pietá

Illness and invites

(Y/n) walked as briskly as she could through the halls of the castle. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and her breathing had yet to slow down. She still couldn't believe what she'd just saw.

The scene replayed itself in her mind. The vivid image of that poor woman, William staring at her with such hatred... She wanted desperately to avoid seeing him now, she wanted to avoid seeing any of those men if possible. But that was inevitable in her line of work.

(Y/n) went through another hallway that would take her back to the ball room. She would try and act as if nothing was wrong.

Just then a few loud voices caught her attention.

"Don't be that way, your highness."

"Yea, come back."

"We only wanted to be nice."

Up ahead she could see Gossamer. The long haired boy was wearing a white button up with black bands around the biceps. It was beneath a dark purple vest which went well with his dark colored trousers and shoes. He was surrounded by three women, one of them wearing his coat draped over her shoulders, which explained why he was in only a vest and shirt. He had his hands up with a polite, yet undoubtedly, uncomfortable smile.

"Yes, I understand that but- Hey!" He yelped as one of the females approached and pressed her full body onto him, running her hand up his inner thigh while the other two laughed. Gossamer's face was red now as he pushed the girl off him.

(Y/n) felt it was odd seeing him like this. He was all flustered and disoriented from how these women were treating him. The girls were evidently amused by his reaction and only continued to harass him. He didn't yell at them nor raise a hand to strike them. It actually upset (Y/n). Why did he treat her any differently?

Besides her own anger the girl saw something strange in the young man's eyes. Something she'd never seen from him in the short time she'd known him. It was worry, perhaps even fear? Like he needed to be rescued. Him of all people and she couldn't believe it.

She rolled her eyes at the situation, but she couldn't just stand by and watch. "Ah, Prince Gossamer! Your highness." The illustrious tone which he knew all too well suddenly infiltrated his ears. At the sound of it his expression changed. He looked over to her calmly with subtle relief. The young woman approached with confidence and did a slight bow to greet the confused group. "Please pardon my intrusion, but your father has requested your presence in the foyer."

Gossamer knew this wasn't true, but when he met (Y/n)'s kind eyes, the last thing he thought to do was protest.

He looked down. "Oh... Alright..." His voice was low and embarrassed. He was ashamed the girl had seen him like this.

The three tipsy women gave (Y/n) confused stares but didn't speak.

The female acted as sort of a guard, standing in between the prince and the women as he walked around her. She snatched his coat off the woman wearing it, giving all three of them a mean look. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, ladies." This was said with spite as the three girls turned and slowly made their way back to the ball room.

The worker turned away from them and faced Gossamer, holding up his coat to help him put it back on. He turned his back to her and put his arms in the sleeves, his mean streak still failing to return. Once his coat was back on he cleared his throat and faced the girl who'd helped him. She stood with a friendly smile and her hands behind her back as she waited for him to speak... or yell at her.

Whichever came first!

Seeing her kind being waiting to him was enough to put him over the edge. He wanted no more than to hold her tightly and never let her go. And yet, he was in no position to do that.