16 XIV

Charles awoke the next morning with a dull headache and a fuzzy recollection of the night before. The sun had not yet risen and he had gotten little sleep, considering that his mind would not stop babbling on and on about countless things, most of them insignificant and petty.

He groaned, pulling back the covers of his bed and grabbing a glass of water. As he chugged the contents of his cup, Charles did his best to recall what had happened last night. I yelled at Penelope. Valerie yelled at me. Terrance is now Valerie's second. I am within the same ranks as Camilla and Leo. My life has been thrown into upheaval. He sighed, crinkling his nose at the thoughts.

After changing into his Queensguard uniform, Charles left his room and scowled when he saw Terrance in the hallway. "Oh, uh," Terrance scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Hey, man." Charles said nothing and instead kept walking toward the dining hall, scowling. Terrance trailed after him, frowning slightly.

Of course Terrance felt guilty about replacing Charles as second-in-command. Charles had always been a role model, ever since Terrance joined the Queensguard. But he was also grateful to be given the position; it meant that he was worth something to the team, and maybe the shiny new pin on the breast of his jacket would turn Penelope's head.

The pair entered the dining hall to find Valerie and the twins laughing together at one of the many tables in the room. Terrance grabbed a plate, piling it with everything he saw on the buffet table. Charles, however, only picked out a blueberry scone before stopping in front of his peers. Usually, he would sit on Valerie's left. But he was not her second anymore. So Charles instead took a seat beside Leo, who grinned upon seeing his scowling face.

"Aw, someone's got a case of the grumps," Leo teased, poking Charles' arm. "Is it because you're just a lowly Queensguardian now, like us?" he gestured to him and his sister, chuckling. "Life must be so hard," he sighed dramatically.

Valerie chuckled, but Terrance was frowning. "Where's Pip?" he asked, looking worried.

Camilla grinned. "Oh, she's probably still asleep after her long night yesterday," she smirked. Charles rolled his eyes, picking at his scone, while Valerie shook her head.

"We should not speak about that. The Queen has eyes everywhere," she warned.

Camilla frowned. "But what's wrong with dancing with demons? I mean, why can everyone else do it and we can't?" she asked, sticking out her lower lip.

Valerie's face was solemn. "Because we are the prime target for a bitter demon's revenge. We cannot take any risks."

Camilla hadn't finished. "But we take risks all the time! We put our lives on the line for our kingdom!" she exclaimed and Leo nodded. His sister certainly had a point.

Valerie shrugged. "It does not matter. The Queen's orders were to stay away from any and all demons, to put it simply. And because of Penelope, we will all be severely punished if the Queen discovers that we violated her direct orders." Camilla was still pouting, but the entire table knew that their leader had a point. No one could know of their betrayal.

Penelope, however, was not in the same mindset. She walked along dark hallways and corridors, looking for the mysterious demon she had met last night. Penelope couldn't explain it but during their brief time together, she felt... something. It was like sparks from a fire; an aliveness that she had not felt in a long time.

Penelope believed in soulmates. She believed in true love. And she believed that no one could ignore it just because their partner wasn't someone that was like them, whether they had horns or a halo. Of course, Penelope wasn't sure that Shawn was her soulmate. That would have been ridiculous. But what wasn't ridiculous was that she had felt sparks that night. And she wanted to see if they could still be ignited.

When she heard footsteps, Penelope turned around to see Shawn walking toward her, eyes on the ground. Unfortunately, he was not alone. There was a girl with him, relatively short, with almond skin and long black hair, where demon horns poked out from beneath it. Penelope didn't want to have to explain herself to the raven-haired demon, so she tucked herself away in a small corner and watched the two figures pass.

However, Shawn stopped shortly after, frowning. "What?" the girl asked. Penelope scrunched her brows together, trying to recall the demon's name. Gemma.

"Go ahead," Shawn analyzed the corridor. "I'll meet you back at Libby's room." Gemma nodded, frowning, and headed around the corner. Penelope watched with bated breath as Shawn began walking around the corridor, checking each nook and cranny. Did he know I was here? she thought, biting her lip. Of course, Penelope's intention when she left her room was to find Shawn, but it was frightening that he could sense her presence.

"Come out," Shawn demanded, watching for any movement. Penelope sucked in a breath and stepped out of her hiding place, hands clasped behind her back. Shawn's eyes narrowed as he studied her, and then he slowly walked forward. "What are you doing?" he asked, frowning.

Penelope nibbled at her lip, looking down at the ground. "I came to find you," she admitted.

Shawn arched a brow. "Why is that?"

Penelope smiled a little. "I enjoyed our time together last night. I wanted to see you again before the demons left for Hella again."

Shawn's expression remained the same. "Why would you want to see me?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk. Maybe you could meet me tomorrow night at the rooftop? It's the only place the Queen's eyes wouldn't see us." Penelope shrugged. "You don't have to, though," she added and turned around, heading for the dining hall and leaving Shawn deep in thought.

"Where've you been, Pip?" Terrance asked when he met Penelope in the corridor between the dining hall and their rooms.

Penelope rubbed her eyes, doing her best to look like she had just woken up and was still a little tired. "I just woke up. I was tired," she chuckled.

Leo shrugged. "Well everyone already ate breakfast, so all of the cinnamon rolls are gone," he shot a glance at Terrance, who smiled sheepishly. "But if you're lucky, there might be a couple of egg chunks on one of the trays for you."

Penelope crinkled her nose. "I'll just get something in town," she mumbled.

Terrance grinned. "We're heading there right now! Val, Charles and Cami are gonna meet us at Halo's so we can start our patrols."

Penelope smiled. "Oh, then I'll come with you two!" she smiled and threaded her arm through Terrance's as the trio made their way out of the palace.

After flying into town from a nearby balcony, the group met up with Charles, Valerie, and Camilla at Halo's Diner, as planned. "Two of us will patrol the neighborhoods, two downtown, and two around Lake Laurier and the Golden Forest," Valerie explained. The Queensguardians nodded and she pulled out a small list from her jacket pocket. "Okay, Camilla and Leo will patrol the neighborhoods-"

"What?" Camilla blurted. Leo looked just as unhappy. "Why can't I be with Pip?"

Valerie shrugged. "Because you two would get distracted and spend all of your time smelling flowers," she deadpanned. Camilla shrugged, knowing her leader had a point, and Valerie continued. "Terrance and Penelope will take downtown," Terrance smiled, wrapping a loose arm around Penelope's shoulders. "Which means that Charles and I will be taking the Golden Forest," she pocketed her slip of paper.

Charles was frowning, but other than that, everyone seemed relatively fine with the plan. "Race you to the marble fountain!" Leo exclaimed, launching into the air with Camilla on his heels as the pair flew toward their post. Valerie rolled her eyes, chuckling. Terrance offered to buy Penelope a plate of waffles from Halo's, but she politely declined and the pair began flying toward the town's center to figure out who would patrol where. Soon enough, it was just Valerie and Charles standing alone near the diner.

It was quiet for a moment while Valerie situated her low ponytail, so small since she'd chopped off most of her hair, but the silence didn't last long. "I'm sorry." Valerie looked over at Charles, who watched her with remorse in his eyes. Of course, the remorse was not for what he had said to Penelope. It was for the position he had lost, and the power and respect that had gone with it.

"I don't want your petty apologies," Valerie replied, launching herself into the air.