Falling For His Charms

CHAPTER 38

The rest of the day was quite busy. Lex had gotten his rather strange horse ride, which had made him be extremely happy for the following hours. After that, the palace guards had started rounding up villagers from Gloria, the ones that no longer had homes and were forced to live in the emergency tents (so basically the whole town). Sophie, with her kind heart, helped the maids and butlers show the villagers to their rooms, and helped the young children who were still getting over the stress of the attack. Even though Sophie was slightly disturbed by the fact that it had taken so long for the palace to help the people of her town, she was glad that they had finally started to.

Keefe, who was still 'besieged', as he had put it, to be her guard, helped out as well; he was quite good with the children, actually. He played with them so that they wouldn't bother their parents who were getting settled, and he comforted the ones who were sad.

And Lex, who which Sophie had been unsure of his reaction to the events, acted like an older brother to the younger ones, even though he was merely seven-years-old. Like Keefe, he played with them and comforted those who needed it.

It was quite adorable, to be honest.

"And then the dragon breathed fire! " Lex screamed, telling a story to a group of toddlers. They gasped, as the young boy was adding a large amount of dramatics. "Every night close by screamed in fear, and BOOM! The Almighty King arrived! He wielded his magic sword... "

Sophie shook her head with a smile on her face, watching the scene with amusement. Her brown eyes twinkled with happiness, enjoying the pleasant moment. Then, she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to see Keefe.

"It's time for dinner; let's get the wee-ones back to their parents," He said with a smirk. Sophie agreed, and they ushered the group of children back to their rooms, where their parents waited for them. Lex, Keefe and Sophie walked down to the dining room for dinner, feeling utterly exhausted.

"I have a new goal! " Lex groaned wearily. "I will never have kids!"

Sophie laughed. "I agree; children are so hard to handle. Especially triplets who cause havoc at every opportunity..."

That remark earned herself a laugh from Keefe and a sharp glare from Lex.

Dinner, as usual, was not quite eventful. The only exciting thing that happened was when Keefe saw a spider on the table and had shrieked. Everyone at the long table had laughed, though Sophie noticed that Fitz, who sat across from her, did not laugh as heartedly as usual. He seemed tired, exhausted even, and Sophie saw the way his teal eyes weren't sparkling. Concerned, she reached out and tapped his hand. His tired eyes met hers, and she gave him a questioning look. He nodded, with a small smile, and squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't reassure her at all.

"Fitz, wait." Sophie called after dinner, as everyone rose from the table to leave for the night. Fitz was several meters in front of her, walking quickly. Over the noise of chairs being pushed and people talking, she doubted that he could have heard her. She called his name again, louder, and people gave her strange looks; she didn't care however. When she called him one last time, he turned, his eyes full exhaustion and curiosity for what she was going to ask him.

She caught up to him, flushed cheeks from bustling through the crowd of nobles. "Are you alright?"

Fitz opened his mouth to answer, but Sophie interrupted him, a sad look in her honey-brown eyes. "Please don't say you're fine. I can tell; you're not. What wrong?"

The prince stared at her for a few seconds, that sighed, and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "It's... It's nothing, really. Only stressful meetings and long days..."

Sophie smiled and took his hand, nodding along, showing that she was listening. They walked down the hall, no destination in mind. Fitz explained how all the meetings were piling up upon each other, and his worries of not being a good king when the time came. Sophie listened as he let the weight of his shoulders; by the time he finished speaking, he looked thoroughly less stressed.

"Thank you, Sophie. I didn't realize how much speaking to you could help," Fitz said, a relieved smile on his handsome face.

"Anytime," She answered. Only then did she notice how close they really were; she could count the light freckles that were sprinkled across his face, the ocean blue in his eyes that was over powered by teal. She began slowly moving closer to him, nearly squealing in joy when he did too. Sophie could now feel the quick warm breaths he was taking, and, if she listened really carefully, she was sure that she could have heard his heart beat. Before she knew it, Fitz had pressed his lips to hers.

It was like she had been run over by a sparkly alicorn. She felt dazzed, fireworks in her body, sparks in her veins. She had never felt anything quite like this; sure, she had imagined it, but daydreams were nothing like reality.

Sophie pulled away slightly, even though everything in her body wanted to stay in that kiss forever. Fitz leaned his forehead on hers, and slowly met her eyes, his no longer tired-looking. She noticed how he had the biggest grin on his face.

"That was..." She started, unable to find a word good enough to describe how she felt. She felt quite a few things, actually.

Relief.
Joy.
Happiness.
Freedom.

"Incredible?" Fitz finished for her, his voice laced with pure happiness. "How about clearly the best thing you have ever done in your life?"

She felt flushed, just thinking about the kiss all over again. "T-that would describe it, yes."

Fitz laughed, and pulled his forehead away from hers, his cheeks rosy. "I can't believe I did that. You don't know how long I've wanted to do that, Soph." She grinned back, feeling as giddy as a schoolgirl with a crush.

"You don't know either, Fitz."

He took her hand, and they walked off towards her room like they did every other night. However, tonight was different than others. How so? Well, on normal nights, the duo didn't have rosy-red cheeks as they walked. Nor did they have big smiles on their faces, beaming like the golden sun, even as the orange sunset sky turned to dark blue.

Sophie felt like the happiest girl in the world.