Chaos in the Castle

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie remained silent as he encouraged her to go out and make a friend or two, nodding a little. He had a point, that she could tell the truth, and she'd thought about telling people the truth a few times when she was in college, but she'd always chickened out, or heard them say something negative about her parents or royalty in general, so she'd kept it to herself. She'd also never really felt close enough to anyone to tell the truth to, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to find anyone here either. "I'll have to think about it." She settled, returning his smile as he said that he was her friend, laughing a little when he said he hoped that they'd only be friends soon, and not fiancés or enemies. "I think it's more realistic to assume that once you leave we'll only see each other at royal functions or weddings or something. And we'll smile and make small talk and then go our separate ways again."

"Like I said, I won't tell them, and I doubt I'll ever meet them. And because of that you don't have to worry about being polite or only saying nice things about me to them, you can tell them the truth." She said, tugging her phone out of her pocket when her reminder alarm for her appointment went off. "My appointment is in twenty minutes, we should get going.. Although you still have time to change your mind. After all, finding out that your fiancee's cancer has returned might ruin your day out." She offered him a teasing smile as she stood, although it was clear that she was joking around because she was nervous.

@ katahdin

"We could actually be friends after this if you wanted, Maisie." Charles told her, his voice now turning gentle. "You are right, we won't be seeing each other all that often as we live in two different places...however there are phones and internet and such. Besides, I don't know about you but at times I am allowed to leave my castle to visit others." It was an odd feeling coming over Charles but he didn't really want to let go of Maisie fully. The whole arranged marriage thing was ridiculous, absolutely, and Charles didn't want to be married to the woman, but he wanted something. Some kind of connection with the woman he had grown kinda close to. "That is if you would rather be friends than just acquaintances, that is."

Charles gave her a bit of a nod as she announced it was time to start heading to the hospital. He put his plate into the cleaning bin but took his cookie with him as they headed out of the door. "Yes, it is definitely me that we should be concerned about here." Charles teased her lightly. "I will throw a full ass tantrum if you wreck my day out in the city." He shook his head a bit at Maisie. Though Charles then let the silence wash over them for a few moments before he spoke up again. "I was planning on telling them the truth about you anyways. Whether you met them or not. For, I don't have anything bad to say about you, Maisie."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie looked at him again when he said that they really could be friends after this, her heart fluttering a bit at the gentleness of his voice and the kindness of his words. She'd love to be his friend, would love to be able to keep talking to him and maybe even see him from time to time, but... "I don't think our parents would be very appreciative if as soon as the marriage was called off we started acting like friends." She pointed out, offering him a little smile. "Besides, you'll be too busy with your Bahamas girl and your other friends to remember to text me. I'm very forgettable, you know. I bet that within a week of you leaving here you'll have forgotten all about me." She really did want to be his friend, but it was easier to just assume it wouldn't work out rather than get let down in the future.

Maisie stood with Charles as he put his tray away and threw away his trash, following him out of the cafe before taking his arm again so that she could lead the way to the hospital. She snickered a bit at his teasing about throwing a tantrum, nudging his side faintly, although she remained silent until he eventually broke it, looking up at him in surprise as he said he didn't have anything bad to say about her and that he would tell his friend about her. She was silent for a few moments while she collected her thoughts, looking away from him to buy herself time and to hide the faint blush on her cheeks. "Well unfortunately I don't have anything nice to say about you." She retorted matter of factly, glancing up at him again. "You're far too tall. You walk too quickly. You're too nice and friendly to the staff. You wake me up from my migraine naps far too early. You're terrible at climbing out windows. And you're quite literally the jerk prince." It was clear that she was joking, but she remained serious, slowing to a stop as they came to the entrance to the hospital.

The princess stared at the doors for what felt like an eternity as she gripped his arm almost painfully hard before she glanced up at him, clearly terrified. "I don't think I can do this, Charles.."

@ katahdin

"In that case, I might have to think of some terrible things to tell my friends then." Charles retorted. "I will get back to you on what I would say though." It was obvious to him that Maisie was joking but the seriousness in her voice had him a bit worried. Surely there was a reason for it, and his guess would be the appointment they were heading off too. Maisie was probably much more worried about it than she was wanting to let on. Which was understandable as he was worried about it as well...and Charles would not be the one with cancer.

