Hannah ventured leisurely through the castle, slowly making her way towards Toby's chambers. As she neared his rooms, she could hear the angry voice of the head servant echoing through the halls.
“Toby Reges, you open this door this instant!” Synthia hissed, banging on the door. There was no response from Toby and so Synthia continued to pound on the door.
“I know you are in there young prince, it is imperative that I speak with you! Your brother claims to have seen a girl climbing over the garden wall. I know you had something to do with it! What would your parents say, knowing you were sneaking girls into your chambers! Toby! TOBY!!” She screamed, slowly growing louder and louder.
“Hello, Synthia. I see you are having some troubles.” Hannah finally spoke after listening to the woman shout for quite some time.
“Ah, Lady Hannah Hollow. How pleasant to see you again. Yes I am indeed having some troubles, the young prince is being rather...stubborn this morning. Don't mind us though, is there something I can do for you?” She turned reluctantly from the door.
“Perhaps you could let me try speaking with Toby? I haven't seen him in quite some time and I would love to have a few words with him.” Hannah smiled as she tilted her head slightly.
“Why of course, feel free to stand outside his door as long as you want, who knows if he'll answer. He may not even be in there.” She shrugged, giving up. “If you do get in, give him a good scolding for me.” She whispered as she walked passed Hannah. Hannah smiled and nodded, watching as Synthia turned the corner and left. Hannah took a deep breath before stepping up to the locked set of double doors. She gathered her thoughts and gently knocked on the door. She waited, but there was no response.
“Toby...I know you are in there, I can see your heart.” She practically whispered. “You know I wont go away.” She grumbled. Again he refused to answer, however, Hannah was determined. She closed her eyes as her body slowly began to lift off the ground by a few inches. As she hovered, she stuck her hand out, and it slipped through the door with ease. She continued forwards and soon her whole body had slipped through the door as if it was nothing but air. Once on the other side, she lowered herself, planting her feet back on the cold tile floor.
Toby was standing on the far side of the room in the balcony doorway. His back was facing Hannah, and all he wore was a pair of loose shorts. His hair was a mess, along with his room. Clothes and various objects were strewn about the room. Most of his furniture had been flipped over, even his mattress was sliding off the bed frame. Hannah sighed as she looked about the room. She stepped over to a toppled over arm chair and set it back up before gracefully seating herself in it.
“What do you want Hannah?” Toby finally spoke, his voice cracked as if he was holding back tears.
“I came to see how you were doing.” She answered simply.
“Why!?” He demanded.
“Because we are friends.” She responded. Toby whirled around, anger and betrayal written all over his face.
“Are we? Huh Hannah? Word travels fast in the castle you know. I heard you told Diabolis that you would marry him if he wanted you to. Even though he already broke off the engagement.” Toby fussed, he stomped in a circle, his fists clenched.
“Yes, and what does that have to do with anything?” Hannah was confused. Toby stopped, looking over at Hannah as if he had been betrayed by her and had never expected it. He then suddenly changed to that of irritation and continued to pace.
“Diabolis doesn't need you to do that for him. I know you guys don't love each other. He's just scared that he can't handle being king, well he needs to man up and just deal with it. He doesn't need to drag everyone else into his problems. He should leave you out of it if he's really your friend.” Toby kicked his mattress, sliding it completely into the floor.
“What's wrong Toby?” Hannah ignored his ranting, to argue with him was like feeding a forest fire, it would simply make him worse. She needed to calm him down and get to the source of his feelings.
“What type of question is that? Everything is wrong! Nothing is right!” He screamed before collapsing onto the mattress on the floor.
“Well...have you tried talking to Diabolis about what is wrong, i'm sure you guys can fix things together.” Hannah tried to sound positive.
“I don't want to talk to him Hannah. He...he thinks he's so much better than me. His problems are worse than mine apparently. He is too depressed to even do anything right, he wouldn't be able to fix a damn thing.” Toby hissed in anger.
“And those girls you have coming in here, that girl that was here this morning, she can fix your problems?” Hannha growled, frustrated with him.
