Simone felt the press of the crowd around her. So many people! The entire city must have come!
She usually avoided crowds if she could, but Roland had mentioned it specifically to her and Shayn when he'd come by, so obviously it was important to attend. The announcement had been made, but she hadn't been able to get close enough to be inside the Hall, instead waiting on the steps outside.
First there had been silence, and then ripples of chatter flooded through the crowd as the contents of the announcement were discussed and passed back.
"The royal children! They're magic!"
"There's no magic–it all went away years ago! King Roland banished it!"
The excitement from the crowd resulted in a press forward to see the copies of the official announcement being posted on the walls of City Hall. Simone began to feel a bit choked by the sheer number of people.
Turning, she excused herself past a few people to try to get to some more open air.
The next cluster of people were not as obliging. She didn't want to start a pushing war, lest the crowd press in even closer.
How was she the only one bothered? No one else seemed the least bit concerned by her distress and the closeness. Her breaths came faster, and her movement through the crowd more insistent… until she came to a wall of people.
A string of children holding hands blocked her path. She couldn't possibly go between them since they were likely trying their best to stay together; Simone would have to find her way around the group.
"Excuse me–" She tried again, but no one was paying her any attention now. Everyone was consumed with the news. She could feel her heart beating rapidly. Her vision began to constrict. She needed out.
How far was it to the edge of the crowd? She wasn't tall enough to see. Desperately clinging to what logic she could, she tapped the tallest man in the immediate vicinity on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry to bother you, could you direct me to the edge of the crowd? I'm beginning to feel faint, and I can't seem to–" The words had tumbled out, but halted suddenly as the man turned toward her and she found herself staring into Shayn's eyes.
The blood drained from her face.
A flash of irritation across his expression quickly turned to concern.
"You really don't look well," He observed over the noise.
"I need out," Simone pleaded. "Please help me."
If she had any qualms about begging for aid from the man she disliked most in the city, they were thrown out the window when someone bumped into her from behind. She stumbled, and nearly fell into his arms.
Thankfully she caught herself before things became even more humiliating.
He took her hand, and then turned to make his way through the crowd, pulling her in tow. Taller, more imposing, louder, and more assertive than Simone had managed to be, Shayn quickly moved her away from City Hall, finally finding the back of the crowd.
He led her to a fountain and sat her on the stone edge of it, kneeling down beside her and finally releasing her hand.
She closed her eyes and lowered her head, trying to take deep breaths to calm herself when a splatter of cold, wet droplets showered her face.
Simone jolted, almost falling backwards into the water.
"Sorry! Sorry," Shayn grimaced. "I flicked some water on your face because I was afraid you were going to faint, or had fainted."
"And you thought splashing me with water would… help?" Simone wiped the moisture off her face with one hand, leaning on the other since her balance was not yet fully restored.
"Well, the only time I've seen someone actually pass out was during my military service. The Captain threw a bucket of water on the man to revive him." Shayn shrugged. "At least I only hit you with a few droplets."
"I'm grateful." She said, a little sarcastically, but frowned at her own lack of sincerity before continuing. "Thank you for getting me out of there."
"You looked near panic," He squinted at her. "What happened?"
"The crowd. I couldn't handle the crowd being packed in. It felt like I couldn't breathe."
Shayn looked her over critically. "Why did you go, then?"
Simone opened her mouth to answer, but sighed instead. "I thought it was expected of me after His Majesty visited us yesterday."
"As if you always do what's expected of you," Shayn scoffed. "Why, really? Or was this whole fainting thing an act to get my sympathy before we leave tomorrow?"
She stood up, outraged at the accusation, but dizziness took over and she fell back to her seat and waited for her vision to clear. When it finally did, Shayn was watching her in silence.
"Pardon me," She blinked at him, "Did you say we're leaving tomorrow? We? It's confirmed that I have to go?"
"Yes, I spoke with Riley after the private Council meeting adjourned, just before the announcement. I was actually going home to finish my packing when you accosted me." His mouth twisted in amusement at the barb.
"Accosted you??" Simone let out a harsh laugh.
"Not for the first time. Is it going to be a habit of yours?" He quirked an eyebrow. Infuriating man!
"I'm deeply sorry, Sir, for the offense I caused in seeking aid. Next time I know to just let myself faint and be trampled by the crowd so that I would not be an inconvenience for you. I'm ashamed I didn't come up with that solution sooner, it would have allowed me to avoid the distasteful assignment of journeying with you!" She straightened her shoulders.
That would have been a marvelous moment to storm off and leave him trembling in the wake of her scathing reply, but she wasn't confident she could do so without nearly losing consciousness again.
"Are you feeling well enough for me to go, or do you require further attention for your little tantrum?" He asked with a mocking grin.
"I'm perfectly… actually, maybe I'm not doing so well after all." A thought entered her mind and she lingered on it.
"Will you be well enough to travel?" Shayn's eyes narrowed, whether in criticism or to mask his hope, Simone couldn't tell.
"Perhaps not," Simone didn't want to lie, but at the moment she certainly wasn't well enough to travel.
"It would be better to have a doctor say so… Come along." He reached down as if to grab her hand again, but stopped short of doing so, turning the gesture into a wave indicating she should follow him.
"What? Where?" She cried, unwilling to blindly follow Shayn a step further than she had to.
"My stepbrother, Gabe, who you danced with at my party before disappearing and embarrassing me? He's a doctor's apprentice. He may advise a few days' rest after your dizzy spell." He grinned. "It would save us all a lot of trouble."
"I'm not trouble!" Simone protested, at once realizing she was arguing against her own goal.
"It's not just bringing you along. I have to find you a chaperone–"
"Chaperone?" She asked, surprised. "I traveled alone before…"
"Not with men you didn't. Not camping in the wilderness. You need another woman along. I got a whole lecture on propriety about this from my sister-in-law a few minutes ago, don't make me rehash it all." He warned. "Now come along, you're wasting time."
"Aren't you the one so abhorrently opposed to deception?" She squinted at him, "and now you're trying to get your stepbrother to lie about me needing rest so I don't have to go on this trip?"
"I'm just taking you for an examination. Gabe's a cautious sort when it comes to his patients. All I'm asking is that we go pay him a visit." Shayn raised his eyebrows at her.
It was borderline, at best, and she wanted to argue further about the inconsistency in his views. Was he so eager to be rid of her that he would bend his rigid stance on open truthfulness? Maybe he was hoping she was far less healthy than she knew, and that Gabe would find some underlying issue that would prevent her travel.
That was a little distasteful.
She stood anyway, carefully pausing to make sure her balance was intact this time. Shayn held out his hand in case she would need it, but she ignored the gesture, irritated by his convenient ploy to make her seem weaker than she was.
Simone shook her head to clear it. She didn't want to go. She should be leaning into the appearance of not feeling well; she truly wasn't. But the more Shayn tried to treat her that way, the more she resisted.
The more he tried to push her out of the journey, the more she felt the urge to go. Perhaps the lure of irritating him as much as he irked her was what drew her.
She'd have to find a way to put it aside, and soon.