Metaphorical: don't kill me for taking to long, Watson, please. Haha. I'm glad you say this is a funny story!! I'll definantly have to check out those other stories then. I love camping!!!! Thanks for reviewing!
Miss Piratess: No, no, Franz is just a complete moron. Thanks for reviewing!
DancingDawn: I'm so glad you like this!! Here's some more of my masterpiece (...) for you! Thanks for the review!!
Terribly sorry for the delay!!
Chapter 8- Emotions Run Amuck
"And then you showed up and next thing I know, I'm unable to defend myself against an attack because of an immensely heavy, ugly man on top of me. I remember the pain because I can still feel it now," I sobbed. Honestly, I don't remember the precise moment I started to cry again; probably it was around Franz- or was it the fairy? When I noticed the tears, I stopped talking and felt my face flush a deep blood red, feeling ashamed. I hadn't cried since I made an oath when I was little never to do such a thing again. Now, here I am, crying twice in one day. It made me feel weak and vulnerable- I absolutely hated it. Reeve, who was seated next to me on the sleeping mat, turned and looked confused as he stared into my eyes, I stared back into his. I was completely lost in Reeve's enchanting hazel gaze, again. I noticed I did that a lot. But this time, there was no laughter in his eyes, only an unfathomed sadness and sympathy. I was first to look away.
Coward.
"Wow," he said, mystified. "I didn't know YOU were the heir!" was all he said. Don't I get another hug?
"That's it?!" I cried out. "Do you always just think of you silly heir of Kendal theories? Well, they were right, ok?! And you didn't even expect it to me be! You probably were thinking some big, strong, diplomatic man would come and save the day. Not some half-illiterate, blacksmith whose parents only want her because their fake heir is greedier and stupider," I sighed and feel, face-down, onto my blanket and inhaled the scent of the dead pine needles. It calmed me, like it always did, so I stopped my crying.
"For being half-illiterate, you sure know some big words," Reeve tried breaking the tension and gloominess caging us. I shook my head to indicate I wasn't amused. "Come on, Bella. You are going to be the best ruler Kendal has ever seen, even if the people don't exactly know it yet. We'll make them believe with your little glass of honesty. Get your face off the ground and look at me," He said, pointing me in the ribs. I was very ticklish there so I yelped and covered my sides with my arms. "Oh, so that's it!" he exclaimed before attacking me.
I tried holding the sides of my stomach so he couldn't poke me, I tried swatting his hands away, and I even tried rolling away from him and his poking fingers. Nothing worked. In seconds I was laughing uncontrollably as he assaulted my sides. Soon, I found him on top of me, tickling like a maniac and laughing with me. But in a cruel, torturing way, mind you. The laugh, I mean.
"S-st-st-stop!" I gasped, out of air, before bursting into fresh peels of laughter.
"Only if you perk up!" he promised. I nodded my head as best I could and he finally stopped assaulting me with the tickles.
He rolled off of me and smiled- I glared. "You're the only one laughing about this." I told him.
"If memory serves me correctly, only a second ago you were laughing, too," he replied.
Suddenly, I felt the world spinning. Maybe pouring my soul out and being killed by tickling isn't the best thing to do when you have an injury to your head. I'll make a mental note of that later, maybe when I can think. I held my hands on my head and it seemed to work, kind of.
"Happier? Are you ready to take on the world as Princess Bella?" Reeve asked with a dazzling smile. He was back to sitting next to me again.
I was about to say yes and answer with my own dazzling smile before it hit me. This awful feeling, it felt heavy and depressing. My smile faltered halfway through and turned to a frown. My forehead crinkled into worry lines and I looked down at my hands, neatly folded in my lap. I felt sadder then ever. What happened to the happy, calm girl I used to be?
"What is it?" Reeve asked noticing my mood swing.
"You're going to take me back to Franz," I was shocked by my response, it wasn't supposed to leave my thoughts, yet, here it was finally said out in the open- how sad Franz would make me feel if we were together. But I had the curse tugging at me. That must've been the feeling I had, that hollow feeling. I had forgotten the king and queen had asked me to marry Franz and I had to. Damn this curse.
