“Ah, good point, sir.” Looking back at Callan, he looked a little… off, somehow. “Hey, you okay?” she asked gently. “You look a bit unsettled. I mean, this whole ‘marry this girl you never met to keep her off of death row’ thing would unsettle anyone, but still.”
Arranged and Illegitimate // Fantasy OxO // Closed
He cleared his throat. "What? Oh. Yes. I'm…perfectly fine, I assure you." he replied with a tight, forced little smile. "Shall we continue our tour?" he started walking again. He couldn't tell her what was really wrong with him. He couldn't afford to do that.
“…okay then. Tour it is,” Finley said carefully. If Callan was keeping any sort of secret from her, she was going to figure it out, that was for certain. “Anything simply amazing that I must see? Let us do a quick run down of the highlights.”
He chuckled. "Well. The library is excellent. Though half of it may or may not be in Prince Ezra's chambers instead of the actual library." The youngest prince was a voracious reader, rather known for being quite and polite and always having his nose in a book.
“He’s a reader then? Well, I can’t blame him. I might have to steal a few books from the library myself.” Finley looked up at Callan. “What’s the rest of your family like, anyways? You aren’t exactly the most public lot, at least from my position.”
Callan sighed. "My family, or the royal family? Because it isn't the same thing." He asked, not looking at her as he spoke. It hurt, sometimes. His father didn't care, and his mother was dead. Albion hated him, and Ezra… Ezra was distant, but whenever Callan had talked to the youngest prince, the young man had been kind, if distracted.
“Whichever one you feel most comfortable discussing. I don’t want to violate your privacy,” Finley said as kindly as she could manage. She looked away, tracing the pattern of the stone walls with her eyes.
He nodded. "Right…uhm." he didn't know what to say. "The Royal family…can be difficult, sometimes. Seeing as how I'm…one of them, but not. I'm not in line for the throne, never will."
“I see. That probably makes all family relations so warm and fuzzy, right?” Finley quipped. “Must be hard, not fitting in anywhere. Too royal to be a peasant, too peasant to be a royal.”
He snorted, letting out a faint laugh. "Mm. I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. But…yeah. It can be hard sometimes." He shrugged his shoulders, running a hand through his hair.
Finley was now considering it a victory every time she got the prince to laugh or smile. It definitely had everything to do with ‘destroying the royal facade’, not the fact that his little snorts were kind of adorable. “I can’t tell when I’m being sarcastic either, if I’m truly honest. But it doesn’t seem like yours is the easiest life to live.” She gave him a little smile. “Enough of that! Show me this library, if you please.”
Callan shrugged a little. "My life isn't…terrible." he replied. "But alright. This way." he led her through the hallways, and opened a heavy set of double doors, stepping into a beautiful library. The shelves were huge, tall, stuffed with books. There were armchairs scattered around, and lovely wooden tables. Windows high in the ceiling let in shafts of sunlight. Curled in one of the armchairs was the slim shape of the youngest prince, a book in his lap and three more sitting by his feet.
Finley let out a little gasp as they stepped into the library, in awe of the rich wood and imposing bookshelves. “This is amazing! Gods, this room is probably worth more than my whole fiefdom!” She plopped herself down into an armchair, running her fingers over the plush material. “This is luxury,” she breathed.
He smiled a little bit as he watched her, smiling lightly. "Yeah." He agreed with a smile. "It's gorgeous in here." He sat down near her, watching her with a faint smile. He ran a hand through his brown hair.
“Have you read many of the books in here? I don’t think I’d be able to get through this many books if I had a whole lifetime!” Finley’s expression sobered a bit as she picked at a section of embroidery. “Most likely due to the fact that I can’t read,” she mumbled, unable to meet Callan’s eye.
Callan shrugged a little bit. "I don't have as much time to read as I would like." He replied. He heard her mumbled words, and nodded. "Right. First thing we do, then, is find you a reading tutor, if possible. You need to be able to read."
“Could we not tell anyone else? I… don’t really want any other people to know, if that’s alright. Not being able to read is probably going to be a major weakness here,” Finley replied, unaware of the presence of the other prince.
Callan, who hadn't noticed Ezra either, nodded. "Yeah, sure. I can…teach you, I guess. Though I'm not a great teacher, not with…books." he shrugged his shoulders a little bit.
“Fantastic! I mean… thank you. Really! You have no idea how much this means to me,” Finley chirped happily, her voice echoing loudly in the quiet room. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Her inability to read had scraped at her since her childhood, and now she would finally be able to do so.
He chuckled softly, smiling at her. "Mm. Of course. You're welcome." He replied. He looked around the room with a soft sigh, and spotted Ezra. He frowned a little, but didn't say anything about it.
Finley noticed Callan’s frown and tilted her head. “What is it?” she asked. “Is something wrong?” She sat up, a little on edge.
"Ah, nothing. Ezra's in here." He gestured to where the young prince was visible, just an elbow hanging off the chair that the young man was reading in.
“Oh, thank the Gods. I was getting worried it was the king again,” she said with a bitter chuckle. “Hey, I’ll go say hello to him. I’ve already got such a good track record with befriending princes,” she snarked, hopping out of her chair and starting towards Ezra.
Callan snorted softly, then sighed when he saw her going. "Finley…fine." he shook his head a little bit, watching as she went over to the prince.
Ezra had been completely ignoring them, completely focused on his book. His body was curled protectively around the volume, as if it were a precious thing to be protected.
“Hello there, your Highness,” Finley said as politely as she could, refraining from giving the prince a little nudge like she would do with her little brothers.
Ezra looked up, closing the book. "Ah! And…who are you?" He asked slowly, arching an eyebrow at her. He raked a hand through his hair, staring at her inquisitively.
“My name is Finley McCain. I’m rather new to the palace,” she explained. “I’m here to… well, to shake things up a little bit,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Also, I’m married to your brother.”
He blinked owlishly. "Which brother? Albion?" He asked, cocking his head at her. "And why haven't I seen you before?" The youngest prince was 20 years old, and smaller than the other two; shorter and skinnier, at only about 5'8".
“Callan. And the wedding was today. Beautiful ceremony, a shame you missed it,” Finley said with a wink. “You seem fairly occupied with your books, though.”
Ezra frowned a little bit. "I didn't know Callan had a sweetheart." He replied, sitting up and studying her carefully. "And…yeah, I guess I am." He pursed his lips a little bit.