Chaos in the Castle

@ katahdin

All Charles offered her was a shrug as she explained why the door hadn't closed properly. It did explain it. In his experience, he found the only time he wasn't being watched when he was alone in his room. Otherwise, anywhere he went, people had eyes on him. There were many reasons for it, of course, but it was still nice to get that time where it was just him and he wasn't expected to put on a show for anyone. He probably shouldn't have peered in at all, but the truth was Charles was too curious.

For a moment, Charles grew quiet as the princess offered to lead him towards the dining hall. He was tempted to turn down her offer. It almost seemed better to get lost than to encourage their parents by walking in together but... well Charles was hungry and he didn't actually want to get lost in the castle. So, he gave her a small nod. "I will wait then. Thank you."

@ BearGirl

Maisie's smile faltered a little as she saw the hesitation before he agreed to her offer, knowing that he didn't really want to accept it. She couldn't blame him, for not wanting to go with her, but it was infuriating that even when she was trying to be nice he was being a jerk. But she simply nodded, shutting the door to her room so that she could go get changed, opening the door again as she was finishing sliding on her shoes, although this time it was with a little slip of paper with a hand drawn map on it.

"Here. The dining room is the X, and your room is the O. It might not be to scale, but it should get you there just fine. I remembered I have to.. um, do something, so I'll come along in a few , minutes." She explained, clearly making up the fact that she had something to do and couldn't lead him, although after a moment of standing there awkwardly she offered him a weak smile. "I know you hate me, and that you don't want to talk to me or spend time with me, and that's fine. Don't feel like you have to."

@ katahdin

When the princess came out of the bedroom, Charles pushed himself off of the wall that he had been leaning against. His eyes glanced over at the woman as she walked up to him and handed him a piece of paper. Charles glanced down at it, looking over the map for a long moment before glancing back up to have his eyes meet hers. An eyebrow raised at her words before he gave a little shake of his head. "I don't hate you," Charles told her, his voice softening up for a moment. Although he seemed that he was quite good at it, Charles really wasn't trying to cause her any distress. "And none of those other things are true either... Princess, I believe you are making a lot of assumptions about me."

He handed her back the map. "I don't know you and I don't have any hard set opinions on you either. All I know is that you seem quick to judge me and that you do not wish to be married to me. The second is fine, I never expected a stranger to want to be my wife without knowing me." Charles moved his hands behind his back. "But I ask that you not be so harsh on me for very little reason. I am happy to speak to you or spend time with you, but it seems counter-intuitive when you are dead set on getting out of the engagement. I thought it more likely for you to avoid me to not encourage our parents or me."

Charles looked over her features for a moment before bowing politely to her. "I will not keep you for any longer since it seems you have matters more important than me." He then turned and started to walk down the hallway. Although he was rather sure he would get lost in the castle, he rather be lost than accept her maps and insults at him.

@ BearGirl

Maisie frowned a bit as he spoke, especially about how she was jumping to conclusions and being too harsh on him. She especially hated that he made it sound like she was the only one who didn't want the marriage, the only one who was going to try to stop it from happening, since she didn't believe for a minute that he actually wanted to marry her. She couldn't help that she over thought things sometimes, or that she had a quick temper, and before she knew it she was hurrying to catch up to him, half of a scowl on her face.

"I apologize for insulting you, or being harsh, as you put it. But I don't see you making any effort to not insult me either, and I don't believe for a second that you agree with what our parents are forcing us to do, and that you actually want this. I can tell that you don't trust me, and that's probably why you refused my offer to work together to stop this stupid marriage, and that's fine, I don't trust you that much either, but it's not fair for you to vilify me, especially to our parents." She snapped, although she kept her voice down so that no one would hear. The castle was mostly empty anyway, so she doubted anyone would notice. She knew getting angry definitely wouldn't help her case with him, but how could she control her anger when everyone seemed to think that this arranged marriage was something acceptable?

