"I must say, I've seen you look better."
"I have a headache."
Jazz's shadow blocked out the fading sunlight as he leant over her but Cinderella didn't open her eyes, choosing instead to set her hands against her eyes and press until Jazz flicked her wrist, indicating that she should relax the pressure.
It was the evening after the ball.
Her family were out for dinner and Cinderella had gone to the lake. Whether she had met with Jazz or not, for once, didn't matter that evening. She just needed a moment away from the house.
To process all the information that had been dumped on her within a few short hours.
She heard Jazz take a seat beside her, then lie down. A second later she felt his fingers tap the side of her head so she lifted it to let him thread his arm under her, settling her head back onto his bicep as a makeshift pillow.
"You left suddenly last night, I couldn't find you after your dance with The Prince," Jazz said, resting his other hand behind his own head.
"I had to leave and you were busy talking to the princess on the balcony."
"You had time to find me but not say goodbye?"
"I was talking to The Prince and you two seemed content enough to spend a while chatting."
"I wish you'd said goodbye."
"I had more pressing matters to attend to, like getting away."
"Yes but—"
"Not now Jazz," she snapped, elbowing him in the side, making him jolt before she turned onto her side and curled in against him, her eyes still closed.
Jazz was quiet for a moment then brought up his arm to wrap it around her – and prayed that, of all moments, Prince Andrew had for once just stayed at the palace and got on with his duties and wasn't interested in finding Cinderella to talk to her.
"What happened?" he asked gently, looking down at her head.
"I discovered a conspiracy against my father. I discovered he potentially led to the suicide of another man and I discovered my stepmother is getting remarried, all in a few hours. My head hurts."
Jazz stared at her for a moment, then dropped his head back, watching a flock of birds fly high overhead.
"That would make one's head hurt," he muttered.
A conspiracy? A suicide? And her stepmother was getting remarried?
The first question that was answered was answered by the remarriage. Cinderella lived with her stepmother yet she was to be married again.
Cinderella's father couldn't still be alive.
His heart ached all over again for her. On the rare occasions she mentioned her father, the fondness in her tone showed her love for him, and yet he was gone.
"Do you know the man she's to marry?" he asked.
Cinderella was quiet for a moment. "Hardly, I've only seen him a time or two," she muttered.
"Does he know about you?"
"I don't know what he knows of me," Cinderella said darkly.
"What about this conspiracy?"
She fell quiet again, then suddenly sat up, her hair tumbling loose from its weak binds, flaring around her shoulders and hiding her face before she got to her feet.
"I need to go home," she said.
Jazz quickly got to his feet. "Wait."
"I don't want to talk about this right now. I need to think. I need to prove them wrong."
Jazz caught her hand as she made to leave. "Cinderella, wait, let me help."
"You can't help me."
"Of course I can help you. Just name it. Tell me, anything."
"I have others looking into it for me; you don't need to get involved."
"Damn it, Cinderella, don't shut me out!" Jazz snapped and Cinderella looked around at him in surprise. Jazz blinked, then looked down. "Sorry," he muttered.
Cinderella stared at him for a moment, then slowly turned away. "You don't need to get involved," she muttered, before taking a step away from him.
"Why?"
Jazz's quiet voice made her stop. She looked back to see him staring down at the ground, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Why?" he asked again. "All I want to do is help and protect you, I can't—" He drew in a sharp breath. "I can't even begin to describe what you mean to me. I don't expect you to understand or return those feelings but nothing changes those feelings. So why? Why am I shut out?"
Cinderella stared at him for a moment, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. Stunned by the... confession? Had that been a confession?
Jazz suddenly looked up, his honey eyes dark in the fading light. "Aren't we close friends?" he asked quietly and Cinderella's heart crashed from her throat and into her stomach.
Friends.
Was that all he had been describing?
His feelings as a friend?
She looked away. "Just because we are friends does not mean we need know everything about each other or get involved with all each other's business."
