Warm and Fuzzy

"Pearls. Does Prince Akeem seem familiar to you?" Abidemi asked as she lay on her bed. Pearls cocked her head as she sat next to her master. Abidemi pets the cat's head. Pearls moved against Abidemi's palm as she purred. She yawned a bit as she closed her eyes. "Maybe it's just me and I'm exhausted from all the excitement last night."

Pearls meowed as Abidemi smiled at her. Abidemi sat up from her bed as she looked around her cabin.

It was so much bigger than the cabins she was used to. Usually when she goes to Elov, she mostly goes under an alias because of what happened to her when she was little. She even learns to do a few things herself to throw some people off. Of course, as she got older and learned self defense, people didn't bother with her anymore.

It was probably safe for her to go to a ship as herself again but she went against it.

Better safe than sorry. She didn't want to get kidnapped.

Abidemi made a face. "Why in the world would Freya want to marry me into the Blacklake family and to Logan no less?" Pearls meowed while Abidemi looked over to her. "You don't say."

Pearls meowed again, making Abidemi laugh. She then frowned when she thought about Logan and their past. Maybe if her feelings never changed or if she went insane, she probably would marry into the Blacklake family.

Probably. Maybe. Maybe not.

People do a lot of things when they go insane.

Why does Freya want to marry her to Logan? Duchess Blake didn't want Abidemi married to Logan despite liking her. She really wasn't sure about Duke River though, that man was just like Logan without the yelling and all the anger.

She never really met Asher. Asher became part of the Blacklake household five years after Logan stopped talking to her.

He didn't even have a debut yet but he was the talk of Valtis nobility. The powerful illegitimate son that overthrows the legitimate son.

"Well, I'm not going to miss Valtis gossip. That's for sure."Abidemi said with a sigh. She had no use for gossip and only knew a few things through Daisy, who also didn't know much.

Abidemi wanted to laugh. Maybe that was one of the many reasons why the noble ladies didn't like them so much. They didn't really engage in idle gossip, they were mostly to themselves and the angry young noble ladies were always looking for any type of imperfection with them.

Of course they were the men but they only saw Daisy and her as ornaments instead of women. Mostly the ones from lower ranks, she never knew what the higher rank men were thinking.

"Oh, Daisy." Abidemi whispered to herself. She pulled her knees to her chest and closed her eyes. "I wonder if she is alright."

There was a sudden knock on the door which snapped her out of her thoughts. Abidemi got up from her bed and walked over to the door. She opened it to see Shyla and Kanene was there. They were holding a tray of pancakes with strawberries and jam. Along with a ton of fruits of many types.

"Wow!" Abidemi whispered while she looked at Shyla and Kanene with an arched eyebrow. She gave them a small glare as she spoke. "You're not supposed to serve me anymore."

"We're not serving you. We're just going to eat and talk." Shyla said as she walked past Abidemi. She placed the tray on the table as she peeked at Abidemi. "I mean. We have a lot to talk about."

Kanene nodded her head as she pulled out a chair. She took a seat while Shyla set the table up.

Abidemi goes over to the table as she takes a seat. There was so much food that Abidemi could hear her stomach growl. Abidemi looked at Shyla and Kanene, who was just looking at her. Abidemi gave them an uneasy smile. "Ummm. I didn't eat dinner last night."

"Here." Kanene said while handing Abidemi a bright red apple. Abidemi took it until she noticed Shyla pushing the stack of pancakes in front of her. Kanene also gave her a cup of orange juice which made Abidemi look up. "Be sure to eat."

"Umm. Thanks guys." Abidemi said while she looked down at the pancake. They were really fluffy so she knew they were Valtis's pancakes. Abidemi looked at Kanene and Shyla who were watching her. "Umm. I can't eat with you guys looking at me."

"Sorry." Kanene and Shyla said at the same time. They looked away from her which made Abidemi sighed from relief.

Abidemi smiled at them as she reached for the strawberry jam and put them on her pancakes.She picked up the fork and cut the pancakes into pieces. "What do I call you now?" Kanene and Shyla looked at Abidemi oddly as she ate her pancakes. Abidemi noticed and licked her lips.

Kanene blinked at Abidemi words as Shyla shook her head. "After what we were told in the Gallery, that's all you could say?"

