Considering the last time I had dinner with the royal family it ended with my parents' murder, I can't say I'm particularly excited for this.
If I'm looking on the bright side of things, I do look exceptionally good. Amelia offered to help me get ready, which I immediately accepted. She picked out my dress, did my hair and makeup, and kept me company. It was nice to have someone there with me, I'll admit.
The instant I walk into the dining room, all eyes are on me. It seems as though I'm the last one to arrive, everyone is already at their seats. Ignoring their stares, I make my way to the only open chair. Luckily it's right next to Hudson, and unluckily across from Kenton. Queen Evelyn sits beside Kenton and Bastian is at the head of the table.
Even now as I sit in my chair, they all stare at me. Bastian's is more of a glare, but I'm positive that's how he always looks at me.
I clear my throat. "If you all keep staring at me like this I will not hesitate to gauge your eyeballs out one by one." I say.
Their eyes avert from me immediately, except for Bastian who rolls his. "Miss Farrington." He warns.
"What?" I shrug. "I think I'd enjoy it."
He sighs, but doesn't have the chance to respond as the servants enter the room with our food. I smile brightly, just to spite him.
The servants set down full plates in front of each of us at the table. I thank the one that puts my plate down and she stares at me with wide eyes, probably not expecting manners. Her eyes flicker to Bastian, who dismisses her with the wave of his hand.
Hudson leans over to whisper in my ear. "You don't need to thank them, Adi." He says, quiet enough that no one else can hear him.
Instead of replying to him, I roll my eyes. Royals truly have hideous manners, even Hudson.
The first few minutes that we start to eat are completely silent, the only sounds being cutlery scraping against our plates. Finally, Bastian clears his throat, preparing to speak.
"I want to start off by announcing that I will be hosting a ball next week in honor of Kenton's engagement. Princess Zehra is already here at the castle and will be staying with us until after the ball." He declares.
I snap my head up to look at Kenton. I had no conception of his engagement. When his eyes find my own, he doesn't particularly look excited to be an engaged man. I'll have to taunt him about it later.
"I hope to see you there as well, Adira." Bastian turns to me.
I tear my gaze from Kenton to look at him. I hadn't expected to be invited to the ball, but nonetheless, I give him a small nod. I'm already dreading the fact that I will have to pick out another dress to wear. Hopefully Amelia will be available to help me again.
"How was training this morning, Adira?" I know Kenton can be quite harsh." Bastian changes the subject before taking another bite of his food.
"No, he went quite easy on me, actually." I say. I choose to leave out the part where I handed his son's ass to himself for Kenton's sake of dignity.
Kenton scoffs, causing me to turn my attention back to him.
"Is something funny, Kenton?" I ask, smiling tightly.
He shakes his head, looking at me now. "Of course not, sweetheart. I always scoff when you speak, nothing out of the ordinary."
I clench my hands around my cutlery, fighting back the urge to stab him. "Do you ever shut up? Or do you just enjoy hearing yourself speak so greatly that you must say such ignorant things all the time?" I bite back.
He clicks his tongue once, leaning back in his chair. "Such an unfortunate attitude. Perhaps I should reach into your mind to change that."
I stand from my chair abruptly, slamming my hands flat on the table to lean forward. "If you even think about doing that, I swear on my life I will-"
"Miss Farrington!" Bastian cuts me off. "I suggest you calm down." He says, standing from his chair.
"Or what? You'll murder me in cold blood just like you did with my parents?" I say, snapping my head towards him. "I don't think I'll be very useful to you if I am dead."
His mouth snaps shut, but he continues to glare at me. Everyone else at the table is completely silent, shifting awkwardly in their seats. Without another word, I push my hands off the table and leave the room. I don't care if Bastian is upset with me, I won't allow anyone to talk to me like that.
I walk back to my room in a flash, my anger blinding me along the way. I don't know why I allowed myself to get so worked up over Kenton's words. He always speaks to me in that manner, I should be used to it by now. I was already on edge being in that room, so I'm choosing to blame my attitude on that.
The first thing I do after I close my bedroom door is change out of the uncomfortable dress I'm wearing. I don't know how I'm going to wear a dress for an entire night at the ball, but that's another problem for another time. Right now, I need to focus on calming myself.
I run a bath for myself, pouring ludicrous amounts of oils and soaps just because I can. They do in fact smell very nice, plus the servants stocked me up with more than I'll ever use. I did look like a wild animal when I came back to the castle, so I guess they figured I would need their entire supply to clean myself.
As I sink into the sud filled tub, my body instantly relaxes. I relish in the warm water and the flower scented soaps, inhaling deeply. I forgot to tie my hair up before I got in, but I'm not even upset it's getting wet. This feels too good for me to worry about it.
