Crowned

Chapter 17 - Derrick

Derrick removed his arm from over his eyes after he heard the door latch.

His head hurt.

What hurt worse were the words that he had the misfortune of overhearing. In his own bedroom.

We never had an understanding, she had said.

But we were so close to being engaged. Derrick flopped over on his side. He wondered if he still had the ring. He hadn't bothered to pack it two years ago.

He staggered out of bed, ignoring his pounding head and wave of nausea, and opened the top drawer in his dresser. He dug through the clothes and stuck his hand in the back, feeling around for a square box.

He froze. It was still there. He pulled it out and gingerly opened the box. The ring sat, enthroned upon a layer of velvet. He quickly shut the box and shoved it back into his drawer before collapsing on his bed.

He closed his eyes.

What gave Damon the right to try to kiss Katherine in Derrick's bedroom? He had gotten dangerously close Katherine before Derrick started swearing - whether that was due to his pounding headache or horrification he wasn't sure.

Derrick had expected their friendship to grow and perhaps hints of romance blossom, but it had never crossed his mind that Katherine would allow another man to kiss her.

She let him hold her. She had almost let him kiss her. Yes, there were a lot of things he hadn't expected.

If Katherine loved Derrick and only him, the contest would have been hard, but doable. But now there was another man in the picture not Derrick and she held him in very high regard. Derrick was now just another contestant to do the King's bidding.

With a simple word or by a touch of the hand, Katherine had to power to deliver a severe blow to Derrick's pride.

He didn't want to let Damon win. He wanted to win. He didn't want to sit back and watch that green eyed knight whisk Katherine away.

What if I tried to win? Gears from two years ago slowly began to turn in his head. What about Father?

He let out a puff of air. He'd think about it more when his head didn't hurt so much.

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Derrick blew a patch of hair out of his eyes. I could use a haircut.

So could Damon. Damon's hair, when untied, fell to his shoulders. Quite bothersome.

What Derrick found even more bothersome, was the undivided attention that Damon was receiving from Katherine.

"With a whole day to ourselves, I can hardly imagine all of the possibilities." Damon faced Katherine, with his back to Derrick. A smidgen rude.

They sat eating breakfast in the great hall. A few clusters of contestants sat scattered around the tables, but the days of loud, overwhelming amounts of men were over since there were only a few hundred men remaining in the tournament.

Derrick was grateful that he didn't have to fight for seating.

Yet, somehow, Damon always beat Derrick to Katherine's side.

"I'm sure the King wouldn't mind if you wanted to go spend the day outdoors." Damon continued. "We might even pack a picnic and make a day out of it."

Katherine gracefully placed a melon cube in her mouth as she listened to Damon.

Derrick couldn't let them go out, unchaperoned. He wouldn't. If Damon had qualms about Katherine being along in Derrick's room, then Derrick definitely had issues with them spending the entire day together with little more than guard stationed half a mile away.