"I can't understand why you and our parents think this marriage is a good idea, or that it's even the right thing when something seems so off about it. Our countries have been on good terms for a hundred years, why would we suddenly be threatening war if there's no real reason to start one? You have to see that none of this makes sense."

@ katahdin

Even though Maisie had run up to catch up to him and started snapping at him, Charles didn't bother to stop or slow his stride. Nor did he move his head to look down at the woman. It was clear that she had quite the temper on her. She was quick to draw to conclusions and it seemed that Maisie also didn't know how to leave well enough alone. It was good that Charles always wanted to end the marriage but this was just encouraging him to do so faster. There was no way he was going to marry her.

"I don't believe I have said a negative thing about you at this point, Princess. But if I have insulted you, then I apologize." Charles said, keeping his voice even as he spoke. Though he was beginning to boil a bit under the surface. He knew he hadn't said anything insulting her way. Perhaps she was just throwing a tantrum because he denied her advances of working together. "And I am not vilifying you either. I especially wouldn't do so to either of our parents. I do not know what I have done for you to see me so negatively."

"As for the matter of marriage, I have already made myself clear on that. I do not want to assist you to stop it. And it is not because I don't trust you but because it is not my desire to do so. Whether or not I think an arranged marriage is a good idea is irrelevant. It is that I care more for my country and am willing to do anything for it. It is my duty. But if it is truly your desire to fight it, I won't stand in your way. But perhaps you should think of the consequences a war on your country would bring before you do so."

@ BearGirl

Maisie could feel her blood boiling, but could also see that he wasn't as calm and collected as he wanted to let on. Her fists clenched at her sides, glaring at him as he continued to walk away from him, biting her tongue to keep from immediately speaking as he oh so sincerely apologized. Although that all went out the window when he insinuated that she didn't care about her country, giving him a little shove as he continued on down the hall, although she stopped to glare at him.

"You are a two faced, lying asshole. How dare you say that I don't care about my country, my people. I've spent my entire life serving them, doing everything I can for them, and I will continue to do that for as long as I live. But blindly agreeing to an arranged marriage with a man I hardly know, for reasons that our parents are hiding doesn't seem like something that is in the best interest of my people. When they tell us the real reason for this marriage, I'll consider it, but until then, I'm not going to agree to it. And I'm certainly not going to trust you until you start being honest and stop being a jerk."

@ katahdin

The moment Maisie shoved him, his whole demeanor changed. The calm look from his face twisted into one of anger and his eyes glared hard with rage. Without even a thought, Charles grabbed Maisie by the shoulder and pinned her against the castle walls firmly but still making sure not to hurt her. He towered over her, as he started to growl back at the little yipping girl in front of him. There was no reason for her to be treating him this poorly and it was becoming clear that this spoiled rotten princess needed to be put into place.

"Listen closely to me you little brat. You keep jumping to these conclusions by yourself and making the wrong assumptions on what I am saying. I never said you didn't care about your country and that isn't even what I fucking meant" He growled at her. "So for one fucking moment take a deep breath and stop acting like the psychotic maniac that you clearly are. I tried to be civil with you but since it's clear that you have been wanting to pick a fight, then fine, I'll fight."

"First and foremost, our parents aren't hiding anything. They were going to go to war and this is currently their stupid ass solution it. I never said I wanted this marriage and believe me when I say that I don't want to be married to the human version of an angry, yipping chihuahua. But there are real consequences to breaking up a treaty like this recklessly. And it's clear to me that your IQ is lower than the Mariana trench, so no, I don't want to work with you. Something like this takes time, patience and the political insight to get what we both want without fucking up both of our countries."

"Now, as for your attitude towards me, I have tried to be civil. I have tried to ignore the constant insults that you have been throwing at me but I draw the line at you touching me. I am the heir to a throne in my own goddamn country. Just like you. I have no issue showing you the respect that you deserve but you better start showing it to me as well. Up until this point, I haven't called you a single name or even been fucking rude to you. I have tried to be polite and it's not my fault that your mind twisted it all up into something else. So here is my solution. Leave me alone and stay the fuck out of my way."

