Lavender's Blue

Chapter 6: James

I keep running and running until I've put a good amount of distance between me and that tailor shop. I lean my back against a tree and sink down onto the ground. I take a couple shaky breaths, trying to get it back from where I left it about 2,500 steps ago.

My mind is running faster than I was, and for way more time. Did Yolanda see me? Did she know it was me and not Jordan? Does she even know what Jordan looks like? Will she tell (Y/n)? Will (Y/n) find out who I am? All these questions and more run through my head, making me wonder how my thoughts have more stamina than I do.

"Ok," I tell myself. "Lets try answering some of these questions. Did Yolanda see me? Yes. Does she know its me and not Jordan? She'll probably automatically assume it was me, but (Y/n) will probably say that she saw Jordan and not me. She most likely will tell (Y/n) about it. If (Y/n) believes her is something I can't answer. I don't want to tell her, though, because of what Jordan said. Another big shock could break her."

I lean my head back against the tree, letting tears slide down my face. Jordan will probably tell her I was there. She'll wonder why I left. I don't want to lie to her anymore, but what choice do I have? Good thing there's nobody else out here. Anyone would love to get footage of the king losing his cool and crying in the middle of the forest over a girl.

I decide to forgo my trip to the tailor shop tonight and go back to the field where we watched the stars last night. I lay down on the grass, tears still glistening in my eyes and occasionally blurring the constellations decorating the sky above me.

"What are you doing here?" A feminine voice cuts into my thoughts. I roll over onto my stomach and try to make out the silhouette of the female figure who is within three feet of me.

I wonder how to respond to this question. How do I find out who this person is without giving myself away? In a second, I settle on one, "Looking at the stars. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

For a second, my heart squeezes tight in my chest. It has to be Yolanda wondering why I'm dressed like a pauper and happening to be in a random tailor shop when I said I'd be spending the evening in my room.

"Jordan told me you stopped by the shop. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. You left in a hurry."

The girl sits down next to me and I see her features clearer, bathed in the silvery light of the moon and stars. (H/c) shines in the moonlight, letting me know that this is (Y/n) and not Yolanda.

"I, uh, saw you had a customer and didn't want to interrupt."

"So why'd you leave so quick?"

"I didn't want to see anything I shouldn't and I didn't know what you were going to do and-"

"James, I'm going to stop you right there. I know you're lying, and I don't like people who lie to me. They break my trust and I know I can never trust them again because I don't know what else they're hiding from me. Now, please tell me the truth."

My heart nearly stops again for the third time tonight. All these near heart stopping events can't be good for me. "Fine. I saw you had a client who was royalty and kinda freaked. I didn't expect you to have royalty in your shop."

Her (e/c) eyes turn steely in the moonlight. "Are you saying you can't believe that some royal would come into my shop to get a dress made for the ball? I'll have you know, I am a skilled tailor, told so by every customer I've ever had. Just because my shop isn't that popular doesn't mean I can't make beautiful dresses."

"No, no. That's not what I'm saying at all. I've seen your work. It's absolutely gorgeous. I've never seen anything like what you've made. It's just, royals tend to shop at places that are more well known. The fact that a royal heard about your skill, even if you run a little mom-and-pop shop just proves your skill."

"I'm going to let it slide that you called my business a mom-and-pop shop. But what I'm not gonna let slide is how you know so much about royals. You aren't one, are you?" Her gorgeous face morphs from feigned offense to a suspicious stare. She looks like a detective, trying to reach inside my mind and find any secrets I've been keeping from her.

"No, no no. I'm not a royal. I just know because my parents once worked in a shop that royals frequented. Must have been well known. They sold it when I was little and we moved out here."

"Ok. I don't know if I can trust you. But, Dutchess Yolanda kept insisting that you are the king. She is a suitor of the king's, and we happened to get in a little argument. I honestly thought she was going to convince the king to arrest us."

"I'm not the king. And you can you can trust me. I'd never lie to you." The words leave a sour taste in my mouth, knowing that I'm not being truthful with her. "Well, I have to get back home. My parents will be wondering where I got to. So, see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, James."

I leave her sitting there on the ground, staring at the stars, moonlight casting its silvery light on the one girl who can ever have my heart. I would never have her arrested, even if Yolanda turns a little argument about me into a full scale scandal as to how (Y/n) tried to seduce me, or whatever. I make it back to the castle. I sneak around the walls, avoiding being spotted by guard patrols, until I reach my window. I haul myself up, only now noticing how dark it is inside. I thought I left a light on, fooling people into thinking I'm doing something in my room, just like I told them. I haul myself halfway through the window when the light gets thrown on. Inside is Dutchess Yolanda, sitting in my desk chair.

"Hello, James. Care to explain why you were sneaking out to go to town? Was it to see your poor tailor girlfriend?"