A Lifetime Ago

Chapter 13

It had been a week since the prince’s arrival at the palace from the eastern mountains. Timandra slept on his bed, next to him and he fought his own self to keep himself from caressing her stunning body. He knew, by the way she reacted to him that night that she was pure and innocent. He wondered how she had managed to be untouched by any men, all these years of her life. Men must be behaving like hungry wolves when she was around. 

If he had a choice, he would undo her from all those layers of clothes, covering her curves on the right places and he was certain she would give into him easily but at the same time, he didn’t want to give her false hopes. Many times he had wanted to give up fighting and take her then and there, but the gentleman side of his brain stopped him from doing that. He kept reminding himself that his life was promised to some other woman who he had never seen. Keeping Timandra as his concubine was not a fair thing to her and he didn’t want to see her heart shatter into a million pieces at the end.

The king had promised a matrimonial alliance with Elkan’s daughter and he couldn’t break that promise in a million years. Breaking a matrimonial promise meant inviting troubles, not only for him but for his whole kingdom.

Timandra was standing alone in his garden, unaware of his approach into the chambers. She was lost in her thoughts, staring into the vast lands covered with the early morning mist. She looked like a Goddess of incredible beauty, grace and charm. It was a harsh torture for Ragnar not to touch her when she was so close to him. Her eyes enchanted him and her scent intoxicated him every time he saw her. As if feeling Ragnar’s intense stare at the back of her head, she immediately turned around.

“My lord..”

“Ragnar..” He said breaking their eye contact and looking away frustratingly.

“Huh?!” Her brows shot up, not understanding what he was meaning.

“Never mind..” He muttered under his breath and back out. His features were hard and cold.

He had to mask his true feeling for her by either staying away from her or being rude to her in case he was near her. He was angry at Timandra for putting him in such a troubled situation that he wished he hadn’t saved her that night from that bastard at all.

Timandra was confused with his constantly oscillating mood. He was hot and cold at the same time. At times, he looked at her with so much tenderness in his eyes, as if she was a delicate flower but then there were times when he would stare at her with eyes which were ablaze with hatred.

She tried to remain unnoticed in his presence. She would climb on the bed only when she was sure that the prince was fast asleep. She had tried to sleep on the floor many times but she could not understand why the prince was stubborn enough to threaten her to sleep beside him if he hated her so much. Little did she know that the prince was head over heels for her and it wasn’t because of hate, he was burning at her like a hot iron.

Lying beside him, her mind would often go back to think about that first kiss they shared. It felt like electricity pass from his body to hers and even with her lost memories, she was positive she hadn’t felt like that in her whole life. Her pulse would increase rapidly, her cheeks would flare wildly and the space around her would heat up with the mere thought of that passionate moment.

Spending the morning hours in the prince’s chambers were comparatively easier. Most of the time, Ragnar was gone away from the chambers for training and practices.

Avira always kept her company and Meeda was also growing closer to Timandra day by day. She borrowed lots of books from Avira and kept herself surrounded with books. Avira also encouraged her to paint often and gradually Timandra was becoming visibly good at it. However, Timandra was becoming too bored sitting inside the chambers. She wanted to go around and explore the kingdom, about which she had heard so many astonishing things from Avira and Meeda.

“Let me think of a way to take you out.. Okay? But I promise to take you when the time is right.” She remembered Avira promising her when she whined about feeling suffocated by remaining within the chambers.

After a month, the King was informed about the arrival of Elkan’s ministers and noblemen, with an official invitation for the king and prince Ragnar to visit Triyad. King Regis had planned a lavish banquet for Elkan’s Ministers as a welcome gesture, right after which they were to travel to Triyad, where Elkan had arranged a massive wedding ceremony for his beloved daughter, Drina.

Avira thought it was that right moment she had been waiting for. This was the chance to take Timandra out of the palace but of course without Ragnar knowing. She was sure he would go berserk if he knew about her plans. She couldn’t believe that her once carefree cousin would go crazy, wanting to keep a stranger so protected in his chambers. But she also knew that Timandra could not be kept a prisoner forever. She needed to get out and explore the world if she had to regain her memories.

If Avira wanted to take her out, she had to first prepare Timandra accordingly. Her hair colour needed an alteration and her milky white skin needed a slight tan on it. She made her sit under the hot sun everyday until her skin would turn dark pink.

