A Game of Crowns

“It is wiser to find out than suppose.”

– Mark Twain

I groaned as I hit the ground. Trixie, one of the combat trainers, had flipped me again.

“Get up,” she commanded.

I stood up and positioned myself in the stance she had shown me earlier that morning. We’d been here all day, only breaking for water and lunch. Madame Lorrelle and Sir Hawthorne were determined for us to be able to learn the basics before the trial in two weeks. All other lessons had been suspended again until after the second trial.

The sun was setting, signaling the end of the training day. Others were already leaving or sprawled out on the ground struggling to catch their breath. It was reassuring to see I wasn’t the only one having a tough time.

Only Ruby seemed to have an idea of what she was doing. Thankfully, she wasn’t too far ahead of us, skill wise. I could catch up if I trained hard enough.

The light breeze kissed my skin giving me a small reprieve from the grueling day. I refocused my attention on Trixie. Her chestnut brown hair was securely tied into a long thick braid which swung like a weapon behind her. Her light brown skin held no trace of sweat. I was obviously no match for her. She was probably laughing at me. Her brown eyes held no humor though. The older woman was not here to play or be my friend. She made that crystal clear when I arrived this morning. She claimed I was two hours late, although I had arrived on time with everyone else. She wanted me to be at the training grounds no later than six in the morning.

“What are you waiting for? Attack me,” she yelled.

I did just that. I didn’t need to be yelled at twice. I ran towards her and was rewarded by being flipped to the ground again.

I heard a few chuckles but it didn’t bother me. I’d seen just how badly they’d done as well.

Trixie squatted near me and gave my thigh a tap. “Not bad for a novice. Thanks for getting up every single time. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”

She was crazy. I did horribly but I wasn’t going to disagree with her. She left me on the ground. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. Without her commanding voice pushing me to get up, I wasn’t too inclined to move.

“Need a hand?” said a voice.

I opened my eyes to see Ruby standing over me with her hand extended.

I groaned and mentally said unkind words to her for interrupting my rest. I grabbed her offered hand and got off the floor.

“Thanks.”

“Not a problem. You looked good today. You’re a quick learner.”

I mumbled some nonsense as I dusted off the dirt from my tights and shirt. I opted for practical clothing unlike Viktorya and several of the other participants who wore skimpy clothes. I mean who wants to be thrown around wearing the shortest shorts imaginable. I could almost visualize those things riding up into unwanted places. Ruby was like me. She chose tights and a tight crop top.

“I’m Ruby, by the way.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m Penelope.”

“Nice to officially meet you, Penelope.”

I grinned. I could be friends with someone who used my whole name.

She didn’t leave the grounds. She instead took off on a jog. I groaned yet again. She was going to make me work for it. Not tonight, though. I’d start tomorrow. Tonight, I had a certain someone to see.

I looked over to the guys training section to see that everyone was already gone. They had fared better than we had. Most of them had some sort of training except Matthew. He was a farm hand. He did have his muscular build going for him though. I was curious about how Tobias had done but I made sure not to glance his way. It took every ounce of self-discipline to not take a peek at their side.

I made sure to leave at the last possible minute this morning. I wasn’t ready to face him out in the real world. Just thinking about how it felt to have his hands on me made my body temperature rise. I knew better though, we needed to talk. I had things to tell him about Thelonious and Rowan.

I walked my dirty, sweaty self to the glass room. I wanted a moment alone before I had to go to my room, where Georgiana would be waiting.

The walk was a quiet one. I was halfway there when I felt someone following me. I don’t know how I knew but I knew it was Tobias. I opened the door to the glass room and scanned the area, verifying it was empty. I walked to the middle of the space and turned around when I heard him shut the door. He stood with the door at his back and watched me. The tension between us was palpable. All we needed was a spark and we’d burn again. And I really wanted to burn.

He grinned his cocky grin and all thoughts of talk went out the window. We met halfway and collided into each other. His lips found mine and roughly kissed me. He gave my ponytail a slight tug to give him access to my neck. I ran my fingers through his hair and enjoyed the silkiness of it.

He groaned as he kissed my collar. “I missed you today.”

I cupped his face bringing his lips back to mine. A nagging thought in the back of my mind was trying to make its way through the blissful fog.

I laid a trail of kisses from his lips down the line of his angular jaw to where his shirt met his neck. I inhaled his scent greedily. I loved the way he smelled. Even with the layers of sweat and dirt he’d accumulated outside.

He chuckled. It was exactly what I needed. It brought me back from the edge of the world.

“Why did you stop?” He asked. The huskiness of his voice sent shivers down my spine. “I know you want this just as much as I do.”

His mouth found mine again, stopping me from answering.

It went on for another ten minutes before I found the strength to physically push him away.

“Tobias, stop. We need to talk.”

I fixed my shirt and adjusted my ponytail. Tobias looked as intoxicated as I felt by our kisses and touches. He ran his tongue over his swollen bottom lip. The way he looked at me made my knees quiver.

