7.
2022 Words
She wasn't happy to go home.
After Ilyan Wayward's visit, however, Arabella hadn't been able to enjoy her stay in the hospital for the past three days.
And then, in the long run, she would get tired of it anyway.
She would have preferred that Theor had avoided coming to pick her up personally and limited himself to sending her a car but obviously there was no way with him.
It was good enough that she had not seen him for a whole week.
"Please, this way..." one of the two warriors who had protected her for the duration of her hospitalization, guided her, directing her towards the exit when Arabella was ready to go.
Outside, in addition to Theor and a small contingent of Black Moon warriors, Arabella also found the same group of doctors and medical personnel who had greeted her upon her arrival, with doctor Mortrell at the head.
"Princess." the man greeted her, with the same solicitous attention that had been reserved for her all week.
Arabella forced a smile at him and thanked him for his solicitude.
“I really appreciated it.” Lied she blandly, while nodding and thanking his colleagues at the same time.
"We are delighted that your stay with us was pleasant, despite the circumstances." Replied Dr. Mortrell, satisfied.
"You have all been very kind and thoughtful, thank you." Commented Arabella, continuing to force herself to smile then she gave the director a last nod and let Theor, with his usual abrupt manner, direct her towards one of the two large off-road vehicles waiting for her.
“Do you have to?” she asked annoyed when Theor got in with her instead of going back to the other car. “Of course, I forgot..” added caustically, getting no response, except for a coldly imperturbable look.
Talking to Theor Dewood most of the time was like talking to the wind.
Pointless and frustrating.
Holding back a resigned sigh, Arabella ignored him and as the SUV was backing up, she closed her eyes and leaned back in the seat with her arms folded.
She hadn't been able to sleep much for the past two nights.
In spite of herself, too many thoughts and worries had kept her awake.
And during the day she hadn't been able to rest because she was constantly subjected to various tests and clinical examinations.
Arabella had undergone a complete and detailed check out in the last week.
Uselessly.
According to the doctors, all her parameters were normal, and she did not suffer from any unknown or rare disease that could have explained her unusual fainting.
She was healthy.
Perfectly fine.
Her hospitalization hence had proved to be a waste of time and resources.
"The belt."
Theor's cold voice intruded inopportunely into her thoughts, bringing her back to the present.
With a definite grimace, Arabella ignored him and turned her head towards the window, still keeping her eyes closed.
She hoped to fall asleep.
Even if only for half an hour.
“Take your hands off me!”
Having ignored him, Theor obviously had no qualms about touching her, to fasten her seat belt himself, but his sudden closeness annoyed her more than usual because he was literally on top of her in an instant, taking her breath away.
Her protest, loud and very dry, frightened the warrior at the guide to the point of driving him to a halt on the spot.
Were it not for Theor, who promptly bolstered her, Arabella would have slammed into the seat in front of her as the car jolted to a halt, because she wasn't wearing the seat belt to restrain her.
"I'm sorry..." the boy behind the wheel apologized, turning to stare at them in panic. “Are you okay?” he asked concerned. "I braked on instinct and didn't..."
"I'm fine." reassured him Arabella, cutting him off. “I'll do it myself.” She then added coldly, giving Theor an annoyed look even though she knew she was in the wrong.
Still feeling a little shaken, Arabella quickly slipped out of his grip and fastened her seat belt with slightly trembling fingers, then closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat as she heard Theor give the order to get back on track.
In fact, the car ahead of them had also stopped seeing them nailing, to settle the situation and intervene promptly in case of danger.
Arabella held back a sigh as they resumed their run, but her heart was still pounding in her chest, and not from the momentary fright.
She couldn't explain it but for those brief moments that Theor had been all over her, she had caught something that had terrified her.
His smell.
Intense and vibrant and powerful enough to drown out her thoughts for the space of a second.
It had never happened to her before, although Theor was every present by her side, so close that she could only touch him by extending her arm.
She must have imagined it, Arabella tried to reassure herself, but she couldn't help but move away imperceptibly from Theor, still feeling violently trembling inside.
She was probably more tired than she'd thought.
Just needed to get some sleep and she'd be over it, Arabella told herself, trying to convince herself she'd imagined it all.
She couldn't fall asleep at all anyway and for the rest of the journey was just fidgeting, shifting position constantly and trying unsuccessfully to stay as far away from Theor as possible.
For his part, he didn't comment, despite her queer attitude, limiting himself to giving her a couple of his coldly imperturbable looks.
It was with immense relief that Arabella welcomed the arrival at the castle.
Even if she wasn't happy to be back home.
As soon as the car stalled in the courtyard, Arabella took off her belt and without waiting, darted out of the car, ignoring Theor and the host of castle maids who showed up to welcome her back.
"Princess.." they greeted her respectfully, curtsying her.
Arabella nodded absently and hurried past them, impatient to run away, shut herself up in her rooms, at a safe distance from Theor Dewood and his intoxicating scent that smelled of earth, dew and cinnamon.
“Arabella..”
Damn.