Once they stopped at the door of the hospital, Charles looked at her, unsure of what to do now. Why did she stop? The reason became painfully clear to him as he looked over her face and heard her worries. The man was silent for a moment as he turned his head to look at the entrance, ensuring that no one was coming in or going out. When that was confirmed, Charles shifted so that he was standing in front of her. He laid his hands against the sides of his shoulders and whispered gently. "You can do this." He whispered, trying his best to reassure her. "You are a strong and amazing person. And no matter what results you get, it is going to be okay. It will be better off to know because either you are told that you are healthy and there is nothing to worry about... or you will know the truth, and conquer the cancer again. You have already done it before and I know you can do it again." He lightly squeezed her shoulders. "I will be at your side. The whole time. I promise I won't leave you for a moment."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie had to bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling as she started at the entrance to the hospital, although when Charles moved to stand in front of her and held onto her shoulders she turned her eyes up to look at him, taking a few shaky breaths as she tried to calm herself down. She stared up at him as he spoke to her, nodding a little after a moment of listening to him, glancing behind him at the door again before stepping forward to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug, tucking her face into his chest. "Thank you for being here, Charles... I-I don't know what I would do without you." She whispered into his shirt, just holding onto him for a moment as she soaked up the comfort his embrace gave her and willed herself to summon the courage to let go.

It took her a moment but she did pull back, offering him a nervous smile as she nodded a little. "Ok.. Let's get this over with." She said, although instead of taking his arm this time she took his hand, squeezing it tightly as they walked inside and to the reception desk before being ushered to a private room by one of the nurses almost immediately, and a doctor came to see them within minutes after entering the room to greet her and to scold her for having neglected her previous appointments. She had to let go of his hand so that she could sit on the examination table while they checked her vitals, and she had to leave the room for a 20 minute period while they drew blood and performed a CT scan and a few other imaging tests before returning her to the room to wait while they checked over everything and waited on the results.

Instead of sitting on the examination table again she sat in the chair next to Charles, holding onto his hand tightly with one hand while she fidgeted with the hospital bracelet with the other, clearly terrified of the results. It was almost half an hour before the doctor returned, and it was the longest and most painful half hour she ever experienced, but the doctor informed her that there was no cancer to be seen, and that she was as healthy as ever. She profusely thanked the doctor and signed all of the paperwork that he needed her to sign before he left to go deal with other patients and left her to leave when she was ready. But once the doctor had left and shut the door to the room she burst into tears, burying her face in her hands as she wept in relief.

@ katahdin

Throughout the visit, Charles could not stop his leg from bouncing. No matter what he did or thought about, his leg continued to bounce of out nervousness. He did not want Maisie's cancer to come back. That would be truly horrible and Charles feared that it would rip his heart into two. He was worried for the young woman greatly and to sense the ocean of anxiousness that came from her. Well Charles felt like he was drowning in it. Though there was nothing to do but be patient and wait for the results. So as his knee continued to bounce away, Charles held her hand and waited.

When the doctor came back, she had his full attention. And a sigh of relief left him at the news. No cancer. That was good. No, that was fantastic. His knee finally came to a rest and Charles felt like he finally swam to the top of the ocean and could breath again. He was about to turn to Maisie with a huge smile on his face when she suddenly bursted into tears. Charles' eyes went wide and his heart started to pound intensely. He was not quite sure what to do but he was quick to squeeze her hand. "Maisie, she said it was negative. You are cancer free!" He told her with a huge smile, thinking that perhaps Maisie misheard what the woman said.

Grabbing the tissue box in the room, Charles started to wipe away her tears. "It's okay, everything is going to be alright." He whispered as he gently rubbed her face with the tissues. "It's a great day today. Nothing could be better, right?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie had been so terrifyingly that the results would come back positive, that she'd have to fight her cancer all over again, so the news that she was cancer free came as both a relief and a shock, albeit a welcome one. She squeezed Charles' hand as she heard him speaking to her, looking up at him with tearstained cheeks. "I-I was so sure it was going to be back.. I-I was so scared that I'd have to go through it all again.." she admitted , looking down at the paperwork she'd been handed confirming that all the tests had been negative before she turned back to Charles to wrap her arms around his neck as she embraced him.

"I don't have cancer!" She laughed through her tears, tucking her face into the crook of his neck as she tried to get ahold of her emotions, although it was a bit tough. She was elated, and definitely happy enough that she felt like kissing Charles, consequences be damned, although she had enough sense not to. She pulled back after a moment to beam up at him through her tears, her hands moving to smooth out the wrinkles she'd created in his shirt. "Thank you for being here, Charles.. Just.. Thank you."

@ katahdin

Feeling Maisie press against him, Charles wrapped his arms around her tightly. He laid his head on top of hers, just letting her cry into his shoulder. His hands slowly started fo run up and down the woman's back as he continued to try to comfort her.

