Charming appears oblivious, but then again, he struggles to think past his own feet, or the feet of his chosen female. Eugene and Hamish remain at his side. Traitors.
I wrestle my hair into a braid and avoid eye contact with my sister like it’s a sport. She doesn’t get the message and links our arms before dragging me over to a bush.
“Where are you both going?” Hart calls out.
“Girls’ bathroom,” Gwyneth shouts over her shoulder.
“Together?” he says.
“Of course,” I answer. “It’s a rule. Girls go to the bathroom together.”
“Girls are weird,” Genie mutters. “Also, for the record, there is no bathroom around here.”
“That’s never stopped me before,” I grumble as Gwyneth drags me behind a tree.
I lift my skirt, pull my panties down, and squat. She raises her brows and shakes her head.
“I didn’t actually mean go for a pee,” she mutters.
“Listen, you said bathroom, my brain communicated with my bladder, and now we are in a no turning back situation, so you can either turn around or suck it up.”
“What are you sucking up?” the genie asks as he appears in front of me. He throws his hands over his eyes. “Have you no shame?”
“Wow, everyone is a critic, particularly a being that doesn’t require food or toilets.”
“Girls’ bathroom excludes genies,” Gwyneth points out.
The genie huffs. “I always get left out of gossip. It’s not fair.” He poofs out.
I finish up, using a leaf to wipe and jump to my feet.
“We need to talk,” Gwyneth whispers as she leads me a little deeper into the forest and away from the knights.
“If it’s about what happened, I’ll have to give you the company line. What happens beneath a dragon wing, stays beneath a dragon wing.”
She pinches the bridge of her nose. “That’s not... no... I mean... now I’m semi curious... but also, no.”
I broke her. The world is ending. I grab her hand and give it a squeeze. She focuses on me. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
“I think I have feelings,” she says slowly.
“You aren’t an inanimate object. I fully expect you to have feelings.”
“For someone.”
I blink.Oh.She darts a glance from where we came from. My whole body tenses. Not my knights. I love her and would give her my last clean pair of panties, because I feel like they are going to be surplus to requirements for my immediate future, anyway. But I can’t share my knights. Unless she and the genie have a thing going on. I’d rather that, than say, Sir Sweeps-A-Lot, who sticks his wood in random places. Also, my girl needs intellectual stimulation. I’m not sure a broom makes the cut.
“No, not the broom,” she grumbles. Oops, must have spoken out loud, and now I feel bad I’m being judgy. “Although you’ll enjoy the genuine answer even less.”
Again, not one of my knights. I can’t cope.
“Who?” I croak. Please don’t make me choose between you and the knights. Sisters will always come first, but I’ll be really sad.
“Charming,” she mutters, digging the point of her shoe into the dirt and refusing to meet my gaze.
My heart explodes into joyous rapture for a split tempo, knowing my relationship with my knights isn’t on the line. But it’s quickly replaced with disbelief. “That one?” I check, pointing to where we came from. Maybe she had an encounter with a different Charming back at The Hallows.
“Yes. I don’t know where or when it started, but he’s becoming less tiresome every single turn.”