Jazz let out a sudden bitter laugh, a sharp one beat bark, making her look back as he looked away, shoving his fists in his pockets. "Oh I know that," he said, "I know you don't know everything about me and I know next to nothing about you."
His head spun towards her, locks of black hair swaying across dark eyes.
"Who is helping you then?" he asked, "Who has your trust? Which of your friends has the power and position to help you?"
Cinderella's lips thinned. "Your tone suggests mockery, as if I have no other friends besides you? Do you think me so alone in the world?"
"I ask in earnest," Jazz shot back. "I am in no doubt about your ability to find friends. Princess Catolina speaks highly of you, despite barely knowing you. Make no mistake, you have The Crown Prince's ear, he is fascinated by your mystery identity, seems convinced he knows you from somewhere in his past. You have caught the eye of the court. You have charmed a great many men without even having to speak to them; I know friendships are not beyond you."
"That is not me," Cinderella snapped, "That is The Duchess they are all so enthralled with."
"It's not just The Duchess," Jazz said, "It's you. It's something about you. So who? Who do you trust?" Something seemed to suddenly click in his mind as he blinked and straightened. "The General," he said, focusing on her again. "Beldon. It's him, isn't it? You two are obviously so close, it's clear in your body language towards each other. How could you possibly know him? He's been out of the country for years and he is selective with his inner circles despite appearing to be everyone's friend. And yet you're special. What possible relationship could you two have to make him regard you so highly?"
Cinderella's mouth snapped shut, refusing to speak less she give anything away.
Jazz spied the act of defiance in an instant that only succeeded in making him more frustrated,
"Cinderella!" he cried, a plea to his tone but still she refused to open her mouth and the fight drained out of him.
In a second the anger bled away and he looked tired. He drew in a long, deep breath.
"Fine," he sighed, her voice hoarse, "Alright. I can hardly force you to tell me what you do not wish me to know. I can't understand your reasoning; I just hope you have some reasoning, some logic. And I also hope you know that it breaks my heart to be shut out but then, as I said, I don't expect you to understand or return such feelings."
Cinderella looked away, her hands clutching her skirts.
"Alright, at least answer me this?"
Jazz slowly ran his hand through his hair. His fingers were trembling and he seemed to need to take a breath to steady himself.
"You're not alone?"
Cinderella looked at him, confused.
"I don't know what you're fighting but you are fighting something," Jazz said, "You are clearly in the midst of some sort of war. So answer me this, are you fighting alone? Because battles cannot be won alone. No matter how strong the fighter is, a war is won with others at your side. So are you alone?"
"No," Cinderella said, "I'm not alone."
Jazz's shoulders slumped. "Alright then," he said, that defeat returning to his voice, "Alright. Then it is fine if you do not need me."
"Jazz," Cinderella said, turning fully towards him, "It's not that I don't need you. It's not that I want to block you out. It's just that you don't need to be involved. I... so many things are happening at the moment and I barely know where I stand in any of it. Please, just trust me for now."
"I trust you," Jazz said, "I trust you implicitly... and that makes me regret lying to you."
"Lying?" Cinderella said, her voice instantly sharp, staring at him." About what?"
Jazz gave her a crooked smile with pained eyes and shook his head. "My secrets to keep, Cinderella," he said lightly, walking towards her, "My lies to make."
"What lies?" Cinderella said, staring up at him as he stopped in front of her, "What secrets? Jazz!"
"Cinderella," he said back, softly.
"What lies?"
"Nothing bad," he assured her, "Nothing that you need to involve yourself with."
Her own words being thrown back at her was like a slap to the face and her head even snapped away like he had struck her.
The movement made Jazz's hands fly up to take her face, his fingers gentle along her jaw.
