The King's Mistress

Chapter 121: Flustered

Sierra walked over to it. The box was tied with a beautiful midnight blue ribbon and there was a card attached to it.

"I can sense your presence you know," Sierra said as she picked up the card to read its contents.

In the card, elegantly written in cursive and ink were the words ’Congratulations, sweetling. I can’t wait to see you in this.’

Sierra knew it was Alistair who delivered the box on her windowsill. For some reason, he refused to show his face to her at present. Opal slithered on the roof tiles and entered the room.

"Look who decided to come back to me," Sierra chuckled as Opal coiled on her wrist and hissed as she rested her head on Sierra’s arm.

But that little distraction did not stop Sierra from returning her attention to Alistair who was right by her windowsill. She could even see his shadow.

"You came all this way to drop this off but you’re not even going to say anything?" Sierra pouted as she folded her arms.

"I can’t wait to see you in the dress, sweetling," he said with a grin, "I would like to keep that moment for later, at the ball."

Just as he finished speaking, he was getting ready to go but Sierra stopped him.

"Are you sure the dress is going to fit me?" She asked.

Alistair paused, tempted to turn back to look at her. He knew full well she was toying with him.

"It will fit you like a glove."

With that, he was off, flying back towards the direction of the King’s Quarters. Sierra chuckled as she watched his back view disappearing into the distance. Knowing full well what happened with the previous dress, he had taken extra precaution for this one.

The King of Drakin personally delivered this to her windowsill.

Even if it turned out to be a potato sack dress, she would most certainly have to wear it. Sierra carefully pulled on the ribbon and opened the lid of the box. Ida was curious about its contents too. She hurried over and looked over Sierra’s shoulder.

Both women gasped in shock upon seeing its contents.

"It’s perfect."

~

With the entrance of each princess, one after the others, Alistair couldn’t care less for any of them. He only had eyes for one, and that was Sierra. He eagerly waited for her to enter the hall. He could not wait to see her in the dress he had picked.

After what had happened with the previous one, he decided to hand deliver it to her. While it ran the risk that others might see him, he did not care.

"Did you hear?" Roxine leaned over, ready to tease him.

"Hear what?" He asked nonchalantly.

"I heard Princess Sierra’s dress is killer tonight," she whispered to him, followed by a chuckle, "I wonder if someone had a hand in it."

Alistair side-glanced over to his Queen, knowing full well what she was insinuating. He returned his gaze to the entrance of the hall shortly after, not wanting to take his eyes off it any longer.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"I told you he would deny it," Lady Diane mused as she came up to greet them both before standing beside Roxine.

"I know that too," Roxine added, "I just wanted to see if I could catch him off guard."

Alistair snorted as he shook his head. He was used to Roxine’s antics by now. He leaned over to speak to Diane.

"Are you sure this is what you want to deal with for the rest of your life?" He whispered to her while pointing at Roxine.

She promptly hit him on the arm, "What was that supposed to mean?!"

Alistair and Diane chuckled together. Just then, the trumpeter began to play his instrument, signaling the entrance of another princess.

"There she is," Alistair muttered to himself with a smile on his face.

If it was up to him, he would have gotten up from his seat immediately and gone over to take her straight to the dance floor. But he had to observe the decorum of the court during the celebration.

Many eyes were watching, waiting for him to step out of line so that they would have something to use against him.

"Announcing the entrance of Princess Sierra of Cair!"

The nervousness she had once felt entering a ballroom was long gone. Sierra strutted in confidently with Ida trailing by her side. Everyone turned their heads and gasped in amazement at the beauty of her dress. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Unlike any of her previous dresses, this one was dark red. It not only accentuated her figure but allowed her to move with ease. The matching shoes and hairpin paired perfectly with her glistening dress. All the nobles were amazed by the attention to detail in her dress.

To round off her look, Sierra put on a darker shade of lipstick than usual. She had not expected to love it as much as she did.

"You look amazing today, Princess," Ida said, beaming with pride.

"I hope it’s not too much," Sierra smiled as she glanced around the hall.

She heaved a sigh of relief as she approached a waiter with a tray of wine glasses. She took one off his tray and downed it all at once without thinking. She needed it to calm her nerves.

Sierra did not like the attention she was getting. There were too many pairs of eyes staring at her. As she scanned the room again, she noticed where Alistair and Roxine were seated.

In a bid to help calm her nerves, she decided to go and greet them. Sierra curtsied before them.

"King Alistair," she glanced over to him for just a brief moment before returning her eyes to the ground, "Queen Roxine, thank you for throwing this wonderful ball."

Roxine chuckled as she hid her expression behind her lace fan.

"You look wonderful today, Princess Sierra. New dress, I presume?" She asked with a grin.

"Yes, it is. Thank you for your compliments, Your Highness."

"Alistair, any thoughts?" Roxine turned the question on Alistair but he did not reply.

His eyes were transfixed on Sierra. He simply could not take his eyes off her. He had chosen the perfect dress for her, it hugged her in all the right places. He was so engrossed, that he did not hear Roxine’s question at all.

Sierra, realizing something was amiss, looked up at him. The moment their eyes met, Alistair quickly looked away.

"Your Majesty, are you feeling alright?" Roxine asked with concern while Lady Diane was trying to stifle her laughter.

"I... yes..." Alistair fumbled with a reply as he cleared his throat.

Even Sierra could not help but chuckle a little.