"I am so happy for you, Maisie. It is really a wonderful thing." As Maisie pulled away, Chalres leaned back and let his hands fall back to his side. Though, for a moment, his finger twitched as he thought about reaching out and caressing her face. But he managed to hold himself back. "You're welcome," Charles responded. "It's was a honor that you asked me to come with you."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie wept and laughed into his shoulder, squeezing her arms around him a bit as she felt his hands rub her back. She couldn't believe it, she was still cancer free, just like how Charles had said. She was so glad she'd come, but she also knew she wouldn't have been able to get through the door without Charles.

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you.." she murmured before pulling away, smiling at him as she wiped at her eyes and cheeks. "I wouldn't say that... I'm sure I nearly crushed your hand at one point." She teased, taking a tissue to finish wiping her tears away before she stood with her paperwork and gestured toward the door. "Now we can leave, and go do or see whatever you want. But don't forget that we've got dinner reservations at six."

@ katahdin

"My hand is fine," Charles reassured her before a bit of a smirk came over his face. "I just might not be able to use it for the next week but that's okay," He opened and closed his hand for a moment. It didn't hurt anymote but Charles also was hoping that she wouldn't do that anytime soon.

At her decision to head out, Charles got onto his feet. "Dinner at six, got it." Charles mumbled to himself. With them both on their feet, thr man started to make his way out of the hospital and soon enough they were back out on the sidewalk in front of the building. "We should celebrate. Is there something that you want to do?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

"I'm still sorry, though. I promise, no holding onto you for the rest of the day." Maisie promised with a smile. "And we are in a hospital, I'm sure you could get it treated. Or I could kiss if better." She teased with a grin, nudging him a bit as she followed him out of the hospital, thanking the staff she saw on the way out.

Once out of the hospital she almost took his arm again, but realized he probably wouldn't want her clinging to him after nearly crushing his hand, so she kept her hands at her side, humming a bit as he mentioned celebrating. "Hmm, celebrating... I'm not even sure. Part of me feels like I should take a photo to remember the day, but I don't even know what I'd take it of. But I can always come to the city to take photos of celebrate, so we should do whatever it is you want to do. Especially since you'll be leaving the country soon if our luck keeps up."

@ katahdin

"I do not think even the doctors could care for the injury that you have inflicted on my poor hand," The prince told her dramatically as he lifted it up for her to see. "See, it is beginning to wither away and I am sure by tonight it will only be dust in the wind." He shook his head and let out a loud side before dropping his hand to his side. "I suppose I should use it when I still have the chance to. Do things that are impossible to do with only one functioning hand."

With that said, Charles offered Maisie his hand to hold as they started to make their way through the city. "If it is a photo that you want, we can always find a photo booth or something like that? Well, if you want a picture with me that is. Though I suppose you can figure out what you want and come back as well." He smiled at her warmly. "And did you want to grab something to eat real quick? I know you haven't gotten a chance to have much because of the appointment. I wouldn't want you to pass out on me. That would be a tragedy."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie rolled her eyes at his teasing, giving him a little nudge. She reached over to take his hand as he held it up, pressing a faint kiss to the back of it before giving it a gentle squeeze. "There, I hope that that can make up for the great injury that I have caused you, and give you another chance to feel a gentle touch before it completely withers away." She laughed, and smiled when he offered her his hand anyway, taking his hand as they headed away from the hospital and into the city.

She smiled when he offered to help find her a photobooth or some way of getting a photo with her, giving his hand a squeeze as she nodded. "That would be nice. I mean, if I want to have something to remember today you should be a part of it, especially since I wouldn't have made it into the hospital without you." She explained sincerely, her eyes softening a bit as she looked up at him, although she nodded when he mentioned getting something to eat. "Something to eat sounds wonderful. It's about lunchtime, so maybe we could head to a little cafe or something to get something quick to eat? Especially since dinner isn't for quite a few hours. After all, I wouldn't want to pass out and force you to have to carry me around for the rest of the day."

@ katahdin

Charles let out a long hum as she took the hand that he had offered. He was rather pleased that she had wanted to hold his hand... for some reason. It was a bit silly, the whole thing. To want to get out of a marriage with someone that he was developing feelings for. But Charles knew that it was for the best. She didn't want him. And even if she did, neither of them wanted to get married over a small crush. They needed to get out of this but Charles felt like he needed to calm down his emotions for her as well.

