Praetorian Rising, стр. 53
As Camille smiled casually at the gawking strangers, she felt a warm sense of familiarity having experienced just the same response walking in the main square after her first week in Sierra Village. It seemed Sierra Village wasn't the only wary group within Aspera. Apparently, all villages would look at her like a strange bug creeping into their status quo.
Despite the turn of the head, and the quick hush of conversation, as soon as Camille passed each table, they reverted to their morning routine of breakfast and gossip. It was very ritualistic, a rhythm the entire village appeared to enjoy. She wondered what the reasoning was behind hiding everyone underground. It was against her nature to live beneath the ground, but everyone there seemed to enjoy the safety—the knowledge that the High King and his many soldiers couldn't touch them.
Having only spent a day in the compound, it was hard to tell how many villagers lived in Romeo Village, but those present were apparently healthy. It perturbed her to think of all the struggling Asperians back in Sierra Village, ones who didn't have the benefit of a hot, free meal three times a day. Her lips thinned in distaste as she set her tray down across from Theo on the smooth pine table with an unforgiving thud.
"Hello, Camille. Surprised to see you here," Theo said, his voice an odd mix of astonishment and guilty pleasure. Despite the slight tinge of pain in his expression, she didn't notice an ounce of anger in his natural state as she'd expected. It was the first time he'd used her full name without reason to, however, and it immediately irked her.
Camille opened her mouth to respond with something biting but only then noticed a beautiful chestnut-haired woman, her smooth complexion a dark caramel gold, seated next to Theo. Her elegant hand was casually draped over his forearm like a mark of ownership. The woman's eyes were a sharp amber, bright and direct like a hawk’s, her long brown hair falling in perfect waves down the middle of her back.
"Hi, there!" the woman said, grinning to reveal a line of straight white teeth.
"Uh—hey, hello," Camille responded, wondering if it was too late to grab her tray and make up a lie that she had someone else to sit with. She glanced around, but the remaining seats in the hall didn't appear to be all that welcoming. Biting her lip, she resigned herself to stay where she was.
"Oh, forgive me," Theo started, his cheeks pinking with a defused blush. As he reached for her tin mug taking a quick sip of tea. "This is Charles Ballen. The General's daughter."
"I'm sorry?" Camille squeaked. "Your name's Charles?"
The woman laughed like a tinkling bell. Camille's shoulders cinched in response, the sound jabbing into her like tiny needles dancing across her eardrums. Charles smiled coyly at Theo, her eyelashes batting in that perfect flirty fashion that Camille couldn't have replicated if she tried. Charles’s hand plastered itself back onto Theo's forearm as she leaned into him as though sharing a private joke with him. Was there anything not perfect about her?
"Well, actually," Charlie said matter-of-factly, not even looking at Camille as she continued to admire the side of Theo's face. "Everyone calls me Charlie, but yes. My official name is Charles." She grinned like a lovesick puppy and poked Theo in the side, her eyes twinkling with admiration. There was no stopping the roaring flood of the girl's infatuation with Theo. "My father desperately wanted a boy, and when a girl popped out, he wasn't about to change his mind on the name he'd chosen. I would say it's always a good idea to prepare with a backup plan no matter how stubborn you are."
At this, Charlie giggled and pressed her body against Theo’s side dipping her head to nuzzle into his shoulder. Theo unsuccessfully tried to disentangle himself from her grip with a plastered smile and a mumbled excuse of being hungry.Theo and Camille had put a hefty dent in their newfound friendship, but after what he'd expressed to her last night, she didn't think he was the type to run off and dump his anger into another female. She didn't know him well, but his sense of honor and pride was as easy to see as his anger. And yet here he sat, less than twenty-four hours after he'd kissed her passionately, with another woman on his arm.
Camille wasn't ignorant. He was using Charlie. Unfortunately, by the look on Charlie's face as she held a fork-full of sausage in front of his lips, there was a reason for her puppy love. Theo tossed a smirk in Camille's direction pulling the fork from Charlie’s fingers, setting the sausage down on his plate. In his effort to torture Camille for her cruel words the night before, he'd pulled an innocent girl between them, a girl gushing over his every move.
Despite her own immediate dislike of Charlie, Camille felt terrible for her. Charlie's actions blared the truth of her innocence as well as her intentions. For her it was natural to flirt, touch, and tease Theo; perhaps alone they did it all the time. Charlie had no inkling of what Camille meant to Theo; even Camille had no damn clue.
If she could tell anything by the flush of pink blotting the edges of Theo's ears, she could guess his feelings on the immediate situation had turned a bit sour. What she knew for sure: she abhorred the idea of Theo being with anyone else. The thought of Theo kissing Charlie the way he'd kissed her last night had her fingers clenching into stern fists beneath the table top.
"Vee said I need to see where your skill level is,"