King Charming
Chapter 11

Amy sat at the enormous table alone. Tony had dropped her off there on his way into the kitchens. In his infinite wisdom, or so he thought, it would be appropriate to dump her off so he could raid the cabinets furiously and alone. He had once found the cupboard that held a stock of royal wine and some stronger drinks. It was a virtual gold mine to him – he wished he could only find a stash of beer as well. He had given up on the idea that beer existed in the form he knew, but someday he would travel to the outskirt farming lands where hops might grown and try to find some arcane breweries.

When he arrived at the table he found Amy with her head lobbed over in her hands perched on her elbows that were planted on the table. He hesitated. He had enough trouble with understanding his own daughter and women on the whole. There was a moment in which he considered tip toeing the other way. However, his hesitation got the best of him. Tony had a soft spot for people in general, he was a good person – genuinely and honestly a good person; he just didn't always know how to express it. He was clumsy with his feelings, his advice and even his feet – the man simply was a clumsy person. Even with his oafish mannerisms his intentions were generally good.

It was with slight shrug and no more second thoughts that he dropped down in the chair next to hers. "Look I brought some fruit." He pushed the bowl toward her. "I would have brought something sweet but the cooks don't keep them past the meals because they spoil so quickly."

Amy pulled her face away from her hands and looked down at the bowl of various fruits. She reached over and plucked a grape from one of the bunches. "Thanks." She said passively. This man was her most valid link to getting home – or at least understanding her on some level. Amy considered pleading her case with him, all the truth. She reasoned that he likely would not believe her as the armed guards that she still could not explain existed just beyond the walls. She reached out and took several more grapes and looked back over to him. A light smile passed her lips. He was just a man, like so many that lived where she knew. He, like Arthur, was comfort to her.

In his version of similar circumstances he had his daughter. She could identify with him. It dawned on her thought that he had chosen to stay. Perhaps that was where she was going wrong. Though she wanted to go home there was a chance she could glean some perspective from him about why it was worth staying, if only to give her the strength to stay until she could find a way home. "Your home…you don't seem to miss it. Why? Why would you stay here?"

Tony smirked and didn't stop his peeling of the orange in his hands. "I lived in New York, that's why." He said off-handedly. He held up the orange thinking of where he could get them in the U.S. "If I'd lived in California or Florida I might not have made the same choice."

Amy looked back at the grapes in her hand. She had left Florida to visit New York for a vacation a little more than a week prior; she called that land home – his mention of it only made her heart hurt a little more.

"Oh hey I was just kidding." Tony immediately amended at seeing the saddened look on her face. He figured this was going badly. "Nah, California is like a cesspool when you get past all the glamour of it and old people live in Florida. Besides, there's all those natural disasters." He waved a hand, "Earthquakes and hurricanes; yeah forget that."

"Then why did you really leave?" She looked up to him seriously.

He took back to looking at his orange with his own sort of sadness. "Ya know they say the grass is always greener on the other side? Well this time it was." He tipped his head to the side. There were a million and one reasons it was nice here in the 9 kingdoms. It helped greatly that he was well cared for by Wendell's entire court and being a national hero didn't hurt. The truth was Tony remembered New York and his previous life as little more than a series of failures and bad luck. He didn't remember New York and his existence there with pleasant or fond memories, he had worked hard and gotten little in return. The only thing that mattered to him at all was Virginia; she was his one happy memory of that place. Even so, she was not something that had been lost in the transition to his new and permanent existence in the 9 kingdoms. Though he would often answer questions about his return in a vague 'maybe-it-could-happen' sort of way, he never truly meant it; Anthony Lewis had no intention of returning to New York – or the 10th Kingdom at all for that matter.

Amy nodded with a sad little smile. "I understand, you can keep your secrets. I didn't mean to pry."

"Oh nah," Tony waved her off again with a puckering of his lips. "Don't even worry about it. Lots of people ask questions about that place. But let me tell you something, it's not as magical – in fact it's not magical at all – as this place right here is. You want a happy ever after you keep yourself right here." He tapped his finger on the table. "I mean look at me! I was a janitor and now poof I'm not a prince but I got nice clothes, a some-day job to build bouncy castles and good friends. Real good friends."

Amy nodded again, this time with a little more hopeful smile. "Good friends are scarce." She admitted thinking of Michelle trapped under the sword of those horrible guards while she sat idly by chatting the afternoon away. The thought made her queasy. "That alone would be reason enough for me to stay somewhere."

"That's because you're a princess and probably haven't even had to want for anything your whole life." Tony cocked his head to the side. It was a similar talk he'd had with Wendell when he was still a dog.

"Of course." Amy half snorted and almost roller her eyes. It wasn't intentional, it was reflexive – it was becoming abundantly clear that she was getting a little too comfortable in Tony's presence as she felt she was being talked to by a parental authority figure. The fact that she was 21 years old and didn't live under anyone's direct authority anymore hardly took away the fact that she was a young adult still and had a certain amount of natural disregard to parent-like advice.

"There you are. I should have known you'd gone to the kitchens. I've been -" Wendell's voice came in the dining hall, but stopped abruptly.

