The heartless princess (1)

Chapter 6 - Tate

With her knee, she ravaged my testicles.
Her face changes when Kane whispers something to her. He abandons her and rushes to the cellar. She rubs her throat and leans against the wall. Her breathing calms and she moves towards me. She positions herself next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. I let her, her throat is much more inflamed than my private parts.
" Are you going to apologise to me?"
" No, I'm not going to. Do you want something to eat?"
The princess goes into the kitchen and grabs some peppers, rice and a steak. Seeing her open all the cupboards, I stand up and offer to help. I got out a saucepan and a frying pan and poured some water into one of them, while she watched my every move. Has she never done any cooking in her life? She's cutting up pieces of pepper. I prefer her to concentrate on your simple tasks so that we can eat afterwards. I fry the peppers and show her how to defrost the meat. Life at the castle has made it impossible for her to cook on her own.
" What did you do in your palace, sweetheart?"
" I learned five languages, the cello, the harpsichord, international trade, history, literature and a bit of maths, but I'm rubbish at maths. And you know my nickname because you made fun of me less than a week ago. We had a cook to make our meals."
I doubt that at the palace they have cooks to satisfy all their food needs. If she wants simple food, I'll prepare it for her.
The rice is in the middle of cooking, the peppers are cooking, the meat will soon be defrosted, we've got a few minutes peace and quiet.
" Tell me, what happened?"
She smiles and savours a carton of multivitamin juice.
" Your cheek."
" I told Lane that he was a repressed gay who couldn't stand anyone paying more attention to me than to him. He got mad and hit me, so I hit him back."
I'm laughing, she really hurt him. One day with him and they're banging each other. I hope they don't end up killing each other. Lane hates her and she hates him back.
" Did you do this to him? How did you end up fighting?"
" I was working out this morning when he took the bar off your wall. I wanted to watch TV but he took all the batteries out of the electronics. Then I tried to heat him up for fun but he pushed me away which makes sense given that he's in love with Pade. The last straw was when he stood behind the door when I was in the toilet. That pissed me off and one thing led to another and he hit me."
Hearing my phone ring, I head for the balcony and see flames in the kitchen. I quickly hang up before putting out the fire, which is spreading through April's hair. She'll have to get a little haircut, it makes her look very asymmetrical. I take advantage of this moment and try to grasp how she's managed to elicit such an intense glow.
She really has added olive oil to the fire. After turning off the gas, I push her into the bathroom. Her hair will be cut about a centimetre or two below her earlobe. I take a pair of scissors, she shampoos her hair, rinses it and styles it while I line it up. Her black locks are scattered on the floor and in the tap. I cover her brown hair with a towel before sweeping the shower room.
When I joined her in the living room, it was lying on my phone, so I ran to take it off my hands and stuffed it in my pocket. Fortunately, I've secured it with a password. Even if it arouses her curiosity, she has no business getting into my things.
" Don't touch other people's personal stuff."
" Who's Harper?"
" No one, I'm going to try and make us something to eat. Stay here and don't touch anything. You'll burn your eyebrows if you touch the gas again."
She starts laughing as I show her various tapes to watch. I pay little attention to the titles on the marker. When she makes her first selection, I start the kitchen all over again. I save the furniture, as the saying goes, serve the food and take the plates to the sofa while she hesitates between several films.
" What's 'Soléne'?"
" A mistake on my part, it's not a film to watch. I'll give it to Kane, get something else and make sure Oliver doesn't eat my plate."
I make a quick dash to the cellar and place the tape on the shelf in front of Kane. He's almost finished preparing the meat, so he should have enough for a week and a half. The soups will be delicious afterwards, while the animals are reproducing.
" I noticed this upstairs and thought it would be best if you picked it up."
" That's Nate's responsibility, not mine. I wouldn't take the time to listen to her praise him. Nate is adept at self-flagellation to keep this."
" She was his first love, he has every right to want to reminisce."
" She was my girlfriend, not his. You should go upstairs and look after Little Daisy before she does something stupid."
I take a sip of her beer and glance upstairs.
" Talking of mischief, I had to cut her hair because she nearly burnt it off. What did you say to her earlier that made her look different?"
" Absolutely nothing."
He responds quickly, too quickly. He lies.
" You know when you do a two-year course in the army, you end up spotting the liars. Did you say something to her you shouldn't have?"
" Go up and join her."
How do you say yes without saying yes? Exactly this way.
