Not My Fairytale

Chapter 33

The castle was quiet, as expected, when we stepped through the side door by the kitchen. There was not a sound to be heard, save for the tapping of our footsteps on the stone floor.

For once, fate seemed to be on my side. Not a single soul crossed our path on the way to the library, a cavernous room just down the hall from the grand ballroom.

The door creaked on its hinges as I pulled it open, and I froze in place, waiting with a racing heart, but no one came striding from within the empty room to investigate the noise. I gestured for him to follow me inside, then left him to look around as I could see he so desperately wanted to, while I hurried deeper into the room in search of the map we were risking so much for.

I passed through row after row of bookshelves, before I found a pile of maps, all rolled tightly and tied with a leather strip, atop a desk against the far wall. As I picked up the first one, I couldn't help but peer around the room again suspiciously. It all felt too easy.

A sinking feeling settling into my gut told me that my luck could only last for so long.

"I found it," I whispered to Angelo a short time later as I peered down at the map in my hands. He came up beside me, but I was already rolling it back up, "Let's go."

"Go where?" He asked, watching me retie the leather cord around the thick paper.

"Somewhere more private," was all I gave him in response.

I led him from the library, map tucked securely under an arm, and climbed to the second floor. He didn't speak as we strode down the corridor, just kept pace with a stiff posture that looked foreign on his form. I found myself resisting the urge to reach out to soothe the tension from his shoulders. It's only a part he is playing.

One he was playing quite convincingly, I had to admit.

As we were nearing the stairs that would lead us up to the safety of my rooms, our luck finally ran out.

The cloying scent reached my nostrils the same moment I spied him standing in the shadows beside an open window. I stiffened, my steps halting abruptly. Beside me, Angelo observed the vampire with a passive expression, maintaining his charade, though there was a glint in his eye that told me he was watching the scene unfold with a wary apprehension to match my own.

"Ambassador Bruhn," I greeted, meeting his gaze with a confidence I didn't feel.

"Princess Giuliana," he regarded me with that quiet calculation that made my skin crawl. "What an unusual hour for someone such as yourself to be wandering about the castle."

My chin tilted up in indignation, "I could say the same to you."

His gaze left me to glance over Angelo as if I hadn't spoken, "And what interesting company as well."

"He is escorting me back to my rooms. As you said, it is very late." The practiced lie slipped easily from my lips.

Those dark grey eyes flitted back to study the map I still held tucked under my arm before returning to mine, "It's quite interesting though, I don't think that I have ever seen you accompanied by a guard inside this castle."

It was only then that I noticed the dishevelment of his sparse grey-brown hair, the missed button on his suit jacket, really took in the open window beside him. He had been flying– spying more like. But how much had he seen? I tried to think back on just how many windows we had passed, unaware of the potential audience. Had he seen us searching through the library? Had he been watching us the entire time? Since I led Angelo through the wall? Before that, even?

I was going to go mad attempting to figure out how much he knew, and that was likely just what he wanted.

Before I could think of a clever retort, he spoke again, "I wonder if your father, the king, would find it just as fascinating."

At those words, I snapped, done with whatever game he was trying to play.

I turned abruptly, making my way toward the staircase once more, but not before throwing one last retort over my shoulder, feigning disinterest in his threat, "Do find out, would you? And while you're at it, I'm sure he would be quite interested to hear of what you were doing lurking about in the middle of the night as well– a midnight flight, perhaps?"

The vampire had no response to that.

Angelo followed behind me in silence once more, the tension palpable in the air between us.

When we arrived at my rooms, I ushered him in without a word, locking the door behind us before dashing across the room to pull the curtains closed on all of the windows. Only then, did I slump down into the settee and place my face into my palms to collect myself, my breathing a touch ragged as if I had just finished my morning training.

After a moment, Angelo spoke, forcing his voice light, "Are all foreign ambassadors such nuisances?"

I groaned, not lifting my head from where it rested in my hands to look at him, "You have no idea."

And this nuisance could very well prove to be a problem.

He could know too much.

~*~*~

The kiss is coming, I promise!

Let me know what you think of the chapter (I'm trying to get back to all of you, it may just take a little while). Any thoughts? Predictions?

See you next week! (If not sooner)