Royal Thief (Editing)

Chapter 26

Annabelle

Hours after Logan left my room accompanied by Aaron, I stood in front of the picture wall fulfilling the promise I made my first night in the castle.

For minutes, I stared at the picture of a girl in a ruddy robe, knotted on her shoulder. She wore a silver tiara and sat crossed-legged on a red stool with a look that could break the camera.

"That's her majesty, do you know that?"

I turned to Darcy, who stood behind me with a brimful smile.

"Oh, she looks pissed, ready to shred her annoyer."

She tilted her head laughing and moved beside me. "I pushed her to the edge that day, I remembered vividly ending her toy date," she explained looking at me.

"That explains a lot, a girl hates being cut away from her toys."

Her lovely smile suddenly turned to a frown as her eyes scanned the picture. "I learnt that the hard way."

"How did you get here so quietly?" I inquired, confused by her sudden appearance.

She pointed to an opened door feets away. "I was in there, wanted to shake my old limbs and maybe get some biscuit."

"Will you love to see better, funnier pictures than these?" She asked, after seconds of silence.

Without giving her tempting offer a second thought, I nodded like a lizard on a stony wall.

"Well then, come on." She waved me to follow and we strolled through the door she pointed few minutes back.

"Oh God!" I whispered, with wide eyes and opened mouth. The pictures outside were nothing compared to the magnificent room I was awed into.

The floor and french Recoco ceiling, which had a golden chandelier hanging on it, were the only things left to breath fresh air from the crazy display of ancestral faces of the royal family.

"Come on in," Darcy said, her soft voice directing my gaze to an album opened.

"I prefer sitting on the floor and not using those wooden chairs that make my old waist bend." She pointed to the chairs and tables that were arranged in cycles beside shelves shoved with what I supposed were picture albums.

"This is the ancestors of the Royal's, am sure you've inferred that already?"

"Why did Logan never brought me here?" I muttered.

"Because it is loaded with embarrassing photos of him, trust me you want to see them," she replied, looking twenty with a grin.

Holding on to her purse that swivelled in her hands, she walked past me to a shelf, pulled out a green cover album.

She placed it on the floor, stepped out of her blue heels and sat comfortably on the floor.

Following her move, I kicked off my heels and sat crossed-legged beside her like a monk in deep meditation to Buddha.

She flipped through the first picture and pointed out Logan in his white shirt and short, accompanied by a blue sailors cap.

It was a picture I could flip through and nod without dropping a comment not until I stared at the smiling face that had three front teeth missing.

I burst into laughter and Darcy followed suite, explaining the backstory of the picture, "You see he was only six that summer and lost his tooth, he never forgot to place it underneath his pillow that's for sure." She paused and pointed at a stick I didn't notice he held at first sight. "A boy, but he believed in fairy's and witches, that was his wand."