Chapter 4
1001 Words
The next two days passed without incident.
Gwendolyn tactfully avoided Sir Gregory in the halls, avoiding his gaze on the off chance he knew what she was thinking.
She passed through time in a haze, both dreading and suddenly anticipating her birthday. Her first shift.
Her mate.
What if it was him?
Would he accept her? Or would he reject her? She was a princess. The princess. He was a guard. He was old enough to be her father…
He had every reason to reject her. Should she reject him?
Why?
He had said himself that he was fond of her, and she had been fond of him ever since he’d encouraged her and Hamish to keep training.
Then again, what if he turned out not to be her mate? What if he made good on his word to help her find him?
For once, things didn’t feel quite so hopeless…
-
The night before her birthday, she and Hamish met in the garden for another sparring match. As they practiced, she quietly told him her dilemma with Gregory.
Hamish simply grinned in a way that made her suspicious.
“You look like the cat who… um… what’s the phrase Father uses…” Gwendolyn frowned.
“I haven’t eaten no canaries!” He smirked. “But I overheard Gregory talking to the King…”
“A-and?” Gwendolyn’s eyes were wide. “And?”
Hamish paused dramatically.
“It seems…” he said slowly. “That Gregory…” He smirked at the clear impatience on the princess’ face. “Suspects…”
“I will castrate you, I swear to the Moon Goddess…” she growled. Hamish chuckled, dancing away from the tip of her sword, which had graduated over the years from wood to dull steel.
“Suspects the same as you. That you might be mates.” He nimbly dodged her strike. “Said that he’s been having dreams. Took it to the King because he felt weird carrying it around, what with you being his daughter and all.”
“And?”
“Well…”
The sound of boots on stone caused them to pause. A moment later, Gregory emerged from around the corner of a hedge. He wordlessly took his seat by the fountain that he normally occupied.
It felt different, having his eyes on her. The possibility of him being her mate… it made her tingle. She relished the thought of him holding her close, giving her tender kisses… touching her in places only she had touched before.
Her face grew hot at the thought of mating with him. Bearing his seed.
So distracted was she by the thought that she failed to dodge when Hamish lunged at her, and was gifted a cut across her cheek.
She hissed in pain, pressing her hand to her cheek. It was barely a second before Gregory had jumped up and come over, already brandishing a rough white handkerchief.
“I-I’m fine!” She nervously dodged his attempt to dab the blood away. “A little blood never hurt anyone.”
“You need to work on your reflexes.” He growled quietly, his voice making her shiver. “Don’t let your mind wander.”
Oh, if only you knew where my mind was wandering… she thought, her heart pounding.
“It’s getting late anyway.” He continued. “You ought to get to bed, Princess. Can’t be up too late tonight, can you? Big day tomorrow.”
Wordlessly, Gwendolyn nodded. He nodded at Hamish.
“You escorting her back?” He asked.
“Er… would you mind?”” Hamish said, feigning disappointment. “I told Edith I’d be back by midnight.”
Gregory nodded.
“It’s… nearly there now.” He muttered.
Gwendolyn bid Hamish good night and followed the older knight back inside.
They were quiet for a moment, neither of them sure what to say.
Finally, Gregory gruffly broke the silence.
“He told you, then.” He said carefully. “That I spoke to your father.”
“Um… yes. He did.”
“I heard you say that… you might think the same thing I do?”
“I… yeah. The closer it gets, the more… I guess… I don’t know…” Gwendolyn trailed off, unsure what to say.
“The more drawn to me you get?” He finished for her.
She nodded. He was quiet again for a minute.
“I noticed the same thing.” he admitted finally. “The closer it gets, the more I seem to want to be near you.” He sighed. “The Moon Goddess is a strange one.”
“I… So you really think…”
“I think it’s possible, yeah. I think we won’t know for sure until tomorrow, but I think that it’s likely.”
“What if we’re wrong, though?”
“Then we misread what we were feeling.” He shrugged. “Simple as that. But I don’t think we are.”
“Well… midnight comes soon. I guess we’ll find out by the time we get-”
“To your bedchamber.”
Gwendolyn froze, her cheeks scarlet. Gregory backtracked.
“I just mean… look, even if we find out tonight that… that this is it… I’m not gonna force you into anything. That’s not who I am.” He smiled softly, taking her hands. “If… if this is it, I promise, Princess… your safety, your well-being… that’s all I care about.”
She felt her body go hot.
“I mean… I’m not… opposed to…doing whatever comes naturally…” she said carefully. “I just… I’ve never…”
“It’s alright.” He cupped her cheek. “If we are, then we have the rest of time to figure it out.”
They continued walking, and got to her bedchamber before midnight, and lingered outside her door.
He stared down at her, his deep eyes boring into her soul.
They both jumped slightly when the clock struck 12.
- Writer