He straightened out his shirt as well and ran his hand through his messy hair. “Alright, Penelope. Let’s talk.” His blue eyes twinkled with mischief. He did not regret his actions; frankly, neither did I.

After I told Tobias everything, I scanned his face, trying to read his thoughts. He was curious about Rowan and wanted to visit him soon. As for Thelonious’s secret conversation, it drove him crazy.

“Why didn’t you try to see this other person’s face?” He paced the room looking like a madman. He pulled at a plant, uprooted it from the ground, and tossed it.

“There was no way to do it without being caught, Tobias. What did you want me to do? Reveal myself?”

“Yes,” he yelled, throwing his hands in the air. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed.

“Well, I wasn’t going to do that and get myself caught and killed. Are you forgetting that they killed your family? I didn’t want to be next.”

He seemed to remember himself and calmed a bit. He sat on a bench again, leaned his elbows on his knees, and picked at his nails. He didn’t look at me. After a few minutes, he spoke. “I’m sorry, Penelope.”

I sat next to him and grabbed his hand. “I get it, Tobias. I get it.”

He still refused to look at me. He probably was still upset but he knew his anger at me was misdirected.

“How about we have dinner together?” I asked him.

He chuckled. “Are you asking me out on a date, Penelope?”

I laughed. “No, but I would like to talk about what’s happening between us.”

“I’ll go by your room in an hour.”

I smiled. I gave his hand a squeeze before letting go. I left him alone with his thoughts.

***

“Is this a date, my lady?” Georgiana asked.

“Of course not,” I said, pulling on my second brown ankle boot.

“Well, you’ve put in a lot of effort into your appearance. Are you sure it is not?” She smirked. She was obviously talking about my numerous outfit changes. I had settled on an olive green, loose-fitting, tank top dress.

I laughed. “I’m sure, Georgiana. Will you stop grilling me and help me with my hair?”

She chuckled. She stood behind me and massaged some mandarin oil into my wet tresses. “Leave it down. With this oil, it will air dry beautifully.”

A knock at the door interrupted our conversation.

“I’ll get it, Georgiana. I’ll see you in the morning. You don’t have to come back tonight.”

“Yes, my lady.”

She picked up some of my outfits that I decided not to wear and headed for my closet.

I opened the door to find Tobias. He held a brown glass bottle in his hand as he leaned against the wall in front of the door. He wore black sweatpants with a white V-neck shirt. I did say it wasn’t a date but I thought he would have put forth more of an effort. I felt stupid for trying so much. I hated to admit it but he still looked gorgeous in his casual clothes.

“Ready?” He asked, taking another drink from his bottle.

“Yes.” What was he drinking?

We walked towards the dining hall in silence. I didn’t know what to say or how to lighten the mood but his behavior was telling. He was still upset.

He abruptly stopped in the middle of the hall.

“You okay? What is it?”

He finished off his drink and lightly tossed it onto the carpeted floor. A small amount of remaining liquid fell onto the beige carpet. He was going to just leave it there for someone else to clean. Before I had a chance to say something to him, he pulled out another bottle from his pocket. He popped the top and took a long swig of it.

Was he drinking alcohol?

“So, you wanted to talk about us? Well, let’s talk. Are we together, Penelope?” He pulled me roughly against him and kissed my neck. I pushed away from him. The smell of alcohol was strong. He must have started drinking as soon as he got to his room.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.

“Answer me. Are we together? Or do you mess around with everyone like you did with me?” He sneered.

“You’re drunk.” His words pierced my heart but I tried to act as if they didn’t. “We are not together. Especially since we need to work on our trust. I don’t trust you, Tobias.”

“You don’t trust me? ME?”

What was he getting at?

“I shouldn’t trust YOU! Someone told me that Lucas kissed you and you didn’t push him off.”

When had he found that out? It must have been after we talked. He hadn’t mentioned it before.

“It’s not what you think, Tobias.”

“So, it did happen?”

I ignored his question. “What is this really about? Is it that someone other than you kissed me or is it that I didn’t find out who Thelonious spoke with?”

“Both,” he yelled.

We were so close to each other that we hadn’t noticed someone else had joined us. They cleared their throat.

I swiveled around to see Lucas. How much had he heard?

I looked back at Tobias. His face looked like that of a stranger. He took four steps forward and punched Lucas in the face. Lucas didn’t try to retaliate. He grunted and bent forward holding his nose.

“Lucas, are you okay?” He mumbled something. “Tobias, what’s wrong with you?” I asked as I tried to comfort Lucas.

The look on his face was murderous. “You’re going to side with him?”

I didn’t know what to say. The dummy was being completely unreasonable. Before I could open my mouth, he stormed off in the opposite direction.

A sob escaped me. What was he doing to me?

I walked Lucas to his room and quickly said goodnight. I wasn’t in the mood to tend to him. I was being rude but I couldn’t help it. I went straight to my room and spent the evening in bed.

I forced myself to sleep. I didn’t want to think about Tobias. Training couldn’t come soon enough. I would move forward with my plan and win this thing on my own. I’d pretend like the last two days hadn’t happened.