AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seven
Itripped over the threshold of my room, conscious of the crunch of gravel sounding behind me. My stepmother and Rita must be arriving back too. It was earlier than I expected them but that wasn't surprising. My stepmother had plans for Rita which were far too lofty. Plans I was convinced my step-sister didn't want herself either. She'd never expressed an interest in becoming a Princess. Or even a wife for that matter. She was too young for that.
If I were Rita, I'd be telling my mother where to stick her dreams of becoming the Queen's mother. It was utterly ridiculous to force the dream of being a Princess on someone in this day and age.
Trying not to fall over my own feet, I rushed up the stairs and into my room, throwing my clothing into the wardrobe as I stripped off and threw on my pyjamas. I couldn't risk being caught in clothing fit for a formal wedding reception, not when I wasn't supposed to have been there. Though if Rita had told her mother about my presence anyway, then there was nothing I could do about it. I just had to hope she stayed silent on the matter.
Shouting came from down stairs and I flinched despite myself. It wasn't me being shouted at, so I shouldn't be reacting that way. Even so, my stepmother's voice was so aggressive it was difficult to not be intimidated by her.
I grabbed my headphones from my bedside table and stuck them in my ears almost violently. I needed to escape from the house in which I lived.
Without consciously thinking about it, I thumbed through my music until I found a version of Greensleeves I particularly liked. The opening chords filled my ears and I let myself get transported back into thoughts of Leo and the evening we'd shared. Maybe running had been the wrong option. Somehow, I knew there was always going to be a part of me that wondered how things would have gone if I'd stayed. Where the two of us would have gone.
To a bed at the very least.
I didn't mean for tears to start leaking down my cheeks. The tune wasn't a sad one by any stretch of the imagination, but it was recalling a chance I'd had, but not been able to act on.
Why had I been such a fool?
I swiped the tears away. I didn't deserve to mourn something that couldn't be. I wasn't as big a fool as that. I'd known going into the evening that I was there to find the man I'd seen and nothing else. He wasn't a forever, he was just scratching an itch.
If I kept telling myself that, then maybe I'd believe it by morning.
The music changed, and my mood lifted slightly. Classical music had always been a safe place for me. Somewhere of beauty and emotions that weren't my own. If it wasn't so late at night, I'd have gotten my cello out to play some for myself. There was no better way for me to switch off my mind than by creating music.
A knock sounded over the string section and I frowned. No one knocked on my door. Ever. When my stepmother came up here, she just walked straight in, though she barely ever came up here anymore. I didn't have anything she wanted.
I pushed myself out of bed and walked over to the door, pulling it open carefully.
A small gasp escaped me at the sight of Rita stood there, tracks of tears down her face and rips in her ball dress. Without saying a word, I gestured her to come in.
She did so and just stood there, looking so forlorn it broke my heart. We'd never been close, and in that moment, I regretted it.
Neither of us said a word as I stepped towards her and unlaced the back of her gown. She moved as I directed her but didn't say anything else. I didn't know what had happened, but she clearly needed help and no one else was offering.
I offered her an oversized t-shirt and she took it, slipping it over her head. "Thank you." Her voice cracked over the words and I drew her towards my bed, sitting her down and pulling her into my arms.
There was only a tiny amount of awkwardness between us.
"What happened?" I asked, smoothing her long dark hair.
When she wasn't crying, Rita was a very striking woman. Or she would be in a couple of years when she'd lost her teenage looks. No one had grown into their features by eighteen.
"Mum's angry with me."
"Why?"
"Because I came away from the wedding without a Prince," she spat. I couldn't tell if she was disappointed or annoyed.
"Was there even one there?"
"Yes, the Crown Prince of Belgium was. Prince Albert's brother." I nodded. That would make sense. At least someone from his family would be in attendance. Given he'd married a Queen, his eldest brother was the most appropriate.
"Do you want to marry a Prince?" I asked.
She shook her head violently. "I wouldn't say no if the right one asked, but I don't need him to be a Prince."
Pride welled up within me for a reason I couldn't fathom. We didn't really mean anything to one another, but in the wake of her mother's insistence, her view reassured me.
"Did you tell your Mum that?"
"Of course. She told me I'm eighteen and should shut up and do as I'm told."
"But it didn't work?"