Letting go of Maisie, Charles pushed himself off of the wall before beginning to head down the hallway. Though this time his body was tense and his hands were clenched up into fists.

@ BearGirl

Maisie winced and tensed as she was suddenly shoved back against the hallway wall, opening her mouth to tell him to let her go before she closed it as she noticed his glare. She flinched a little as he growled at her, his grip uncomfortably strong on her shoulders, although given how angry he was she didn't dare move for fear he'd snap even further and actually hurt her. She'd been unfortunate enough to have a boyfriend who acted like this her freshman year of college, and she definitely had learned that it was better to stay silent than to provoke them even further. This also further cemented her conviction that she did not want to marry Charles, however, now that she knew he had a temper and didn't mind potentially taking it out on her.

"Yes, your highness." Was all she could manage as he told her to leave him alone, not meeting his eyes as he pushed himself away from the hall and left toward the dining hall. She remained rooted in the spot, almost afraid to move and too caught up in her thoughts to really notice how long she had been there, but a maid asking if she was alright got her attention, and she quickly straightened and cleared her throat, giving a little nod. Although, she said that she wasn't feeling well and that she'd be unable to attend dinner, before quickly retreating to her room, making sure that the door was shut tight and locked.

@ katahdin

It took some time for Charles to find his way to the dining room. Though once he arrived, he wasn't surprised to hear that Maisie had suddenly fell ill and would not be joining them. He knew that he had scared her pretty bad, which at this point, Charles thought was for the best. He would never actually hurt Maisie. Or anyone, really. He didn't care for fighting in general but would use it to defend himself but... well that was a different matter. Charles wasn't going to let Maisie start shoving or hitting him. And, he was already annoyed at her yelling. So a little scare to get her off his ass seemed appropriate. Besides, he didn't really want them to be seen together anyways. It would encourage their parents, so hopefully, the princess would give him a little more space.

The next morning, however, came along and Charles was making his way down to the dining hall for breakfast. Luckily enough, they would not all be having breakfast together as both Kings and Queens were busy this morning with other matters. So he was hoping on a quiet breakfast this morning...well unless Maisie came down. It was hard to say if she would or not but he had a sinking feeling that she might give him an earful the next time he saw her.

@ BearGirl

Maisie hadn't had a very restful night, every noise outside her door setting her on edge, and around four in the morning she'd given up on sleep altogether, getting back to the drawing board quite literally on her equations. But she'd grown hungry, and decided to head to breakfast earlier than she normally did in the hopes that she'd be able to avoid her parents and Charles. However, she'd dozed off at her seat a number of times as she picked at her breakfast, and by the time Charles arrived almost an hour after she'd first sat down she'd barely eaten half her plate.

She was dozing when he came in, head propped up by one hand while she held a spoon in the other, having been in the middle of stirring some brown sugar into her oatmeal when she'd drifted off. She'd done her hair in a simple braid, and her glasses were perched precariously on the bridge of her nose, in danger of falling off and into her breakfast, and she was wearing a sweatshirt from her university and leggings, her usual pajamas. Overall, she looked quite adorable as she sat there half asleep, the maids doing their best to keep quiet as they greeted Charles and informed him of what was available, gesturing to the family style set up at the end of the table opposite where seating was.

@ katahdin

"Thank you very much." Charles said as the maids assisted him which what was occurring with breakfast. But before he took a step towards the table, he looked at Maisie who was half asleep. It was a little worrisome, seeing that an obviously tired woman was set up at the table. What if her face fell into the plate? What if she fell asleep half bite and choked herself? Well... Charles supposed that wouldn't occur with so many servants around. "Does she do this often?" Charles asked one of the maids. The woman shook her head and the man let out a small hum before continuing on. "Is she okay?" Neither of them seem to knew but just said that Princess Maisie was tired. Odd.

