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"We should probably get back soon. These strawberries can either be placed in a bowl so that you can keep them in your room, or we can bring them to the kitchen and one of the cooks can make us something with them," Lilah suggested.
Cameron grunted. "Yeah, but what would be better than fresh strawberries?" He popped another strawberry in his mouth.
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Lilah laughed a little. "True, true. I mean, we probably have more than we could eat, though. If you want to go get, like, a small pie or something made. Oh! Or cheesecake! One of the cooks makes the best cheesecake in the country."
Cameron hummed. He'd heard that rumor, the best cheesecake in the country thing. Why not try it out?
"Yeah, the cheesecake sounds good, but with strawberries?" He gave her a glance.
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"Have you never heard of strawberry cheesecake?" Lilah questioned, giving Cameron a look. She stood after wiping her hands on the grass to rid them of their red stain.
Cameron glanced away, realizing that was a thing. "It's not common in my kingdom, to be fair."
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"Oh. Well, then you'll just have to taste the best in the country – possibly even the world," Lilah declared, almost teasingly. She started back the way they had come from. "Come on, they will be starting on supper soon, so we need to get there before they do."
Cameron nodded. "It's been that long already, huh?" He started to walk again, humming gently.
This walk has certainly helped me blow off steam but… why did she choose me?
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"I have a question," Lilah said quietly after they had been walking for a bit. She continued to face forward, embarrassment from her question tinging her cheeks red. "When every other prince in the room was respectful of my status and bowed, you remained sitting, barely even moving to let me know that you were there. Why?"
Cameron pulled the leaf off of a strawberry. "I thought you wouldn't notice. No one notices Princes or Princesses from my Kingdom. They never have, and never will." He popped the strawberry into his mouth. "Of course, it's proper edicate to bow to a Princess, but…" He shrugged.
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"I invited you here, so I noticed you. I tend to notice most things," Lilah explained. "It makes it easier to notice someone, though, when they don't follow the crowd."
Cameron's nose twitched. That was smooth as hell.
"So I suppose you did notice, huh?" He couldn't help a slight grin.
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"Of course," Lilah answered, turning to give him a small smile before facing forward again. "Like I said, I notice a lot of things."
Cameron rolled his eyes back forward, the slight grin still on his face.
"Of course," He mocked gently and jokingly.
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Lilah raised her eyebrows at his mocking tone, then smiled. She turned and gently tapped his arm. "Come on, I'll race you back!"
Cameron glanced at her. "In that dress?" He hurried his pace nevertheless, ready to run.
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"Do you doubt me?" Lilah asked incredulously, though she had a smile on her face. "Ready…? Set…? Go!" She started to run to the door, not checking if the prince was following her.
Cameron was indeed following her and if he could say so himself, quite well. Mainly because of his long stride but he'd never admit that. He glared at her and leaned forward so he got more speed.
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Lilah giggled as she ran. She lived to run and would often race her brother when no one was looking.
Running is not proper for a lady, much less a princess. She could almost hear her mother's voice as she ran, even as Cameron started to pass her.
Cameron's toe lodged into a rock in the path, for he wasn't paying attention to the rockiness of the path, then he fell with a heavy thud and an uff in the dirt.
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Lilah stopped herself when she heard the thud and uff. Turning around, she saw Cameron on the ground.
"Oh my gosh, are you all right?" she asked, walking over and offering him her hand.
Cameron sat up, shaking the dust out of his hair and taking her hand.
"That's why I don't run," He said with a laugh. He then let go of her hand once he was up and dusted off the dirt from his suit.
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"You are okay, right?" Lilah asked, seriously hoping he wasn't hurt. That would have been terrible; she would have felt responsible for his injuries because she was the one to suggest racing. Also, they wouldn't have been able to get cheesecake.
Cameron nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright." He rubbed at a sore that appeared on his jaw. Williams would fly off the handle but Cameron didn't care.
"Shall we continue walking?" He suggested with an air of someone who just strolled rather than throwing his weight forward and falling like an oaf.
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Lilah sighed in relief. "Good," she murmured under her breath, as if speaking to herself. "Yes, let's go."
Cameron gave her a look of curiosity, not entirely hearing what she said. He nodded and started walking again.
"The strawberries!" Cameron randomly exclaimed before shoving his hands into his pockets. There were a lot of crushed up ones, once Cameron discovered this, he felt a rush of disappointment.
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"Oh… Oh, man. Uh… Do you want to pick more? I'm sure I picked enough for the cheesecake, so we could use mine," Lilah suggested sympatheticly.
Cameron pulled his red fingertips out of his pockets with a sigh. "No, then I might crush those too, unless there are any left at your garden." He glanced at her. "I don't want to destroy your garden."
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"There are some left, but I think we'll be late if we dally any longer," Lilah admitted with a sigh. She started toward the door, this time checking back to make sure Cameron was following.
Cameron followed idly, wondering what to do about the crushed strawberry. Even if he managed to fish them out of his pockets, the pockets would get sticky, and it'd probably ruin the pants. Not that I'm complaining. I hate these pants.
