Theme #6-Teacup

It had been weeks since Zelgadis had walked out of the council meeting that was to decide his fate with Amelia. Since then not one member had said anything to him in passing. In fact, he would say they seemed almost apologetic for crossing a boundary they had no business crossing. At first, he had thought that Amelia had spoken to them and had given them a piece of her mind, but she had denied it, and Zelgadis believed her. Perhaps Zelgadis had more people on his side then he thought.

Zelgadis sighed quietly flipping through his notes. Even if a cure was out there, he still had no idea where to start. He had visited some of the medicinal shops of Seyruun, asking if they had any of the ingredients listed in his notes or if they even, knew what they were. So far, that approach had ended in a dead end as well.

So here he was sitting in the grand library of Seyruun leafing through books of old time remedies, medicinal practices, and forgotten magic. Books that he had read countless times before that failed to yield any information. He was hoping with the new knowledge that he had obtained that some new piece would jump out at him. Something that may not have seemed important then, but most certainly was now. Alas, he was finding this search just as fruitless as before and even more frustrating. Zelgadis groaned in annoyance dropping the worn brown book onto the stack of other tomes that had proved useless.

To be so close and yet still so far away from a cure was infuriating. He glanced to the right where he had seen Amelia rifling through the collection of books hoping to find anything that would help him. However, she was no longer digging through the shelf and Zelgadis' eyebrow raised in response. He couldn't have been looking at that book for longer than ten minutes he reasoned quietly. Yet he hadn't heard or seen Amelia leave. Had he been that focused on what he was reading? He'd been known to tune everything out around him. He had to; otherwise, he would have never been able to concentrate. Especially if Amelia continued to wear dresses that left little to the imagination.

"Amelia?" He called out curiously.

There was no response. He turned towards the area where he had seen her last and scanned it carefully; searching for any signs on where she may have went to next.

"Amelia?" He called out once more this time louder.

Still no response. Zelgadis decided he had better search for her, while he was certain that nothing serious had happened to her he felt guilty for tuning her presence out entirely.

Zelgadis walked towards the shelf then turned right along the corner following the faint trail marks left in the dust caused by Amelia's dress. Where had she got off to he wondered. Zelgadis continued to follow the trail turning again this time to the left before the trail abruptly ended a few feet down the hallway. Zelgadis glanced up, confusion crossing his features. It was a dead end.

"Amelia?" Zelgadis called once more spinning in a circle searching for a door he may have bypassed. There was none however.

"Amelia!?" Zelgadis once again called, unable to contain the slight panic in his voice at not being able to find the petite princess.

He began to feel around the wall, searching frantically for a secret mechanism or perhaps she had simply been sucked in like that one time.

"Zelgadis? What's wrong, what are you doing? Are you alright?" Amelia asked watching him curiously.

Zelgadis' head snapped to her then an over whelming feeling of relief washing over him at the sight of her. He didn't take long to reach her, grasping her firmly by the shoulders and pulling her protectively into his embrace. He relaxed feeling her warmth.

Amelia blinked but made no notion to pull away from him, not that he would allow her to anyhow. She simply returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around him hugging him reassuringly, silently telling him that she was okay.

They stood that way quietly for a few moments. When Zelgadis finally pulled away, Amelia glanced up into his eyes.

"Is everything okay?" She asked him a worried look upon her face.

Zelgadis smiled, gazing steadily at her in return. This had been so unlike him, just reaching out and holding her like that, but he had been so relieved upon seeing her, he couldn't help himself. How many times had he witnessed something horrible happening to her right in front of him?

"Everything is fine; I looked up from reading and saw you weren't there. I called out for you but you never answered..." He sheepishly added. "...I thought something may have happened to you."

Amelia smiled and hugged him again resting her head on his chest.

"Zelgadis...I did tell you where I was going...I thought you heard me. I asked if you would like some tea...you nodded in response, don't you remember?" She looked up at him her eyes laughing at the misunderstanding.

Zelgadis pat her head as he thought back. Now that she mentioned it, he did recall her saying something, but he was so focused on the words in the book that he had merely nodded in response to satisfy her. He blushed, scratching the side of his face idly.

"...I didn't actually hear what you said...I wasn't paying attention." He laughed nervously as her eyes turned to an angry pout.

"Hmph! And after all the trouble I went through getting that special herbal peppermint chamomile tea you like so much...well I'll just sit by the window and drink it by myself." She gave another huff for emphasis and turned briskly walking away from him, when she was sure he could no longer see her face she giggled softly.

