Fighting For Aire: Dungeons & Damsels, Book 1

Sneaking Around and Sisterly Sleepovers

In the morning, I woke before Oberyn. Sunlight strained in through the window, dancing on his skin. He laid shirtless on the bed, turned on his side to make more room for me. His black hair was coiled on his pillow, and I spent the early hours of the morning listening to birdsong and braiding his hair. I was content to watch him sleep, every so often he would smile, or sigh happily.

Then there was a knock at the door. “Shower in 10 minutes.” A guard announced, gruffly. I had jumped out of bed, scrambling for my robe, but the guard didn’t come in. Instead I tumbled onto the wooden floor with a soft thud. Frowning and rubbing where I landed hard on my ass, I noticed Oberyn was smirking down at me, sardonically. 

I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed. I couldn’t help but smile. Even at my own expense, his mirth was contagious. I rejoined him on the bed, and he locked me in another heart racing kiss. When he pulled away, he continued to look into my eyes. 

The smile never left his lips as his gaze told me just how far he’d go for me. As far as I would go for him. As far as it took.

“I’ll be back tomorrow night.” I promised. We agreed it would be best to space out our visits, in case anyone was suspicious from last night.

We embraced for a few minutes longer, then I kissed Oberyn one last time before hiding in his closet. The guard came shortly after and escorted him to the bathing chambers for a shower, and I snuck out when the coast was clear.

Getting back to my own room was easier than sneaking into Oberyn’s. Still, I wanted to avoid being seen and answering any questions about wandering the castle in a robe.

All hopes of remaining inconspicuous were smashed when I turned down the hallway to my room. Sheli stood in front of my room where my morning meal would be. Her arms were crossed and her eyes narrowed at me. 

“Roland wasn’t even that good looking.”

I laughed harshly, shaking my head. “No one made you take him to bed.”

Sheli looked taken aback, then pleasantly surprised. As if she found either my remark or my demeanor genuinely amusing. “Fair enough. Next time you wanna visit your boyfriend late at night, give me a heads up before you make trouble for the both of us.”

Shrugging, I pushed past her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sheli grabbed my shoulder. Her dark hair was wrapped up in two buns, and her brown eyes seemed to scan me. She was almost a head shorter than me. “I’m sure as sin not judging you, and I’m not in any position to rat you out. But if you get caught that's deep s**t for me too. So at least let me know I need to cover for you.”

I didn’t care for Sheli, but her offer seemed genuine. Was it possible she was being sincerely nice? I wanted to believe that Sheli was trying to be a friend, but my gut said differently.

Turning away from her I shook my head and said “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sheli. Excuse me.”

My maid tried to grab the door, but I got it closed and locked behind me. She wiggled the handle before pounding her fist against the door. “Fine. I’ve got my eyes on you now, Princess.”

I didn’t answer, instead shedding my robe and heading into the bathroom to clean up. I sighed, realizing I should have just agreed with Sheli instead of making more of a problem for myself. 

There was no point worrying about it. I ran a bath and grabbed one of the books Oberyn had brought me. I slipped into the warm water and read about thaumaturgy for hours.

When I heated the water for a third time, I heard a knock on my door and my stomach growled, reminding me I had barely eaten since Oberyn was put under castle arrest. I set my book down to get out of the tub, slipping on a clean green robe as I made my way to the door to retrieve my tray.

Instead of a tray, I found my two sisters. 

Adie ambushed me, wrapping me in a surprisingly big hug for her tiny form. Avyn frowned. “Adie, we agreed not to overwhelm her.”

I laughed. They were always arguing. Both of them looked at me, awestruck, like I had just turned myself into a dragon. “What?” I asked, worried I had done something wrong.

Neither of them seemed sure how to answer. Adie elbowed Avyn, who cleared her throat. “Uh, well, your demeanor has taken a drastic change and I think the two of us are rather perplexed by-”

“Dear gods Avyn, in english please?” Adie rolled her eyes. She turned back to me and explained. “Yesterday you were acting like your whole world had ended and today you’re like, all happy? Explain.”

Adie stomped passed me to make herself comfortable on my bed. Avyn shrugged and followed. My sister was right, I had some explaining to do. I sighed, and made myself comfortable on the chair at the end of my bed.

“Oberyn and I have been best friends for 10 years, but… The night of my masquerade something changed. We danced together and I realized I didn’t want him to leave.”

“What do you mean, leave?” Avyn asked.

I sighed. “The night we bought Oberyn, he was planning to escape. I made him a promise, that if he served me until I became queen, I would free him and pay him his weight in gold. But I realized I couldn’t let him leave. I can’t imagine my life without him.”

“You love him.” Avyn said, plainly.

Both of my sisters shared an expression that seemed to suggest they knew something I did not. Avyn rolled her eyes and Adie smirked.

