Chapter 16

Freya's POV

As I stared up at Ronin I was caught by his intense gaze. His golden eyes captured me and in them I could see the eyes of a man. A man that was slowly but surely crawling his way into my heart.

What? Crawling his way into my heart? Was I inlove with him?

My train of thoughts suddenly brought me out of my daze. I quickly cleared my throat which pulled Ronin out of his daze as well. He quickly let me go.

"You should be more careful." He said with a small laugh trying to clear the akward air between us.

"Yes I will. Goodnight Ronin." I said as I gave him a small smile before walking out of the room. As soon as I was out of sight I practically ran to my room.

My thoughts were in a whirlpool. What happened back there? Why did his golden eyes capture me? What was this unexplained feelings I felt whenever I met his gaze? Could this be love? Could I really be in love with him? Did he experience it too?

Who was I kidding, he couldn't return this feelings. He was a king for goodness sake, why would he like a small faery like me?

I didn't know what I was feeling, but all I knew was that I couldn't let this little things destroy my great friendship I've built with Ronin. As I laid back in bed I decided not to think about my feelings again.

  - *-
A week has gone by and Ronin and I fell back into our usual routine. In the mornings I would help cook with breakfast before Ronin and I would spend the rest of the day together.

We've also grown more close, but we've never spoked about that night in the library again.

As I neared the kitchen one morning to help cook I heard voices from inside and immediately stopped in my tracks when I heard cook whisper my name.

"Does Freya know?" I heard cook ask.

"Unfortunately not. If she did I have no doubt in my mind that she would've helped."  My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to show myself.

"Helped with what?" I asked as I stared at the women who looked at me bewildered. They shared a glance before Moira turned to face me.

"Oh with a surprise for Ronin's birthday, of course." She said with a smile.

"Ronin's birthday?! Why didn't he tell me?" I asked.

"Probably because he hasn't celebrated it in a while." Moira said.

"Well when is it?" I asked.

"In a week's time."

"Well that leaves us enough time to prepare a surprise party for him." I said with a smile.

"See what did I tell you, I knew she would help." Moira told cook with a smile.

"So do you have anything in mind?" I asked cook and Moira but they had no ideas.

Then suddenly I remembered the story I read to Ronin the previous day. About a king who held a ball in celebration of his daughter's birthday.

"Why don't we host a ball for him on the night before his birthday?" I asked.

"What a marvelous idea. I don't think the prince ever attended a ball. I'm sure he will be thrilled." Moira said.

"And I can prepare a feast for the occasion!" Cook said.

"Great now all we need to do is prepare the ballroom without him knowing." I said.

"I have a plan, for the next week Moira will distract him while we get the ballroom ready."

"Good, I will keep him far away from the ballroom for today so that you can start to get the ballroom in order." Moira said. I gave her a nod before she left with a tray of food in hand to distract the unsuspecting king.

  - *-
 
Ronin's POV

I was sitting in the library waiting for Freya to arrive with breakfast. It has become our new routine. She will bring breakfast with her to the library where we will meet up and spend the day.

When I heard the library door open I got excited.

"Took you long-" the words died on my lips as I was greeted by Moira and not Freya. I couldn't help but be disappointed that Freya wasn't the one standing infront of me.

"Were you expecting someone else?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes, where is Freya?" I asked.

"Well she asked me to tell you that she would be helping cook today. So I'm her replacement for today." Moira said with a grin.

"With what does she need to help cook?"

"I don't know, she only asked me to relay her message to you and to help you in her stead. So sire, what book should I read to you first?" Moira asked.

I pointed at a random book on the ground. I took my food and started to eat as Moira started to read. When she was finished with the first sentence I already missed Freya.

  - *-
  Freya's POV

When cook and I entered the ballroom we immediately started to cough from the amount of dust. The ballroom was huge and it looked like it wasn't used for a long time. All the furniture was covered with white cloths and I knew we had our work cut out for us.

Cook and I gave each other looks before we started to get to work. A few servants joined us and even though the castle was cursed because of Ronin, I could see the servants cared for him. They smiled all the while and if I didn't know better I would never have said it was a cursed castle.

The servants started to sing a tune and I couldn't help but join in. We cleaned the whole day and only took a lunch break. When the sun started to set we called it a day. When all the servants left I looked back at our work, it did look a lot better but it wasn't nearly finished. We still had a long way to go.

I quietly closed the door behind me before I headed to the dining room where I found Ronin waiting for me.

"Freya, you're here!" Ronin exclaimed as he crossed the room to pull out my chair for me.

"Looks like someone missed me." I said with a smile.

"You have no idea." He said before he returned to his seat and my heart started to thump louder.

We ate quietly for a few minutes before Ronin started to ask questions.

"Moira said you had to help cook with something, anything I can help with?" Ronin asked.

"No, we're good thank you." I said.

"Are you going to help her again tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yes, unfortunately. Maybe for the whole week." I said. 

"The whole week?!" Ronin said. "Why do you need to help her? Can't Moira help her instead?"

My head spinned as I searched for an excuse as to why I had to help cook and not Moira. Then suddenly an idea popped in my mind. 

"Well, I don't really want to tell you this, because Moira asked me not to, but here it goes. Moira and cook had a fight." I lied as I looked at Ronin to see his reaction.

"A fight? About what?"

"I don't really know, but all I know is Moira begged me to help cook."

"Oh I see, maybe I should go talk to them, see if I can clear the air." He said but I quickly stopped him.

"No no no, rather not, they are grown women after all and I'm certain they will sort out this quarrel soon enough."

"I guess you're right." He said with a sigh before he continued to eat. I could see there was something bothering him and my heart ached to know what it was. And didn't know why but I didn't like the look on his face.

"Ro, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Ro?" He asked.

"Yes, your nickname. I won't use it if you don't like it." I said suddenly embarrassed that I called him that.

"No, I love it." he said with a wide grin, if you could call it that.

"Good, now you didn't answer my question." I said.

"It's just that I missed your reading today, but Moira and cook needs you more than me, I guess I can get used to Moira's reading." He said with a sigh.

I stood before I walked over to Ronin. I gave him a bear hug as I whispered in his ear,"I knew you would understand. Goodnight Ro, see you tomorrow."

I gave him a last fleeting glance before I left the room. If only he knew how much I missed him today as well...