The Crown cannot Help You

Chapter 39: The Stars

"So, you told Tabitha you didn't like her cake?" Flynn asked, poking around at the flickers that were left of the fire. He was attempting to stoke it back to a warming blaze, but it was taking a while.

Audelia swallowed the berry that she'd just placed in her mouth before giving Flynn a wide grin. "No, I told her it was a little dry."

Flynn laughed to himself. "That's basically saying to Tabitha that you disliked it."

"Yeah, I found that out when she didn't talk to me for almost the entire day," Audelia said with a laugh of her own.

At the time, she was terrified that she'd done something horrible, and Tabitha would never forgive her. She thought that she'd be thrown out of the inn and once again have nowhere to go.

But now, it was a funny memory of her over-dramatic friend.

Flynn's face lit up with a red glow as he stared down at the fire he'd just saved. He grinned smugly before stepping away to take a seat next to Audelia.

He then took a berry from Audelia's palm and threw it up into the air before catching it between his teeth. He sucked the berry into his mouth, leaving a splash of red juice upon his bottom lip. "Been there." He mumbled with a remembering smile. "I once couldn't finish the entire plate of food that Tabitha had cooked for me."

"Oooo." Audelia sympathised, shuffling closer to lean against Flynn.

"Yup. We had a training practice straight after, and she cut my arm with one of her throwing knives." Flynn rolled up his sleeve to show Audelia the thin line that sat upon his upper bicep. "She told me it was an accident, but I knew she was getting revenge."

Audelia gently traced the scar with her thumb. "Yeah, Tabitha doesn't tend to miss a target when it comes to knife throwing."

"My point exactly." Flynn scoffed, pleased someone was finally backing up his side of the story. He went to grab another berry from Audelia in celebration, only to notice all the berries were gone. So, instead, he wrapped his hand over hers and pulled it to his mouth. His lips gently laid a kiss against her knuckles.

The taste of berries was quickly replaced by the sweet vanilla of Audelia's skin. He didn't know how she'd made herself taste so sweet, but he could never get enough of it.

A shiver slowly crawled its way down Audelia's spine as she watched Flynn lift his lips to her hand. "Well, now we both know, eat every bit of her food that she serves and only ever say nice things." She swallowed, being careful to ignore the way her voice wobbled.

Flynn didn't notice how Audelia reacted to him, so he brought her hand away from his face and settled it against his lap so he could run his thumb in circles against the back of her hand.

"Are you cold, princess?" Flynn asked absentmindedly.

Audelia felt herself involuntarily flinch at the nickname. It had been a while since he'd used it. 

"Sh*t sorry, Audelia. I didn't- I forgot." Flynn quickly said, realising the mistake he'd made.

"No, it's fine," Audelia replied with a small thoughtful smile, "I've actually missed you saying that."

"But what about?" Flynn's eyes flickered to where Audelia's free hand now clutched her stomach.

"I know why Lily decided to brand me with this title, she wanted to remind me of where I come from and that I can never fully wipe away what my family has done. But that doesn't mean the word princess has been ruined for me, because when I think of it, I only think of you." Audelia whispered, still smiling.