A Collection of Short Stories

Revelry 4

a/n: i included the reference picture i used to describe ryle's room cus idk if i explained it v well.

I arrived in Virac late last night. My brother sent me here to get Ryle to agree to the terms of the peace treaty. He thinks Ryle respects me more and, though he won't admit it, I know Edmund thinks Ryle regards me as the rightful ruler of Maylon. So here I am, after traveling for three days, standing in Ryle's kitchen. He came into my room and woke me up just as I had fallen asleep mere hours ago. He had an amused look in his eye as he watched me get dressed. He didn't kiss me or anything, probably coming to the conclusion that I'm in a horrible mood.

I'm standing in the kitchen, staring down at my coffee. I look up when someone walks in. Ryle stops and stares and I just wait for him to open his mouth.

"Someone's grumpy."

Dick.

"And you've formulated this opinion after staring at me for all of... What? Four seconds?" I throw back.

He smiles and I almost forget how annoying he can be. "You're scowling and your mood is even worse than when I woke you."

I pinch my eyebrows together, "I do not scowl."

"Yes, you do. You're doing it now. It actually got more scowl-y than earlier."

I lean on the counter in front of me and rub my eyes. "I don't have the patience for you."

He laughs before walking over to me. He rubs my back and I sigh.

"Did you not sleep well, my love?"

"I slept fine."

I cross my arms on the counter and then lay my head down as goosebumps break out across my arms. I love it when people rub my back. He chuckles before taking my coffee from me. I groan, looking at him, "Ryle."

He glances at me as he walks to the fridge. He grabs some milk and pours it into my coffee before giving it back to me.

"You don't even like it black."

I stare down at my now tan coffee before grabbing it, "It's weird that you know that."

He chuckles, "It's not. I just pay attention."

I watch him come closer and then he's placing a kiss on the side of my head, "Drink that. You have a day ahead of you."

Then he leaves and I drink my coffee.

He's right. I have a debriefing of everything happening. I wanted to get a sense of what was happening here before trying to convince him to agree to the treaty. Today, I will be brought up to date by every department on the goings on in this kingdom.

~~~

I walk into my room and immediately step out of my heels. On my way to the bathroom, I practically rip my dress off. When I reach the bathroom I turn the shower on and strip naked, taking my hair down before stepping in.

~~~

I am so exhausted. Today was exhausting and it didn't help that I didn't get any sleep the night before. But it's the same thing again tonight. I've been tossing and turning for hours. I'm tired, I can feel it, but I just can't fall asleep. I even prepared for this, I had a cup of tea before bed to hopefully lull me to sleep. But it's the castle. Every creak and small sound jerks me awake. I'm not home and I've never been here before. I don't feel safe enough to fall asleep.

I groan before sitting up. Now I'm frustrated. I pull my knees to my chest as I consider the only option I have left: to not sleep alone.

I sigh before getting out of bed. I grab my robe and slip into it before putting my slippers on. I walk to my door and crack it open. I scan the hallway and only see guards at the end of the hall. I leave my room and stand in front of Ryle's. I reach for the doorknob and then hesitate.