"Oh...come now..." Zelgadis said, placing his hand on his hip as she walked away from him. "You can't be serious...Amelia..?...Amelia wait..."

Amelia continued to giggle to herself never once turning to look at him as she continued her walk back down the hallway and towards the main area. She could hear Zelgadis trailing behind her.

"Hey-I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I swear...Amelia...I would very much like that tea...I mean...after all as you said...-" He paused a moment noticing how her shoulders shook. Was she crying? Had is ignoring her truly upset her? He tried to catch a glimpse of her but just as he was about to see her face she turned from him once more. Genuinely concerned he caught up to her, grabbing her shoulder to prevent her movement and stood in front of her.

"Amelia...I didn't realize you were truly upset...please look at me..." He pleaded to her; he grasped her chin gently, lifting it. He was about to wipe the tears from her face when he noticed that she was not in fact crying like she had lead him to believe but laughing. She was full on laughing.

Amelia laughed aloud in spite of herself, all she could see was the bemused look plastered on his face that then turned feral.

"So the princess enjoys little mind games, does she?" Zelgadis grasped her arms lifting them over her head and pushed her into a bookcase, pinning her there. Amelia's laughter stopped almost instantly and she blinked.

"A princess alone with her bodyguard...why anything could happen..." Zelgadis' voice become a low husky growl as he leaned in whispering into her ear. "No one even knows we're here..." He felt the shiver run up her body and brought his lips close to her own.

Amelia's heart was pounding, she was sure Zelgadis could hear it. She blushed profusely as his voice tickled her ear, she felt her body grow hot and her knees wobble in response to the stimuli. She parted her lips slightly and closed her eyes in anticipation of his kiss. Instead, he smirked and released her.

"Now...about that tea..."He grinned, watching her reaction before turning and walking into the main room, leaving Amelia to collect herself.

Amelia grasped her heart and tried to steady her breathing, her ear still tickled from the huskiness of his voice and her body still trembled at the thought of Zelgadis. Was this what they called animalistic passion in her novels!? All right, he had definitely made his point on that. Nevertheless, to tease her like that!? After a few seconds, she felt she could face him once more and returned to the main room where he was sitting at the table near the window, patiently waiting as if nothing had even happened.

She composed herself before sitting opposite him and reached for the teakettle. He watched her, a devilish glint in his eye and she felt herself blush once more. Shakily she poured tea into both the cups fully aware of the way Zelgadis was watching her. Now he knew what affect he had on her and Amelia was sure he would never forget it.

Amelia set the kettle down and then gingerly set a cup in front of Zelgadis, never once looking into his face for fear of losing all composure. She found concentrating on the teacup made it more manageable.

"Ah...is this a new cup?" Zelgadis asked lifting the aforementioned cup, causing Amelia to look at him in response. She found that he was no longer giving her a look that made her want to tear her clothes off...thank goodness, and smiled sweetly.

"..Yes...I had that made especially for you...see, a pair." She beamed and held her own white teacup with pink trimming up to his blue and lavender trimmed one.

He nodded satisfactorily taking a sip. He sighed contently closing his eyes and leaned back in the chair.

"This tea is amazing; I'd hate to know what you had to do to get it."

"Oh you know, just the usual, threatening bodily harm, bribery, blackmail…"

He opened one eye in response and saw that she was laughing once more.

"...Heh...you have quite the sense of humor today. Better watch out...someone may have some humor of their own." He gave her a devilish grin.

Amelia's face flushed bright red once more and she focused her attention to her tea taking another sip.

After a few moments, the conversation turned towards the books once more and when the kettle was empty, Amelia offered to return it to the kitchen. Zelgadis nodded in response as he stood. He was about to walk over to the next stack of books when he suddenly turned and grasped Amelia from behind placing his hand over her own which was about to place his teacup on the tray.

"Just wanted you to know...that I heard you this time." He whispered into her ear again. "...I'll be waiting for you to return."

Amelia gulped at the sudden feeling and she nodded weakly in response. Her body felt so hot. The sensation of his hand on hers caused her heart to thump wildly again.

Zelgadis felt himself responding to her actions, her heavy breathing, the soft moan that escaped her lips her body was on fire, he had always prided himself on self-control but this...perhaps his teasing had gone a little too far for the both of them. He released her almost reluctantly and watched her quickly gather the rest of the items then briskly rush off down the hallway. Never once turning to gaze in his direction. He chuckled, scratching his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"...A pair..." He whispered silently.