Chapter 26: Nicolas And The Ladies

"You should go inside, you don't need a cold", Martin's voice cut through my thoughts. Nicolas had already gone back, I didn't want to follow him. ''How long have we been out here?'', I replied absent-mindedly. He glanced briefly at the sundial, shimmering golden in the afternoon sun. Its dials had turned soft shades of pink and grey because of the snow. "About an hour, I guess, your cheeks are already red." He probably didn't know the exact time, but he was right. I could already feel the cold rising inside me and a sharp shiver ran through me. I rose and put my hands into my coat pockets to save myself. The warmth enveloped me like a blanket and made my fingers tingle slightly. A throbbing pain followed as I entered the soothing hall via the cloisters. I found Sissley and Abygail in the hallway, it came as a great surprise to me, I had never met another candidate in the hallway until now. Normally they were all together like a flock of sheep in the ladies' room. I admitted they had never interested me anyway, but I was polite enough to try and remember their names. Sissley and Abygail giggled, they hadn't noticed me. Normally I would just walk past them and escape to my room, but I wanted to know the reason for their stay. For that reason, I strode up to them and cleared my throat: "What are you laughing at?" They were both slightly startled. Then they looked at me in amazement and one cleared her throat hesitantly: "Oh, hi Maybelle, right? Sissley couldn't hold back any longer and pressed her lips to her teeth. Well, we just became live spectators of a tragedy.", Abygail held her stomach, which was quivering from her laughter. I rolled my eyes, could they please get to the point. ''Aha, tragedies are actually, not funny.'', I replied simply. Abygail fell silent and straightened up: "But not if this is one of Loulou Price's." To my ears, her answer sounded almost like a threat to me. The name of Loulou Price made my ears prick up; she was one of the girls who had been particularly close to the prince in recent weeks. I knew from Martin that Nicolas had once gone out with her out of pity. However, also for the sake of the press, she was the daughter of a respected importer of Little England. I listened tensely: "Go on. So, the prince had just come out of the garden, probably because of you. Were you making out there?" Sissley raised her eyebrows coquettishly and smiled coquettishly. I paced back and gave her a dirty look and her laughter died a brief death: "It's okay, I'll stop already." She put her hands up and looked down at the floor. "Be that as it may.", the other continued, "Nicolas's mind was somewhere else when he walked past us. Loulou came along the way and tried to hit on him, she took his arm and spoke seductively to him. She still failed miserably. Nicolas turned towards her, stopped and took her hand off his arm. She was then totally irritated and still wanted to save herself. The prince had told her to stop playing and that she was annoying him and that just because they had met once didn't mean it. We had never seen him so direct before, he was a completely different person. He left her standing there and strolled on. Loulou ran after him, pleading like a dog for forgiveness. We don't know more, but it was so pathetic of her, especially because it was so obvious that the prince had shown no interest in her.'' Somehow I was glad that he had rejected Loulou, it gave me a little triumph he did care about me after all. I smiled to myself, not caring that the two of them could see me too. Sissely squealed and grabbed my arm without permission. ''No!'', I shouted far too obvious and withdrew from her grasp. Damn it, I had exposed myself too openly. They surrounded me, so I could no longer avoid them. "And don't leave out any details.", Abygail whispered in my ear. I swallowed hard and felt a panic rising inside me. If I gave up now and told them what they wanted to hear, then perhaps they would let me go on my way. I told them the story of how I had met the Crown Prince of Little England, embellishing the moments between us. I only left out the details that were meant exclusively for my ears and his. "Oh my goodness, I envy you, no wonder he doesn't talk to anyone and only has superficial conversations when you are his sweetheart.'', she grinned widely. I had to sigh and cover both my ears in view of the tone. "Don't take it so hard, you'll get over it, we'll help you.", Sissley said and held me encouragingly in her arms. Ok, now it was getting too much for me, I had to get out of here: "No, it doesn't matter.", I freed myself from their grasp and gained some distance from the ladies, "I need my time, alone, please don't be mad at me." In a way, I did feel sorry for them, but I was never cut out to be a friend. Human interaction was always a mystery to me. It was a miracle that I was able to keep my friends at home. Although, by now she was getting over it too. The girls nodded in understanding and were a little disappointed. I wanted to apologise but then decided to go to my room. Martin, the security guard, followed me with silence. He was waiting outside the door, he had been doing that for so long that I didn't know what it was like without him near me. I threw myself on the bed, bored. Too many thoughts circled me. The ceiling radiated something threatening.