I go up and see April sharing her steak with Oliver, I sit down and eat. We take our time, she scratches the dog's ears and nibbles.
" What did Kane say to you?"
" I thought I was the more curious of the two of us."
" Sweetheart, please."
She removes the towel from her hair and places it on the towel rail in the bathroom to secure it. She returns, settles herself on the sofa and finishes her rice. She has a mischievous grin on her face and a plan in mind.
" If you tell me who Harper is, I can tell you what he told me."
She wants to take part in an exchange of courtesies between two people who are not friends but who have a solid relationship. It won't be too much to make a friend out of the Seven, she's rejected Pade and Dave, Lane and Nate hate her, Vale is indifferent to her, Kane is still Kane.
Harper is a friend of the family."
" Family?"
Seven of us ran away from the orphanage, seven of us were sentenced, all seven of us live. We are the Seven. We're all brothers whether we like it or not, it's life and death.
" We're all like brothers here, she's a close friend."
" You put fruit-shaped smileys next to your friends' contacts."
She was able to see the name of her contact, you need a code or a fingerprint to be able to see that.
" How did you get my code?"
" It's the number on your number plate. It's not very difficult to find, you never let go of your collar. You only took it off when you saw the flame so I looked at the number on it. She's not your friend."
She demonstrates her perceptiveness by cutting small pieces of steak and placing them in the dog's bowl. My empty plate is cleared and I offer her a yoghurt while drinking my violet milkshake.
" She's a bit more than a friend."
" So, I am right ?"
" What did Kane tell you?"
" That you and Harper are sleeping together."
I highly doubt it, Kane knows absolutely everything but shares almost nothing without getting permission first.
" I have a regular booty call, why do you care?"
" You're blushing and your pupils are dilated, one means there's an attraction and the other means you're embarrassed. You're in love with her."
What a stupid assumption!
" I'm not in love with her or I wouldn't be here with you in front of Sophie's Choice, talking about who's doing what with who. What did Kane say to you?"
" He made a sex joke, which I didn't think he was capable of."
He can't actually do it. She's deceptive. In my phone, I search for photos of Harper and admire them.
" You're smiling. she remarks. Is that Harper ?"
" Anyway, she dumped me earlier."
" So you were a couple."
" No, that was just two bodies boiling and moving at the same time."
" Then why are your eyes wet?"
" They're connected to your pussy." I rant as she unties her jogging bottoms.
Her stomach is full. She settles on the sofa, ends the film and tends to her hair with her fingers. I put my phone down on the table and take a walk around the forecourt. After settling comfortably beside me, April puts her legs between the metal bars and enjoys the gentle night breeze. I pinch a cigarette to my lips and start smoking.
The pure, enchanting air soothes my muscles and gives me a tingling sensation in my back. The princess feels it too, except for the shiver that makes her want to smoke. She targets me with her doe eyes. I'm a weakling, so I turn my back on her so I don't have to give her my last cigarette. Even if it's forbidden, I could so easily give in to her. The princess scratches the ears of the dog barking at me.
" Have you ever witnessed a violent crime?"
I frown and find myself with my arms flailing. She bites the filter of my cigarette, takes a drag and blows the smoke into the air.
" Why do you want to know that? Are you planning to become a psychiatrist in the next month and a half?"
" It's to find out whether under different circumstances I could have lured you into my bed."
Lured me into bed? I'm not on the list of people she wants to get into bed with, I thought I had a chance with her.
" Because that's a criteria that favours people?"
" Well, it depends."
" On what?"
" The size of their cock."
I cough, I wasn't expecting that answer. I still think I have a chance with her. I give her the end of my cigarette and eat a peach. The sweet taste reminds me of Harper.
" Do I have a chance with you?"
" I don't sleep with men who are in love with someone else, or those who are married."
" So?"
" So even with three grams of alcohol in my blood, I won't sleep with you because you want her. Being idolised is captivating. Thanks for the fag, it feels good."
She throws it on the floor before rinsing her face in the bathroom. I sit at the cabinet and watch her carefully. Her desire for privacy makes me turn my head and her bra falls to the floor. I'm lost and head for Nate's room. Five minutes later, she finds me naked. Her long muscular legs, her little brown fleece. I can't keep my eyes off her lower abdomen and chest as she lies back in bed and warms herself under the duvet.
" April, what are you doing?"
