The Assassin

Tension

"You don't know where her business is?" Oliver asks flatly. He wasn't surprised.

"All Phillip told me was his mother was a hatter, I figured we could find it easily enough." Luella defended herself as they searched Astor. 

An uncomfortable silence fell over them, again. She knew why but she had to build the courage to apologize to her guard first. Luella pasted together words in her head trying to find the shortest and least embarrassing way to admit she was in the wrong. 

"Ahem.." She began. Oliver didn't look her way. Unfortunately, she had used all of her grit making that insignificant noise. Luella drew a long breath in, readying herself to try again. 

"Oliver?" She said using his name this time so he knew she was talking to him. 

"Hm?" He responded, his stare still undeviating. 

"I apologize. For being rude...and asking the king for you to take me to a hatter." Her voice began to trail off. She tried to keep her eyes from nervously wandering and her hands from writhing, she didn't like looking guilty and she especially didn't like the feeling.

She glanced at Oliver. All he did was a nod. 

"I accept your apology." He stated. She let out a small sigh of relief but the awkwardness she felt continued to grow as the uncomfortable silence decided to stay between them. Her black boot kicked at stray rocks on the sidewalk and the unaware citizens passed by them as if everything was fine. Each store they passed by reminded her how long it's been since Oliver had spoken to her first. She dared to glance at him once more but the glance ended up being a little longer than she intended.

"Staring is rude." The guardsmen said in an apathetic fashion.

The princess teared her eyes away quickly and scolded herself in her head. She could feel her face heat up, abashed. A few more minutes of this passed by and she couldn't imagine how'd she survive if this went on any longer. She lifted her head and blatantly stared at Oliver again with wide eyes. He rolled his head to face the reddened princess.

"Yes?"

"You say you accept my apology but you aren't acting like it!" She puffs as she crosses her arms and turns her head away.  

After a few seconds she could hear the man sigh in defeat but he said nothing.

"Are you mad at me?" Luella forced out the question from her lungs. 

"Yes."

It was a simple word but the culpable feeling it came with made her sick. That wasn't the answer she was expecting but she supposes assuming differently was foolish. She didn't know how to counter his word but believe her she was trying as hard as she could, the deafening silence was once more inviting itself into their space and she wanted to thwart the stillness before it laid a thick blanket of tension. Not that there wasn't any already.

Oliver wasn't making this any easier either. Luella felt as if she was the only one putting in any effort to make conversation. 

"Can you at least tell me why you're mad?" She said with mumbling lips.

"You know why Luella. All I'd like is for us to find where we need to go and return to the Hillington Palace as quickly as possible." He stated. 

Luella wanted to say something back but nothing came to mind. It didn't matter much anyway, Oliver was already talking to a stranger, asking for the directions of a hatter who has a son named Phillip. 

It didn't take long before they found the brick building, apartment doors lined up across the structure. Phillip's home was easy to spot, the Bay window next to the door had a sign leaning against it from the inside that said:

Arabella's Trimmed Hats, Bonnets & More

The stiff uncomfortableness clamping Luella's heart almost lifted completely as excitement replaced it instead. She entered the quaint home store combination and wandered her eyes over the plumed and silky hats, the contrasting difference of brims from bonnet to bonnet gave the princess an influx of creative ideas for the fine art she planned to decorate her head with. An older lady wearing a light green dress and apron with her orange-red hair tied into a messy bun walked into the small space with a gapped smile. 

"My eyes must deceive me! The princess in my shop?" She exclaimed. Her words showed her surprise but her expression was relaxed and affable.

"I heard from your son you were a hatter and I happen to very fond of bonnets." Luella said.

Oliver took post near the main door of the home hoping for the princess to tend to her affairs rapidly, though the chatty liveliness that sparked in the living room made it hard to believe this would be over soon. Just then Phillip walked through the doorway of the hall to be awestruck by the royalty standing in his home. 

"Your-your highness! Hello again." He bowed.

"You can call me Luella." She happily replied. 

