Free Web NovelChapter 84: Just You
On the other side of the door, Ida did not think much of it and simply went about her way, cleaning up the room. She hummed to herself as she did but stopped in her tracks moments later as she was just about to exit the room.
She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that the window was wide open. She quietly walked back up the stairs and stood there for a moment. Ida furrowed her eyebrows as she scanned the room. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Thinking nothing of it, she simply made her way back down the stairs and exited the room. As she did, she replayed her last conversation with Sierra. Something about it did not sit right with her, yet for the longest time, she could not put her finger on it.
It wasn’t until she had unloaded some of the washing of the day in the washing room when it dawned on her.
"Why would she need two towels?"
Back in the bathroom, Sierra considered what to do next. She knew she could turn around and exit, pretending none of this had ever happened. However, should Ida return at any time or later, she would be questioning why Sierra was still in the same set of clothes that she was in before.
"Don’t just stand there, join me in the water," Alistair beckoned her over.
There was more than enough space for two people in that circular bathtub. It almost felt as if it was made for more than one person.
"I’ll get in after you’re done," Sierra mumbled as she placed her clothes beside the basin.
The mirror before her was getting foggy from all the steam from the water.
Thank goodness for that, she thought to herself.
But still, she could see Alistair’s form. She could also feel his eyes on her.
"If you don’t get in here, I’m going to come over and drag you in. Don’t blame me for getting your clothes wet at that point," he warned, half-joking, half-menacingly.
She could not figure out if he was serious or not. She decided to test his limits. She turned to face him, keeping her eyes on his, and prayed for herself to not look any further down.
"You’re bluffing, you wouldn’t," as soon as those words left her lips, Sierra instantly realized how much of a fool she was.
She knew what he wanted from the get-go. To get her in the water with him. If she had chosen to leave without saying a word and suffer the consequences later, perhaps it would have been easier. But no. She decided to test him.
She had walked straight into his trap and there was no way out. The grin on his face was the best confirmation she received for her theory on this. She had to come up with a different solution, and fast.
"Come on, sweetling. The water is nice and warm. We don’t have to do anything in here, unless you want to," he finished his words seductively, in a lower tone of voice.
Sierra sighed, he seemed to have won this round. She removed her clothing and allowed them to drop to the ground. Funny enough, instead of her getting shy, it was Alistair. He had chosen to look away from the moment she began removing her clothing which caught her by surprise.
"Is the King of Drakin shy? He can’t even look at a lady’s naked form?" Sierra asked as she walked over with her arms folded.
Even as she got into the water with Alistair, he still refused to look at her. This caused her mind to wonder. Was there another reason he chose not to look? Sierra became self-conscious of the scars she had. She clenched her jaw as she covered her body with her hands as submerged herself in the water.
She had never been one to care for the scars that adorned her body. They were battle scars, each earned for saving a life or taking the life of an enemy.
"I can’t get rid of them. If you don’t like how I look there’s nothing I can do about it," she mumbled as she lowered her gaze to look at the water.
"What?" Alistair turned back to look at her.
He had looked away in order to preserve Sierra’s modesty. He knew what he asked her to do, but he wanted to respect her too. It took all the willpower in him to keep his eyes glued to the unappealing wall that he was looking at.
He knew she was beautiful. No matter what, she was always the most beautiful woman in his eyes. When he finally looked over, he could see how uncomfortable she looked. At first, he did not know what her words meant. But her actions soon made him realize what went wrong.
In their past interactions, he had seen some of the scars she had peeking through her clothing. Some of the dresses she had worn had lower necklines and from there he caught glimpses of them. Never once did he ever think they were ugly.
They were part of her identity. They were part of her and he was going to love every part of her, no matter what she looked like.
"I looked away because I wanted to preserve your modesty, sweetling," he whispered genuinely as he caressed her cheek, trying to get her to look at him.
"If you thought it was because I could not bear to look at the scars on your body, that is not the case."
She looked back at him, "I don’t have flawless skin like princesses do."
"I don’t need you to."
"I don’t have smooth skin like them either."
"I don’t need you to."
"I..."
She didn’t know what else to say. She could not believe his replies either.
"You don’t mind?" She asked again, wondering if she had heard him wrongly before.
"I don’t need you to be like the others, Sierra. I just want you to be yourself. Nothing more, nothing less," he replied with a smile on his face.
