The Beast And The Blessed

Twenty-Three: Natalie

Natalie’s P.O.V.

Their low talking could be heard as I rounded the corner, and I felt my stomach tie into a knot as Killian and Princess Charlotte stood waiting for me. I was late, and it was not welcomed based on Killian’s look of disappointment.

My nerves about meeting his sister somehow managed to surpass my anxiety about meeting the king himself. While I was terrified of him for his well-known history of murder and aggression, the stories of her made her all the more fearsome. When her brother took the throne, she took to mercenary work.

The stories of her slaying dragons, sirens, and banshees were known across the world. She was a warrior.

“Here she is now,” Killian said, but the way his eyes narrowed told me that I would be hearing about my late arrival later. “Natalie, this is my sister, Charlotte.”

The young woman turned to face me, and my jaw dropped at the stunning princess. Her hair was a light. brown that fell into perfectly styled ringlets. The bright green of her eyes made what portraits I had seen. of her mother seem dull.

“Please, call me Charlie.” She said as she extended her arm toward me. I moved forward, expecting a dainty shake suitable for a member of the royal family. Instead, I was met with a slightly calloused palm and a firm shake as if we were conducting a business transaction. “I’m really happy Killian found you! He needs someone to knock some sense into him every now and then.”

Oh, I wanted to knock some sense into him alright. But I would start with the long overdue fight we

needed to have.

I looked up, she was staring at

in response before looking to her brother with a raised eyebrow, but he shook his

the table before taking a seat, making sure to tuck it back in before he could get a single finger on it. He had never pulled my chair out for me before. Why put on

in front of us. It was not lost on me that the guards had been stationed outside the room for our

quick study.” Charlie said as she took a large and improper bite of her roll.

placing my hands back in my lap. “Thank you,

as if I were a side attraction at a circus, but I refused to look his way. He

what I understand, my team and I will have new stories before we leave here. Rumor has it that there has been an attack, and we have come to join the guard.” Her declaration of wanting to fight against the vampires made me feel relieved, but Killian’s head snapped

need to argue with me, brother. We are more than capable of fighting off a few measly

I rolled my eyes as I returned back to my food. That was one good thing about

could see her annoyance as Killian placed his fork back down. “I haven’t seen you in months, and you can’t

if you’ll excuse me. I will be right back. Something urgent has come up, but it should only take a minute.” He said as he rose to his feet. I did the same out of respect for his title, but Charlie leaned back against her chair as she glared up at him. Killian moved toward the door, stopping behind me for a quick moment, but

as her interest peaked even further. As

bare no mark.” She observed, falling silent as the servants entered the room again with the next course. She gestured with her finger for them to place Killian’s food down before swiping one of the fingerling potatoes from his plate as the staff

I said as I began to cut into my steak. If Killian wanted me to

family now.” She insisted as

slowly. No matter how many meals I had in the castle, the quality of the food managed to astonish me

in the juice from her steak. “You have no idea how good this is