Deciding not to hum over it too much, Charles served himself from the food that was out before sitting down at the table. He tried to sit away from her as possible before beginning to tuck in. Though his eyes stayed on the young princess, waiting for either her face or her glasses to fall onto the plate before her.

@ BearGirl

Charles didn't have to wait long for something to happen, as it was only a few minutes after he sat down when her glasses finally slid off her nose and clattered onto the plate below her, startling her awake. She jerked her head up quickly and nearly knocked her glass of orange juice over in the process, blinking the sleep away as she looked down at her food covered glasses, letting out a frustrated sigh as she pulled them from the oatmeal. One of the maids came over and offered to clean them for her but she shook her head, letting out another little sigh. "No, it's my mess to clean up.. and you don't have to stand around waiting on me, I can manage on my own." She murmured, setting the dirty glasses down on her napkin before turning back to her meal.

She was lifting her glass of orange juice to her lips to take a sip when she finally noticed Charles sitting nearby, startling her again and causing her to nearly choke on her drink, turning away to cough into her arm as she caught her breath. She turned to look back at him with wide eyes that were watery from coughing, brows furrowing as she frowned a bit. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you sitting there... I was just finishing breakfast, though, so I'll leave you alone." She murmured, turning her attention back to her meal as she began to tidy up her space, not wanting the maids to have to deal with her mess.

@ katahdin

As he watched her, Charles had been convinced that the princess' head was going to smack right down onto the plate in front of her. So it was a surprise to him as well when it was the glasses that clattered against the plate. The only show of it was the way his eyes widen for a moment before relaxing once again. It seemed to have woken the princess, which was probably for the best. He continued to watch as she tried to care for the mess herself. Only did Charles speak once she was finally in the right state of mind to notice that he was even there.

"There is no need to apologize, Princess Maisie." Charles said as he finally took his eyes off of her and started to focus on his own plate. "It seems that you are tired. I had worried your head would land in your food but I thought it too rude to wake you as you get your much needed rest." His eyes glanced over at the maids for a moment. "I probably would have however if you didn't have such nice ladies to assist you if something were to go wrong."

@ BearGirl

Maisie kept her eyes on her plate as Charles spoke, giving a little shake of her head when he said that she didn't need to apologize. "Still, I made a mess, and I'd promised that I'd leave you alone, and I intend to keep my promises." She murmured as she cleaned up her place, carefully stacking her bowl on top of her plate along with her sliverware.

She glanced over at the maids as he mentioned how he would have woken her up if there hadn't been maids to tend to her, giving a little shrug as she turned back to her plate and stood. "It doesn't matter much how little sleep I get anyway, if my parents were here they'd have yelled about how it's improper to fall asleep at the table, and likely would have slapped some sense into me. But don't worry, from now on you'll see as little of me as possible." She promised, giving a faint little bow before carrying her dirty dishes over to a nearby tub where the maids would then take them to the kitchens to be washed, thanking them with a little smile before she turned and hurried from the room, only realizing once she was back in her room that she'd forgotten her glasses, sighing as she resigned herself to never seeing them again, or at least not going to get them until Charles was out of the dining room.

@ katahdin

"Thank you," Charles responded, his voice soft. There was no need to be harsh with her anymore. It wasn't his goal to make himself seem mean and unapproachable. Though Charles did want them both to keep their distance from each other for their sake. The less time they were seen together, the less likely their parents will see them as a cute couple. In fact, Charles wanted them to get concerned about the fact that they were never together. He needed to try to break this apart in any way possible.

He had gotten so lost in his thoughts and his food that Charles didn't really notice when Maisie left the room without her glasses. Though once he had finished eating ad was gathering his plates, he noticed them at the spot where she had sat. A sigh left the man and he considered just leaving them there for her to get. But some guilt started to creep in so after he had put his dishes where Maisie had, he grabbed her glasses.

Charles went upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door. He then started to bend down, thinking of putting the glasses on the ground but stopped himself before he could. Charles had planned on just knocking on the door, leaving the glasses and walking away. But there was no good spot to put them without worry of them breaking. So he started to move them a bit awkwardly, trying to find a place to leave them.

