Close to the Crown (On hold until 2021)

Chapter Ten (REWRITTEN AND EDITED)

I stepped back, forcing his hand from my shoulder that had been causing me some discomfort, although I was far more affected by his comments. I thought that we had made some progress in our relationship over the few weeks previous, but his comments proved me wrong: he still maintained his very low opinion of me, no matter what I did to try and prove him wrong.

"William, for god's sake man, that's enough!" Jamie snarled, pulling me further away from William, and closer to him, "You're the one causing the god damn scene here!"

William snarled at his best friend, clearly enraged by his comments, "I am not the one causing the scene! She is the one screaming about her brother like he is the spawn of Satan!"

Jamie chuckled humorlessly, "Well then, she's not too far off the mark is she? Besides, you are the one not listening to a word she is saying."

Feeling numerous eyes on us, I cleared my throat, grabbing their attention, before subtly nodding to the side to indicate that people would most likely hear what we were saying. William glared at us, but refrained himself from releasing another bitter comment our way, before running a hand through his hair.

Jamie continued to hold me, as if it was the only thing stopping him from completely loosing control of himself. Although, that proved to be a grave mistake less than five seconds later.

"Well well well, Hawkins, you haven't changed much since the last time I had the misfortune of being in your presence," A sinister voice drawled. "Still clinging onto women who you can't have, I see..."

As soon as my brother stepped into my vision, i felt all energy drain from my face. He hadn't changed much at all since he left. His hair remained the same dark brown, although it had grown out more so that the ends of it covered the upper half of his ears. He still towered over me, and he appeared to have maintained his tan that he used to lure in the female population. The major change was his build, having acquired far more muscle than what he had left with, giving him a far more intimidating presence. He still however, remained smaller than both Jamie and William, making me feel slightly more at ease.

The thing that stood out most to me though, was his piercing blue eyes, that were so icy and pale, they seemed almost transparent. These eyes were inherited from my mother, and while, as I saw in photographs, it made her look innocent and beautiful, they made Steven appear ghoulish and creepy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jamie snarled, drawing me even closer to his frame.

"Surely, it is I who should be asking you what you are doing, Hawkins. Holding to my darling little sister so dearly, while her fiance," he then gestured over to William, "...is standing just there."

"Why you fu--!" Jamie growled, until he was stopped mid-sentence by my fiance.

"Jamie don't," William stepped in between the two men. "Not here, not now."

Steven as if this whole situation amused him, began laughing. "Really, William? You aren't going to do anything about him feeling up your little fiance in front of the whole bloody English nobility?!"

It was then Steven's turn to feel the force of William's mood, "Don't you dare talk about your sister like that! You show her some god damn respect!"

Steven went quiet, the amused look remaining on his face, before allowing his eyes to travelling across to meet mine, hostility swirling amongst the amusement, as clear as day.

"Well, I guess some things have indeed changed, little sister, haven't they?" He laughed bitterly, "Since when did you and Prince arrogant become so chummy?"

William snarled, but before he could attack, a body pushed between the two men.

"Less than five minutes, really Steven?" Charlie mused, not even slightly pleased to see his elder cousin by a year.