“Look, you wouldn't understand!” Toby barked, his back facing her. Hannah stood angrily from her chair, marching over to him.
“I do understand. I understand what it's like to lose a parent, and to feel ignored and neglected. When my mother passed away, all my father could do was think about how she was gone and he would never have her back. It was like he completely forgot I existed, he was so blinded with grief that he didn't speak to me for months. It's still like that, he hardly talks to me, never remembers to ask me how my day is or if i'm even keeping up with my studies. You know what Toby, he forgot my Birthday last month. He sat in his office, staring at her portrait all day, and sometimes I wonder if...if I had been the one to pass, would he miss me like he misses her?” Hannah stopped, realizing she was screaming now. Tears trickled down her cheeks and her heart ached. Toby had turned to face her, a look of surprise on his face. Hannah blushed, and immediately turned around, burying her face in her silk gloves.
“It's not like...I want him to worry about me, I hate looking at him sometimes,” Toby murmured, “but...it still...hurts my feelings when he ignores me. Then, when he finally comes around to talk, I shut him out, I can't bring myself to face him.” Toby admitted. Hannah took a shaky sigh, gathered her wits and turned back around. She stepped over to the mattress and sat down beside Toby.
“Is this...is this how you cope?” She gestured to the messy room. “You tear up your things, fool around with girls, and sneak out at night to go live it up in the city?” Hannah asked.
“I'm not sneaking out for a life on the town. There's a place...I like to go there to be completely alone. I'm happier that way.” He sighed, resting his head on his knees.
“No you aren't. If you were so happy all alone, you wouldn't have these girls in here every hour of the day.” Hannah argued. Toby was quiet, searching his heart. He wanted to be honest with Hannah, she had always been good to him.
“When i'm...around them, for just a little bit I forget about my parents, and how...Diabolis pisses me off. They distract me from the hell i'm living in.” He looked about his disaster of a room, shuttering at his own mess.
“I'm sorry Toby.” Hannah whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder. She placed her hand on his knee, trying her best to comfort him. He had been right, everything was wrong.
“I don't even remember half of their names. I don't care either. I hate them, they're all so stupid, sneaking in here thinking they're so special. They probably all go home bragging about how they were with the prince, but they never ask why. They never ask me why I do this. They never wonder how i'm feeling or why I cry as soon as they leave.” He sniffed, feeling sorry for himself. Hannah moved to face him. She grabbed his cheeks and turned his head so they were face to face.
“Toby, you've got to stop doing this to yourself. You can't hide from your sadness every time it bubbles up, or distract yourself from your anger. It's not healthy. Your heart is barely held together as it is. I can see it, I can see your pain. When you get sad, be sad, cry and let me help you. When you get angry, come and tell me why, you can yell and shout all you want to. I care about you Toby, I can't sit by and watch you neglect yourself like this. Whenever you feel lonely, you can come to my home.” She stared intensely into his eyes, determined to get through to him. Tears tugged at Toby's eyes and he swiftly grabbed Hannah, wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her into a hug. He squeezed her close, as if scared she would slip away and disappear like everyone else had. Hannah let him hold her close, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. However, the embrace was short, and was soon interrupted when a pebble flew onto Toby's balcony. It went unnoticed at first, but after a few more pebbles bounced over the tile floor, Toby and Hannah both turned to see where the noise was coming from.
Toby moved Hannah away from him and stood, stomping over to the balcony, he peered over, not at all surprised to see some Domun girl in the garden below, chucking rocks up towards his chambers. Toby turned, a frown pressed on his face.
“You should go.” He grumbled to Hannah, picking his mattress up off the floor and raking his fingers through his hair. Hannah looked at him concerned and puzzled.
“But you just...”
“Look, just go now. I'll...I'll talk to you later.” He frowned, unlocking his door and holding it open for her. Hannah gulped and stepped out of his room.
“Take care of yourself Toby.” She whispered before he could close the door back.
“I will.”
I feel like this is the shortest chapter I have ever posted in the history of...ever (but hey i could be wrong)
ns 15.158.61.17da2
