A/N: I might take a break from this guys…I'll post more chaps soon (a few
days?), but I have to make time for other stuff…I might just post chap 16-
17, but that's pretty much it :)
1 Chapter Three – The Secret Life of Him, An Exposé
Two weeks later, after the "kiss", life seemed to go right back to normal—thank God—and Khalil was talking to me again, after a whole week of silence. He'd spent one week away, on some sort of expedition with the guys (squires I'm thinking) and had taken Serena with him—who still didn't know of the kiss. And the other week, he'd spent ignoring and avoiding me until I'd rounded him up in a corner and lashed out at him, verbally.
'You better bloody talk to me!' I'd screamed.
'I thought you didn't wanna talk to me!' he'd yelled back.
Thanks to my PMS (yes, I had to stuff pieces of thick cloth in my "undies"), I burst out in tears and started yelling my butt off, until I just hugged him and told him I needed to go have some lunch, "I'm starved".
So, I returned to my normal Tortallian life, as a simple, boring girl stuck in a world not her own but trying to make the best of it.
Meanwhile, Roald was not even sparing me a glance, not since Khalil left on the "excursion". I didn't know what to think of it, so I just shut up and moved on with life. He was just a Prince after all, and Princes pick and choose their own friends, no questions asked. There weren't any rules stating; "a Prince must not ignore his future-princess while betrothed to another Princess".
So I ignored him in return, but every once in a while I tried out a smile on him to see if he even remembered me, but he never even looked at me to notice my pathetic smile.
'Reem, concentrate!' Hayley hissed, snapping me back from my daydreaming. Back in my world I'd daydreamed of Tortall and now that I was in Tortall…well I still daydreamed of Tortall.
So there I was, sitting on a chair, in—believe it or not—an etiquette and everything lady-ish class.
I was meant to be wearing these heels and trying to practice the "walk", but I couldn't bring myself to look at the damn things without gagging, let alone wear them.
'REEM!'
I jumped and turned to the teacher.
'What the bloody hell did I do now?!' I snapped.
She'd been at me for the whole of the past hour, bugging me every other minute to get lady-ish and start prancing around like a prissy young lady with her chin stuck right up in the air!
Her face now looked pinched and blotchy as she gaped at me, offended. 'What did you say?'
'I said—'
'Don't get smart with me, young lady!' she cut in sharply.
'Unlady!'
'Excuse me?'
'I'm an unlady, never a lady. I'd rather get my arse bitten off by a croc then ever be a lady.'
The whole class was now gaping and gasping, muttering to each other how rude and provocative I was and that I should be kicked out of the class instantly, without warnings.
I'd only come along because I had absolutely nothing to do and Khalil was with Serena somewhere and well…I enjoyed Hayley's company ninety-nine point nine percent more than I enjoyed the rest of the "Lost in Tortall" girls.
The teacher was now huffing and opening and closing her mouth like a dying fish, her eyes bulging out of their sockets and the vein at her throat poking out very dangerously.
'You…you…insolent brat!' she crackled in the end. 'OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY CLASS AND NEVER RETURN!'
'Gladly!' I said with a smile.
I passed by her and tsk-tsked, 'You know, you shouldn't be teaching us etiquette, you yourself aren't a lady, so how do we know that what you're teaching us is right, or at least legal?'
'OUT!!!!!!!!' the old woman howled.
Kicked out of etiquette class, I wandered around, roaming the streets with the dagger I'd borrowed from Hayley (her spare of course), and headed towards the market again, hoping to find something to do.
But on the way, I bumped into Roald.
He didn't look at me as he said, 'The King is looking for you.'
Had he heard about the little episode in etiquette class, already?
I sighed gloomily and nodded as graciously as possible and walked off to the Palace but Roald told me the King wasn't in the Palace, he was in some sort of new inn.
'In public? Won't he be kinda vulnerable?' I asked dumbly.
Roald sighed impatiently. 'Give the password: Circle of Thieves and they'll lead you to him.'
'Yeah…ah, well how do I get there?'
