The Tale of Two Hearts | Tedros x Reader

Chapter 8: Agatha's Mistake

By now, the ranks for the first two classes were up on the Groom Room doors, with the prince and Beatrix tied for first, Y/n in second, and Agatha's name so low on the board that a pile of mouse droppings obscured it.

Inside, the girls' Groom Room resembled a medieval spa, with three aromatic bath pools ("Hot," "Cold," and "Just Right"), a Little Match Girl sauna, three Rose Red makeup stations, a Cinderella-themed pedicure corner, and a waterfall shower built into a Little Mermaid lagoon. The boys' Groom Rooms focused more on fitness, with a Midas Gold sweat lodge, a peasant-themed tanning room, and a gymnasium with Norse hammers, mud wrestling pit, saltwater lap pool, and full array of Turkish baths.

After Chivalry and Grooming, Tedros took advantage of the break before Swordplay to test out the pool. But just as he swam his last lap, he noticed Beatrix and her little team of princesses peering wide-eyed through cracks in the wooden door.

He was always used to girls staring at him. It was nothing new. But when would he find one who saw more than his looks? Who saw more than King Arthur's son? Who cared about his thoughts, his hopes, his fears? And yet here he was, pivoted purposely as he toweled so the girls could have a perfect view.

With a sigh, he threw open the door to greet his fan club, breeches dripping, swan glittering on his bare chest. But they were gone, victims of the fairy patrol. Tedros felt a twinge of disappointment as he turned the corner, only to smash into something, knocking it flat to the ground.

"Great. Now I'm wet before class," Y/n groaned. She looked up to see who had caused her irritation and immediately frowned. "You again."

"Nice to see you again too," Tedros said as he looked down at her. "Need a hand?"

Tedros held out his hand for Y/n to take. She looked at his hand and then back at him and scowled, pushing his hand out of the hand and pulling herself off of the ground.

"You should really watch where you're going," Y/n said, brushing off her dress.

"Hey, you bumped into me too. You just happened to be the only one to fall onto the ground," Tedros replied, smirking.

Y/n rolled her eyes and walked past him, his scent suddenly hitting her like a wave. It was a mix of fancy cologne, sweat, and the woods. If you took the smell of sweat away from it, he actually didn't smell half bad.

Y/n was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of someone talking behind her.

"You know someday, I'm going to get you to talk to me whether you think so or not," Tedros called.

"In your dreams pretty boy," Y/n replied.

She heard the boy chuckle behind her but she didn't turn back. As she kept walking forward to her Animal Communication class, she couldn't help but slightly smile at this. Even though the boy seemed to be a pest, maybe he wouldn't be a bad friend after all.

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Animal Communication, taught by Princess Uma, took place on the lakeside banks of Halfway Bay. This class, like most of the classes that Y/n had, was occupied by only girls. The boys always went off to fight with swords while girls had to learn dog barks and owl hoots. Even though this was something that every princess needed to do, Y/n couldn't help but imagine herself bashing swords and fighting along with the other boys. This thought crossed her mind a few times throughout the day but she knew that the school would never allow it. So here she was surrounded by giggling girls trying to figure out who their future prince would be. Agatha almost gagged when she walked up next to her.