Crack A Smile (Camren)

Chapter 3

Princess Lauren has been sitting on her throne for almost four hours now, listening to countless men and women who tried to woo her and coax her to make her laugh. In all honesty, she hated it.

The only thing that kept her sane was her thoughts about the little flower thief who visited her every day.

Lauren was surprised that someone so low in the ladder of the hierarchy could have such a big impact on her. After a few visits, the guards began to monitor Camila closely with suspicion, but were quickly arrested by Lauren.

That afternoon, after Camila had left, she had ordered Troye to tell the guards that Camila was allowed to have full access to the royal gardens without any suspicion being placed on her. Troye had smirked at Lauren and said something about enjoying watching the pretty girls before dismissing her to share the princess' orders with the guards. Although she hated to admit it, Troye was right.

Camila was a very beautiful girl and she constantly caught Lauren's eyes as soon as she was around. Her hair fell around her hair in chocolate waves, her eyes shone in the sunset light and especially when she smiled, and her laugh made floating Lauren's stomach in a feeling she had never known for a very long time.

Her jokes were absolutely horrible, but Lauren appreciated them anyway. She knew it was a dangerous prospect, to develop something for such a mundane person, but she couldn't help it. Lauren had developed a little something for her chef, for Normani and in a way for Dinah. Now it was the flower thief's turn.

Several contenders had been removed from the list, as had Bradley; a duchess by the name of Taylor from the Swift kingdom had been removed for her arrogance, a jester by the name of Zayn had been removed for hitting a prince (he was probably punished more severely for his stupidity) and an idiot by the name of Austin had removed from the list for indecently touching the princess without her permission.

In fact, Lauren had ordered Troye to throw him in the dungeons so that he would never again be disrespectful to a woman.

After the accident with the idiot, Lauren informed her parents that she was done with the suitors for the day and quickly withdrew from the room before anyone could complain or ask her questions.

Breaking into her room with force, she had slammed the doors behind her before pressing her back against them. Lauren's breathing became irregular as tears started to run down her cheeks and she slid against the doors to the floor as she started to cry. She was holding her face in her hands and she was crying, upset that this fool could think he could touch her like that and that she was doomed to be unhappy and alone.

A noise outside coming from her window made her stop quickly, tears still flowing as she listened intently. The noise was muffled, too hard to hear from her entrance so she quickly got up and walked over to her balcony.

Did she hear ... a song? Reaching the doors to her balcony, she saw the little thief of flowers, Camila, wandering through the gardens, a beautiful melody mixing with the air when she left her lips.

Lauren was totally in shock. Never in her life had she heard such a beautiful voice and Camila seemed to do it with so little effort. She leaned against the edge of her balcony and watched the thief run her hand against the flowers while singing.

When the song came to an end, Camila jumped after the applause from the balcony. Looking up, she saw the beautiful princess applaud her with a real smile on her face. Camila gasped loudly, covering her mouth to suppress the noise. "That was great, Camila. I never heard a voice like yours." said Lauren who smiled. "And never have I seen a smile as beautiful as yours, miss," she said, still looking at the princess with bliss and adoration.