Morphed into Love, Book 2

7- The Disobedient Guard

OPHELIA

As soon as I returned to the palace, Yoko sensed my frustration. She might not have been a magic user or have mystical powers, but Yoko had the uncanny ability to detect even the most concealed of emotions.

"Who pissed in your chalice?" My friend chortled. She was sat on a marble bench in the courtyard and had somehow managed to convince Amos to sit in between her knees so she could braid his blond hair. He looked less than happy about it.

"Must you use such offensive language in the palace?" I perched beside her with a sigh, "It's unbecoming."

Yoko shrugged, not caring in the slightest for propriety, "So, what's got you in a huff?"

I gazed along the courtyard, many servants were rushing around with an array of items in their arms, from silky materials to hay for the horses, sheathed swords for the knights to try out and even piping hot foods from the bakery outside the palace walls. It looked like everyone was awfully busy preparing for tonight's feast.

"Prince Ronan." I mumbled, fighting off a wince when a servant no older than thirteen tripped on a vine's root and sent a freshly baked pie smashing to the ground.

"Ooo!" Yoko squealed, "So you have spoken to him?"

"Yoko, you're pulling my hair." Amos complained, red-faced and embarrassed, "It hurts."

"Oh, stop being such a baby!" She tugged on the roots of his hair and turned to me, "Now, tell me everything."

"He came to save me from his basilisk, like the absolute hero he is." I chortled out a dry, mocking laugh, "Only to discover I didn't need saving and was quite enjoying my time with his pet, and that seemed to hurt his ego quite a bit."

"What did he say, Your Majesty?" Amos seemed desperate to escape Yoko's clutches, "I can have a word to ensure he disrespects you no further, if you'd like."

I smiled, tucking a strand of lavender hair behind my ear and letting the point show on the rare occasion, "Nonsense, Amos. Your services are much more needed here with Yoko, you keeping her entertained saves me the job."

Amos gritted his teeth and blew out a frustrated breath through his nose, "... Very well, Your Majesty."

I genuinely laughed, feeling the earlier tension Ronan had instilled in me leave my shoulders, "I only jest, Amos. Yoko, let the poor man go. I'm sure he has better things to be doing than being your hair model."

Amos was an esteemed sorcerer; his job was to protect his Queen and that was that. He hadn't signed up to play hairdressers with my best friend and certainly not in the courtyard where the entire palace could see his embarrassment.

"Fee!" Yoko complained, her straight black hair swinging from side to side in protest. She was half-way through a braid and Yoko hated leaving anything undone, "Just let me finish."

"Very well." I sighed, knowing it gave her an unpleasant itch if something was only half-done. Amos didn't seem too pleased with my lenience however, "Where is Logan?"

"Neglecting his duties, no doubt." Amos grumbled, folding his arms and finally accepting his humiliation for what it was. He continued to sit through his makeover without much of a fight.

"He's at the training grounds, I believe." Yoko chirped, weaving a baby blue ribbon through Amos' bleach blond hair, it matched his eyes perfectly, "Probably doing boy stuff and getting filthy."

Amos made a disgruntled noise of disgust; he hated being dirty. Him and Logan couldn't be any more different if they tried.

"He ought to be scolded. He left the Queen's side as soon as we got here, it's like he's forgotten his purpose and it angers me to no end." Amos was a diligent protector; he did his job and he did it well. If we wasn't with me, he was with Yoko. Logan, on the other hand, had a tendency to wander and was itinerant at the best of times. It had been irritating me for quite some time, but I'd never mentioned it.