The Bald Princess

~Twelve~

And when his eyes met mine, I felt myself sinking deeper into his world. Who knew there was a universe residing in his eyes, the one, I had always been oblivious to but belonged the most.

Atarah

"They threw me out." Bailey said, as soon as she entered the infirmary. My hands ceased their work, the broom fell down on the floor from my hands with a small thud as I turned around to look at her. She had tears in her eyes. Her red eyes and stained face told me she had been crying. I walked towards her and silently, without saying a word wrapped my arms around her, taking her in my embrace.

It was the first time I was hugging her or anybody who wasn't my father. And she broke down as soon as I embraced her gently in my arms. She clung on my arms as she wept on my shoulders. I felt something inside me breaking, life was hard. It always had been. For people like Bailey, who always had worked hard to help other people always ended up getting hurt themselves. I rubbed her back and she sniffled as she pulled away from me and looked at me with her tear filled eyes.

"But why did they remove you out?" I asked softly and she snorted as she wiped her face.

"They told me to quit working for charity and start working in the farms and to marry an old man for money." She said, disgust clear in her voice. Something in her eyes flared with anger and hatred. Something more animalistic flashed in her eyes. Something so similar to that of Warrior Duncan but less scary. I blinked when I saw something golden flashing in her eyes. It was only for a second and I thought, it was my mind playing tricks on me.

"It's okay, Bailey. Calm down. Have some water." I said as I filled a cup with water and handed it to her. She gripped the cup angrily as tears kept rolling down her eyes and gulped half of the water down.

"And when I denied, they hit me. I can tolerate anything, Miss Atarah. Be it verbal abuses, calling me names or not feeding me for days. I can tolerate it all but when Aunt hit me, I lost it. If I would've stayed there any longer, I would've tore her limbs apart, Miss Atarah, I swear! So when they talked about throwing me out on the streets, I happily walked out." I was stunned by her courage. Not that I didn't expect her to cower down but I didn't expect her to take such bold step. Walking out of the abuses and torture. I could have never done that and that was the reason I was still getting bullied. And this was the major reason why I admired Bailey.

"You don't have to tolerate abuses when you have done nothing wrong, Bailey. But where will you live now and how will you manage your meals? Even the rents have gone high, Bailey. How will you manage to live now?" I asked and she shrugged her shoulders, sitting down on the bed as she held her temple.

"I will work, Miss Atarah. I need a job now. But who would even recruit anyone in this time of recession?" She asked and I bit my lips as I sat on the chair, beside her.

"If you don't mind, you can stay in my house until you don't find a decent job and a decent house with reasonable rent." I said and she looked up, her eyes softened as they fell on me. She gently held my hands and pulled them closer to her face and placed a kiss behind my palms.

"That's very kind of you, Miss Atarah. But no, I know how hard it would be to manage meals for two with your father's pension. I don't want to be a burden on you. And I will find a job, very soon. Until then, I'll live in the woods. Safest place for people like me." She said and I immediately shook my head, looking at her firmly. How can I let a colleague of mine, who is more than a family to me live in the forest? A friend in need is a friend indeed. And she was my only friend.

"Nonsense, Bailey. You won't have to live in the woods. Besides I too earn, remember? I make blankets, Bailey. We can manage food for three people. Besides, you're looking for job too. You're not a burden, child. Do not be absurd now." I said and she chuckled, shaking her head.

"I have been living in the woods, all my life, Miss Atarah. It was these few years, Uncle and Aunt made me live with them. And it's not about you adjusting for me, it's about my own self-esteem. I want to show them how strong and independent I am. And I am akin to a wild animal, who doesn't really belong to a four walls. Have you ever seen a bird happy in a cage, when she has a whole sky to herself?" She said and I blinked at her words.

How could I have denied to her, her only wish to embrace freedom when my whole life, I had been yearning for it? Reluctantly, I nodded, cupping her palms as I looked at her with the love and affection, I would've shown if I would've had a younger sister.

"If you wish to fly, Bailey, I won't stop you. But when you get tired of all the adventurous fight and are in need of a soft bed and a hot meal, come to me. You're like a younger sister to me and father would be really delighted to have you over for lunch and dinner." I saw a smile forming on her face as she nodded her head. Something mischievous swirled in her eyes as she looked at me with her impish smile.

"What if I look at you like a younger sister, Miss Atarah?" She asked and I laughed at her question.

"You are the younger one here, Bailey." I reminded her and she smirked, nodding her head like she was mocking me. Why did it feel like she knew something, I didn't.