"Luella." The sensitive young man said softly. 

"Well, you can call me Arabella." Phillip's mother said. "Now what did you have in mind?" Arabella set down handmade mannequin heads each topped with a different kind of hat. Luella tapped her chin studying the brims and styles carefully, if she really wanted she could have bought her entire stock but she really like buying clothes and accessories one by one so she could go out often to get more. Besides, she could feel the discomposed energy diffusing from the guardsmen stood by the door and she didn't want to take too long. 

She pointed at a spoon bonnet. 

"I'd like that one, please." Arabella scooped up the plain hat and fitted it on the princess' head. 

"Perfect." The kind woman whispered to herself. Her long and elegant fingers picked up a sketch book and and hovered an inked pen over the paper. 

"Describe to me what you'd like on your bonnet." She invited with a grin. Oliver almost rolled his eyes, they were going to be there a while. A typical person would look at the bonnet Luella wanted and it wouldn't take them more than thirty seconds to describe what they saw, but Luella was a details person. She went on and on making sure Arabella was sketching down where she wanted every stitch and every fabric she wanted used on certain parts of the hat. Anyone would think that the hatter would be annoyed but Phillip's mother was having a ball. Oh, how she loved when her customer knew exactly what they wanted, it was such a chore when they constantly asked her what she thought they should get. She didn't know! She's just met them a few minutes ago and now she's being asked to find them the perfect accessory. 

Phillip continued to stare at the scintillating princess raving over frivolous things on a bonnet, he thought she was incredible. 

"Let me go gather the materials and you can tell me exactly which one you're talking about." Phillip heard his mother said, he quickly pretended to adjust a frame on the wall not wanting to look like a lost child to Luella. Arabella left the living room leaving the princess, Phillip, and the menacing guard alone. Everyone could feel the mood plummet.

"So, how have you been?" Luella asked the nervous man. 

He looked at the princess slowly drawing his hands from the already straight painting on the wall and rubbed them against his trousers. 

"Uh, go-good! Thank you...for asking." His chest was rising and falling faster than it should be. He wasn't sure why he was so dizzy, Luella was very nice and understanding. There was no reason he was being so jittery, especially for the second time of meeting someone. He supposes meeting a stranger isn't as bad as trying to convince someone you're worth staying around. And a princess at that. 

"P-please, have a- have a seat!" Phillip said rather loudly. He clumsily tripped over the black and white rug to the light brown, cushy couch and motioned for the princess to sit. Luella giggled and she sat down. 

"Would you like anything to drink?" He asked. 

"No, thank you." She responded. He stood there a second gazing at the princess as she gazed back.

"Would you like to sit?" Luella asked. "Uh, yes! Thank you." Phillip sat down by the princess accidentally sitting on her dress. 

"Sorry!" Phillip quickly apologized jerking his body off of her garment.

"It's fine really, I have more dresses at home." Luella assured him. "Of course you do. Not to assume or anything of that nature! That isn't what I meant if you thought I meant anything or it might be what I meant if you meant what I meant-"

"Phillip." Luella said quieting the man. "It's okay." She says.

He nods with his lips pressed tightly together and looks down staring at his shoes as they shift on top of one another. He glances over at Luella who greets him with a small smile and a wave, he waved back and returned his eyes to the floor thinking how stupid he was being. Is this what his social skills have come to? Goodness, how embarrassing. 

"I heard about the man who broke into the palace...are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Nothing much to be worried about." Luella said. Phillip awkwardly agreed with her.

"Yes, I'm sure it's nothing." The sentence sounded as if he couldn't decide whether to laugh or have an asthma attack. 

Maybe if he stared at his mother's workspace door she'll come back faster, it was worth a shot. Better than to sit here and continue to make a fool of himself in front of Luella and her incredibly terrifying guard. Phillip made the mistake of peering at Oliver for his eyes made contact with the aloof and sharp, icy pupil of the guard's. His sword still looking as threatening as ever.

