soldier, poet, king (lunch club au)

chapter seven

        "You have to lighten up, Cooper. Do not be so stiff," I murmur. Cooper relaxes his posture without any complaint. I pass some gold coins to a vendor and grab two loaves of bread.

"The sooner we can leave, the better," he mutters, glancing paranoidly at the crowd. I refrain from smacking him.

"Cooper, you are acting so incredibly suspicious right now," I reply.

"It is better to be safe than sorry." As if on cue, the market delves into chaos. Screams fill the air around us as a cloud of smoke appears in the center of the path. Cooper throws himself in front of me, knocking me back a few steps.

"My subjects!" The market falls utterly silent. Chills run up my spine as I recognize the booming voice.

"Witch!" someone hisses as the dark queen emerges from the cloud. I slowly creep towards the outskirts of the market, as does Cooper.

"Cami, when I say run, run," he whispers. I nod. The dark queen's head swings in our direction. A maniacal grin adorns her face as she meets my eyes.

"Run!" Cooper hisses. I take off into the woods, Cooper on my tail. The dark queen screeches for her guards, and soon enough the thundering of armor joins the fray. Cooper speeds up just enough to get to my side, grabbing my hand tightly.

"What do we do?" I cry through panted breaths.

"We run!" Cooper replies, increasing his strides and essentially dragging me behind him. I fight to keep up with him, however my days of being a princess usually are not spent running over uneven forest ground. My foot catches on a root, and I stumble, falling behind Cooper.

"Camilla!" he shouts, stopping. I rise to my feet as quickly as humanly possible and run after him.

"Go!" I urge, waving my hands. He begins to sprint again, quickly pulling ahead of me. After a few moments, the forest grows quiet, the sound of mine and Cooper's pounding footsteps filling the open air.

"I think we are safe!" I exclaim. Cooper slows to a walk, allowing me to catch up. I open my mouth to speak, but Cooper quickly pulls me behind a large tree. The sound of approaching hooves is enough for me to ignore how close he is to me, and how attractive he looks. I instantly blush at that last thought. A familiar horse trots by, and I leave my hiding spot.

"Charlie!" I call. The man on the horse turns around, expression worried.

"Princess? What are you doing here?" he asks, maneuvering his horse to face me. Cooper also emerges from behind the tree, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"We were chased from the market," he explains. Charlie nods.

"I see. Do you wish to follow me back? Grace is just a ways ahead, we separated a while back," he adds.

"Camilla will ride with you, I shall walk back." I turn around to glare at Cooper.

"Absolutely not. I will not-" I begin.

"Cami, please," he interrupts. However, I cannot refuse. My glare turns weak, and Charlie helps me onto his steed.

"I shall see you when you arrive home," I promise. Cooper nods with a smile.

"But of course." Charlie flicks the reins, leaving Cooper behind us.

♕♕♕♕♕♕♕

"You should have come with Charlie and I," I remind. Cooper had just arrived, an hour behind me. The sun was already beneath the horizon.

"It is too late for that now," Cooper replies with a wink. I fight off a blush and turn away.

"Some of the others have already arrived, and I have yet to meet them. Come," I order, already walking away. The war room is filled with people joking, chatting, and generally just being happy. I am shocked. I have never seen something so... natural in my life.

Cooper passes by me to go talk to a man I don't recognize, so I follow him.

"Camilla," I introduce, holding out my hand to shake. The man smiles genuinely and takes it.

"Mason," he replies.

"It is lovely to meet you, Mason, but I must meet the others, as well," I excuse. Mason nods and turns back to his conversation with Cooper. I float around the room, first to Carson who is talking to the man I learn is Josh, his childhood best friend. I also meet Condi and Grizzly, brothers who joined the rebellion after their village was invaded. Lastly, I finally meet Madi, Ted's betrothed, a truly wonderful girl. Ted is quite lucky.

"You can go to bed if you are tired," Schlatt reminds as he sits down next to me. I shake my head.

"Not right now. It is so fascinating to see all these new people," I admit, watching everyone's conversations work like well-oiled machines. Charlie talks to Condi and Grizzly as if they've known each other for years, and Madi Amanda, and Grace, Charlie's wife, chat animatedly, likely happy to have other women around for once.

"I suppose you get used to it after a while," Schlatt replies quietly, looking at his feet. I turn my head to him, studying his profile.

"I suppose so."

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Author's Note: I know Condi and Grizz aren't related but we're going with it because I love them. Also I don't know Condi's first name... cry. Thanks for reading and a vote would be very appreciated!