Not My Fairytale

Chapter 32

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A Clever Princess

    Time seemed to trickle by at half speed as I waited under the willow, but after a while, I finally heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

    "Was that your bedroom window you stuck the bandana in?" Angelo asked by way of greeting as he sauntered over. "Tell me, do you climb all of those stairs yourself every time or do you have a servant to carry you?"

    I chose not to dignify that with a response, instead I cut straight to what I had brought him to the lake for. "You're using the cave system, aren't you? That's how the Blood Fangs have been getting around undetected, you've been beneath us the whole time."

    His brows shot up in surprise and his steps faltered, before a slow smile grew on his lips. He continued to my side, something that looked suspiciously like pride shining in his eyes. "I do have quite the clever little mate, don't I?"

    I ignored that as well, though it was much harder to pretend not to feel the way my heart gave a little flutter in my chest at the compliment. "I should have realized it sooner," I began, frustrated with myself for the oversight, though there was good reason for it. "Which entrance have you been using? I thought that all of the entrances to the caves were sealed off over a decade ago." That's what I had been told, at least. That they were permanently closed after a tragic incident in which two teenagers had gotten lost within the underground labyrinth for several weeks.

    "They were," he agreed, "but we created our own entrances in locations only we know how to find. That way, even if clever princesses were to discover our plans, it would still take quite a bit of searching to get to our tunnels."

I shook my head in disbelief at the amount of planning it would require to devise such a plan. I only knew of one map in the entire castle that illustrated the many caverns and passages of the cave system. "Where are the entrances located?"

His brows rose again, his smile turning teasing, "That is some pretty crucial information you're asking me to give up. Are you prepared to give something to me in return, little mate?"

I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I had to do– something I wasn't entirely sure I was ready to do, "I'll give you a kiss for it."

His smile faltered for only a moment, in shock, before he was smirking once more, "A kiss in exchange for information that could turn the tide of this conflict? Seems to me like a win-win for you."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes, "So, is that a no to the kiss then? If so, I'm afraid I'll have to cut our meeting short, I have 'quite a bit of searching' ahead of me, as you put it." I turned and made to walk away, but halted my steps when I heard him call after me, as I knew he would.

"No, wait, I didn't say that." I heard the crunching of leaves behind me.

I spun back around, arching a brow expectantly as I waited.

He narrowed his eyes as he thought over my proposition. "Two kisses."

"One."

"Fine."

I beamed as he pursed his lips in defeat, studying me.

I stared right back, neither of us speaking until, finally, I could keep the question within me no longer, "That day that you brought your guitar here, I asked how the Blood Fangs were evading us. You were giving me a hint then, weren't you– with all of those songs about water and caves?"