Suddenly staring at the ground seemed like his best idea. If Luella makes his heart prance, Oliver makes his heart stop. At least he wasn't shaking with nervousness anymore due to the cold-sweat running down his back that's made him immobile. Once the numbness in his nerves began to leave and he could feel his blood pumping, Phillip leaned to Luella and whispered as quietly as he could.

"I don't think he likes me very much." 

"That's because he probably doesn't." The princess whispered back.

How comforting. 

Luckily Arabella waltz out of her workroom bringing in a sense of homeliness and set down the bells and whistles on the dining room table that was connected to the living room. 

I have all you can choose from right here, love." She says dusting her hands off. 

Luella practically ran to the dining room area, you could see her eyes twinkling. Her hands ran over fabrics and decorations she's never think to put on a bonnet before. An inaudible "wow" was mouthed by the excitable young woman. Bizarre patterns and foreign flowers were laid about the scratched up, yellow, square table that shifted slightly when leaned on.  

She meant the trip to be short, she really did but that was before her boxed-in brain was introduced to true creativity and freedom and she had just the hat in mind to stupefy her mother.

*   *   *

Hours had passed. The morning sun turned cruel and harsh as Luella and Oliver had finally stepped out of Arabella's store into the beating heat of the mid-day sun. 

Luella had decided to get four hats instead of her usual habit of buying garments as if they were rare gems. And now he had to go fetch them in a few days while Luella stays in the palace and though granted she would be very well guarded, she wouldn't be guarded by him.

It honestly surprised him, just last night there was an intruder in Luella's room and she seems to have forgotten all about it and so has the king! He knew it wasn't true but he felt as if he were the only one who truly cared if the princess got hurt or not. The most intelligent idea the king had all morning was teaching Luella how to sword fight, if he's not around to protect her for whatever reason, he would be more at ease knowing she knew how to defend herself to some extent. 

"Sorry I took so long, I just couldn't help myself." Luella said.

"Is he really the boy you've taken a liking to?" Oliver asked.

"What?"

"Phillip. He seemed nice at the ball but he really is just a ball of nerves. Unfit to rule, in fact he's unfit to to much of anything. I can't see why you've decided to risk your being to meet him again." He didn't mean to come off as rude but the stunt the princess had pulled earlier still irked him and of all the things in the world this feeble, piteous man is the reason why the princess decided her life was exchangeable for fancy headwear. 

"Well, that's impolite. He wouldn't be so nervous if you weren't glaring at him all the time." Luella said taken aback.

"I highly doubt that." Oliver replied simply.

"You know, you are being very impudent today." 

"I could say the same for you." 

The offended sound Luella made would have been amusing to Oliver any other day than today. He's never necessarily been good with his temper, just a very good actor in front of his higher-ups. The frustration seething in his chest was about to spill over and the bustling noise of the city didn't help either. Clacks of shoes, chatter of friends, roaring of vehicles, each racket that added to the pandemonium added wood and fuel to the conflagration roaring in his sternum. 

The smallest bit of relief calmed his rage when the palace doors came into view, finally, safety. 

Familiarity. A welcomed feeling. 

Oliver was a man who wasted no time, now that they were back, it was time for Luella to be taught how to sword fight, a very necessary skill.

"I suggest you change into something more appropriate for sport. Once you do you'll begin your first sword fighting lesson right away." He said. 

"Right away?" She whined. He really wasn't in the mood for this.

"Yes, right away. If not now, when?" 

"We've just arrived home from a lengthy walk and I'm hungry. I suggest we begin my sword fighting lesson after we eat and rest." Luella had her hands on her hip and sting to her words. Though they started talking to each other more it's been nothing but jabs and back-handed comments. 

"Fine. You can eat and rest but afterward I don't want here any complaining."

"There won't be any."

"Good."

Luella spun away from the guard and marched to her room to get away from argumentative adult. Oliver did the same and went to his quarters to cool off but his over-thinking and unsaid words made it near impossible for him to simply brush this off. 

If only it were that easy.