"Well if you pass out, I think I will have to bring you straight back to the castle and our day out would be over," Charles told her with a little chuckle. "But yes, lets head out to a restaurant for some lunch. While we are there, I can look over the list of activities that you sent me and decide on something that will sound like fun for the next few hours." As he said this, he started to look around at the restaurants that were close by. In truth, he was surprised that Maisie wasn't getting hangry after not eating all morning. "And we can also look for a phot booth. You can normally find one if you keep your eyes open." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Where do you want to eat?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie found herself blushing faintly as she heard him hum when she took his hand, so she looked away to try to hide it from him. The last thing she needed was Charles to tease her about it, or for him to realize how she'd really started to feel about him. If he knew that she had a crush on him he'd probably laugh or think the worst of her, and she wasn't about to risk the friendship he'd shown her for something as silly as a crush. Besides, he deserved better, and probably had someone back home waiting for him.

"I wouldn't want to ruin your day." She told him with a little smile as she looked back over at him. "There are a few little bistros around here that serve nice lunches that we could go to. I think there's even one up here on the corner." She pointed to the place she was talking about so he'd know which direction to go to and would know that they needed to cross the street, nodding a little as he spoke about looking over the list she'd sent him while they ate. "Sounds like a plan to me."

@ katahdin

When Maisie pointed out a spot, his head lifted up and followed her finger. It looked like a nice enough restaurant, now he just had to hope that the food was pretty good. Though he had a feeling that Maisie had a good taste in food with how good everything was at the castle. So he started to lead her over to the bistro that she had pointed out. And it was not long until they were inside and the hostess was bringing them to a table out in their patio.

Charles pulled Maisie's chair out for her before he headed over to the other side and sat down. Once the menus were in front of them, his eyes shifted down to glance over it. Looked like a lot of sandwiches and soup items with some other things sprinkled in. Though it was easy for him to find something as they did have chicken. He set down the menu before picking up his phone to get to the list that Maisie had sent to him. "So what is your favorite meal here then?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Maisie followed Charles to the bistro, pointing out a few historic landmarks in the distance that they could visit after lunch, and at the very least pointing out a nice view for him. She smiled and greeted the chef as they walked by the counter and were led out toward the patio, having frequented the bistro enough to know the chef well.

She thanked Charles as he pulled out her chair for her, taking her menu and glancing over it even though she knew what she wanted. But sometimes they'd change things up, so it was worth looking. She set her menu down to look out over the river which ran next to the patio, looking at Charles when he set down his menu and asked her what her favorite meal was. "I like their paninis, but my favorite is the one with mozzarella, pesto, and tomato. Sometimes I'll get it with chicken, but usually not, since I'll get soup along with it." She explained, smiling over at him. "Seen anything on the list that you're interested in?"

@ katahdin

"I am going to get the garlic herb chicken," Charles told her as he leaned back into his seat. "It sounds rather good. Though I am sure that everything on this menu is delicious since you seem to know the chef that well." He scrolled up but stopped for a moment to look over his phone at the woman across from him. An eyebrow raised on his face before he continued on. "I assume that means you come here quite a bit. You did say that no one recognizes you, unless you told that chef?"

His eyes shifted back towards one of the windows that looked into the restaurant. It was a bit hard to believe that Maisie would tell a random chef but keep herself a secret to so many others. He tapped the side of his phone for a moment. Though, he supposed, it was safer to not be known. She wouldn't have to worry about someone trying to kill her as often. "You must feel safe walking around through the city."

@ Sweet.Persephone

"That's a good choice. But yes, everything on this menu is very good." Maisie smiled, shaking her head a little though when he asked about her telling the chef about her. "He's catered events at the castle before, so he knows who I am from that. But he's polite and doesn't say anything about my identity when I come here, which is nice."

She explained, looking back out over the water as they remained silent for a bit before looking at him again as he mentioned that she must feel safe. "Yes. Granted I don't come into the city often anyway, but I do feel safe when I go out, yes. It is nice to have company, though." She smiled, giving his foot a little nudge under the table to let him know that she was talking about him before shifting in her seat a bit as the waitress came out to take their orders and brought them each a glass of water for while they waited.

"So, decided on anything fun to do this afternoon?" She asked as she sipped her water, smiling at him.

@ katahdin

"He must be pretty good then to be brought up to the castle," Charles responded as he glanced towards the window once again. At least it was someone who was trusted by the castle that knew who the princess was. Not that he was really all that worried about an assassination attempt or the chef trying to rat her out to the people but... well it was better to be safe than sorry in situations like these. And he had a feeling that Maisie was not used to having to protect herself in such a manner as someone who was not easily recognized.

When he felt her nudge him, Charles' head lifted up and he smiled over at Maisie. "I am glad to be your company for the day." He nudged her back with his foot. When the waitress came out, he gave her his order but his attention quickly moved back to Maisie once the woman walked away. His eyes shifted back to his phone for a long moment, running a hand through his hair. "The history museum sounds like fun. I would like to learn more about your country."