter how much he resisted her temptations… It was him she wanted close, him she wanted to be the one to shiver when she said his name, and him she wanted to adore every inch of her… Alas. He did not.
"Gemma you've been here a million times as yet you still search it in wonder as if it's your first." She was thrown violently back to earth with Gavin's voice ringing in her ears. "And you've known me for precisely… let's see…" he laughed shedding his shirt leaving his pale chest exposed and only his pants for clothing. "Don't even stay I'm amazed by your beauty." He leapt into the water and surfaced momentarily finishing his sentence, "Because I'm not." She grinned unlacing her dress leaving her corset and leaping in the water after him starting their routine afternoon.
"Gavin!!" cried Gemma as she hung on his shoulder watching him carve their names into the tree writing afterwards, Friends For Life. "Stop! Father's going to find this and flip." He twisted his head towards her, "And I'm horrified." She laughed and tapped his arm using her free hand to cover his mouth as the word ten almost escaped him lips. 9 times between this morning and now had she hit him. In that period of time, they swam for a couple hours, lay out on the bank, and then began writing in a journal Gemma had bought from town for the two of them to doodle and write in. At this particular moment it was full of extravagant drawings drawn just for Gemma of her pet bird, of her, of him… That was his specialty, drawing was. He was a genius when it came to a pencil and paper, a master of the dance between lead and parchment, lines and shapes, which Gemma had attempted countless times over the years, but decided to stick with her own talent. Piano… She found herself being addicted to the sound it made as her fingers flew across the keys playing making the written note something beautiful… Each tiny piece making a part of the huge whole.
He tapped her cheek lightly, "Do you have some world up there I don't know about?" he asked as she again went off on her normal bouts of attention-deficit. "And so what if I do?" She asked letting go of him folding her arms, "What care would you give?"