Chapter 34 #2
I tried to step on my injured foot but only managed to let out a cry of discomfort as I attempted to walk. The sound made Lance look over his shoulder.
Before either of us could move any further, there was an earth-shattering sound next to me. Lightning struck a nearby tree, breaking the trunk. I braced myself in case it was going to fall my way but luckily, because of the way the lightning had struck, it missed me.
And then Lance was there, and before I could protest, he had picked me up in his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Preventing you from getting yourself killed.” The rain was so heavy now that I could barely see a few feet in front of us.
There was another loud crack of thunder, and I jumped a little in Lance’s arms.
He carried me inside and put me down in the nearest room, which happened to be the library.
Both of us were completely soaked. My hair and clothes felt heavy with all the water.
Lance had placed me right in front of the fireplace and I scooted closer, hoping to feel more warmth. My entire body shivered so much, even my teeth clattered.
I watched Lance remove his jacket and then his shirt, draping them over a nearby chair. His stomach muscles were more defined than I would have imagined for someone who so frequently gazed upon the bottom of a bottle. I looked away, clearing my throat.
Lance added a few more logs to the fire, the flames surging in the hearth.
“You shouldn’t have gone out in that weather.” His voice carried the tone of I told you so.
“You don’t know me at all if you think I’m going to leave horses out in a storm like that.”
“You’ve probably made your injury worse now.” My ankle did hurt a little, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him.
“Here, let me look at it.”
“My ankle is quite fine, thank you.” I moved it as if to prove my point and then flinched in pain.
“Why do you always have to be so stubborn?”
He got on his knees and started to undo the lacings of my shoe, which was covered with mud and soaked from the rain. I couldn’t move away unless I kicked him, which, though it would have given me pleasure, didn’t feel like the kind thing to do now that we’d agreed to be friends.
He quickly pulled off my stocking, appearing very focused on the task at hand. When his cold hands touched my ankle, a shiver went through me, which I blamed on the fact that my clothes were wet all the way through to my shift.
Lance carefully inspected my ankle, fingers delicately tracing over my skin.
“It’s a little swollen but it should be fine.”
“See.” I pulled my foot away. “Told you it was fine.”
“You could be lying on the ground, bleeding to death, and you’d probably still say you were fine just to spite me.”
I gave him a look that suggested I was annoyed but that he wasn’t wrong.
“You’re shaking. We need to get you out of those wet clothes.”
“Ha.” I barked out a laugh. “And how many girls have fallen for that one? Plenty, probably, is my guess.”
“Fine, die of the cold. What do I care?”
I was shaking. And my wet hair wasn’t much help.
“Do you think you could get me a towel?” And then after a second, I added, “Please?” The servants were running about the palace, closing windows and curtains making sure all the rooms were lit and warm. No one had seen us as we came in through the garden door.
I could see that Lance was burning to make some kind of comment about the towel, but he was smart enough to simply get up and leave the room in search of one.
I started by removing my other shoe and stocking, my feet absolutely frozen.
The dress was a little more complicated.
The outer skirt I could loosen and slowly wriggle out of, and the top of my dress was easy enough to undo at the front.
Then there was another skirt for warmth.
I tossed all the layers on the ground, already feeling better now that the icy material was no longer sticking to me. The corset was a different problem.
The library doors opened and closed, with Lance carrying the much-needed towel.
I was surprised that he did not bring one for himself, as droplets of rain were still on his face, tendrils of his dark hair sticking to his forehead.
“Thank you.” I immediately went about pressing my hair with the towel, trying to remove as much of the water as possible. I longed for a hot bath and the warmth of my bed. Thunder rattled the windows, and I winced a little.
“Not a big fan, are you?”
“I’m not overly fond of the loud noise and deadly lightning, no.”
I reached behind me to start undoing my corset, but it was laced all the way up my back, and I could only reach so far. Perhaps I should have gone up to my room to undress and change, but something kept me in front of the fire, with him.
“Need some help with that?”
“No.”
He continued to stare at me, challenging me to admit defeat.