"It's not important," he said softly, leaning down so his forehead rested against hers, "I know, without doubt, nothing I can hide compares to what you have to. I can see just by looking at you that you carry a weight much heavier than I." He fell quiet for a moment, then slowly closed his eyes. "I won't be around much after this," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
Cinderella tilted her head up as much as she could, Jazz moving with her until his lips were mere inches from her. She was suddenly acutely aware of the heat in his hands. She could feel the pulse of his rapid heartbeat through his fingertips. His breath still held the traces of some sort of sweet fruit he must have eaten just before coming to meet her. His body, so much taller than her he could have been looming while he was bent towards her, felt like a security, a shield from everything else, encasing around her.
"Why?" she whispered, looking at his closed eyes, noting his dark lashes.
"I have to leave," he said, one hand sliding away from her face, down her shoulder, then moving to slip under her arm and down the curve of her waist, easing around to settle on her small of her back, drawing her in closer to him. "The third and final ball is being postponed and won't be held for a fortnight. In that time I shall be travelling to a neighbouring kingdom to escort a princess to us, she shall be attending the final ball as one of the numerous honoured guests."
A sudden smile formed and his eyes flicked open, looking down at her.
"Did you know she is one of twelve princesses?" he asked, the idea clearly greatly amusing. "Imagine, twelve daughters."
The amusement didn't catch up with Cinderella. "Why you?" she asked, "Surely there are others who can escort a princess, her own people for example."
"Who knows?" Jazz said, "Perhaps they hope to secure me a powerful wife."
Cinderella's heart turned to ice in a heartbeat and crashed to her stomach. The heat in Jazz's body was drowned by the chill through her veins and she broke eye contact with him, turning her face away though Jazz kept his forehead resting against her hair.
He watched her for a moment. "Or," he said gently, "Perhaps they hope to find a more suitable bride for our Crown Prince. As you know, they are less than fond of Princess Catolina."
Cinderella shoved him back and he released her.
"I need to go," she said, spinning away.
"Until the next ball then," Jazz said, watching her leave.
~~~~~
Next Up: Thursday
Art By: http://zephyrhant.deviantart.com/
Again, sorry for the late chapter! I honestly didn't know what was going to happen in this chapter - didn't expect this conversation either. Lots of stuff going on outside of Wattpad as well.
Also! I needed to find a recipe. Why? I shall tell you because this involves you lot lol
So! one of my readers, SamSpinelli has asked me to do a shout out to you guys for some help, and i think it's a really nice idea so I'm all for it.
To summerise her PM to me:
Sam is creating a special notebook for someone - and I hope Sam doesn't mind me mentioning this, but for the sake of context - who has an eating disorder and self esteem issues.
There are 3 sections to this lovely gift but the main section we're interested in is the 3rd part.
Recipe! Recipe for him in time for Christmas. So, I'm asking you on her behalf, give us some recipes. What do you like to eat? What would you make? Feel free to put them in the comments section below or i'm sure she won't mind you sending her a PM.
As for my recipe.
Ham, Cheese and Chives savory muffins.
OH MY GOSH! I love these muffins SO much! Small bites, not too heavy and intense so long as you eat them sensibly - which i never do, i just devour them.
275g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp English mustard powder (Optional)
100g Cheese (I use mature cheddar)
50g ham, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives OR Chives Philadelphia (My preferred choice)
125ml milk
150ml natural yogurt
1 medium Egg
1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC, gas mark 6. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin. Grease well so the muffins pop out when cooked and it give them a lovely crispy edge.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, Cheddar, ham and Philadelphia.
3. In a large jug, whisk together the milk, yogurt and egg. Stir into the flour mixture until lightly mixed.
4. Divide between the muffin cases and bake for 20–25 minutes until set and golden brown. Leave to cool a little before eating so you don't burn your tongue like I do.
Now I never said this was healthy lol It's heavy in the calorie department. But perfect for Christmas. And small, high calorie, doses are actually quite good to help build up the body.
And i love making these. Maybe I'll do that for my next vlog when I finally show the fanart. Christmas cooking!
Anyway! Let us know! I'm interested to see what you come up with!