Royal Entanglement

Tension

Lady Sophia felt the sun open up in front of her eyes. She closed them tighter, just as the subtle shuffle of the sheets around her reached her ears. She slowly opened her eyes, and Prince Xander was lying beside her, his face close to hers.

His eyes were open, dark green eyes that searched hers. Searching for answers she knew she would never give.

She lay in bed watching him as he did her, his lashes hardly batting.

For some time, they stayed there, his hand under his chin as he watched her, her hands in front of her.

Charlotte came to the door, and then slowly tiptoed in. Prince Xander would not be awake by now, and she had to fill the bath house. Slowly she tiptoed in, her eyes drifting to the end briefly.

She stopped, however, her eyes widening.

Prince Xander was lying there, lady Sophia in front of him. She swallowed, feeling tears sting the back of her eyes. Slowly, she tiptoed away, her hands grabbing on to the large bowl of rose water.

"We probably should put a demarcation," Prince Xander said as he suddenly propped himself up, then turned away, dropping slowly out of the bed.

His robe fell around him, exposing his shoulder down to his back. Lady Sophia's eyes widened as she took in the tanned, masculine back, the several cuts and scars embedded, and the contraction and opening of his muscles as he worked to bring the robe back up. She swallowed hard, blinking rapidly, then turned away.

Lady Sophia squinted her eyes and moved away too, sitting up on the bed. A sharp pain passed through her neck, and she gave a small yelp, bringing her hand to her neck.

It was bleeding again, and she covered it with her hand, then moved to let herself off the bed.

Prince Xander came around, carrying a small red material with a gold brooch on the side.

"Stay," he said to her, then sat in front of her, his eyes set in ice, his face expressionless.

She silently obeyed, as he cleaned the wound again, then put the ointment. She yelped as he touched it, and his eyes lifted to meet hers.

"Would you rather bleed to death, then?"

She gave a small scowl. "A small cut like that would not make me bleed to death."

He said nothing as he straightened, then tied the material around her neck, bringing the brooch to the side.

It was part of most of his royal regalia, and with the way she wore it, the cut underneath was not obvious.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"I do not need people believing I am lacking in protecting my own wife."

She flinched at the word. "I would rather be Sophia to you."

He did not reply as he moved away from her. Silence fell between them as he released his hair from the bun, then passed his hand through it.

"We have a lot of things to do today. Keep it on."

Without another word, he walked away, presumably to the bath house.

Lady Sophia walked back to her chambers, her mind filled with thoughts. If the person who had attacked her was not sent by the crown prince, then who? She has not been in any squabbles with any one ever since she had come to Fermich, and he was the only one she could even remotely have upset.

She swallowed, walking into the privacy of her chambers. It was now fixed, with no traces of the deadly encounter the previous night.

She walked straight to the bath house, dropping the robe around her. With a swift tug at her neck, she removed the neck piece and let it drop on the floor too, before she went into the pool of waiting water.

Xander sat in the private hall again, his eyes half closed from obvious boredom. He hated that as a Prince, he was being exempted from state affairs to deal with a marriage he did not even want.

He turned to Lady Sophia who looked just as uninterested. She was not wearing the neck piece he had given her, and he sighed.

She hated him the same way.

"Your highness?"

Prince Xander took in a deep breath, before he learned forward, choosing the silk colours. Once he was done, he leaned away, his hand folding in front of him.

Lady Sophia made her choice too, and the silk bundles were taken away.

"Your highness?"

Prince Xander turned to the servant.

"It is now time for the dance practice. I will usher them in now."

Prince Xander nodded, as the servants cleared everything away. A tall, elegant woman followed by an equally tall, tanned man walked in, wearing frivolous dance outfits. The man reminded Lady Sophia of Paul, and she cast Prince Xander a dangerous glare.

His attention was turned from her, and they bowed to him first, and then to her.

"Please stand, Your Highnesses, and you should do as we say."

Prince Xander stood first, then adjusted his robe around him. Lady Sophia followed, removing the disturbing shoes as they handed her a more comfortable pair.

Charlotte picked the shoes and moved away, her head lowered.

"Now, please stand in front of each other. Not too close, not so far apart. We need to feel the slight tension, yet keep it respectful enough for the public eye."

Lady Sophia looked up at Prince Xander, then gave a dark scoff.

"Tension? Between him and I? I highly doubt it."

He raised his brow at her, but said nothing as he fixed his hair up in a bun. The dance instructors had not heard her, and they continued to instruct them on the dances.

Lady Sophia gave her hand rather reluctantly, her eyes squinted as he slowly took it.

Without a word, he suddenly pulled her forward, his eyes following her as she lost balance and crashed forward.

Her eyes lifted up to his, immediate anger passing through her light brown orbs.

"What are you doing?"

He said nothing, his hand coming up to the small of her back. "Creating tension."

"Stop," she said as she tried to move away, but he pressed up to him, his hand circling around her waist.

He leaned forward to her neck, then leaned closer, his lips close to her earlobe. "Tell me something, Sophia."

She turned to him, risking touching his lips, her eyes meeting his.

"Do you know anyone who would try to kill you?"

She swallowed. "Is... someone here?"

He could hear the fear that seeped in her voice, and he gave a subtle nod, then moved closer. "Tell me who you think it is."

She shook her head, her heart thumping hard. "I do not know. What is..."

Before she could finish her statement, he suddenly pushed her backwards, barely managing to catch her by her waist as an arrow swished above them, hitting just where she had been standing a second ago.