“Yes,” I sighed. I would have been happy to leave the corset as it was had it not been for the fact that it was also soaked through. I was so tired of this wretched weather.
Lance took a seat behind me, moving my hair so that it lay over one shoulder. He must have seen my hesitation as he started to undo the knot of the corset strings.
“Don’t tell me I’m the first man to take off your corset too.
” It was intended to be a joke, but I had no idea how to respond.
A slightly awkward silence fell over the room.
The fact that I didn’t immediately laugh it off with denial caused Lance to curse under his breath.
Every second felt like an eternity as he pulled at the strings.
Despite the pouring rain and rolling thunder, the room suddenly felt too quiet, the air too dense.
A tension hung in the atmosphere, though I struggled to identify why.
Most likely because of our somewhat compromising position.
If Mother had seen me like this, she would have had a complete and utter fit.
In fact, the knowledge alone would be enough to put her to bed rest for at least a week. Maybe she would have been right.
Despite it being a merely circumstantial matter, I had no business sitting on a library floor with the Prince of Everness while he was unlacing my corset.
I felt his hands through the material of my shift as Lance loosened every string one by one. Perhaps I was only imagining it, but it felt as though his breathing quickened. I could feel it against the back of my neck. His breath was warm against my cold skin.
When the corset was finally undone, I pulled it off and wrapped the towel around my shoulders to better cover myself.
“Is your ankle still in pain?” Lance shifted so that he was facing me again.
“Not much.” Maybe I was simply too cold to feel the pain.
“Still, you should probably keep it elevated.” Before I could offer any comment, he’d pulled a pillow off one of the nearby chairs and propped my ankle on it.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I muttered, unsure what to make of all his kind acts.
“We’re friends, aren’t we?” he said it softly, gazing into the hearth as the flames created a warm glow about the room.
“Yes, we’re friends.” Still, I was seeing a different side to him from the cruel, partying prince with his lack of empathy and responsibility.
I mean, it was still there, but underneath it all, there was more to him.
It reminded me of the boy I had met in Norrandale all those years ago. Someone I thought was long gone.
His lashes were coated with water as he stared into the fire. It took me a moment to realise that it wasn’t just the rain, but that Lance was crying again, given away by the fact that a tear escaped his eye, which he quickly wiped away.
Now that the adrenaline rush of getting everyone and everything safely inside was over, the undeniable truth had settled over him again, covering him in his grief. Eloisa was still dead, and nothing was going to change that.
“We’ll make sure she gets a proper burial in the family crypt, even if everyone else isn’t here,” I reassured him. We’d have to send a messenger to Norrandale with word of the princess’s death as soon as possible. Queen Elara needed to know too.
“So few people truly knew her.” His forehead crinkled a little, forming a frown. “Father wanted it that way.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her better.” It felt like the right thing to say.
“I think she would have liked you.” For some reason the words made me smile, until I saw Lance’s expression, as if he were mentally wrestling with himself.
“It’s all right to mourn her, you know? You should feel sad, you should cry and scream and throw bottles if that’s what you want.
” I couldn’t even begin to say how much I’d wanted to do all of that since news had reached me of Thatcher’s betrayal.
But I didn’t let any of it out. Didn’t want to feel like more of a burden.
“I suppose. Though I don’t know how I feel about having an audience.” I was right about Lance not wanting to show his pain to anyone. And I could understand and respect that.
“You mean you’ve never let anyone else see you cry?”
“I don’t make a habit of it, no,” he said through his teeth.
“Good to know I was your first then.” I wiggled my eyebrows slightly suggestively, making a joke about the fact that he had taken two of my firsts. Something I struggled to be mad about now.
Lance’s gaze softened a little as he gave me a side-eye but there was still much sadness lingering behind his gaze.
“I could leave if you like. I should probably retire to my rooms anyway.” Putting on some dry and clean clothes sounded like the best thing in the world.
“No, it’s all right. I’d like for you to stay.”
I moved, while being careful with my ankle, and took a seat next to him so that our shoulders touched as we sat in front of the fire.
“Then I’ll stay.”
We both stared into the burning flames until Lance spoke up again. “Tell me something to take my mind off everything.”