The Bald Princess

~Eleven~

Hold me closer, Princess. Place your hands in mine, look deep in my eyes and watch me loving you as I caress the forbidden part of you.

Atarah

True to his words, he waited for me. It took me more than an hour to treat all my patients and to come inside my cabin where Warrior Duncan was waiting for me. Sitting on the chair, he was inspecting the old dusty files I had kept in the shelves. As if sensing my arrival, he closed the files and put them in the shelves as he turned around and for a second, I forgot to breathe.

This was new for me. Somebody waiting for me for the lunch wasn't something I was used to. So when Warrior Duncan was waiting for me, not showing any sign of impatience, my heart clenched in my chest. Every other thing in my old, foul smelling cabin were hazy; only him— Warrior Ansel Duncan seemed clear to my eyes. There was something about him that screamed of danger and yet he didn't scare me much. He should have; he was someone fictions were written about. He probably wasn't even a human. But it didn't really matter to me.

"For someone who owns a hospital, healer, your cabin is really untidy and unhygienic." He said and I blinked at his words, my eyes falling around the cabin, I never really used. I didn't had to.

"I... I never really use the cabin, Sir. Never got the time to sit in here. It's just kind of a cabin where old files are kept. But other than this my infirmary is very hygienic." I said as my cheeks heated under his intense stare. He rose one of his brows, slowly shaking his head, making my insides to curl in something, I had never witnessed or experienced before.

"Of course. Are you free now?" He asked and I pressed my lips, nodding my head as I opened the door of my cabin and he looked at me with his raised brows.

"The cabin is really dirty. Terrace, however is clean. We can eat there. If you would permit, of course." I added the last statement and he sighed. I could never understand what would upset him and what would not. But I didn't question him. I knew, it won't be anything but a waste of my energy because he won't answer me a thing.

"I am a warrior, healer. I protect my kingdom and its people. The only place I hold my control is in my land, my world and my laws. You don't need to seek my permission for eating on your own terrace, hm?" He said and I smiled, tugging on the sleeves of my gown and his gaze travelled to my arms, looking very keenly at my actions. He was always observing things. Maybe a warrior thing.

"I know not every dog bites, Warrior Duncan. But a man who had been bitten by a dog before would always fear them. A person who has always suffered after being the most happy, fears being happy again. It's not that I think bad or low of you. But it's because I don't want to take anymore chances. It's painfully humiliating enough to be ignored by the whole kingdom, I can't take humiliation of public whipping again." I said and his eyebrows scrunched together as he turned around to look at me.

"You were subjected to— what?" He asked, his voice back to his rough tone. Like a demon inside him took control on his voice. His eyes darkened in raw anger and rage and I realised what I had just said.

I was upset for what had happened with me over years but I didn't even realise when I said everything I felt. His eyes did that to me. Every time I look into them, I lose control over my tongue, over my mind. I reveal things against my will. I gulped as I shook my head, my fingers tugging on my skirt, tentatively and slowly, like an animal, his eyes moved over my frame, like he was scanning me before his eyes stopped on my fingers fisting around my skirt.

His lips parted, his eyes still dark and I sucked in a breath as his canines flashed through his parted lips. His animalistic growl only further made me terrifyingly still. I was waiting for him to attack but he closed his eyes instead. To calm himself down. And when he opened his eyes, he was back to normal— a little disturbed but normal. As normal as he could be in the particular moment.

"I.... I lost control over my temperament, healer. Forgive me. I hope, I didn't scare you much. I never intended to induce any negative emotions inside you." He said and I gulped. My heart thudded inside me at his apology. It didn't feel right. Him apologizing to me didn't feel right.

"Do not apologize for something you have no control on, Sir." I said, looking away and before he could have said anything further, I stopped, motioning towards the entrance of the terrace. "We are here, Warrior Duncan."

He blinked, nodding his head as he squinted his eyes at the sunlight above us.

"It's hot up here." He said, looking at me and I shrugged my shoulders, feeling the blissful warmth of the sun. It felt heartwarming.

"Hm. It's the last sunny days of the year, Warrior. Don't you like the warmth sun provides us? Like a warm embrace?" I asked, a soft smile playing on my face and he was staring at me, without blinking. I turned around, only for my eyes to meet his, like a mystical union. I didn't flinch back this time. He looked so raw, so pure, so out of malice. His eyes had softened— for the first time since we met and I never really knew how beautiful he really was until that day. His guards off, almost like a normal human.

