I woke up to the sound of light snoring in my ear. I opened my eyes and saw that Andrew was very close. I was actually in his lap, my arms wrapped around him.
I sat up quickly, arousing him. He yawned, then smiled when he saw me.
"Good morning, Cassandra," he said.
"How did I get into your lap?" I demanded.
"You were cold," he said simply, standing up and rolling up his blanket. The fire had already gone out.
I ducked my head in embarrassment as I moved away to my side of the camp. I quickly packed my blanket in my pack and stood up, ready to go.
Andrew gave me a questioning look, "Aren't you hungry?"
I nodded, "All the time, but one learns to forgo such pleasantries."
"Pleasantries? Food? Food is a need," he said, taking a chunk out of the bread and handing it to me. I looked down at it, but didn't take a bite. "What's wrong with it?"
"I-it's just...I've never had this much food before," I mumbled, looking down at the bread feast in my hands.
"What?!" he claimed in astonishment.
"You should know, you lived there for a year."
"Well, yes. But I always thought you had more food."
I shook my head sadly and said, "The only food I got was from the scraps you left me."
He frowned, then scowled, "Those no-good, dirty, scum buckets! They always told me you had more food and were just naturally skinny. And really you were starving all along."
I blinked at him, "You didn't know?"
"I swear I didn't. I didn't even know about this ridiculous marriage arrangement."
"I know about that last part. You seemed very surprised when they talked about it."
"Yes, well, I disagree with most anything they think of. It was just easier to have a place to go home to at night, and a bed to sleep in, and hot baths to take."
"I wouldn't understand how that feels, but I guess it makes sense."
Andrew bowed his head and sat hunched over for a minute. I watched him carefully, not sure what he was going to do. Then he sat up and stared at me for a long time. I stared back calmly, used to such perusal.
"Eat up, we still have a long way to go," he muttered, biting into his own hunk of bread.
I slowly ate the bread, relishing in the taste. Andrew watched me carefully as I ate, also when we stood up to leave. I drifted behind him as we walked, but he kept coming to get me, to talk to me, or just study me. I got annoyed of it after a while.
"Is something wrong?" I asked angrily.
"No, no. I just like to watch you, you're very graceful."
I snorted as I stumbled over another rock, "I know you're lying to me, I've spent all my life with liars. I know all the signs."
He sighed, "You're just very pretty."
I stopped walking and gaped at him, my mouth slightly open. He took a few more steps before realizing that I had stopped. He turned around and looked at me.
"What?!" he exclaimed, coming to stand in front of me.
"I've never met anyone who thought I was pretty. Actually, I've only known you, Bill, and
Mark. And they both assure me that I'm ugly, every day."
He took my hands slowly, as if trying not to scare me, and whispered, "You are most certainly beautiful." I smiled a small smile and he grinned, "You should smile more often. It makes you even prettier."
I ducked my head again as a blush came over my cheeks. He let go of my hands and we started walking again. I walked beside him now, instead of behind. We were much quicker than yesterday and made it to the next town before supper time.
Andrew looked around the town and then asked a man were the nearest hotel was.
"Only one in town, mister," he replied, pointing off in the distance, "It's near the docks, to make it easier on the passengers."
Andrew nodded, and taking my arm, steered me across town and into the hotel. We stepped into the dimly light lobby and Andrew went in search of the manager or owner. I looked around the room. There were two doorways, one leading into a long hallway and the other leading into a larger room. To the left was a stairway leading to the second floor. I noticed a lot of things were dusty. As soon as he left, a young man walked in. He grinned evilly when he saw me and sauntered over to me. He walked around me in a circle.
"What's a pretty thing like you doin' here," he drawled slowly, looking me up and down.
"I'm going on the ship to go across the sea," I replied, standing my ground.
"Ah, well, you see, young women like yourselves aren't supposed to be unaccompanied like you are, sweet," he smiled, moving closer to me.
I took a step back, "I'm not alone, I have a companion with me who will accompany me on the trip."
"Well, that's nice. We can all get together and have fun in a, shall I say, private way," he murmured, snatching out at me and bringing up against his body. He bent down and pressed his lips against mine, bruising them. I struggled against him, pounding my fists into his chest, but he was too
strong for me. His hand ran down my back, and then he was suddenly ripped away from me. I stood there gasping as I saw the young man caught in Andrew's strong hold, his feet didn't touch the floor because Andrew was so tall. My eyes widened as they wrestled. The man took a swing at Andrew, but he ducked.
"I saw her first," the man hissed, "Go find you own broad."
"I'm no broad!" I shrieked.
"I happen to be her guard," Andrew replied coldly.