" I ate, I smoked, I'm tired so I'm going to bed. I sleep naked, does that bother you?"
" Can I sleep with you."
" Just sleep?"
I assure her that nothing will happen between us, she pushes aside the blanket, I position myself behind her and wrap my arm around her stomach.
" What did Kane say to you?"
" That he was going to paralyse me so I couldn't run away."
That's Kane for you. She presses her buttocks against my pelvis and I cradle my head against her neck. I snuggle up to her and reflexively plant a kiss on her shoulder. A tear rolls down my eye, she's right, I'm in love with Harper. I cry, she turns to me and sweeps away my tears with her thumb. Her hand caresses my back and I hold her close. A wave of warmth fills my heart, it feels good but ...
" You can go and put some underwear on, it's weird to have a hard-on when I'm crying."
" Have you got any?"
I stand up and go to my room to get her some underwear, I'd bought them from Harper but they were a bit too big for her. She slips them on and they fit her perfectly, except that it makes her look even sexier. She smiles and exits the room, she's going to get me killed, she breaks into Pade's room, steals a pillow and a stuffed toy then runs into the bedroom. She jumps up on the bed when a cracking sound is heard, purses her lips to keep from laughing while I bite my lip in the same attempt. I close the door gently and join her in bed.
" Nate's gonna make you pay for the bed."
" Do you want to talk about Nate or do you want a hug?"
I want much more than a hug, but she's rejected me, so I'll settle for just a hug. I lean my head against her chest and am enveloped by her heartbeat. Running her hand through my hair, she hands me a tissue as I start to feel my nose running. She pulls the blanket over us, and we lie down further and further until we're completely horizontal.
She falls asleep before me, her head on my shoulder and her leg on my legs, I sniff her neck to smell the sweet scent of her skin even though it's hidden under the smell of Kane's soap. I pick up my phone and enter the princess's name into the search engine. The rumours and press articles only criticise her, the King has the right of censorship but he has given up using it to protect his daughter.
" Dim the lights, please." April whispers, leaning back a little more against me.
I'm continuing my search with less light to damage my eyes and April's. The press covered up her disappearance with a ridiculous lie. The article, entitled "Exaction at the Royal Palace", describes in a few lines the terror at the ball organised to mark the princess's twenty-first birthday. Two guards violently stabbed and seriously injured April's governess, who was stabbed twice in the stomach. The King said he had sent his daughter to boarding school in the Kingdom of the Pansies for her protection. The Queen, in shock, was unable to make a statement. The culprit is still at large. The police are advising the public to remain vigilant.
The Princess, in her current boarding house, is dozing, half lying on top of me. She hasn't had a lesson, she's not safe and she's only a hundred hectares from the castle.
Journalists are leaking false information, and the King would make himself vulnerable if it became known that his daughter had been kidnapped.
I changed the page and clicked on the image tab. There were only a few photos of her as a child, but there were a phenomenal number of provocative photos of her from the age of eighteen onwards. She did not hesitate to appear with a lover on a balcony when the royal couple were away. The photograph is vulgarly censored, but it's easy to guess what's going on. You can see from her face that she knew the photographer was there. With her eyes fixed and a smirk on her face, you get the impression that she's enjoying herself.
" Would you like me to tell you about that today? she asks, her eyes wide. It's not very exciting, but you've been stuck on this photo for ten minutes."
I've been researching her for an hour and trying to work out why she looks so proud to have been caught in action.
" How long have you been awake?"
" Ten minutes, my ears are ringing, it's keeping me awake. Are you researching me instead of asking me?"
" You'd lie to me just to get the satisfaction of seeing my reaction when photos can be interpreted according to the proximity of the subjects and the openness of each person's mind. As far as I'm concerned, in this photo you wanted to amuse the man who took your photo."
" I asked him to take this photo, that's his twin behind me." She drops like a bombshell before scrolling through the photos. "There are better ones than these, but they're on a friend's camera."
I'm treated to a stream of information that turns my brain upside down. A friend of hers has photos of the princess with no clothes on.
" Do you have a friend who has nude photos of you in her camera?"
" Rosie is very good at taking photos and I trust her. Don't be frigid, I'm sure you have at least one naked chick pic on your phone."
" Because I'm sleeping with her."
I cut her off before she corrects me, I don't need her to remind me that I'm single. It hurts enough without her adding another layer. I immediately go to my gallery and delete Harper's photos before sinking into a deep sleep.