“What?!” I asked, fed up with being left in the dark.

“Avyn bet me that you’d end up choosing Elson over Oberyn. Now she has to help me water my plants for a month!” Adie laughed.

I stared at them for a minute, only blinking. Then I laughed. My sweet, silly sisters. Of course they would have me figured out. I felt relieved that they noticed my boy troubles, and didn’t think I was upset with them.

“So what are you going to do?” Adie asked. Avyn elbowed her.

“Don’t pry.” Avyn scolded. Adie just rolled her eyes. “Aire, dad wants us to ask you to have dinner with all of us tomorrow tonight.” Avyn explained, changing the subject.

I groaned. “Alright. I can’t avoid them forever.” I shook my head. “Pretty sneaky of him to send you two instead of asking me himself.”

“He knows you can’t say no to us.” Adie laughed, throwing a pillow at me. I laughed and even Avyn smirked. “We came to ask something else too.”

Cocking my head I asked “Oh? What’s that?”

“Adie brought up the idea of a sleepover, like we used to do.” Avyn said, sitting cross legged.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “You two just want to use my bathroom!”

“That’s not true!” Adie. “Only Avyn wants that. I came to spend time with you.”

Avyn glared at our youngest sister, but she had always been jealous of my large stone tub. “Avyn, do you want me to run you a bath?” I chuckled, but she shook her head.

“I can do it.” She answered, leaving my bed and heading for the bathroom, book in hand. 

My youngest sister followed her, but returned with a comb and a bottle of oil. She sat behind me and began to comb my hair. Adie had always loved braiding my long hair, and the nostalgic smell of the conditioning oil she rubbed into my hair was comforting. It was her own recipe, extracted from various plants she had grown herself. 

Both my sisters were so bright and talented. Avyn loved to read, and retained knowledge like no one I had ever met. I think Adie has plants to cure everything from blood boils to bad breath.

With Avyn in the other room, Adie took this as an opportunity to resume her question from earlier. “So... you’re just giving up your dream to become queen?” Adie asked.

“Adrissa!” Avyn yelled from the bathroom. “I can still hear you!”

“I never wanted to be queen.” I told Adie. She looked confused, but from the bathroom I could hear Avyn turn the water off.

“You don’t want to be queen?” She asked, genuinely surprised. Avyn joined us back on the bed, as Adie was finishing my braid. She was wearing my robe, but hadn’t gotten into the water yet.

“Of course not. Who would?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

Both Adie and Avyn were quiet before I heard Avyn mumble “I would.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. Her statement had completely taken me aback. “You… you want to be queen? There’s so much you have to sacrifice. There’s so much studying, and you’re not allowed to leave the castle. You have to give up your freedom.”

“I like studying. And I hate leaving the castle.” She answered, plainly.

I had never thought about that. The future I tried to save my sister from was what she wanted all along?

The conversation was derailed by a knock on the door, and Adie swung off the bed to open it. One of the cooks bowed to her, holding a tray of food. Mostly sweets and sandwiches and a kettle of tea. “Your father asked that I prepare this for the princesses.”

“Thanks Groc!” Adie chirped, taking the tray. “This looks amazing.”

Avyn returned to her bath to read while she soaked, and Adie and I destroyed the platter of snacks. By the time Avyn returned, dressed in her pajamas, Adie and I were sprawled out and staring at the ceiling. She grabbed a blanket and settled into the chaise, leaving the bed to me and Adrissa. 

“How are Dirgah’s sheep?” I asked, absently, feeling unpleasantly full from fruit tarts.

“Very cute and healthy. You should see them gobble up the prunes I grew. Dirgah has been collecting all the windfall fruit from my orchard and feeding it to the livestock, but he saves the prunes for the sheep. They love them.”

“How come nobody told me about baby sheep?” Avyn asked, offended.

“I didn’t think you’d be interested since they’re living creatures and not a book.” Adie jeered playfully.

“We can go see them tomorrow morning.” I told Avyn. “If we get up early enough it should be easy to sneak out.”

Avyn yawned, settling into the chair. “Use your magic and put out the lights?” 

Adie sat up. “Oh yeah do the thing.”

I focused on the small flame of the lantern beside my bed. Once I felt its energy, I snapped my fingers, and the light went out. I trained my focus on the other lantern and repeated the process. Adie was wide-eyed, then her brows furrowed in a jealous pout.

“How come you got magical powers and the coolest thing I can do is make hair oil.” She crossed her arms.

“If you think your control over plants isn't related to magic, you’re mistaken. You have plenty of your own talents.” I told her. “You just need to hone them. I have lots of books you can read about it.”

I could barely see her in the dark, but she rolled her eyes sleepily. “Books are more Avyn’s thing.”