The man's eyes widened as he tried to escape from Andrew's iron grasp. They started to wrestle again, I backed up into the wall. The owner of the hotel came out to see what the problem was just when Andrew drew his fist back to punch the man. The owner threw himself in-between them and pushed them apart. He was a short, but very strong man.
"They'll be no fightin' in my hotel, y'all hear?" he asked, "If y'all wanna fight, do it someplace else! Now just what was this here fight over?"
Andrew and the man glanced over at me cowering in the corner of the room, clasping my bag to my chest. The owner looked over at me a sighed.
"Poor pretty girl, don't be afraid, come here," he said kindly, beckoning me over with his hand.
I walked over slowly, dragging my feet on the sawdust-covered floor. The owner looked at me closely, "You sure are a pretty one, fer sure. Never been a prettier visitor in my hotel. Now tell me darlin', do you know either of these men?"
"J-just my companion," I barely whispered, "He was protecting me from that man." I pointed at the man in question.
The owner nodded in a knowing way, then he turned and yelled at the young man, "How many times have I told you to stop scarin' away my customers? Now this here pretty lady is already done spoken fer, so you can forget about her!"
The young man nodded meekly and scurried out of the hotel, glancing back at me as he left. I shivered, I had a feeling that was not the last time I was going to see that certain person.
"Sorry about him," the owner said, leading us into the nicer room, "I've told him about his ways, but he just won't listen! I tell you what, just fer your troubles, you can stay a while fer free!"
"We're much obliged," Andrew said, pulling me away, "Could you show us to our room?"
"Certainly," the little owner said, leading us back through the front room and up the stairs, stopping at a door, "Now, if y'all need anythin', just ask fer Papa D, that's me!"
"Yes, we will, thank you," Andrew said, pulling me into the room after him and shutting the door in Papa D's face.
I turned around, trembling, to take in the room we would be in for three days. It was fairly large with one bed, two chairs, and a table. I went and sank down on the bed, my face in one of the pillows.
Andrew came over and sat beside me on the bed. He hesitantly reached out and stroked my hair. I sighed sadly into the pillows, they smelled slightly of lilacs and musk. I turned my head and looked up at Andrew as big tears rolled down my face. He frowned, and as he did before, brushed the tears away.
"Andrew?" I asked, sitting up.
"Yes?" he replied.
"Is it so wrong of me to not want to marry Bill's and Mark's nephew?"
"No, it's not. I think it's wrong, personally."
"Really?" I said, my eyes widening and a little smile forming on my lips.
He smiled a crooked smile, "Yeah."
I smiled a watery smile and rubbed my eyes. Andrew stood up and looked out the window, "They'll probably be serving dinner soon, so you better get ready."
I nodded and went out into the hall and into a powder room. I opened the door warily and peeked inside. It was empty. I hurried in and closed the door tightly. I looked at my reflection in the
mirror and heaved a heavy sigh. My black hair was tangled and there was dirt smudged on my face. My blue eyes were wide with shock, and my dress was tattered and filthy. I didn't see why anyone would think I was pretty.
I pulled out my brush from my pack, then after wetting my hair, I pulled it through the damp strands. I washed my face, then slithered my dress over my head and washed it too. I carefully plaited my hair. When my dress was dry, I donned it and straighted it. Better, I thought, looking at my reflection, but no beauty.
I walked out of the powder room and back to our room. Andrew was still facing the window when I walked in, but he was wearing a nicer outfit. He turned around and looked at me.
"Is that the only dress you have?"
A blush of embarrassment crossed my cheeks as I nodded, "Bill and Mark never let me have another one."
"Well, then tomorrow we're just going to have to buy you some."
"But I have no money," I mumbled.
"Don't be ridiculous, I'll buy them."
"I can't take your money," I protested.
"Bill told me to take care of you, which also means presenting you correctly to his nephew, which means you'll need some new dresses."
I pouted as he grinned, knowing he was right.
"But I don't want to marry him," I whispered so Andrew wouldn't hear me.
"Let's go to dinner, shall we," Andrew said, taking my arm and leading me out of the room. We walked down a dimly-lit room towards chattering. The hallway opened up into a barely-lit dining room. All of the furniture was made out of wood, some lay broken in a corner of the room. I squinted my eyes as Andrew led me to a table. The noise quited down as we walked in. Heads turned as we walked by. I ducked my head and sat down in the chair that Andrew pulled out for me. He sat across from me and smiled encouragingly.
A minute later, a woman with a pitcher came out and set some glasses and plates of food in front of us. She smiled and tossed some of her blonde curls when she saw Andrew.
