How Robin Gets People's Attention.

I'm not doing as well with this fangirling business as I thought I would. However, in my defense, I've been rather busy the last few weeks, what with work and everything. When I have been home and on my computer, I've spent most of my time working on either the short story collection or Kingdom, which is progressing quite nicely at the moment. Oh, and on some interviews on some other blogs, and working on Worth of a King, which will henceforth be abbreviated to Worth. 

Anyways, since I need to get ready for work in a few minutes, I'm going to leave you with a scene that I typed into Kingdom yesterday. If you haven't read Sew or Take, there are a few spoilers. Basically, she and Eric have returned to Locksley castle, and Robin is hoping that Madeleine never got around to painting her room.

I hope to be back on Saturday with some fanfiction for the Makilien Trilogy. I have the perfect idea for one after rereading the trilogy and reminding myself of all the backstories.

Via Pinterest

Robin was spared the necessity of response by the fact that they had now arrived at her rooms. “Now comes the moment of truth,” she declared. She pushed open the door and stalked in. Eric waited a moment, and when he hadn't heard any obvious cries of displeasure, deemed it safe to enter.

He found her standing in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips. Her back was to him, so he couldn't see the expression on her face, though he guessed there was some level of annoyance on it, however.

Madeleine had painted Robin's room.

As was the case with most of Madeleine's murals, this one was completely life-like. Save for the fact that there was a bed, desk, and other furniture, and a window overlooking the courtyard, Eric could have sworn that he had just stepped into a cave filled with gold and glittering jewels.

“Looks like you now live in the treasury,” he observed.

She spun around, her eyes livid, one arm flung back to point at what she had been staring at – a grinning eight-year-old Madeleine perched on an especially tall pile of gold.

“Look at her!” Robin exclaimed. “Just look at her!”

“I am.” Eric took a deep breath. “She looks quite pleased with herself, doesn't she?”

“I'll say she does! I can feel her eyes on me, watching my every movie. How dare – how dare she put one of her paintings in my room!”

“Well, I doubt it was your room when she painted it,” Eric pointed out. “Madeleine hasn't been in this castle for over a hundred years. Tell you what, why don't we have your wardrobe move over a few feet, and that will block her from view. You won't be able to see her, and she won't be able to spy on us.”

Robin spun around and she regarded the wardrobe and painted girl for a moment, then she turned back to Eric.

“How. It takes at least ten men to move it.”

“Well, you're a princess, aren't you. Call some servants.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than her face lit up and she ran over and lept onto her bed. Then she jumped, grabbed the bell pull, and came crashing to the floor. There was a snap, and the ceiling beam came crashing down, too.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Not again!”

Eric raised his eyebrows. “Would I be correct in assuming that this is not the first time you've … pulled to hard?”

She shrugged sheepishly s she scrambled to her feet. “It's, uh … happened a few times before.”

Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. She answered it to reveal a lady's maid, a handyman carrying a toolbox, and four lads with a ladder.

“What do you need, milady?” The lady's maid asked.

“Not you,” said Robin, narrowing her eyes slightly. Then she turned to the handyman, pointing to the wardrobe. “I need that moved over five feet so that my aunt can't spy on me anymore.”

The handyman sized up the wardrobe, then turned to the youngest of the lads and told him, “Boy, fetch me ten.” As the lad scampered off, he ordered two of the others to, “Hold the ladder, this shouldn't take long.”

While the ceiling was being fixed, the fourth lad laughed and shook his head. “Well, at least it's been a good six, seven months since the last time she did it.”

“I haven't even been here for five,” Robin pointed out.

“So she does this often,” Eric inquired, curious.

“Used to be a weekly occurrence,” said the handyman.

“Her record's five hours,” added one of the ladder-holders.

“Well, it gets people's attention!” Robin declared.