Stuck in a Fantasy

Chapter 15

Taylor and I walked down the hall. Neither of us knew where the dinner was supposed to be held, and since I refused to bother the king, we were looking for a guard to point us in the right direction.

"This place was crawling with guards last time I was here. Where are they now that we need them? Like what is it? Their night off! I don't want to be walking all night. I'm actually wearing high heels and they hurt. Plus this dress is really heavy and I don't want to get all sweaty and gross," Taylor complained.

I just smiled at her, enjoying the minuscule thinking. She smiled back, her blush-colored lips stretching upwards for the first time in about thirty minutes. Her short blonde hair was curled and laid against the bottom of her chin. Her grayish-green eyes looked fierce with her gold smokey eye and heavy eyeliner, which was identical to my own eye makeup. Her dark green dress hung off her shoulders and cascaded to the floor. A slit was at her left leg, and through it, you could see the golden glint of braided leather that crisscrossed her ankles and connected to a high heel under her sole. Overall she looked dazzling.

"You play that off like it's funny but it's not! I worked really hard to look this good! I want someone other than you to see it too. Not that there's anything wrong with you. You're a queen for heaven's sake. If anything I'd usually be trying to show just you..."

"Taylor," I cut her off, "I understand. You don't need to justify yourself to me."

"Thanks," she sighed out in relief, "I hope I'm not this awkward at dinner. When we saw the king I made myself just not speak so I wouldn't embarrass myself. Can you do the talking? What am I talking about? You do the talking. That's crazy!"

"Let's not take that too far," I warned her with a glare as I cut off her rambling once again. She gulped and nodded in agreement.

We continued walking in silence for about twenty seconds then Taylor complained, "My feet really hurt. How are you so good with heels?"

I was a model in one of my past dimensions. I had to walk for hours on end in heels while getting gawked at. So they're pretty standard to me now. "Practice," I told her with a dismissive shrug.

"I don't get it. You don't even need high heels! You're tall! You don't need the extra height like I do. Wait... I smell food!" She exclaimed. Taylor smiled widely and grabbed my hand. She went as fast as she could in her high heels and pulled me towards the smell of food. I was able to walk normally and easily could've stopped her, but I had no idea where to go, and apparently, she does. We made a couple of turns and walked through long corridors until we saw a bunch of guards all outside a set of grand doors.

Taylor dropped my hand as she went to my side and whispered, "So do we just go in... or do they have to do some kind of entrance thing?"

"I don't know," I told her with a shrug, "I say we just go for it and go in."

She nodded and stood up straight. I waited until she looked ready then I strode forward. My long tan legs could be seen through the slits in my plum dress as I made my way towards the door. Upon seeing me the guards opened the doors and not so subtlety stared at me. Ignoring all of their attention, I went into the dining room. I could hear Taylor's footsteps behind me but I didn't stop or look to make sure she was there.

The west wall of the dining room was made up entirely of windows that showed the flower garden outside. The rest of the walls were stone and had the occasional red banner hung up. The dinner table was large and could easily sit thirty men. The seats next to the dark wooden table were typical and had red velvet cushions. Expensive lit candles and red and white roses decorated the center of the table.

"Kyna, I was beginning to fear that you wouldn't find it," the king greeted me from somewhere. I looked away from the decorations and found the king sitting at the head of the table, deeply engrossed in paperwork. He wore a black suit that fit him perfectly and he paired the suit with a red tie. His blonde hair was combed to perfection, and a gold and ruby-encrusted crown sat upon his head.