It hurt, but he looked about to find someone to show me, but there was no one, so he started telling me all these directions.
I understood him, but I wanted him to show me (therefore, I get to spend more time with him…pathetic but yes), so I looked as baffled as possible and groaned when he was finished babbling. 'Look, I dunno the streets as good as you, so could you please show me?'
'Can't Hayley show you?' Roald muttered, still not looking at me.
'No, she's in etiquette class, I just got kicked out. Plus, I want you to show me!'
So he led me there and ditched me as soon as we were at the door of the "inn".
It didn't look new at all, in fact it looked dirty and ancient, the paint peeled, the sign at the top (which seemed to say Free Unhin, but I was later told it was actually Street Sunshine) handing loose and disfigured.
The door was squeaky as I opened it and entered the grimy, rotten-smelling inn. There seemed to be a lot of people there, old men mostly, hanging around the tables and such, laughing drunkenly and talking too loudly.
So I slipped quietly towards the bar and asked around for the inn owner, who was pointed out to be a shabby old man with many missing teeth and the worst breath possible. If I ate onions my whole life, I'd smell better.
I breathed through my mouth and said: 'Circle of Thieves.'
The old man eyed me sternly for a while, then nodded and told me to follow him.
We went up some stairs and down some again and then went through a corridor, then into a dark room, where he opened some sort of secret door and entered a dead-dark "corridor", pulling me along blindly with his sweaty, swollen hands.
We ended up in a large, comfortable room that included a double bed with normal, plain, un-kingly sheets (nothing like the Palace of course, or my room) and a small closet, cabinet, study-table and a few rugs here and there on the concrete floor. The room smelled of flowers and ink.
Jon was sitting near the end of the room, talking earnestly to a serious- looking man with long hair who appeared to be exceedingly tall. I guessed it was Numair.
The inn owner had left as soon as we'd entered the room, so I was left to stand awkwardly near the door and wait patiently for Jon to notice my small, insignificant presence.
It took at least another fifteen minutes before he stopped talking and another few minutes to see me and call me over.
I shook hands with Numair and asked a few polite questions about Daine, very disappointed that I didn't get to meet another shero I'd so desperately wanted to meet during my "visit" to Tortall.
Numair left soon, leaving me to stare openly at Jon, wondering who would have been better looking, Jon at Roald's age, or Roald…
'We need to have a serious talk Reem,' Jon said.
'Ah, yeah, sure your Majesty.'
'I've noticed you're fitting in very well here in Tortall,' the King commented, obviously wanting to talk about something else, but starting off with something light and easy.
'Yep, sure. Just get to it, your Majesty, I really don't wanna hold you up and I may get wild ideas if I stay in here too long, alone, with you. You know being chucked in prison for sexually assaulting a King isn't on the top priorities in my life.'
Jon's look was utter shock, but then after a few seconds, he burst into laughter. 'You really do speak your mind, don't you?'
'Yeah, sure I do. Why wouldn't I?'
He smiled and nodded, then quickly sobered up.
'Well, what I really wanted to say was…stay away from Roald.'
Talk about mood swings, I thought.
'Excuse me?' I said, my eyebrows raised, my turn to look shocked.
Jon frowned at me. 'He's been spending too much time with you, not enough time getting to know his betrothed, how much rumours have already spread? And they've increased tenfold since the ball! This treaty will go on ahead Reem, whether you like it or not.'
'Jon—'
'Your Majesty.'
'Your Majesty, what you said was pretty harsh, I've never shown anything other than friendship to the Prince.'
'But I know you can't say the same about him,' Jon said with a deep sigh. 'Reem, believe me, if I had a choice, I would let him marry who he wants but—'
'I know, I know,' I said glumly, having read Tammy's explanation behind the forced marriage in the books.
'Good, so will you cooperate, or will we have to force you to?' Jon asked, raising an eyebrow.
'Force me?' I smirked. 'No one forces me to do anything, King or not!'
Obviously, I'd offended him, because he pursed his lips and was quiet for a bit.