@ BearGirl

Maisie had started to get an awful headache, and closed her curtains in an attempt to block out the sunlight that was incredibly annoying given the throbbing in her head. She'd also sent a request to the kitchen for some tea to help with the headache, although she'd only just sent it when she heard a knock at her door, which startled her quite a bit. She turned to the door with a frown and opened it, blinking a little in surprise when she saw Charles kneeling in front of her door with what she assumed were her glasses in hand.

"Charles..? I.. You didn't have to.." she started, gesturing to the glasses in his hand. She blushed a little as her stomach growled, taking a little step back into her room. "Thank you.. I can take them, you don't have to leave them there."

@ katahdin

Charles looked up at Maisie, an awkward and embarrassed look coming over his face as he did so. "Sorry... I didn't know where to put them without someone stepping on them. So I thought I could lean them against the door but realized that it might get crushed between the door and the wall if you didn't see them too so I thought if I could balance them on the door knob then they wouldn't be on the floor but if you turned the door and they would fall and then I thought I could-" Charles cleared his throat to stop himself from rambling on and on.

"Anyways," The man stood back up so he was on his feet once again. He then handed the glassed to Maisie. "Just thought that you would want these back since you left them in the dining room" He gave her a small shrug before beginning to turn away. "I'll go now."

@ BearGirl

Maisie blushed a little as he got flustered, simply giving a little nod at his explanations and took the glasses from him, noticing they'd been cleaned up as well. "Thank you.. I appreciate it." She murmured, watching him start to turn away, although she panicked a bit at the last moment as she considered whether or not to say anything to him, blurting out something right as he was getting to his door to return to his room.

"I'm sorry that I pushed you." She blurted out, blushing even brighter as she looked down at her glasses in her hands. "And I'm sorry that I yelled. It's just... None of this makes sense, especially not going to war over nothing.. And I-I know it's not your fault, and that I shouldn't be mad at you, but I.. but I'm angry, and frustrated, and scared, and I don't know what to do." She admitted softly, wincing and moving a hand to press against he temple as she felt herself getting a migraine, giving him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry again for keeping you... Have a nice rest of the day. You should go to the gardens, they're lovely this time of year." She mumbled as she turned to shut the door, stumbling a bit as her vision swam.

@ katahdin

Charles took a step back and put his foot in the door before Maisie was able to close it. "You're welcome," He said gently, in response to him giving back the glasses. The man glanced over her face for a moment before continuing on. "And I accept your apology. I didn't like the yelling but...I really don't like being touched." Charles told her. "As for everything else, it's neither of our faults this is happening but I have a feeling all of this is going to work itself out." He offered her a gentle smile before pulling his foot out of the way.

"And I think I will do just that. Thank you." With that, Charles waited for her to say something, if anything before he started on his way to the gardens. It sounded like a good idea. "Sleep well, princess."

@ BearGirl

Maisie was a bit startled by Charles placing his foot in the way so she couldn't close her door, squinting at him a bit, not because she was mad at him for it, but because she couldn't see very well without her glasses, and her headache was killing her. She realized she had her glasses now, and put them back on, her eyes softening a bit now that she could see, even if her head was still killing her. "No touching. Got it... I'm still sorry, though. About everything." She sighed, offering him a hesitant little smile in return as he pulled his foot away, giving a little wave as he wished her well.

Once he was gone she shut her door and moved to her bed, where she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, her face tucked into the pillow to block out the little bit of light coming in through the curtains. She didn't wake until mid afternoon, sitting up with a little groan and rubbing at her eyes tiredly as she heard someone - her mother - pounding at her door. With a sigh she stood and moved to the door, listening to her mother scold her for sleeping the day away, before reluctantly agreeing when her mother ordered her to go to the gardens where Charles still was, changing out of her pajamas into day clothes (even though they weren't as formal as her mother would of liked), before heading to the gardens to find the prince.