Falling Stars

"Maybe you should have run away and joined a traveling acting troupe," Calli suggested when she'd recovered from her laughter. Julian definitely read with all the flare of a dedicated thespian, doing ridiculous voices for the different characters and reading passionately. Calli had sprawled across his bed while he read and now she rolled onto her stomach, kicking her feet up and crossing her ankles behind her and propping her chin on her hands.

"Don't tempt me. I've thought about it," Julian said jokingly, setting the book aside. "What about you? Any dreams of the stage?"

Calli smiled ruefully. "Everyone always wanted me to sing when I was younger," she said. "But it was just for fun; I never wanted to do it professionally or anything."

"You sing? I wanna hear."

"No way," Calli laughed. "I am not giving his royal nerdiness a private performance."

"Oh, come on. It's only fair. You made me perform a one-man show of MacBeth for you," Julian pointed out.

"Later," Calli promised. She rolled off the bed. "Right now we're going to go find some food. I'm famished from listening to your luscious voice for so long."

"You eat a lot," Julian said and Calli turned to pin him with a narrow-eyed stare.

"Julian," she gasped, placing a hand over her heart and pretending to be wounded. "That is a very inappropriate thing to say to a girl."

She had to bite back a giggle when his face turned bright red.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean-I'm not saying you're fat or anything-I just meant-"

Calli burst out laughing. "I'm teasing you, Julian. I know I eat a lot; I'm blessed with an extremely fast metabolism."

"Oh." He wrinkled his nose. "Don't do that!"

Calli laughed again and poked him in the stomach. "Your ears are going to melt off if you blush like that too much."

She pulled him from the room and headed at once toward the kitchen.

"Wanna race?" Calli asked with a devilish smile.

"That depends. Can you handle it when you lose?"

"I wouldn't know. I never lose," she shot back, laughing. "Loser has to eat what whatever gross concoction the winner creates."

"You're on."

Calli turned and bounded easily down the stairs, feet barely touching the floor. Julian cursed and she could hear him chasing after her. Calli rounded a corner and nearly ran into someone, swerving out of the way just in time. Julian wasn't so lucky and careened around the corner to collide with who Calli now realized was none other than King Gerald himself. She covered her mouth to hide a snicker as Julian and Gerald nearly toppled to the floor.

"Julian, what in the name of the Seven Galaxies are you doing?" Gerald asked, looking bewildered. Then he noticed Calli and she instantly stood up straighter, reminding herself to curtsy instead of salute.

"Hello, Your Highness," she said politely.

"This is Calli," Julian said. "She's a friend of mine. We met at Kaleb's wedding party."

"Did you now?" Gerald looked at her with a mix of curiosity and a sort of warmth that she wouldn't have expected of a king.

"It's very nice to meet you, Your Majesty."

"The pleasure is all mine, my dear." Gerald smiled and planted a kiss on the back of her hand, but it didn't make her bristle like it did with other people. King Gerald had a trustworthy air about him, and Calli decided almost instantly that she liked him.

"We were just on our way to get some lunch," Julian went on.

"You must be pretty hungry, to be sprinting through the halls," Gerald said, eyes crinkling with amusement.

"I challenged him to a race," Calli explained. "And in true noble form, Julian accepted."

"Well, don't let me get in the way of good spirited competition," Gerald said, moving aside. "Carry on."

Calli flashed a grin and took off again, hearing Julian mutter darkly before trying to catch up to her again. King Gerald's chuckles followed her up the corridor. She sailed around the final corner and crashed through the door, Julian two steps behind. She raised her fists in victory while he groaned.

"Great. There will be no living with you after this," he said. Calli sauntered around the empty kitchen, rummaging through drawers and cupboards to find something disgusting to make Julian eat. He sat at the counter and watched her with growing horror as she mixed an assortment of spices and powders together, before pouring in a decent dose of juices and sauces she found in the giant cooler case. Then she crumbled up crackers into the mix, stirring it until it was a lumpy, foul-smelling paste.

"Eat up, growing boys need their strength," she crowed, setting the bowl in front of him with a spoon. Julian eyed it, looking queasy.

"Please don't make me eat that. You put horseradish and beet juice and hot sauce in there."

"A deal is a deal, Highness. Just one bite."

She grinned wickedly as he pulled the bowl forward and raise the spoon to his lips. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a bite. Calli was sure he was going to puke; he started to gag and she could see his throat fighting not to swallow. But in the end he got it down and she cheered.

"Not bad, thespian."

"I'm gonna be sick," he croaked, lunging for the refrigeration unit and pulling out a bottle of some kind of punch. He chugged three quarters of it before his cringing stopped.

"I'm proud of you, champ," Calli told him.

"You're the devil."

She smiled innocently. "Throw that stuff away. I'll make you some real food."

Julian was only too happy to throw her experiment down the garbage disposal with a shudder while Calli ransacked the cupboards again, whisking out everything she would need to make sandwiches and bake some cookies. She was rolling the dough into neat little balls to place on the baking sheet when Julian tossed some flour at her. She glared at him and he laughed.

"Sorry. You already had some smudged on your face."

"So do you."

"Where?" Julian reached up to touch his face.

"Right there," Calli said, throwing a handful of flour at him. There was a beat of silence and then an all-out flour tossing battle began in earnest.