The Five Princes - Preview

Chapter 5 - Escape

"Are you always that awkward?" the pianist asked, the teasing note in his voice taking away the sting of his statement.

Julian and Evann were talking on the side of the room, out of earshot. From Julian's hand motions and scowl, I had a feeling they were talking about my many inadequacies.

I sighed. "As much as I would like to say no ..."

"So why lessons with Julian? You both seem annoyed with the situation."

I wasn't sure who this guy was. Even though he was intoxicatingly gorgeous, it probably wasn't the best idea to give away any information.

"There's a ball at the end of the summer," I said. "It requires dancing. Julian is helping."

The pianist raised an eyebrow. "Julian? Helping?"

"Begrudgingly," I added.

"Julian has high standards, but he's not unfair." He shut his piano book and shoved it into his backpack. He looked at Julian, dropping his head from side to side to pop his neck. "He must see something in you if he's bothering at all."

The only reason Julian was doing this at all was because of Cyrus. He didn't see anything in me. That wasn't possible.

Maybe none of them ever would. And if Cyrus decided I wasn't good at anything, I had to give up everything.

"I want to leave," I whispered to myself.

"Do you?" the pianist asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

He looked over his shoulder at Julian and Evann, smirked, and then bit his lip.

"Then let's go."

"Go wh—"

He grabbed my hand, intertwining his fingers in mine. Before I could say anything, he pulled me out the back door and into the castle yard.

"Where are we going?" I asked when we got outside.

He put a finger to his lips, hushing me. Gripping my hand, he broke into a run, and I had no choice but to run with him to keep myself from being dragged. We ran until we got to the castle garden.

He let go of my hand. I stopped to catch my breath.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked.

He put his hands on his head, panting. "It sounded like you needed break. My job is to serve." He laughed to himself. "Come on. Let's look around garden before they figure out we're gone."

I suddenly realized he didn't have the Aujinian English lilt. His English was a little broken in places, the pronunciation of his vowels slightly skewed.

"Who are you exactly?" I asked.

"I'm Tai. I'm a little this and a little that. Mostly, I'm musician."

"Are you famous?" I teased.

"Maybe. But not for reasons you think. I work mostly for Julian. Sometimes with Nikos, when he doesn't have a snake up his ass."

"I can't imagine working with either one of them is pleasant."

Tai shrugged. "Julian pays me well. Nikos is just angry kid. I was the same way at his age."

"And how old are you now?"

"Any age that suits me."

He winked before licking his bottom lip. I tried not to noticeably tremble.

He asked me to introduce myself, and I gave him my name and hometown. He asked me why I was visiting. I said that I was a friend of the family.

At least, I was supposed to be.

"Anyways," I continued, "I'm stuck here until the end of the summer."

"You don't seem the type to like walls."

I nodded. "You've already figured me out, eh?"

He stopped, turning around to face me. He cocked his head to the side. "I'd like to figure out more of you, if you give me permission."

All the blood in my trembling knees went straight to my face.

"Tai!" a voice yelled over the gardens.

We both turned towards the voice. Through the tall rose bushes, I could see Julian and Evann running through the gardens, frantically looking from side to side.

"Ha!" Tai said. "I'm already in trouble. Is it even noon yet?"

I grabbed Tai by the bottom of his shirt and dragged him with me as I bolted behind one of the rose bushes. Tai grunted as I made him sit but didn't make another sound as we pressed ourselves between the rose bushes and the vineyard fence. I leaned back, trying not to get any rose thorns in my eye.

They called out our names again. Tai turned towards me, his eyebrows bouncing in amusement. I couldn't help but smile with him.

After a few more calls, Julian growled and left. I could hear him muttering something like "Take care of it yourself" and "Not interested."

When they had left, Tai propped his arm on his knee and leaned back against the fence.

"That was fun," he said. "But why did we do it?"

I stood and stepped over him. "Because I don't like dance lessons."

I heard his footsteps crunch behind me as he leapt up to follow me.

"You intrigue me," he said, bouncing ahead. "Doesn't every girl dream of staying at a castle and dancing with princes?"

"Sure, but dreams and reality are different."

"You don't want your dreams to come true?"

"No. Yes. Well ..."

He abruptly stopped and turned back to me. I almost ran into his chest. Not that I would have minded.

"So, what next then?" he asked.

I looked around the gardens, then up to the castle again.

"I don't know," I replied honestly.

"Well ... when you figure it out, let me know. I want to see if it'll be fun or not."

With the same wink he came in with, he walked out.