"Hm, indeed like a warm embrace, healer." He said and my heart bounced inside my chest. Why did it feel like he wasn't just talking about the sun? Clearing my throat and looking away from him, I sat down on the floor and he too sat down, in front of me, placing the food parcel in between us.

He had bought a few cooked vegetables and two cups of rice— okay he didn't buy them, he had brought free food from the diner. It felt good to eat something that wasn't porridge. Slowly, I took a bite of the vegetables and my eyes rolled back as the taste of rich spices filled my mouth, blessing my taste buds for once.

"Can I ask you something, Warrior Duncan?" I asked when I had a few bites and my belly decided it had enough food for a while.

His eyes stiffened when I moved back from the plate filled with food. He looked ready to speak something, tell me how less of a food I had consumed but for some reason, he closed his mouth as soon as he opened it. He nodded his head as he ate a spoonful of rice.

"Ask."

"Who are you? Or should I rephrase as what are you, Warrior?" I asked and he rose his brow, amusement swirling in his dark eyes as he took the last bite of the cooked vegetables before crumbling the paper plate and throwing it in the trashcan, attached to the walls of the terrace.

"Funny, healer, how everyone around you knows about me. Or atleast have heard some rumours about me but you, despite hearing all the rumours and warnings about me, you are still here with me. Why, healer?" He asked, amusement still clear in his eyes and I had absolutely no answer to his question.

I had asked myself the question, Lord knows how many times and yet I never got any answer for the same. I just couldn't bring myself to distance from him. It was an automatic response to his presence. I forget every warning put forth me regarding him. I knew, it wasn't wise but I had no control on how and what I felt for him.

"Some questions don't have an answer to them, Warrior Duncan. Why I am still here has no reason. Why you are still here is also unanswered. Maybe even you have no answer for your presence over here, with me. But who are you, Warrior Duncan? I am sure you're not who you try to sell people."

I said and he rose one of his brows as he looked at me with one of his infamous looks. One that told me he knew about things, I was still unaware about. A look that screamed superiority, a look that burned me from within. I didn't look away this time. In all the time, Warrior Duncan and I had spent together, I could hold his gaze, sometimes.

"I never said who I am, healer. Maybe you just assumed things about me but I never told you about me." He said smoothly, no fear, no hesitation in his voice and I bit my lips.

"Then enlightenment me, Sir. Who are you? Why are you here, waiting for me? Why aren't you running away from my dark aura? How do you always know what I'm thinking? And don't you dare deny that you never answered the questions, I never voiced." I said and he smiled. The same predatory smile that passed chills down my spine. He filled a glass with water before handing it to me.

"Have it, you look stressed." He said softly, lowly and I shook my head, not wanting to really take even a sip of anything right now. "I haven't poisoned it, healer. This is the most humiliating way for me to kill someone. Have faith in me. Have it. I know, you need water."

I stared at him for a long minute and he nodded his head at me, making me sigh as I took the glass of water from him warily and took a small sip of water, only to realise how much I really needed something to drink.

"Your questions and concerns are legit, healer. But I'm afraid I can't answer them now. Like I told you before, I am still doing some research and I can't reveal things until I get my hold on the results. Until then, you need to bear with the mysteries." He said and I sighed. How can I even expect an answer from him. I never got one before and I know I'll never get one in the future even.

"You're wrong then, healer. You will get your answers. You just need to be a little patient." He said and I glared at him, feeling the anger rising inside me.

"Like hell. And get out of my mind! It's not ethical to hear somebody else's thoughts, Warrior." I barked in anger and he rose his brows before a faint smile formed on his face, making my anger to spike. "What?"

"You're letting your emotions to surface, healer. You are letting your anger to speak. Is this the improvement I am witnessing in you, healer?" He asked and my eyes widened and I stood up, hastily, my heart thudding loudly in my chest.

Good Lord! I just insulted the royal! The very royals that can punish me to death.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, healer. I won't hurt you for expressing your thoughts and emotions. Infact, I won't hurt you ever." He added and my lips parted in surprise when he stood up and took a step towards me.

He rose his fingers, probably to touch me but stopped in the midair before they could have touched my face and slowly let his arm to drop to his side. But his eyes— they were trained at me.

"Since we're spilling things of our mind today, healer. I think, you don't need a scarf to cover yourself. You're beautiful the way you are."