But why had Franz suddenly had a change of heart? What made him care enough about me to try to find me and bring me back to marry? Oh yeah, I'm the heir now. He had the kingship in his grasp, but it was taken away from him. I was his only chance to become king again. I seriously underestimated this guy- I never thought he would have been able to make the connection. Humph, geez there really is more than meets the eye. Don't judge a book by its cover, walk a mile in someone else's shoes, yadda yadda.
Reeve looked at my stricken face and sighed. "Well," he began with self-defeat reluctance, "Do you want to go back and marry him?" he asked. Reeve had turned into a saddened creature, just like me.
This question took me back a million miles. I definantly wasn't expecting that, not ever. Why would he care anyway?
"Couldn't you tell from the look on my face the answer is a no?" I chuckled a bit. He looked relieved.
"Good, very good. So then I guess I can't take you back if you're not going to want to go back," he smiled and sounded highly relieved. "Anyway, how can I do something that might make the Franz creature happy? I thought you could tell from my conversations, if that's what you want to call them, with him that I wouldn't want to purposely do anything that would make this incompetent whoreson happy."
I jumped up and clapped my hands. "Then you must come with me to get the Goblet of Truths!" I screamed, excited as a little kid at Christmas.
"Let's go to it then! The sooner we find it, the sooner you regain your position as the royal princess and only heir of Kendal. Damn, I'm good- I knew Franz wasn't the heir!" Reeve gloated and started doing a victory dance.
Quickly, I got up and joined him. Letting go of all the stress, we danced around the fire like tribesmen. Twirling around the fire, my skirts swishing around my feet, I caught up to Reeve who promptly spun me around again. I spun out, walking like a drunken man. Gently touching my head where I had been hit, I noticed the bump had receded to a tiny lump and I no longer felt the pain. This made me even happier.
"I'm cured, I'm healed! No more headaches!" I sang joyously in my own tune, twirling faster around the fire. I heard Reeve laughing his head off at the other side of the fire. When you twirl at night with your eyes closed, you really don't know where you are going. Ironically, as I finished singing my song, I had a nice rendezvous with a tree and my head. Am I lucky or what?
It felt as if I watched it all from a separate place, like I wasn't really in my body. I saw my body spinning from, it seemed, a tree high view, and then I saw my head being unceremoniously smacked against the tree trunk. To finish it off, I heard Reeve laughing so hard I thought his appendix might burst while I feel onto the ground.
"Our future is in the hands of the most graceful princess in the world!" Reeve exclaimed as he helped me up.
"No need to shout," I complained, massaging my temples. He was laughing again.
"Here, your highness, take a seat," he gently placed me back onto the sleeping mat. I looked around and noticed the tear stains were no longer there. I smiled.
It was the next day. Reeve made the quick decision to leave sooner rather than later so we wouldn't get caught by Franz. Hey, I would've been the leader but that splitting headache returned, I wonder why?
When I had tried getting up on Reeve's horse, Herrum, all by myself, I soon discovered I couldn't. Not that it's any of my fault! That horse is a mammoth! It's as big as a whale... plus some more!
Reeve smiled and shook his head after my millionth attempt. "Can I help you yet?" he asked, looking at me with pleading eyes. Damn.
"Fine," I replied not at all too happy about having to follow some stupid curse so I wouldn't feel even worse. Alright, so secretly I was glad- it would've taken me all afternoon with the two camel humps on my forehead.
Reeve swung me up onto Herrum and he climbed on behind me. I looked down and started to get dizzy.
"Geez, this horse really is a mammoth," I breathed, quickly looking back.
With a kick and a neigh, we were off to start my destiny.
a/n: yes yes, I know, not like what I normally write. Which was why I felt so odd writing this, hahah. Maybe taking a little time off was a bad thing. Or perhaps working on about a million different stories at once, I'm getting confused! Hahaha- o wait, that happens no matter what.
Well, now. Don't you think these two have got some gr-reat chemistry going on between them? Do you think it could last? What with Franz coming after Bella and the kingly title and Bella's freakish curse that is urging her to keep it going and marry the loser? ON the other hand, maybe this Reeve guy can "help" out. Haha Reeve reminds me of Reese, I was eating a Reese's peanut butter cup when I thought up his name. I hope you all caught on that he was the guy in the beginning with the mud and yelling. See, there's a method to the madness! Haha, yeah sure. Ok, well REVIEW PLEASE! Graci!!
