I was sitting at the breakfast table with Josh the next morning. I sat there quietly, still full from Niall and my junk food binge yesterday afternoon to eat anything.
I was wearing a dress from Catherine, she let me borrow it for the day, and I was really grateful. All my other dresses were either at the seamstress or in the wash.
Tiggers and Chester were running around the Dining Hall, wrestling with each other playfully and I watched them with a gentle smile on my face. The two of them had become best friends, just as Chester and Niall had; almost instantly. They both slept together in my basket, which I had removed all my family's belongings from, and made it into a small bed for the two of them. Surprisingly, the Middlemist was still alive, so I put it in a pot, and gave it some water.
"Do you know where the rabbit came from?" Josh asked, after taking a sip of his freshly squeezed orange juice.
"That's Chester. He's my bunny." I smiled beamingly at him .
Josh chuckled. "Well then, he's very cute." He said, taking another sip of his juice.
Simon had taken the five other boys to the tailor earlier this morning to get new clothes fitted for the ball. At the thought of the major upcoming event, I squirmed nervously. I had a weeks time to prepare for the thousands of higher class people know I knew where going to make a defining judgement against me and Simon, plus his family, so I could not make a singular mistake.
"Josh, why didn't you go with your brothers?" I asked breathlessly, trying to distract myself from my taunting brain. Even though I was grateful for the company, I found it strange that he wasn't forced into going to.
"I had bought new clothes yesterday. Sometimes my brothers all become a bit too overwhelming when they're all together, so usually I have days to myself." He said simply, and I agreed with him. I had never slept so well since living in the castle, the boys seem to find different ways to tire me out.
"If that's the case, what are we going to do today?" I asked.
"I have a surprise already set up for you, but that's not until after breakfast." He said with a wink.
I rolled my eyes, but waited for him to finish his food, which he began eating at an incredibly slow rate.
-
"Where are you taking me?" I groaned impatiently. I had my arms sprawled out in front of me, trying not to run into anything. Josh was holding onto my waist, making sure I didn't fall; I could feel the warmth of his hands seeping through the thin material of my dress. He had blindfolded me, trying to keep his plan a surprise. I couldn't see a thing, and for that reason I was not particularly keen on this part.
Josh laughed. "Patience Beka, good things happen to those who wait." He announced, and I pouted. "You aren't scared of the dark, are you?"
My defenced shot up, and I straightened my stance. "No, I just don't like the fact that, being the uncoordinated person I am, for the ground to suddenly be up against my face, or to walk into a spider web." I stated.
Josh let out an amused chuckle, his hand trailing up one side of my waist, and my body reacted by flinching slightly due to my heighten senses but continued to keep walking. "I can assure you, Beka, I will not be so mean as to let you walk into a spider web." He reassured me.
I relaxed upon hearing that, and Josh brought me to a standstill, his hands disappearing from my waist. I could smell the wonderful scents of wildflowers, and I could hear the happy chirping of birds near me, so I knew tell we were somewhere in the garden.
"Ok, you can take the blindfold off now." Josh said from further away. I hadn't heard him move away. I slipped the blindfold over my head, shaking my hair free. My eyes took a couple of seconds to adjust to the sunlight that was shining through the trees, but I gasped upon seeing the scene that was in front of me, the blindfold slipping out of my hand.
I was standing on the outer ring of the circular clearing where Josh and I had first met. Josh was sitting casually on a yellow blanket, now barefoot, he had laid out on the ground. He was holding a chess piece from the chess board that was sitting in front of him.
The reason I gasped, wasn't because Josh had done something overly extravagant for me, like I had expected, but because it was just such a simplistic thing to do, something normal.
Josh smiled at me. "I thought that we could just do something regular, like playing chess, or do a puzzle. The all high and mighty life can be pretty overwhelming at times" He said gesturing to the many games and puzzles he had in a pile beside him. "I figured; why not celebrate your last day of being a regular person, before you become The Princess of London." He said with a smirk.