Abidemi blinked and sighed. "What the heck do you want to say? I know you two will never deceive me for selfish and cruel reasons. Plus you both care for me and I could tell it wasn't an act."

Kanene nodded her head in understanding as Shyla groaned. "You are way to understanding, Lady Abidemi."

Abidemi cocked her head. "You could just call me Abidemi. Or maybe just Demi."

Shyla groaned. "Seriously!"

Abidemi frowned at Shyla. "Besides,I suspected that you guys weren't just maids. Kanene taught me self defense after all. I'm just surprised that both of you were nobles. Which makes me more uncomfortable if anything."

Kanene hummed. "That's fair."

Abidemi nodded her head as she ate her pancake. She slowly peeked up at Kanene and Shyla. "So, I might feel awkward with you guys. I mean, I just found out your identity but it's not a massive problem." Abidemi makes a face. Kanene and Shyla noticed her expression.

" What's wrong?" Kanene asked her.

"I'm remembering all the times I gave you guys trouble." Abidemi said with a deep frown. Shyla laughed and Kanene shook her head. She picked a few grapes and ate them.

"It's fine. You said that you were sorry so many times." Kanene said to Abidemi. Abidemi looked at Kanene with a small glare. " Abidemi, you were a reasonable lady. Even when you were a little girl. You said you were sorry and you always thanked us."

"Yeah, there were times you were a handful but it's to be expected from a ten year old. You got better as you got older." Shyla said to Abidemi. Shyla picks up an apple and eats it. Abidemi blinked then shrugged her shoulders. "What's the shrug for?"

Abidemi shook her head. "Nothing." she smiled at Shyla and Kanene. She looked up at Kanene and Shyla. "So, please call me Abidemi or Demi. You both know me on a personal level and you both took care of me."

Shyla sighed. "Fine but it will take some getting used to." Abidemi smiled and nodded her head.

"I understand. I understand." Abidemi said with a nod. She sighed and looked at the ceiling of the cabin. She frowned and looked at Shyla and Kanene who were now eating their fruits. "Why does Prince Akeem want me to be his princess?"

Shyla almost choked on her apple and Kanene bit her finger.

Abidemi blinked from their reaction as she resisted shaking her head. 'They know why.' Abidemi thought to herself. "Can you guys tell me why?"

"No. Prince Reckless could tell you himself."Shyla said. Abidemi frowned as Shyla sighed and looked at Abidemi. "We want to tell you but he insisted on telling you himself."

"It is not really right to expose his secret before he's ready." Kanene said as she blew on her finger. Abidemi blinked before frowning. Kanene noticed Abidemi's expression before saying. "Demi." Abidemi blinked and looked at Kanene. "What are you thinking about?"

"I just got this feeling that I know him from somewhere but so much has happened I can't just place it." Abidemi said while she thought about it. "Maybe it's because so much has happened as of late. My magic results, in Freya being more horrible than I thought, meeting the queen, last night's attack, meeting Prince Akeem, saying goodbye to Daisy and Eden then finally leaving Valtis. Everything is in a jumble and I think I need to process this."

"Was the meeting too much? Because we told Keem that you needed time."Shyla started out. Abidemi shook her head. Shyla relaxed.

"I'll be fine. It needed to be done anyway." Abidemi said with a frown. She sighed. "Maybe it is because he is really handsome or the way he acts but he makes me feel all warm and fuzzy."

"Warm and fuzzy?" Shyla asked in shock.

Abidemi nodded her head as she rubbed the side of her neck. "It's the best way I could describe it. It's almost the same feeling I get from…Sol." Kanene bit the inside of her cheek while Shyla just nibbled on her apple. Abidemi only sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Then again it's probably from all the emotions from last night."

Kanene hummed. "Probably." She popped more grapes in her mouth. Abidemi looked like she wanted to say something but she closed her mouth. "Demi."

Abidemi shook her head and smiled at Kanene and Shyla. "Nothing. Let's talk about something else." she said with a smile.

Kanene and Shyla looked at each other. They shrugged their shoulders and looked at Abidemi. "What do you wanna talk about?" Shyla asked Abidemi.

Abidemi smiled at them. "I want to know more about you."