Just as I begin to forget about Kenton, my mind wanders back to our argument. I don't know how I'm supposed to train with him everyday if we can't go two minutes without fighting. He knows exactly how to push my buttons, how to get me angry. He enjoys seeing me mad, I know it.
At the same time, training with him this morning wasn't the worst thing I've endured. He was actually kind of...nice. For Kenton anyway. Though I don't expect him to keep that same attitude up as we continue my training. He's bound to make me angry again at some point. I only wish that I could get him angry like he does with me. Instead, he keeps his cool exterior, no matter how much I insult him.
I shake Kenton off my mind as I drain the tub and wrap myself in a towel, not bothering to dry my hair off. I brush through the long golden locks though, making it look somewhat decent.
As I open the door to go into my room, Kenton stumbles through. He catches himself from falling on the floor, but it's blatantly obvious that he was leaning on the door while I was in my bathroom.
I stand frozen as he gathers himself, holding on to my towel for dear life. As he looks at me, I see his cheeks are red from how flustered he is. I feel my own cheeks burning as well, but not out of my own embarrassment.
He clears his throat awkwardly, crossing his feet at the ankles and placing his hands on his hips. "I was just- um-" He presses his lips into a line, shaking his head. He doesn't have an excuse.
"I'm tired, Kenton. Go bother someone else." I say dryly as I walk past him, brushing my shoulder against his.
"I wanted to apologize for our argument during dinner." He says behind me.
"I don't need one. Leave." I say, not bothering to look at him as I pick out clothing to wear to bed.
"Does my presence truly pain you to such a great extent?" He asks, coming up to stand behind me.
Perhaps if I weren't standing in a towel with no clothing underneath, I might have been alright with how close he is. However, I am in fact wearing nothing but a thin cloth around my body, held up by nothing but my own hands. So yes, I do have a problem with his close proximity to me.
"Yes, it does." I turn around to face him, using one hand to push him away from me while the other holds my towel.
He takes a step back, his eyes flitting back and forth between my face and my towel covered body. "I'm not leaving until you accept my apology." He says, standing his ground.
I roll my eyes, taking the clothes I picked out and walking towards the bathroom again. "I'll remind you, you haven't actually apologized to me. You only said that you wanted to." I call over my shoulder before shutting the bathroom door to change.
I listen as he walks to the door separating us, dropping my towel to the floor to throw the oversized shirt over my head.
"I'm sorry, Adira. I didn't mean to upset you." He calls through the door.
I roll my eyes again, even though this time he can't see me. I'm silent as I finish getting dressed, taking my time in hopes that he might leave me alone.
He doesn't.
I swing open the bathroom door, finding Kenton's eyes immediately. "Great. Can you leave now?" I ask with a tight lipped smile.
He sighs defeatingly, blocking my path to exit my bathroom. "I'm really trying here, Adira. Can't you see that?"
"What is it you're trying to do?" I spit. "Be my friend? Get me on your good side? Quite frankly, Kenton, I don't want any of those things from you."
"I'm trying to make you not hate me." He says, taking a step forward to grab the sides of my arms. "We have to work together whether you like it or not and it's going to make things a hell of a lot easier if you don't hate me." He explains.
Deep down, I know he's right. It would be easier if we were at least acquaintances during all of this, but I'm too stubborn for my own good. It's going to take a lot more than a few pity apologies to earn my friendship.
"Let go of me." I say, looking him in the eyes.
He blinks once, still holding the sides of my arms. Then hesitantly, he removes his hands, letting them dangle by his sides. I take my chance to walk away from him, making my way to my bed.
I can feel his eyes on me as I get into my bed, but I don't spare him one glance. If he's not going to leave, I'll ignore him until he gets bored of talking to a wall.
"What did I do to make you hate me so greatly?" He asks, almost as if it pains him.
I don't answer him, because truthfully I don't have one. As kids we were never close, we both know that. We would always argue or mess around to get each other angry, but that's our dynamic. Our default. I've accepted that and I thought he had too. But now, ever since I've been back in this castle, all he wants to do is change that. The only question I have towards him is why? Why all of a sudden he wants to be friends with me. Why he wants to change something that we've been all this time.
He walks closer to where I sit on my bed. "I just want an answer, Adira. Give me one and I'll leave." He says, determined and unfaltering.
I look him in the eyes, those deep blue pits staring at me with nothing short of emotion. "Because we are two people who were forced to grow up with one another. Two people who rarely spoke and when we did, it would end in an argument. That's who we are, who we've always been. It's never going to change, our relationship I mean. We've never been friends, not even close. So believe me when I tell you I have no intentions on changing that. You can say those things you said to me just a moment ago all you want, but your actions never match up with them." I say.
"I've changed since I was a child." He defends, as if that will magically change my view on him.
"Yes, you have. But so have I. It doesn't mean I can forget everything I know about you." I say.
He starts to say something else, but stops short. Then with one last glance at me, he turns on his heel to walk out of my room.
