Pirate Princess

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Ball part three

I barely touched my food though-out the whole eight-meal course, which was highly unusual for me. Normally I eat every last piece of food off my plate; but then again, normally I don't get terrifying flashbacks. I had worked so hard to forget about her. I had even stopped having nightmares about her, but it was all coming back to me now. The more I tried to push the memory away the more vibrant they became.

Everyone else had finished their raspberry tarts almost an hour ago and had got up to dance, leaving me alone at the table. In despair, I had taken off my tiara and placed it on the table in front of the tart. I was staring at the start trying no to think about her. Rowan had tried to make me eat during the meals since he was right next to me, but had eventually given up after three courses. He had left, like everyone else in my family, leaving me alone at our family table on the raised platform.

"Wow, you didn't even touch your dessert and it's the chef's best course," Markus said behind me.

"What do you want, Markus?" I grumbled not looking up.

He pulled out Rowan's seat next to me and sat down. "Rowan was going to check up on you himself since he was concerned that you didn't eat anything. But Violet was dragging him to the dance floor so he asked me to come up here instead. Are you ok? What happened in that hallway?"

"I'm fine."

"We both know that you're lying but I'm not going anywhere. And since I'm not going, I'm going to eat this." He took a fork, he took a piece of tart and ate it. He took another but this time with less energy. He ran his hand through his hair knocking his crown to the ground, and I let out a small laugh.

"Was that funny to you?" He asked, and I nodded smiling.

"Well then," He bent down and grabbed his crown, placing it on the table. "We are going to dance." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat.

"Hold up I can't dance normally, much less when I can't even walk," I argued as he dragged me down to the dance floor, right as a fast song ended. As the couples dancing switched out, Markus pulled me onto the dance floor.

Smiling, Markus whispered, "Put your feet on top of mine."

"What!" I hissed back at him. "I'm in heels."

"I've got this. Just trust me."

"Fine," I stepped onto his feet right as the music started up again, this time a slow song played.

As Markus took his first step, I threw my arms around his neck and held on for dear life. Markus danced in circles along with everyone in time with the music, and I eventually relaxed and started leaning into him. It was nice to be completely out of control for once. I shut my eyes and enjoyed it.

The song ended and Markus stopped dancing. I opened my eyes and stepped off his feet as I unwrapped my arms from around his neck. I clapped along with everyone else, and Markus led me off the dance floor to the window seats.

We were looking for an empty window seat on the second-floor balcony when we stumbled upon Rowan and a girl with glossy brown hair holding hands. Markus stopped in front of them, smirking and the two quickly let go of each other's hand. The girl clearly was shy and turned away from Markus and me.

Oh, I'm never letting Rowan live this down, I thought as I mischievously smiled at them. Rowan glared at Markus and me, but who he glared at more I couldn't tell.

"What do you want, Markus?" Rowan said curtly.

"We were just looking for a window seat and stumbled across you two." This just made Rowan glare more at Markus, who was still smirking.