Pretending that she hadn't seen or heard her, though Celestia was in the company of Mrs. Dewood and several other society matrons, Arabella headed decisively west.
However, if she had deluded herself that Celestia would let it go, obviously she was deceived, her sister called her again, raising her voice and Arabella really couldn't pretend she hadn't heard anymore.
"Princess Arabella…" the other women greeted her when she stopped to face them and give her sister a rather cold look.
“Are you okay?” inquired Celestia, frowning as she caught the flush on her face. “What happened?” she asked anxiously.
"Nothing happened, I'm just in a bit of a hurry." Replied Arabella, trying to contain her annoyance. "With permission." She excused herself giving Celestia's guests a farewell nod and without waiting for an answer turned her back on them and continued her run, albeit with slower steps.
"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Celestia, that took leave of her companions herself to follow her upstairs. “You look flustered.”
"What makes you think so?" replied dryly Arabella.
“If something is wrong…”
"Celestia!" cut her off Arabella, firmly. "I'm fine." She informed her tersely and without further details. “Go back to your chores.”
"I don't have any pressing commitments." denied her sister with a smile that got on her nerves. “And I need to talk to you.”
“About what?”
"Not here…" answered Celestia, with a suggestive look at the surrounding waitresses who kept coming and going, intent on doing their job.
"I think you can count on their discretion…" commented Arabella, giving her sister a vaguely surprised look.
Celestia usually had no qualms about confidentiality because she was well aware that all the workers in the castle would personally answer to their father if any of them spread any rumors about them outside.
"I prefer to discuss it in private." insisted however Celestia, making her hold back a frustrated sigh.
“I'm a bit tired at the moment, can't we put it off?” pleaded Arabella, certainly not craving the prospect of a one-on-one conversation with her sister.
"It's important..." Celestia answered, however, with firm decision, making her sigh.
“Princess Arabella..”
"Welcome back.."
The three maids she found in her rooms, intent on tidying them up to welcome her, gave her and Celestia a deep reverence, and when Arabella dismissed them, thanking them for their work, they leaved hurriedly.
“So…what did you wanted to talk to me about so urgently?”
"Promise not to tell anyone?" demanded Celestia, hovering nervously near her bed while Arabella went straight to the wardrobe to get some clothes.
She needed to take a bath and wash off her tiredness along with the remnants of her pounding heart.
“What happened?” inquired Arabella uneasily, with a frown, she and Celestia were not used to share confidences.
“It's…complicated.” Replied Celestia sighing, deepening her frown, because Arabella had never seen her in that state.
“Complicated how?” asked confused, stopping rummaging through her closet to give her sister a steady look.
"I don't know how it happened or why…and…" commented Celestia, with a guilty look on her frowning face but promptly fell silent when they were disturbed by a loud knock on her door.
“Aren't you going to invite us in?” asked Gabriel as Arabella found her brothers at the door, fighting the frustration that was building in her heart, making her want to scream.
"I'm a little tired." Replied she hastily, standing on the threshold to prevent them from entering.
"Tired?" retorted Logan, eyeing her caustically.
"I haven't been able to sleep much in the last few days." Replied Arabella, shrugging casually.
“So you couldn't get over your aversion to hospitals huh?” huffed Gabriel.
"Mhh.." nodded she impatiently. “Did you need something?”
"We just wanted to know how you are." informed her Logan.
"I'm fine, the doctors didn't find anything."
“But someone found you.”
“What do you mean?” retorted Arabella, giving her brother a distracted look.
"Ilyan Wayward." commented suggestively, Gabriel.
"We understand he's come to visit you." Nodded Logan, studying her annoyed expression.
“Did Ilyan Wayward come to see you at the hospital?” asked Celestia, joining her in the doorway to give her a rather somber look. “Why didn't anyone let me know?”
"You were here…" commented Logan, giving Celestia a surprised look.
“What does Ilyan want from you?” her sister asked, ignoring him.
"Not from me, he wants me." Murmured she dryly.
"Ilyan Wayward?" asked Logan, taking the news with a frown and an incredulous tone.
“Is he courting you?” wanted to know Gabriel.
"Since when?" inquired Celestia annoyed that she hadn't been aware of it.
"Since never." Informed her Arabella, annoyed.
"So when you last danced together…" asked Celestia, ignoring her resentful tone.
"No!" interrupted her coldly Arabella. "And I don't want to discuss it anymore." She added, stiff and peremptory.
"Sure, we'll leave you to rest." Nodded Logan.
"Get down by seven." asked her, however Gabriel, before taking his leave. "Dad wants us all on time for dinner, he has to talk to us."
“Why hasn't anyone thought to tell me about Ilyan?” inquired Celestia petulantly, following Logan and Gabriel downstairs.
Arabella found herself frowning as she watched her get off because it had seemed to her that Celestia really needed to talk to her urgently but who knows, maybe it wasn't that important after all.
Shaking her head, she held back an exasperated sigh and went back to her rooms, closing the door behind her.
There was no need to worry about it, she decided.
At the moment she had other things to deal with.
- Writer