I nodded thankfully, unsure of what to say, before sitting myself on the ground opposite him.
Picking one up, I looked at the beautifully carved wooden chess pieces with a slight wonder. "Can you teach me how to play?" I asked, holding up one of the pawn.
"You haven't played before?" he asked, and I shook my head. "Well you've definitely asked the right person. None of my brothers, or Father has yet to beat me, so watch and learn." He said in a cocky voice. I laughed, but listened eagerly as Josh began to explain the rules.
-
"Yes! I win again! You lose! Let's face it Josh, you can't beat me." I said triumphal, skipping happily around the small clearing.
"Were you lying to me when you said you've never played before, because two hours ago, I was the one that was obliterated you?" he scrutinised me.
"No, I'm just a fast learner." I bragged, and Josh continued to look at the chess board looking for a fault but found none.
"I can't believe I was beaten by a girl, and not only once, but seventeen times." He said unbelievingly.
I came to a sudden stop, my skipping forgotten. A competitive look came over my face. "Are you suggesting that men are superior to women?" I asked, and Josh gave me a cheeky smirk.
"Well yes, in some cases, like sword fighting and fencing, no girl can beat a man at that." He smiled, thinking he had something over me.
"Anything you can do I can do better." I smirked teasingly, crossing my arms over my chest, beginning to walk back towards the castle.
"Hah!" he exclaimed, running after me, leaving the board games behind.
"I can do anything better than you." I continued as Josh caught up to me. He started walking backwards, smirking slightly while we argued.
"No you can't." He laughed, sizing me up.
"Yes I can." I said imitating his laugh.
Josh gave me a playful look. "No you can't."
"Yes I can." I realised the two of us were like Tiggers and Chester from this morning. The two of us were friendlily bickering.
"No you can't!"
"Yes I can!"
"Fine, why don't we settle this with a bet? If you think you can handle a sword against my years of training, then you can have the title of being the most logical, and strongest person in our family." He said emphasising the 'years' to try and make me cower out of the bet.
I wasn't allowing that. There wasn't possibly a more competitive person on this planet then I was, but Josh was trying very hard to prove me wrong. I smirked at Josh. "Fine, but don't go crying to your brothers when you lose." I challenged.
"Speaking of my brothers, they are probably home by now. Why don't we make it more interesting, my brothers and me, against you, in single handed combats?" Josh asked, thinking highly of himself.
I rolled my eyes. "You have a deal Joshua." I said, shaking his hand, as we continued walking. "Oh, and you may want to watch out for that tree." I said.
"What tree?" he laughed.
I pointed behind him, and he turned straight into the trunk of a large oak tree, going face first into the hard wood. I laughed, and continued walking, as Josh groaned in pain, and held his nose in between his fingers.
-
Josh explained to the boys and Simon, as they entered the castle gates, that the boys would be doing some sword fighting practice. The five boys all looked interested.
The six of them picked up a sword each, noticing the last one in the holder, which an employee had brought out. "Who will we be going against?" Zayn asked.
"That would be me." I said, tying my hair up into a bun, and picking up the last sword. Everyone, but Simon, Harry and Josh, laughed at me.
"You not serious, are you?" Liam asked, still laughing, and I gave him a deadpanned look. He stopped laughing once he realized I was being serious.
Simon gave me a concerned look. "I don't think you should do this sweetheart. My boys have all had years of training. Don't let your pride be the result in your injury." Simon stated, the boys gave me expectant looks, but no matter what, I would not be intimidated or convinced.
"You shouldn't underestimate her guys...I learnt that the hard way." Harry said, rubbing his shoulder, referring to the banter the two of us had in the kitchen.
"I am not fighting a girl. She is just going to get hurt." Zayn laughed, ignoring Harry's warning. My eyes widened in anger, as I swung my sword out in front of me. Zayn leant back, dodging the blade, as it came only inches from his face. I took the chance when I noticed he was unbalanced, and knocked his feet out from underneath him, causing him to fall on the ground onto his back, and dropping the sword out of his hand.
