"I had a bad day" {Sam & Lena}
“You say that everyday Princess,” Sam drawled out over the rim of his cup of ale and if looks could kill, then the one that Magdalena gave him would have surely struck him down right then and there. But it was true; everyday the Princess came home from the dress shop complaining about her hurting back or sore fingers and everyday it got on his nerves.
“You know you could be pleasant for for once,” she snapped back and Sam just shrugged in response as he took a long swig of his drink. The huff that she let out as she sat in the chair opposite him was only slightly satisfying for him.
“Hey this my home you’re staying in. And you’re welcome to return to your castle anytime, remember. You’re the one who keeps choosing to stay here,” he reminded her as he put his cup down. It was a real mystery why the Princess hadn’t gone back to her old life yet. She and Ros could switch back and then everything would be back to normal and Sam would finally have peace again. But for some reason she was staying and living the peasant life, dealing with having to work and live off small portions and not wear dresses made of silk and staying with him. Magdalena was tougher than he had initially thought, Sam would give her that.
But he didn’t want to have to suffer through another night of her sulking and complaining so he pushed his chair back and stood up. “Come on,” he said to her and nodded for her to get up too, “We’re going somewhere.”
Magdalena didn’t though and she just rose her eyebrows at him in an expression that drove him mad. “And what exactly is this somewhere that you want me to go to?” Bloody hell she and Ros weren’t alike in just looks, they were both annoyingly stubborn.
“You’ll like it. I’m not going to sell you off to someone to get rid of you I promise.”
Her scowl deepened but she did stand up and that was a small victory. They didn’t talk as they walked through the town and thankfully she didn’t nag him with any questions about where they were going. But when they finally did stop the look of surprise on Magdalena’s face was enough to make Sam laugh. “Told you I wasn’t selling you off.”
They stood on the edge of the town square, where musicians were playing and people were dancing around a large bonfire. “I know it’s nothing close to your fancy balls but it is fun if you give it a try,” he said to her, nodding in encouragement for her to go join the dancers. “Go, I’ll be standing right here.”
Magdalena nodded after a moment of hesitation and then went off to dance with some of the girls from the dress shop that were naive to the switch and believed her to be Ros. Then Sam watched in amazement as the girls placed a wreath of flowers onto the princesses head and she actually smiled.
And as Sam watched her twirl and laugh around the fire, he told himself that he had brought her to the dancing only to get her to stop whining and not to see the happy smile that made her look so beautiful. That had not been the reason at all.