"Oh hey," Tony waved a hand, "why don't you come sit with us. We were just talking about never wanting for anything. You wouldn't know anything about that." He jokingly prodded the king. "You two might actually get each other better than I understand either of you."

Amy felt herself go slightly rigid as Wendell inclined his head to her in a slight bow-like greeting. She issued him a stiff nod as well. She wanted to outwardly groan from his arrival. She had wanted nothing more than to wallow in loosing Michelle and in the company of someone who might not pick up on every single wrong move she made. She hated the idea that she would have to fake it once more, she figured she'd have enough of that when morning came and they'd ride together to the border. The idea of getting help home from Tony or telling him the truth was an absolutely impossibility now.

"Oh!" Tony almost jumped from his seat in excitement. "The princess has neat guards – I was hoping for a couple of my own. What do you think your majesty?" Tony elbowed Wendell. "Think you could spare me a few?"

Had they been alone Wendell might have laughed, he might have groaned and given Tony a hard time about the necessity of such a thing – though in the end given him whatever he asked for. However, with formal company so near he refrained from any indication of amusement or annoyance. "Perhaps later."

"Oh come on, it'll be great." Tony shook his head hard.

Wendell took a seat next to Amy who was looking straight ahead, doing her best not to acknowledge either of them. The king opted not to go on with Tony's prompting. "When do we leave?" He asked Amy.

She finally turned her head to look at him. There was a forced smile on her face. She hated herself in that moment. She hated the person she had to be when around this man. There had been a few rare times that she had allowed her own true spirit through; and even then she figured it was racy if not completely inappropriate. "Tomorrow morning."

What Amy didn't know was that it was those inappropriate or challenging manners that had him drawn to her. The way he saw it she was a princess with the spirit of someone like Virginia and that was interesting to him. Someone who would so blatantly yet so calmly and delicately go against tradition was intriguing to Wendell. It was with that in mind that he immediately picked up on her tight manner.

"You don't want to go?" Wendell asked reaching for her hand.

She quickly moved it into her lap under the table. "Not in the least." She admitted honestly, snapping her head over to look directly at him. "I'm unprepared to return."

Wendell understood her sudden shift in formality, or he figured he did. He let his head bow a little toward hers and he said in a soft understanding voice. "When you're taken back you'll have no windows with which to look out, perhaps if I venture further – nothing but walls."

Amy's expression changed. There was a hint of shock in her eyes, perhaps a dash of interest, and even more some admiration hidden in the depths of her surprised look. Her lips pulled back into an honest, even if mild and small, smile. She nodded slowly. "You do listen." She said in an awe-laced voice. It never occurred to Amy that the king truly heard a thing she said. She thought that she really had been nothing but a bargaining chip with which to entertain or puff him up and make him look more noble or dashing to his guests. It never really entered her distracted thoughts that this man might genuinely, if only a little, like her as a person and not just a title. "Yes, contained and restricted."

"Then it is with sincerity that I apologize for volunteering to deliver you to such a fate." Wendell said. "Please, allow me to take you the entire way to your mother's castle. It's the very least I could do. I would like to speak with her myself, particularly regarding the nature of your arrival despite my rather obvious mistake of issuing you no personal invitation; of which I must grievously apologize again. Believe me when I say you are most welcome here and should I have known better I would have delivered the invitation personally. And maybe I could help you find those windows. I don't know if I could let you go to a place where there's nowhere for you to imagine beyond the chaining walls."

Amy was, against her will, hanging on his every word. She'd even leaned forward a little watching his lips move. She hated herself for it but she might as well have been hypnotized by his voice or the very words themselves. She knew better, she knew very well better than to be baited by his snobby and self-important ways; even so it didn't take away that he knew exactly what to say. She had been waiting for someone who actually listened to her words; more than that, someone who listened and cared. She didn't give a damn about the invitation or her stand-in mother – she did care about the way in which he interpreted her meaning from a chat they'd had nearly upon first meeting. It was as if a prince charming really could be a prince charming and her imagination let her believe it for those seconds following his use of it.

She also had no delusions about boys and their ability to use pretty words that they knew their lady friends wanted to hear. She'd been subjected to one such man who had once upon a time stolen her heart. But like all shiny things it tarnished quickly when he showed his true self. Even with that knowledge this felt very different. Wendell didn't seem to be saying it in a way that was meant to lure her, he said it in a way that made it sound was if he honestly cared about the things that mattered to her.

When she was able to get control of herself again, after cursing herself internally for allowing herself to be captured by him if only for a moment, she shook her head. She didn't really know how to respond and it didn't help that she was still hung up on his actually understanding her. She didn't know how to tell Wendell no – that she really needed no escort at all because she planned on disappearing anyhow; but his seeing this Ice Queen himself was completely out of the question. She didn't want to see the Ice Queen herself. She brightened nodding quickly. "Of course. Please, by all means travel with us to the castle's door step and even inside your highness. I'm sure her majesty would love to meet and speak with you." She smiled widely. As her plan was to abandon Wendell anyhow it mattered little where he thought he was taking her. There was a piecing slice of remorse that filled her at lying to him, even so it had to be done if it meant saving their lives. Michelle's words too reminded her: this is our only shot.

A/N: I appreciate you taking the time to read this little piece and I would appreciate any feedback you might have.