'Cooperate Reem, for Roald's sake. You do know he'd only pretend to love you so—'
'He can get back at you for the arranged marriage?' I cut in, angry now. How dare he force me to do anything? I wasn't part of his world; I never wanted to be part of his world if he was going to force me to promise to stupid things like staying away from my own friends. My own mum had never said anything like that, who was he to? The King of Tortall? Well I wasn't from Tortall, I had no rights in Tortall and I had no real status in Tortall, not even a thief or peasant, so therefore he didn't rule me!
'Yes,' Jon replied gravely. 'Exactly.'
I laughed nastily. 'I'm sure of that Jon! Of course, marriage went well for you! Hell, when you proposed to Alanna, everything went so well and perfectly! So Roald just has to share the same experience of a loving, mutual marriage, huh?'
His eyes clouded. 'This has nothing to do with me!' he snapped. 'Just stay away from him and all will be well!'
I snarled and got up to go. 'I really used to look up to you Jon! I loved you, obsessed over you for God's sake, but now…now you're just a friggin' spoilt, self-centered King!'
I never expected Jon to be so irrationally harsh. I understood he wanted the treaty to go on ahead and I was all for it, but he just completely jumped to conclusions. I'd never try to destroy the treaty, ever. Hell, I was not even a threat. The Prince liked the Yamani Princess, not me. And even if he did like me, one: he was responsible and smart and would be sensible enough to marry the Princess to keep the peace and two: the King should just stuff it where he wouldn't like it and leave the Prince alone.
But I knew thought number two was just pure silly and immature of me, but I wasn't the one telling anyone to stay the hell away from their friends because I'm scared they're going to influence them and destroy the peace I had worked so hard to create.
But even after all that, I was still infatuated with Jon dearest. Yes, I'm crazy, insane and have no brain to speak of. But Jon was and would always be my hero and my make-belief future-husband. I repeat, yes I'm insane.
I realized the only reason Roald had been ignoring me was because his sweet old daddy, the King, had told him to stay right away from "that she- devil"…me. Well, no one was going to keep me away from my friends, King or peasant.
'You asked for it Roald, now you're getting it…' I said quietly, smiling distantly.
1 Chapter Three – The Secret Life of Him, An Exposé
Two weeks later, after the "kiss", life seemed to go right back to normal—thank God—and Khalil was talking to me again, after a whole week of silence. He'd spent one week away, on some sort of expedition with the guys (squires I'm thinking) and had taken Serena with him—who still didn't know of the kiss. And the other week, he'd spent ignoring and avoiding me until I'd rounded him up in a corner and lashed out at him, verbally.
'You better bloody talk to me!' I'd screamed.
'I thought you didn't wanna talk to me!' he'd yelled back.
Thanks to my PMS (yes, I had to stuff pieces of thick cloth in my "undies"), I burst out in tears and started yelling my butt off, until I just hugged him and told him I needed to go have some lunch, "I'm starved".
So, I returned to my normal Tortallian life, as a simple, boring girl stuck in a world not her own but trying to make the best of it.
Meanwhile, Roald was not even sparing me a glance, not since Khalil left on the "excursion". I didn't know what to think of it, so I just shut up and moved on with life. He was just a Prince after all, and Princes pick and choose their own friends, no questions asked. There weren't any rules stating; "a Prince must not ignore his future-princess while betrothed to another Princess".
So I ignored him in return, but every once in a while I tried out a smile on him to see if he even remembered me, but he never even looked at me to notice my pathetic smile.
'Reem, concentrate!' Hayley hissed, snapping me back from my daydreaming. Back in my world I'd daydreamed of Tortall and now that I was in Tortall…well I still daydreamed of Tortall.
So there I was, sitting on a chair, in—believe it or not—an etiquette and everything lady-ish class.
I was meant to be wearing these heels and trying to practice the "walk", but I couldn't bring myself to look at the damn things without gagging, let alone wear them.
'REEM!'
I jumped and turned to the teacher.
'What the bloody hell did I do now?!' I snapped.
She'd been at me for the whole of the past hour, bugging me every other minute to get lady-ish and start prancing around like a prissy young lady with her chin stuck right up in the air!