Zayn groaned, embarrassed, I stood from my crouch, and looked around at the seven males that were with me. They were all looking between Zayn and I with shock.
Radiating confidence, I gave them a smile. "Who's next?" I smirked.
-
Louis was struggling against my strikes, and he was becoming tired. His movement became sloppy, and he stumbled. I backed him up against a tree and held the sword towards his stomach. "Check and mate." I stated, and Lou swallowed nervously, breathing heavily. I lowered my sword, and he gave me a humour filled look. "That's hot." He stated, and I smirked, giving him a wink, before Lou joined his other brothers, sitting on the steps, that led inside the house.
"I told you not to underestimate her." Harry sung from the steps, as Lou sat down next to him, wincing slightly.
I had managed to beat every one of the boys, but Josh. I wanted to leave him last, because it would give me greater satisfaction in beating him, even after fighting against his five brothers.
I turned to Josh, and he was standing casually by the steps. He made his way over to me, with a cocky smirk. "Let's see if the student can beat the master again." I teased.
"I've been watching you closely as you've gone against my brothers, and I know every move you're going to make. This should be easy."Josh taunted.
I sighed dramatically. "Yes, it should be easy, but then again, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve." I stated, playing with my nails. Josh narrowed his eyes at me, and took the first swing. I ducked under his arm, and poked him lightly in the back with my sword. The boys laughed, and Josh gave them an annoyed look. He straightened his back, and turned to me. I wiped sweat off of my brow with my free hand.
"I'll give you one thing Beka, you are annoyingly fast."Josh huffed.
"It all comes with being short." I said to him. "Wouldn't you agree Niall?" I asked, looking over my shoulder, to where Niall was sitting, but kept glancing back to Josh from the corner of my eye, watching him. I was hoping that talking to Niall would make Josh go for the easy kill and run at me. Nial laugh and nodded. Josh had fallen for my trick. He began to charm towards me, his sword gripped tightly in his hand.
I whipped around, snapping my wrist, and my sword clanged with Josh's with unbelievable force, knocking the sword out of both of our hands. Josh continued to run at me, unable to stop himself. He jumped, about to tackle me, now prepared to fight with hand to hand combat, but I ducked underneath him, and pushed his legs over my shoulders, using every ounce of strength I had.
Josh was falling to the ground, very quickly, but he managed to save himself and did a forward roll, landing on his back with a low thud. He tried to get up again, but I picked up my sword, and pushed him down with my foot, holding the sword to his throat.
"I win." I stated, the boys cheering behind me. Josh looked up at me shocked.
"You were distracting me." he realised, and I smirked. Shaking his head at himself, he replied with 'Well played."
Extending my free hand, I helped him off the floor.
Simon and the boys came over to the two of us. "Where in the world did you learn to handle a sword like that?"Simon asked, giving my shoulders a one armed hug.
"Simon, I don't mean any disrespect, but I will remind you that I had two brothers, and my best friend's fiancé, was the blacksmiths son." I said glancing up at his, his mouth hanging open, but I directed that to all of the boys. Now they know not to mess with me.
"She's a fast learner." Josh explained to Simon, rubbing the back of his neck.
I handed Simon the handle end of my sword and he took it out of my hand. "I'm going to have a well-deserved nap." I said, before turning to the castle and walking away from the seven males. I could feel their eyes watching me, so when I reached the door that led inside, I turned to them, and said, "It is rude to stare boys," before pushing the door open, and continued indoors.
"I've been sword fighting for more than an hour and a half, and not a hair out of place." I said proudly to myself, before returning to my room.
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Hey Guys,
It's been what...? Three days since I last updated? I apologize for that, but I was being very lazy, and my incredible boyfriend came back from his month long holiday yesterday so I spent the day with him. So again I'm berry sowwy, I hope that you can forgive me by liking this chapter :D I had a lot of fun writing this.
Let me know your thoughts
Love Always,
Beka
xoxo