Chapter 4: Showboat
Nils looked up from the paint chips he was studying to see Kat lying on the floor, surrounded by her own paint chips, with her eyes closed. He sighed, deciding against waking her up, she hadn't been much help anyway.
Nils and his siblings, along with what felt like the entire palace, had only been working on preparations for his upcoming Selection for a few days, and already everyone was sick of it. They had all helped with the preparations for Sigrid's selection a few years ago, but then they had the help of their parents and of course Sigrid. Sigrid had loved things like this. She loved organizing and making lists and picking out all the little things, like what color the curtains in the Selected's rooms should be and which forks should be used at the Welcoming Banquet. Nils on the other hand, would have much preferred to assign the job to someone else. But apparently it was tradition for the Prince or Princess, or in this case, King, who was hosting the Selection to make all these decisions, and God forbid he break tradition.
After being lost in thought for a few moments, Nils turned his attention back to the paint chips he was holding. He was supposed to be deciding the color of the rooms the Selected would be staying in. It was such a trivial thing, but apparently, it was important. All his advisors kept telling him he should enjoy this, he was an artist after all. He tried to enjoy it, he did, but if he was being honest with himself, he really just to be alone in his room. He wanted to be away from the constant reminders of Sigrid and his family. He wanted to be away from all the prying eyes and pitying looks. It hurt too much.
Screw it, he decided. He needed to be alone. Kat could figure this out, she could enlist Claudia to help. She could deal with it.
He stood up, looked over at Kat, who was still asleep, and walked out of the room and down the hall. He slowed for a moment outside his studio but shook his head and continued walking down the hall to his room.
...o0o...
Kat rolled over and opened her eyes before pushing herself up off the floor. She rubbed her eyes and looked around to see that Nils was gone. She sighed. They had been supposed to do this together. She had even skipped practice to be there for her brother because she cared about him and wanted to support him. Apparently, the feeling wasn't mutual.
She felt her phone buzz and looked down to see a message from Claudia.
CLAUDE: Hey
CLAUDE: How is my Love?
KATE: Send help! Nils left me alone to decorate the rooms for the Selected!
CLAUDE: I'll be there in 5 ❤️
Kat smiled. Her girlfriend was the most perfect person she had ever met! How could such a beautiful, kind, funny, romantic person even exist? And on top of all that, love her? It was incredible.
She set about cleaning up the paint chips that were strewn about the floor. If there was one thing Claudia hated, it was things being disorganized. She could not stand when things were messy or out of place. This sometimes made Kat wonder why Claudia chose to date her. She was not exactly the neatest person.
"Hey, Love."
Kat looked up and smiled. Claudia was standing in the door. She jumped up and ran to hug her girlfriend before quickly kissing her and turning to pick up a box of paint chips.
"Okay, so here's the deal-"
"Hey, is that all I get?" Claudia laughed and pulled Kat back into her arms for another, longer kiss.
Kat melted into the kiss for a moment but quickly pulled away again to pick up the paint chips.
"Okay, okay, I love you, but this is not the time! We have work to do!"
"Fine, if you insist, what is it we need to be doing?
"I do insist, and we need to pick out a color to paint the walls. I am horrible at this whole colors thing. Nils was helping but…"
"Give me the paint chips."
"Thank you! I love you so so much!"
"Ya, ya, hand them over."
Kat gave the paint chips, and another kiss, to Claudia, who started flipping through them.
"So, were you thinking bright color, pasteles, earth tones, neutral…?" Claudia asked, looking up from the paint chips.
"Um…neutral?"
"Okay, that makes the most sense."
Kat bit her lip as Claudia turned back to her work. This is not how she wanted to spend an afternoon with her girlfriend. There is absolutely nothing sexy or romantic about interior design. Besides, this was Nils's job.
"Okay, I think this one would be best. Thoughts?" Claudia held up a creamy white chip.
"It's perfect. Now, come on!" Kat jumped up, grabbed Claudia's hand and pulled her out the door.
"Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?"
"Yes, yes, come on!"
Kat ran down the hall, shouting as they passed Nils's room, "We picked a color, the rest is on you!"
They picked up their pace, laughing and running down the stairs towards the doors to the grounds. They didn't stop as they ran out the doors, guards shouting after them. They kept running until they were far enough down the hill that you couldn't see the palace, where Kat fell on the ground, laughing. Claudia fell on top of her, smiling as she leaned down to kiss her girlfriend.
"Jag älskar dig."
"I love you too."
...o0o...
