Chapter 6
AN: Thanks again for the reviews, alerts, and favorites, lovely people!...As for the story, this is a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees...
"Prentiss, you need to step back if you plan on taking me anywhere," Reid ground out through clenched teeth. He was becoming quite irritated—at himself and Emily.
She was right; he was sweating. It was a logical reaction for a man in physical pain, and despite what some people may believe, Reid was all man.
No, he didn't tear off his shirt and beat his chest. That was fine for some men, and he respected them for it, but Reid believed in fighting with his wits. He wasn't a beer drinking, football watching jock like most of the men he'd attended high school and college with. He preferred more cerebral pursuits, like chess and logic puzzles. Not that he didn't enjoy physical pursuits—he was thinking of one in particular he'd really enjoy at the moment—but he was far more well-rounded than that.
However, one look between his legs at the moment, and there'd be no doubt of his manhood. Not that he needed that; he didn't need to prove anything to anyone. He wasn't a virgin, and he knew his way around a bedroom.
Yes, he was quite upset. Downright angry that he'd let his baser side take control of his common sense. He was usually more in control of his lower functioning feelings and physical being than that, and he was mad as hell at himself.
However, he was even angrier at Emily.
Prentiss wiggled her cute, little, heart-shaped backside and teased, "Oh, ho, matey! Yer givin' commands again—"
"Emily, enough!" he snapped, interrupting her. Roughly, he gripped her hips and quickly lifted her, moving her straight backward a foot or two away from him.
Judging from her gasp and the surprised expression on her face, that had shocked her. "Reid?"
"Cut it out, Prentiss!" He'd had it; he was embarrassingly uncomfortable and beyond irritated. He was ready to lay into her for this. "You know, it's bad enough that you recognize I have had crush on you, but to use it to your advantage and tease beyond distraction is below you. I expected better from you."
She blinked at him. "You have a crush on me?"
Penelope's arms were getting tired. Since Robert and Derek intended on winning everything from every stand in some sort of medieval pissing match, trying to one up one another, she and Marian ended up looking like well-dressed pack mules.
"Ah ha!" Robert exclaimed, pointing at a strong man challenge nearby. He took Penelope's arm and dragged her to the station, with Derek and Marian in hot pursuit.
"Win a feather for your lady?" the burly man running the booth asked.
Penelope did not want anything more. Not even a feather added to the top of her heaping load. She hurried closer to Robert's side. "Really, Robert, I—"
"Most certainly," Robert answered, not even bothering to listen to her. He picked up the large hammer and headed toward the apparatus. "Anything for my dove."
"Soiled dove," Marian grumbled under her breath, standing near Penelope so that only she could hear.
"Shut up, you twerp!" she snapped. She'd had it with the bitchy, ginger-haired girl and her veiled insults.
Marian gasped, sounding affronted. "Milord Derek, did you hear that foulness?"
To Penelope's delight, Derek wasn't paying any attention to Marian, either. He was too busy sizing up the game, seeing how he could beat his rival in this idiotic competition.
Penelope glanced at this game. It looked like a giant thermometer with a bell attached at the top, and a platform with a ball attached at the bottom. Apparently, they had to strike the platform to make the ball rise and ring the bell. There were graduations on the upright structure, starting with plague flea, followed by titmouse, scullerymaid, whelp, king, and finally, the top, the bell, being black knight.
Robert stared at Derek. "Ruffian," he called out, rolling the r even more exaggerated than before, "are you doing this one?"
Derek grinned nastily back at him. "I'm right behind you, titmouse."
Robert raised the hammer above his head, stretching his hosen over his fine fanny, and lowered the blow. He got all the way to king on his first try. He glared over at Marian, who had laughed at him. His second try, he struck the bell. The burly barker handed Robert the feather. Immediately, he turned to gloat at Marian, who pretended to examine her nails.
That wasn't anything new…Penelope noticed every time Robert won something, he looked at Marian…but then handed Penelope the prize.
"Where does this go?" she asked.
"Most women wear it in their cleavage," the barker remarked. As she tucked the feather in between her ample mounds, the rapt Carney added under his breath, "Lucky feather."
"I'll win you one, Marian," Derek, the idiotic hero, said, irritating Penelope even more.
"Where should mine go?" Marian asked.
The barker tore his eyes away from Penelope, and then glanced at the rather flat-chested Marian. He said dispassionately, "Cleavage or hair...you pick."