As for Timandra’s hair colour, she worked on different recipes to coat her strawberry red hair into pitch black. One day, she came across a book which said, mixing charcoal and scaled lime with water would form a thick black paste which could be used to dye hair. She ordered Sevin to get her some charcoal and lime from under the caves that were situated behind the palace. She tried it on her hair first and was greatly satisfied with the results. Her already black hair turned a shade darker and shinier.

Finally on the afternoon of the celebration, Avira decided to take Timandra on a tour around the palace. She thought no one would notice her when the palace overflowed with so people from outside Vonentis.

“Timandra look what I have got for you..” She announced, entering into Ragnar’s chamber. Meeda was present there, talking to Timandra. As soon as she saw the princess enter the chamber, she tried to leave them alone but she was stopped by Avira, “Stay here, I need your help..”

Avira looked around and noticed that Ragnar wasn’t present in his apartment like always. She sighed loudly. She could never decipher his thoughts. She was a hundred percent certain that he liked Timandra but then she wondered why he had to struggle so much to keep away from her of he liked her so much.

“What’s it?” She was pulled back from her thoughts when she heard Timandra’s cheery voice.

“Come let me show you..” She brought her near the mirror and motioned her to sit on the stool. Timandra noticed a bowl in her hand and took the seat quietly.

Avira started undoing her long braid and buried her fingers into her thick locks to get rid of the tangles.

“I’ll use this to dye your hair. You should look like you belong to this country if you want to go out.” She told her.

“Where are we going?” Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

“To Triyad.” Avira said

“Triyad? Is it far away?”

“I guess so.. I haven’t been there before.” She replied uninterestedly.

“Why are we going there?” Timandra was full of question, Avira thought.

“Ragnar is getting married to the princess of Triyad.” She replied nonchalantly.

Timandra’s heart immediately jolted with an unknown feeling. ‘He was going to marry some princess!’ Now she understood why the prince was behaving so weird all of a sudden. ‘Was he fighting the urge to touch her?’

Timandra’s stomach twisted in knots thinking about the prince being with some other woman but then she calmed her mind saying that she had no rights to think about the prince in such a way. He was the crown prince of such a huge kingdom whereas she was a nobody with no real identity. The only feeling she ought to have for the prince was gratefulness for saving her life. She forced a smile on her face and decided to act cool. The prince’s marriage wasn’t going to affect her, she kept telling herself.

“Here take some and start applying it on the other side of her head.” She held out the bowl to Meeda so that she could follow her actions.

Soon her hair was covered with the thick black pasty substance which gave out a metallic smell.

“Smells foul..” Timandra said scrunching her nose.

“Do you want me to take you out or not?” Avira stopped applying the paste momentarily to look at her.

“Sorry sorry.. Please continue..” She brought her hands in front as if she was surrendering to Avira.

Avira smirked and continued applying it on the tip of her hair.

“So how long does it stay?” She asked again.

“Three to four days if you don’t wash your hair.” Avira replied.

After half an hour, Timandra’s hair was completely covered with the paste. She looked at her own reflection and she looked so different to her own eyes. Avira guided her to the garden where she could dry them under the sun for a while before soaking her body in a warm bath filled with fragrance oil.

Meeda helped her to wash her hair to remove the extra dye and the foul smell off her head.

Avira brought in a red silk gown from her wardrobe.

“Wear this.. It will suit you..” She placed the gown on her hand asking her to try it.

Timandra came out wearing the gown which looked perfect on her body.

“Thank you Avira.. It is beautiful..” She told her.

“You look gorgeous.” She smirked when she thought what Ragnar’s reaction would be seeing Timandra in that pretty red gown.

Avira left to her chambers to get ready while Meeda excused herself to bring tea for Timandra.

Timandra was nervous thinking about going out for the first time. Ragnar had warned her a hundred times to stay within the chambers but at some point of time, she had to go out and face the world, she tried to justify her actions.

It was already nearing two months since she came here and she still had no clue about her real identity. How long was she going to stay hidden in the prince’s chambers?

She felt an unfamiliar surge of boldness gush through her veins. She wanted to spread her wings and fly out.

She waited for Avira to come and lead her way to the outside world. Avira came back with a silk veil and handed it to Timandra.

“Wear this. The women of Vonentis cover their face whenever they have guests around.” She said helping Timandra to cover the lower part of her face with the slightly transparent silk veil.