"Enjoy," she said in a nasal voice.
"Thank you," Andrew said, still looking at me.
I slowly lifted my head as my eyes met his. He smiled again and picked up his fork, his sign for telling me to eat. I looked down at the strange white goop on my plate, but I picked up my fork and ate some anyway. It was amazingly delicious and tasted somewhat of potatoes. I split up my roll and ate it slowly, enjoying the softness of it.
I noticed that most of the men kept glancing at us and whispering. I could tell Andrew noticed too. I gave him a questioning look and he shook his head ever-so-slightly. I bit my lip and watched Andrew. His back was perfectly straight as he looked around the room, observing. They were his hunting eyes. I rested my chin on my hand and continued to watch him. His movements were very graceful and soundless, unlike mine. He turned to look at me and found me watching him. He blinked his light eyes and titled his head questioningly. I shook my head like he had shaken his. He smiled, his eyes crinkling.
His smile disappeared when a drunk man walked up to the table and wanted me to come to bed with him. He stood up swiftly up, knocking over his chair. Papa D, the owner, came out before they started taking swings at each other. He pushed the man back and yelled at him to leave me alone. He announced to everyone in the room that I was spoken for and they could forget about me. But the men still looked and whispered.
Andrew was seething as we walked back to the room together, barely having eating anything. I followed him closely, practically running to keep up with him. He slammed the door when I hopped in, then turned and threw his arms up in the air in an aggravated motion.
"They all think you're a whore, ready for use!" he yelled, pacing back in forth.
I watched him, my head going back and forth. Suddenly he stopped and looked at me. I shrank back in the chair I was sitting in.
"Bill and Mark never tried to rape you did they?"
I shook my head vigorously. He gave a curt nod and started pacing again.
"You don't even look like the kind of girl for that! You're so young."
"I'm sixteen!" I complained.
He stopped again and looked down at me. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it and went into the tiny changing room, and shut the door. I slumped over in the chair, I was very tired. I sleepily undid my hair and quickly changed my dress to my nightgown, which was only in a slightly better condition. I pulled my boots off and wriggled my sore toes. I curled up in the corner of the room and waited for Andrew to come back out.
He did, in an hour. The door creaked open slowly and he tiptoed into the room. His footsteps stopped as he looked for me.
"Cassandra?" he whispered.
I opened my eyes and sat up, making a rustling noise. Andrew's head snapped in my direction. I could see his light eyes shining from the single beam of light streaming into the room. He walked over to me and crouched down on the floor directly in front of me. He was so close our noses were almost touching.
"Cassandra, why are you on the floor?" he asked, running his hand through his dark hair.
"Well, I usually sleep in the barn, but this is nice."
"Nice?"
"Yeah, there are no rats."
He sighed, his breath making my hair fan back from my face. He stood up and reached down for me. He pulled me up off the floor and led me to the bed. I gave him a frightened glance as he pulled back the covers. I started to claw at him, he grabbed my hands.
"Cassandra! Stop! I'm not getting into the bed with you!"
I stopped fighting, "You're not?"
"No, I'm going to sleep in the chair."
"Oh, sorry," I whispered pitifully, completely embarrassed.
"Well, I don't blame you with all that's happened today," he said, reaching behind me to fluff one of the pillows up.
"I've never slept in a bed before," I said quietly, gazing down at it's softness.
"There's a first time for everything," he answered, gently pushing me down onto the mattress. I was immediately engulfed in the large, soft bed. Andrew chuckled as I struggled to get out of the downy crevice. I finally gave up and just laid there.
"It's so.....soft," I said, not being able to come up with a better word.
"Yeah, I know," he smiled, moving over to one of the chairs and unlacing his boots. I watched him as he climbed into the chair and got comfortable. I looked at him for a couple of minutes and then struggled to get out of bed, when I had accomplished that, I took over one of the blankets. I tucked it around him, then half crawled, half fell into the bed.
"Thanks," he said.
"Your welcome," I replied, closing my eyes.
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I know this is the most generic romance, fairy tale ever. But, you can't really not get generic when it comes to stories that start out with Once upon a time. Don't judge me!!!!!!!!
Feeling the judgement!!!!!!
Whatever. Sorry the first two chapters were so short. I love Andrew!!!!! So cuddly! Like a teddy bear!
Abrielle: *runs and hugs Andrew* Yay! You'e soooo cute!
Andrew: Um. . . *tries to pull Abrielle off*
Abrielle: NOOOO!!!! I invented you!!!!!!!!!!
Andrew: Serious mental problems. . .
Abrielle: *giggles*
COMMENT!!!!!! ;D