Spellbinders Secret

Dinner and a Grudge

My room was opposite Prince Callum's. It's honestly the biggest room I've ever slept in. The floors are wide and made of marble. The queen sized bed is draped in pale, cream coloured silks. I dump my few bags and Violin case in the corner and inspect the room. I can't pretend I'm not impressed. A small door near my bed leads to a bathroom that looks as though its carved from white marble. The bath looks more like a swimming pool, and the vanity houses at least a million different soaps and essences that I will probably never use.

I keep my dress on, as I still have dinner with the Royal family. Just in case someone tries to poison or assassinate the Prince while he's eating dinner with an expert swordsman and a master Sorceress. Yup. Someone would have to be either extremely stupid or extremely desperate to do that. But I guess it's my job now.

A pang of sadness punches me in the stomach. Leo. Who knows when I'll see him again? I'll be stuck here until the end of my days serving a lazy and selfish Prince. At least, that's what I've heard. People say he just sits around all day, doing nothing and yelling abuse at anyone who decides to tell him otherwise. I hope they're just exaggerations. But If it is true... This might be a lot harder than I thought.

I'd been reading and rereading the duties and responsibilities of a Protector. I'm not just supposed to protect him from danger, but also from himself. Which basically means that if he's being an idiot, I have to pull him into line. Brilliant. They might as well have called me his 'Babysitter'.

Well, I'm not going to let him walk all over me. If he's not doing what he's supposed to be doing, when he's supposed to be doing it, I will drag him behind me kicking and screaming. You might think that sounds controlling, but it's my job, and if he doesn't shape up soon how is he supposed to rule a country? I can't let Emerald, my home, fall into the hands of an unfit ruler. I would rather die.

***

Dinner is a fairly simple affair. The royal family don't like to eat in front of others unless its an important occasion. They like to eat in a secluded dining room where they can be a 'family'. I actually like this idea. They do deserve their privacy, and time to themselves so they can be together. Which is why I feel like an intruder.

I sit at the large oak table on a simple, but comfortable chair. The King sits at the head of the table, his wife sits to his right, and the Prince sits to his left. I seat myself next to the Queen. I don't like the way Prince Callum is glaring at me. I try to be nice, and pretend he isn't, but he is. And it's really getting on my nerves. A servant comes up and asks me how I like my steak. I give them a friendly smile and reply with "rare". The servant nods and walks away. The Prince's glare has turned into an amused stare. I think he finds me funny.

"Rare? Why would you have your meat rare? Why bother cooking it at all if you have it rare?" he drawls arrogantly. I feel my hands ball into fists in my lap, but I merely shrug.

"I just do," is all I say. I don't give him the actual reason. He has no right to know that.

When I was a kid and I was travelling with Leo on Resistance missions, they didn't have enough time to cook your meat properly at the camps. You either got your steak, or waited until everyone else had theirs. I was always to hungry to wait, so I just ate it rare. Turns out I liked it that way.

But I don't tell this pompous ass that. He doesn't need to know me. If its not in the job description, he can get lost as far as I'm concerned.

Queen Lilliana must sense the tension in the room. She coughs politely in an attempt to distract us both.

"So, Ella, how long have you been with the Resistance?" she asks politely. I consider her question for moment. The real answer was that I'd been with them for almost as long as I could remember (quite literally). But I can't say that.