"Surely, you are, Miss Atarah."

~~~~~~~

"I am starting to believe that you deliberately break the laws, healer. I thought I made this very clear, the last and last to last time that no-one is allowed inside my private land and yet you're here." Warrior Duncan said, his left hand stuffed in the pocket of his pants while his right hand held his sabre tightly. I blinked at his sharp words, ready to slit me into half.

"I have not broken or defied your laws today, Warrior Duncan. You said, your private camp is two miles from the start of the forest. And I am two inches away from the border." I told him and he chuckled. His canines falling out from his parted lips as he laughed darkly. One thing, I knew for sure was he was no human.

"Why must you think like that, healer?" He asked, his eyes penetrating deep inside my soul, gauging for answers and I rose my brows at him, shrugging my shoulders as I motioned towards the distance amid us.

"Because I calculated the distance when I entered into the forest, Warrior Duncan."

"No, not that, healer." He said, his raptorial smile, mocking me as he took a step closer to me, coming out from his private property to public land, closer to me. So close, no man had ever been to me. "Why must you think I am not a human, hm?"

My breath hitched when he questioned my thoughts and felt every last ounce of courage flushing me, leaving me bare, vulnerable to his sadistic, rapacious desires. He took another step forward when I took one back. As much as I tried to maintain a safer distance amid us, he reduced every bit of it.

"Is it because of my canines changing their size?" He asked with a dangerous glint in his eyes as his canines elongated animatedly and I felt my voice getting stuck inside my throat.

"You're reading my mind, Sir Duncan." I answered miserably and he smiled. The same bone chilling smile. His canines looked blood thirsty when he leaned his face closer to mine while I pulled myself back, almost tripping down on my own skirt.

"Am I, healer?" He asked, amused, ready to pounce on me. Was I a next meal to him? Will he eat me now? Or will he suck me dry until I'm lifeless? Fear seeped my skin, rushing to my vein, blending in my blood.

"As much as I wish, I won't suck you dry, healer. Not now." He said, smiling wolfishly and I yelped, falling down on the muddy ground of the forest and my fingers clenched around the scarf, wrapped around my scalp, protectively and his eyes hardened for a small second before he tched in annoyance as he squatted down, in front of me.

"You don't need any scarf, healer. Why don't you love the real you? What's the need to hide yourself?" He asked, his gravelling voice low but soft and my eyes prickled with tears as I scooted back from him before rising on my feet as I glared at him.

"Because, I don't. I don't love myself and you don't have to say it out loud every time, Warrior Duncan! I know, I am hideous and even a scarf can't hide my ugliness but you don't need to make it obvious, Sir. I am very well aware about it." I said and his eyes widened for a second when a tear rolled down my eyes and almost subconsciously, he moved closer to me and took the tear from my cheeks before it could've fallen down on the ground and sighed. He didn't touch me. He took my tear when it was ready to fall down.

"Who said you're hideous, healer? They must be blind." He said softly, his canines retreating back and I looked at him, not really believing what he just said and he sighed. His words felt so genuine that it felt unreal to hear. And maybe that was the reason, I didn't believe him.

"Is it a new way the royals have decided to punish me with, Sir? Because if it's the case then it's perfectly working. You're winning, Warrior Duncan." His jaw clenched at my words and his eyes darkened dangerously but for some reason, they didn't cower me down now. Maybe I was too angry to feel the fear at the moment.

"I'm not playing with you, healer. If I would've to punish you or anyone, I wouldn't have to hide or feign what I am not. What I'm saying is not a false tale but what I believe is true. You don't need a scarf to hide your reality. And if I wish, I would strip your scalp off this scarf but I'll wait for the day, you, yourself will get rid of this scarf and love yourself." He said lowly, softly, in a tone that was foreign to me.

I had always known Warrior Duncan as a man who took too much of pride in his work. As a man who had a feeling of superiority in him and didn't really had a soft touch to his voice. But Warrior Duncan that day felt different. A man too soft, too gentle and too understanding. A type of man, this world needs. But I didn't knew for how long he would be like this. Gentle. Soft.

"I should leave now, Warrior Duncan. It's getting dark now." I said in my shaky voice and he hummed, looking at the dark sky as he nodded his head.

"Come, I'll walk you home, healer." He said and I shook my head.

"It's fine, Sir. The sky isn't entirely dark now. And besides, I have been walking home alone, all my life. I can even walk home alone now." I said as I turned around to leave.

But Warrior Duncan was walking me home. Despite of what I had said, he was walking a feet away from me, silently. None of us really shared another word as we walked at a distance that didn't really made us walk together, but not too far, to not feel each other's presence.