Her face now looked pinched and blotchy as she gaped at me, offended. 'What did you say?'
'I said—'
'Don't get smart with me, young lady!' she cut in sharply.
'Unlady!'
'Excuse me?'
'I'm an unlady, never a lady. I'd rather get my arse bitten off by a croc then ever be a lady.'
The whole class was now gaping and gasping, muttering to each other how rude and provocative I was and that I should be kicked out of the class instantly, without warnings.
I'd only come along because I had absolutely nothing to do and Khalil was with Serena somewhere and well…I enjoyed Hayley's company ninety-nine point nine percent more than I enjoyed the rest of the "Lost in Tortall" girls.
The teacher was now huffing and opening and closing her mouth like a dying fish, her eyes bulging out of their sockets and the vein at her throat poking out very dangerously.
'You…you…insolent brat!' she crackled in the end. 'OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY CLASS AND NEVER RETURN!'
'Gladly!' I said with a smile.
I passed by her and tsk-tsked, 'You know, you shouldn't be teaching us etiquette, you yourself aren't a lady, so how do we know that what you're teaching us is right, or at least legal?'
'OUT!!!!!!!!' the old woman howled.
Kicked out of etiquette class, I wandered around, roaming the streets with the dagger I'd borrowed from Hayley (her spare of course), and headed towards the market again, hoping to find something to do.
But on the way, I bumped into Roald.
He didn't look at me as he said, 'The King is looking for you.'
Had he heard about the little episode in etiquette class, already?
I sighed gloomily and nodded as graciously as possible and walked off to the Palace but Roald told me the King wasn't in the Palace, he was in some sort of new inn.
'In public? Won't he be kinda vulnerable?' I asked dumbly.
Roald sighed impatiently. 'Give the password: Circle of Thieves and they'll lead you to him.'
'Yeah…ah, well how do I get there?'
It hurt, but he looked about to find someone to show me, but there was no one, so he started telling me all these directions.
I understood him, but I wanted him to show me (therefore, I get to spend more time with him…pathetic but yes), so I looked as baffled as possible and groaned when he was finished babbling. 'Look, I dunno the streets as good as you, so could you please show me?'
'Can't Hayley show you?' Roald muttered, still not looking at me.
'No, she's in etiquette class, I just got kicked out. Plus, I want you to show me!'
So he led me there and ditched me as soon as we were at the door of the "inn".
It didn't look new at all, in fact it looked dirty and ancient, the paint peeled, the sign at the top (which seemed to say Free Unhin, but I was later told it was actually Street Sunshine) handing loose and disfigured.
The door was squeaky as I opened it and entered the grimy, rotten-smelling inn. There seemed to be a lot of people there, old men mostly, hanging around the tables and such, laughing drunkenly and talking too loudly.
So I slipped quietly towards the bar and asked around for the inn owner, who was pointed out to be a shabby old man with many missing teeth and the worst breath possible. If I ate onions my whole life, I'd smell better.
I breathed through my mouth and said: 'Circle of Thieves.'
The old man eyed me sternly for a while, then nodded and told me to follow him.
We went up some stairs and down some again and then went through a corridor, then into a dark room, where he opened some sort of secret door and entered a dead-dark "corridor", pulling me along blindly with his sweaty, swollen hands.
We ended up in a large, comfortable room that included a double bed with normal, plain, un-kingly sheets (nothing like the Palace of course, or my room) and a small closet, cabinet, study-table and a few rugs here and there on the concrete floor. The room smelled of flowers and ink.
Jon was sitting near the end of the room, talking earnestly to a serious- looking man with long hair who appeared to be exceedingly tall. I guessed it was Numair.
The inn owner had left as soon as we'd entered the room, so I was left to stand awkwardly near the door and wait patiently for Jon to notice my small, insignificant presence.
It took at least another fifteen minutes before he stopped talking and another few minutes to see me and call me over.
I shook hands with Numair and asked a few polite questions about Daine, very disappointed that I didn't get to meet another shero I'd so desperately wanted to meet during my "visit" to Tortall.