Nils was woken from his nap to hear Kat and Claudia running down the hall, laughing and shouting. He smiled. He was glad at least one of them was happy. He stood up and pulled on his shirt and pants before walking out of his room and down the stairs to the entrance hall. His cousin, Princess Åsa of Swendway, was sitting on one of the chairs, reading a book. He walked over to sit down next to her.
"Hej."
She looked up from her book and smiled. "Hej."
"Are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Ja." Yes
"I'll miss you…"
Åsa put down her book and pulled Nils into her arms. "Jag vet, men vi kommer tillbaka om några månader." I know, but we will be back in a few months.
"Or maybe sooner…?"
"Ja, maybe sooner," Åsa smiled.
"It has been so good to have you here. I've missed you."
"I've missed you too."
They were silent for a few moments before Åsa spoke again.
"You know… Gustav became King before his time as well…"
Nils turned to Åsa, a questioning look in his eyes.
"He knows what it is like," Åsa finished quickly, "So if you wanted someone to talk to, someone who would understand-"
"Do you think I can't do the job? Do you think I need help? I have enough people doubting be. I thought at least you would believe in me!" Nils stood abruptly and turned away.
"Nils," Åsa put her hand on his shoulder, "of course I believe in you. You are doing an incredible job. I only meant it might be nice to talk to someone. I know Gustav could have used someone who understood when he took the throne."
Nils sighed.
"I'm sorry I snapped, it's been a long week."
"Don't apologize. I know how hard this is. I am on your side. Always."
"Thank you," Nils smiled.
"Good. Now, what's say you and me go get some ice cream? Or cake? Or kanelbullar?"
"Cinnamon buns sound perfect."
Åsa took Nils's hand and they walked off towards the kitchen.
They when they reached the kitchen and peeked in to see if there were any cooks working. When they saw no one, they tiptoed in, laughing at the ludicracy of Nils sneaking around to get food. Nils walked over to the cabinet where he knew Rosa, one of the older cooks, always kept the extra bullar and looked in.
"Perfect! There are two left."
Åsa looked in another cabinet and found two small plates, taking them over to Nils. They took the bullar and hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the library. They walked past the endless shelves of age-old books to the back corner of the library where a small spiral staircase was hidden in the shelves. Nils led the way up the stairs to a small, cozy room with a few couches and a fireplace.
"Wow, I've never seen this room before," Åsa whispered, looking around.
"Ya, not many people have. It was my mom's favorite place. She didn't want a lot of people to know about it. It was where she would go when she didn't want to be found. When she wanted to be alone." Nils looked down at his bullar, his voice wavering. "Anyway, I like it. It's cozy."
"Ja, it's beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with me."
"Of course," Nils smiled, "Now, lets eat!"
...o0o...
"I just miss them, you know? I really miss them."
Claudia continued running her hands through Kat's hair and hummed, thinking before she spoke.
"You're always going to miss her. The missing never goes away. It just changes. I guess you learn to live with it. You realize that You don't have another choice."
"I can't imagine ever getting used to this feeling. I feel so empty, but at the same time I feel like I am going to burst because I am so full of grief and pain. It's not just emotional pain, I physically hurt. My stomach feels like it is on fire. My body aches. I have a constant headache. And it's even worse because the people I should be able to go to when I am in pain are gone. They're gone, Claude. They're gone and they are never coming back."
"Oh, Katie…"
"I'm fine. I'm fine, and this is depressing. Let's talk about something else." Kat stood up and wiped her face off, turning away from Claudia.
"Katie…"
"I said talk about something else!"
Kat sighed.
"I'm sorry. Can we please just talk about something else?"
Claudia stood up and placed a kiss on Kat's forehead, smoothing her hair down as she did.
"Whatever you want."
"Thank you," Kat whispered and held out her hand.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before Claudia spoke again.
"So," She stopped and smiled at Kat, "Our two year aniversary is next week. We should do something."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Oh, you know…" Claudia wrapped her arms around Kat from behind and rested her chin on her shoulder, "Dinner, candles, roses…"
"Oh…" Kat's voice faltered for a moment.
"I'm kidding! I know you. How about this? We start with a run…"
"Go on…"
"Then go to dinner…I was thinking crab legs."
"Yes…"
"And finally, cuddles and The Princess Bride!"
"God, I love you!" Kat laughed, turning round in Claudia's arms to kiss her.
"Did you really think I would give you a fancy dinner for our anniversary?"
"No… but romance is kinda your thing."
"Yes, but I know you."
"Yes, you do."
With that, Kat darted off towards the palace, Claudia not far behind.
I want to say thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and sending in characters! The SYOC is open for about another week, but if you need more time shoot me a PM and we can talk.