From Street Mouse to Princess
Chapter VII
The king dismissed us from the chamber, wanting a private moment to talk to his children. The feathered hat man strode out of the room with me at his heels. He led me to an empty corridor.
"So," he said, eyeing my warily, "I suppose I'm to lead you to the chambers of Princess Carlotta, since you obviously know nothing of the imperial palace." I arched an eyebrow. This guy was such a snooty snot-head. "However, I am much too busy, for I must attend to matters you would not understand…"
"I'll do it." The black-haired boy from the room walked into the corridor. He flashed me a smile and slung and easy arm over my shoulders. "I can show her around." The man's expression hardened.
"Well…" I saw the conflict flicker on his face. After a couple of moments of internal debating, he inhaled deeply. "Fine, take the girl to Her Majesty. I have better things to do, anyways." And with that, he turned flamboyantly on his heel and marched away. I stared at his retreating figure and snorted loudly.
"Geez, he is such an ass." I turned towards the boy, casually shrugging his arm off of my shoulder. "Who does he think he is? King Steven himself?" The boy rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.
"Yeah, my uncle is pretty full of himself, isn't he?" My jaw slackened and my mouth dropped open a little bit.
"He's your uncle? I'm –" I shifted my weight back and forth between my feet uncomfortably. "– I'm sorry, I didn't know. I didn't mean to offend you or –" He put his hand up, waving off my apology.
"Don't worry; my uncle's the biggest ass in all of the four kingdoms. He thinks just because he's Sir Montgomery, advisor to the king, that he can spend his days bossing the whole world around." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "But hey, you can't pick your relatives." He grinned and I smiled back hesitantly. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder and started walking out of the corridor. "Why don't we get you to the princess, eh?" He stopped suddenly and stuck his hand out towards me. "I'm Aiden, by the way. Pleasure to meet you." I gave him a friendly handshake.
"Sam, I'm Sam." His hand was warm and comforting. It felt nice. I pushed back that thought and dropped his hand, taking a small step back. A small smirk appeared on his face.
"Just Sam, not Samantha?" he asked teasingly, his green eyes lit with a mischievous glimmer. I punched him lightly on the upper arm.
"Don't even start with me." I rolled my eyes and stalked off into the main hallway of the castle. I heard him jog to catch with me. He tugged on my arm, slowing me down to his pace. He raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly, that glimmer of playfulness still in his eyes.
"Hey, wait up! I was only kidding. Do you even know where you're going?" I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed.
"Fine, lead the way, palace boy." I swept my arm out sarcastically, gesturing for him to walk ahead. He laughed and grabbed my extended hand, pulling me as he started walking down the left hand hallway.
"As you wish, street kid." I extracted my hand from his grip and settled for walking in step with him. I scoffed.
"Street kid, huh? What gave me away? Was it my ratty t-shirt? My bare feet maybe?" I asked kicking one foot out in front of me. Aiden chuckled and tapped a finger to his temple.
"I had a hunch. You know," he said thoughtfully, "I have something to fix the whole bare feet thing. Well, temporarily, at least." I raised my eyebrows.
"Really now?" He jerked his chin towards the right.
"Mind taking a detour?" I shook my head. I wasn't in a rush to meet the princess. He flashed me another grin. "Perfect. C'mon, follow me." I followed him through a series of hallways and staircases in a comfortable silence. We reached a corridor of mahogany wooden doors. He opened up the last door on the right side. He propped the door open with his foot and bowed his head slightly. "You may now enter my space." I took a small step into the room.
"Woah." I heard the door click shut behind me. I turned around to face Aiden, my eyes wide. "This room is huge." I crossed the room to look out of the large circular window. Outside I could see a group of young men sword training with some members of the guard. I found myself mesmerized by their agile movement and quick reflexes.
"They're amazing, huh?" I turned to face Aiden and found him holding a pair of sturdy-looking brown boots in his hands. He looked out the window with a wistful gaze. I nudged him in the arm with my elbow. "Thinking joining the palace guard?" He looked at me and scoffed.
"Huh, yeah right. My uncle has it set in his mind that I'm going to be the next palace advisor. There's no way he'd let me join the 'barbaric horseplay of military training', as quoted from my uncle," he said, making air quotes with his fingers as he spoke. "I'm three years away from becoming eighteen, and when that day comes, according to my uncle, I'm supposed to be ready to take on his duties." He snorted shaking his head. "Like that'll ever happen." I plopped down onto a wooden chair, propping my feet up on the desk accompanying it. I clasped my hands behind my head.
"What's with palace people's need to control other people's lives?" I frowned in distaste. "He had the same problem as you."
"Who does?" I froze, realizing I had mentioned him. I hastily sat up, keeping my eyes trained on the ground. I cleared my throat uncomfortably.
"No one, it's nobody important." Aiden looked at me curiously, but didn't press on. I sighed and decided to change the subject.
"Um, so what exactly did we come over here for?"
"Oh!" He stepped towards me, holding out the pair of boots. "Here, for you. They'll solve your shoe issue." I accepted the shoes, speechless. These were the first pair of shoes I've ever had. I stared up at him. He looked down shyly. "If you're worried about the quality or whatever, I'm sure the palace will provide you with much better shoes and clothes, too, later on. You can throw them out as soon as you get brand new stuff."
I slipped them on wordlessly. The fit was perfect. The fabric of the shoes wrapped snugly around my feet. I laced up the strings and tied them up in a tight knot. I leaned back in my chair and held out my foot, admiring the feel of shoes against my feet. Aiden cleared his throat.
"So, what do you think?" he asked timidly. I stood up and slowly walked towards him. He glanced at me uneasily. I stopped when I was three steps in front of him. A huge smile crept onto my face and I launched myself at him. I caught him around the middle and he let out an 'oof'. I squeezed my arms around his waist.
"Best present ever!" He let out a laugh and wrapped his arms around me, returning the hug.
"So I'm guessing you like them?" I tilted my head up to look at him.
"Like them? Are you crazy? These are awesome! Don't I look good?" I asked, pulling myself away from him so I could model my new footwear. "Pretty good-looking, huh?"
A goofy grin spread across his face. "I'd have to agree with that, ma'am."
I smiled. "These are my first pair of shoes, you know," I said quietly. Aiden poked me in the arm.
"Well, I am glad to have had the honor of presenting you with your first pair of shoes."
I tucked a stray curl behind my ear. "Thank you, palace boy."
He shrugged. "Anytime, street kid, anytime."
There was a quiet knock on the door. Aiden walked over and opened it, revealing a small girl wearing a simple brown dress. She bowed to Aiden.
"Sir Aiden, Princess Carlotta is requesting for her maidservant to come to her chamber. I've come to escort her." I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn't really want to leave Aiden now. Aiden gave me an encouraging smile. He reached out and gave my shoulder a squeeze.
"Well, you're off to see the princess. I'll see you around, Sam." I smiled back at him half-heartedly.
"Wish me luck, palace boy." The small girl beckoned for me to follow her. I gave Aiden one last wave before turning to follow the girl.
"'Cause I'm going to need it," I mumbled under my breath.
Mk, so this chapter was really to establish the whole Sam/Aiden friendship, which will play a big part in this story.
I picture Aiden as the charming, friendly guy that everyone likes, so don't go hating on him if you think he's going to take away the Seddie in this story. (Which will appear soon. I hope.)
So leave a review and tell me what to think!
Big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! And thank you to those who added this story to their Alerts/Favorites. It made me feel all fuzzy inside when I opened my email inbox and saw all these FANFICTION . NET notifications. THANK YOUS!
Love,
DEETRIXJAAY :3