Numair left soon, leaving me to stare openly at Jon, wondering who would have been better looking, Jon at Roald's age, or Roald…
'We need to have a serious talk Reem,' Jon said.
'Ah, yeah, sure your Majesty.'
'I've noticed you're fitting in very well here in Tortall,' the King commented, obviously wanting to talk about something else, but starting off with something light and easy.
'Yep, sure. Just get to it, your Majesty, I really don't wanna hold you up and I may get wild ideas if I stay in here too long, alone, with you. You know being chucked in prison for sexually assaulting a King isn't on the top priorities in my life.'
Jon's look was utter shock, but then after a few seconds, he burst into laughter. 'You really do speak your mind, don't you?'
'Yeah, sure I do. Why wouldn't I?'
He smiled and nodded, then quickly sobered up.
'Well, what I really wanted to say was…stay away from Roald.'
Talk about mood swings, I thought.
'Excuse me?' I said, my eyebrows raised, my turn to look shocked.
Jon frowned at me. 'He's been spending too much time with you, not enough time getting to know his betrothed, how much rumours have already spread? And they've increased tenfold since the ball! This treaty will go on ahead Reem, whether you like it or not.'
'Jon—'
'Your Majesty.'
'Your Majesty, what you said was pretty harsh, I've never shown anything other than friendship to the Prince.'
'But I know you can't say the same about him,' Jon said with a deep sigh. 'Reem, believe me, if I had a choice, I would let him marry who he wants but—'
'I know, I know,' I said glumly, having read Tammy's explanation behind the forced marriage in the books.
'Good, so will you cooperate, or will we have to force you to?' Jon asked, raising an eyebrow.
'Force me?' I smirked. 'No one forces me to do anything, King or not!'
Obviously, I'd offended him, because he pursed his lips and was quiet for a bit.
'Cooperate Reem, for Roald's sake. You do know he'd only pretend to love you so—'
'He can get back at you for the arranged marriage?' I cut in, angry now. How dare he force me to do anything? I wasn't part of his world; I never wanted to be part of his world if he was going to force me to promise to stupid things like staying away from my own friends. My own mum had never said anything like that, who was he to? The King of Tortall? Well I wasn't from Tortall, I had no rights in Tortall and I had no real status in Tortall, not even a thief or peasant, so therefore he didn't rule me!
'Yes,' Jon replied gravely. 'Exactly.'
I laughed nastily. 'I'm sure of that Jon! Of course, marriage went well for you! Hell, when you proposed to Alanna, everything went so well and perfectly! So Roald just has to share the same experience of a loving, mutual marriage, huh?'
His eyes clouded. 'This has nothing to do with me!' he snapped. 'Just stay away from him and all will be well!'
I snarled and got up to go. 'I really used to look up to you Jon! I loved you, obsessed over you for God's sake, but now…now you're just a friggin' spoilt, self-centered King!'
I never expected Jon to be so irrationally harsh. I understood he wanted the treaty to go on ahead and I was all for it, but he just completely jumped to conclusions. I'd never try to destroy the treaty, ever. Hell, I was not even a threat. The Prince liked the Yamani Princess, not me. And even if he did like me, one: he was responsible and smart and would be sensible enough to marry the Princess to keep the peace and two: the King should just stuff it where he wouldn't like it and leave the Prince alone.
But I knew thought number two was just pure silly and immature of me, but I wasn't the one telling anyone to stay the hell away from their friends because I'm scared they're going to influence them and destroy the peace I had worked so hard to create.
But even after all that, I was still infatuated with Jon dearest. Yes, I'm crazy, insane and have no brain to speak of. But Jon was and would always be my hero and my make-belief future-husband. I repeat, yes I'm insane.
I realized the only reason Roald had been ignoring me was because his sweet old daddy, the King, had told him to stay right away from "that she- devil"…me. Well, no one was going to keep me away from my friends, King or peasant.
'You asked for it Roald, now you're getting it…' I said quietly, smiling distantly.