All through dinner he stayed quiet. I guess he must have been angry with me for
not "catching" his silent command. To
be honest, I did not really care. If he
did not care about my needs and wants, then was there a reason why I should
care for his? My growing up with men
who loved me enough to not restrain me from my nature did not do much good for
my new husband, apparently. And
besides, I really did enjoy Mary's company, and certainly did not miss
the slight disapproval that was in his eyes when she told him what we had been
doing at the library.
Mary
continued to chatter on merrily as we ate our dinner. I was surprised by the large amount of food
on the table, for we almost certainly could not eat it all. After we had consumed about one third of the
food offered, we were all too full to continue. I quick call from him brought the servants scurrying to clear
away the table as we exited the dining room to go to bed. I was greatly surprised that we were to
retire that early in the evening, since twilight had just broken and I was not
at all tired.
I
looked up at William questioningly while walking up to our bedchambers after
tucking Mary into bed. He gave me a
smirk, which; although it should not have, nearly made me blush.
"You
are probably pondering the reasons to why we are to retire to bed so early," he
said knowingly. I shrugged a little,
but it was obvious that he had guessed correctly.
"Well,"
he continued on, "it is a rule at the castle that when the little lady's
bedtime approaches, that we all must pretend to go to sleep. My sister, as you can already tell, does not
like being left out of things, and for one so young she needs all her
rest. So making her believe that
everyone will be asleep when she is is the best way to get her to go to
sleep. Does that satisfy all your
curiousness, Milady?" he finished with a hint of amusement in his voice as he
watched me get embarrassed over my seriously wrong guess.
"Yes,
it does, Milord," I managed to regain some, if not all of my dignity as a
smiled calmly at him.
He
seemed to hasten his pace, which was a very unfortunate thing for me, because I
already had a difficult time keeping up with his long strides, and also the
fact that I did not want to ask him to stop, like a helpless woman who can't
even walk fast. He seemed to notice
that I was having a hard time do to the fact that I nearly skipped to keep up,
and that I was breathing rather heavily. He looked back at me, grinning mischievously. He spoke as we entered our
bedchamber.
"What
is the matter, Milady? Do you not like
waiting for our…first time?" he teased, apparently suggesting my heavy
breathing. My face grew hot, and my
tempers flared, but he did not seem to notice.
"I
see already you think of me as a desirable partner, judging by your
features…but please be careful not to look too lusty, heart. You might catch a fever."
Ugh! I
could not believe that man! How
arrogant…and…and sick minded he is! I
threw him a nasty glance at a few words, as well. (NO! You know what I mean by nasty words. Not THOSE kind) He looked shocked. I shrugged as I sat down on the bed. So he was starting to learn what hanging
around the knights during my childhood years had taught me. What he did next made me even angrier with
him. He laughed.
It was
a rumbling, strong laugh, and it seemed to echo in my ears, something I didn't
like at all.
"So the
lady has a few surprises of her own?" he asked rhetorically. I sneered.
"Milord,
I may be your wife, but there is no way I am going to stand for it if
you lay one of your fingers on me when I'm not ready. I didn't take lessons from the knights for nothing, and you will
not be please if I should have to put my education to use."
I
instantly regretted saying that. He
looked amused, but I could tell he was seething venom on the inside. A little garden snake can turn out to be
poisonous if you do not be careful. And I was going to be careful.
"Is
that a threat, Elisa," he said in a whispery voice, in more of a statement than
a question. I wanted to shiver. He was leaning in so close to me that if I
had been any taller, out noses would have touched… But he mouth was only inches
away from my forehead, and I felt the warmth of his breath. Through all this I could only think about
how he had called me by my name…
We
stayed like that for quite a while, until he finally placed a gentle kiss on my
forehead, as I closed my eyes. His lips
felt soft and tickled my skin. After
about two seconds, I opened my eyes and looked up, staring into his. It was strange how he looked at me, with
those gray globes that seemed to radiate with energy…and something more. I didn't know what, and I didn't think I
wanted to know. I felt his arms drop
from my waist, and realized I didn't notice he was holding me. Somewhere through all this I faintly
remembered that we were supposed to be mad at each other. He cleared his throat.
"We
should probably get ready for bed. Would you like to wash up first, or have you already done that?"
I
thought about it. I had cleansed myself when we arrived at the castle, but that
was hours ago, and we had spent so much time out in the garden that I had
gotten dirt and grass all over myself. I decided it would be better if I took another bath. I told him this.
"Very
well. It will take some time for the
servants to heat the water, though. Would you like to go on a walk in the garden with me then?"
He
seemed sincere, and I thought, Why not? It was not like he would eat me alive… At least not the way I think he
would. So I nodded to him, and we put
on our cloaks and set off to the gardens for the second time that day (well,
for me, anyway).
Part Two: William's Point of View
Taking Elisa by the hand, I led her through the spacious
garden. She would occasionally stop to
smell the sweet scent of flower or to marvel at its beautiful vibrant
colors. All I could do was marvel at her,
and wish I could smell the sweet scent of her hair. Her hand felt so small in mine, and I had a sudden urge to
protect her from any harm. We must have
circled the garden four or five times before we both realized that we had been
there for nearly two hours. The bath
water will have cooled by now. Oh
well…we could find something to do while it was heated again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I watched her as she gingerly tried to get the tangles from her dark shiny hair. She has beautiful hair… Gods, what am I thinking…everything about her was exquisite. She saw me looking at her, and a frown graced her full luscious lips. (Luscious? I am going mad…why must I think about that?)
"What might you want now, Milord?" she asked in an exaggerated tone. I smiled at her.
"Nothing but to admire the beauty that I will not have a chance to bed with tonight, however hard I try. You are striking, Milady," I said with all courtesy. I knew that it was the truth, since I could not bear to force her against her will, and she would simply not accept me yet. What happened to the, She's too young thought? A voice in my mind reminded. My heart told me to ignore it, and obviously, so did my body.
She must have been surprised by my words, for she blushed slightly, and looked away from me.
"Wh...what kind of striking? Strikingly horrid?" she stammered. It was my turn to frown. How could a thing like that call herself ugly?
"No," I said in a teasing voice, "strikingly childish. Did anyone ever tell you, Elisa, that you are the most ridiculous girl I ever had the chance to meet?"