So sorry I haven't updated, my computer broke! Here is a quick fix, more soon. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and alerted!
6
We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith
Swelled up from the rain, clouds move like a wraith
Well after all, we'll lie another day
And through it all, we'll find some other way.
The girls were pulling and patting at the sheets freshly laid on my temporary bed. The bed in the third-best chamber, since Finn had claimed the second, and I didn't want to sleep in a room that had been his any more than a room that had been Ravenna's. The thought was possibly even more horrifying.
Right then, I didn't care if the sheets were straight or not. I was practically falling over, only Greta holding me up as she undid my dress for me. My eyelids kept trying to drop, heavy as lead weights.
But I could still sense him, leaning against the wall just behind me with his arms folded and his eyes respectfully averted. I could tell without even looking at him.
Then, the scrape of a chair being lifted.
My fatigue leaving me for a second of confusion, I turned to glance enquiringly at him, as my new handmaid let the scarlet material fall from my body, its endless buttons finally undone.
He was carrying the seat towards the heavy oak door, still not looking at me, a slight furrow of his brow the only indication that there was something amiss.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking up the watch." he told a spot on the ground close to my feet, "Somebody has to make sure you aren't slaughtered in the night."
"I don't need a guard now."
"Now is the time you'll need a guard most. When else would you attempt a vulnerable target?"
This was true. But the thought of him being so close, just outside my door, all night...
It thrilled me too much.
"I can't leave you outside. You'll freeze to death. You need your own chamber." I argued, only vaguely registering what I was saying.
"I need to be at the door. The faster I can kill your enemies the better."
"Well, kill them in here if you have to."
"I'd rather not let them get that close to you."
It all sounded very serious and dangerous, but I couldn't seem to keep a hold on any of it. The constant obstacles were just annoying.
"Go and get William." I yawned, "He can sit here, if one of you really must guard me."
A pause.
"The Duke's son is already watching over the men to ensure none slip away."
"Well then, why does someone need to be here?"
The bed was ready. I was ready, in my clean, silky chemise and braies. Without another word I dived under the covers and curled up.
"Because - you really are stubborn." he interrupted himself, "Because you can never be safe enough. Not even with the Duke's guard and I watching over you. Ravenna's men may seem harmless but they could be plotting vengeance this minute."
"I really think they were just afraid of her." my own voice was getting further and further away, "You can all go to bed yourselves, Rosaline... goodnight."
Their footsteps and the sound of the door shutting behind them, followed by muffled tittering voices, told me that we were finally alone. It was a shame that I was too exhausted to care.
The chair scraped again, this time on the floor right beside me.
So he had decided to stay. In here. Good. At least he wouldn't suffer in the draughty corridor.
And his presence wasn't just electrifying - I really did feel terribly safe. And glad.
"Huntsman." I said into the pillow, extending a hand vaguely towards him.
His warm, rough, broad hand closed around mine, shocking me slightly. His grip was firm but tender.
"Will you stay with me?" I murmured, and I didn't just mean for the night. I wondered if he sensed that, but when his grasp tightened just for an instant and his free hand ran carefully through my hair, I knew that he understood everything.
He understood that I couldn't go out there alone tomorrow.
And I understood, without really having to ask, that I would never have to. It was just nice to hear it from him regardless of what I knew already.
"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried. I've a taste for the high life, now. You should never have lent me such fine clothing."
"Get used to it." I sighed, as I felt myself slipping.
Silence finally allowed me to be swept off
"Snow White."
But that was all I heard before I was sucked under by sheer fatigue, and when I awoke later I wouldn't remember him even saying my name.