Penelope'd had it. She was sick of watching her Derek trying to win the affections of someone he barely knew, tired of being Robert's bait to make Marian jealous, and she was exhausted from being dragged from event to event in a huge, hot dress with nowhere near enough air circulation. Not only that, she was carrying a little leather sack, a dagger, a teddy bear—did they even have teddy bears in the 1400s?—five roses, a ridiculous t-shirt she would never wear that said Once a Knight is Never Enough, and now a prickly feather between her boobs.
"I'm sitting," she announced to no one in particular, finding a nearby hay bale.
To her surprise, Marian joined her. She took a seat next to Penelope and pouted like usual. "They're crazy, aren't they?"
"Yes," Penelope grumbled, ripping the feather out from between her breasts.
"Oh, don't take it out!" Marian said. "It looks lovely." Penelope gave her a suspicious eye, which caused Marian to laugh. "No, I'm being serious."
"Thank you."
She sighed wistfully. "I wish I had a décolletage like yours…perhaps Robert would notice me then."
Penelope gave her an incredulous look. "Notice you? All he does is notice you."
Marian scoffed. "He does not…he hates me. That's not noticing."
"He's trying to get your attention."
"Like Derek is trying to get yours?" she asked, raising a brow.
This time, Penelope scoffed. "No, that's just D's competitive nature."
"Methinks you're blind to your own situation," Marian replied.
Any retort she could've made was cut off by Derek and Robert returning, both looking smug and carrying two more handfuls of feathers each.
"Here, Marian," Derek said, handing the woman the pile of feathers.
Marian tucked the feathers in the long braids she had running down the sides of her face. "How do they look?"
"Great," Derek answered honestly.
"No...not just great." Robert's eyes warmed as he smiled at Marian, a true smile of genuine affection. "They are lovely, but they do not surpass your beauty, milady."
Marian's eyes widened, and a peachy blush that blended beautifully with her red hair warmed her cheeks. "Why…thank you, Sir Robert."
After that, the two simply stared at each other, as if no one else in the world existed.
"Well, finally," Derek said, leaning back on his heels, breaking the peaceful moment. "My work is done."
"What work?" Robert remarked, glaring at Derek. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Helping you get with Marian so I can be with my Baby Girl."
Penelope's heart pounded in her chest, and she didn't know whether to be angry that he hadn't involved her in the plan, or pleased that he wanted to be with her.
"Why would you do that?" Marian asked.
Derek grinned. "It's obvious with all that cat and dog fighting, you two liked each other."
"It's true, Maid Marian," Robert said, holding her hand. "Hate is akin to love."
"Oh, Robert!" she said, dropping all her trinkets that had been won for her and tossing herself into his arms.
Derek sat next to Penelope and wrapped his arm around her. "A good deed done, right, baby?"
"I'll say," she said, watching Robert and Marian lose themselves in a kiss. "That was a very nice thing you did for them."
Morgan was still watching the couple, as if he couldn't take his eyes off them, either. "Yeah," he said, distractedly. "Now we can have some fun, too."
Did he mean fun as a couple? She could feel her heart swelling as she realized how much she wanted that. "Fun?"
He gave her a crooked smile. "At the fair."
Penelope felt her gut churning. Try as she might, she couldn't hold back the envy she felt at watching the happy couple. After spending the day feeling jealous and lonely that she wasn't on Derek's arm, she'd realized, too, how badly she wished he felt the same for her. Somehow, over this magical faire that was so like her dreams, she had hoped he'd be her knight and steal her away to his castle to live happily ever after.
That was as likely as a pink dragon hatching from a chicken's egg...and his last words only confirmed her worst thoughts.
"I'm happy for them," she said, more for her benefit than his. She needed to not think such melancholy thoughts.
Derek was watching her with a concerned, somewhat sad look on his face. "You okay, momma? You're frowning."
"I'm fine."
He looked back at the couple. "You feeling bad that you lost Robert? Sorry about that."
"That's okay," she murmured. "They do belong together."
"Yeah...but he almost lost her."
"How do you know?" she queried.
Derek gave her a thoughtful look, and then turned and shrugged. "He was an idiot, a blind damned fool...He should've opened his eyes and seen what was right before him a long time before today."
Penelope felt the blood drain from her face as she listened to him. The situation echoed what she felt in her heart so badly, and yet she was no where near as lucky as Marian. Hearing the words outloud made her very angry, too; she couldn't bear it.
Blind fool? He was a blind damned fool!
Not caring what he thought anymore, she stood, and then shoved him as hard as she could, so that he landed backward off the hay bale with his legs flying in the air. Tears clouded her eyes as she ran off in no particular direction at all...just far away from him.
