Chapter 29 #3
People clapped, cheered, and whistled, yet I could only hear their faint echoes from afar—everything seemed distant.
I stilled, with the exception of my wobbling lips. My eyes stung.
I did not clap. I did not cheer. I forgot to. I only stared at him.
Mounir still managed to ruin some part of my day though.
“Lord Hailin, Lord Senn. Come and join me and my family,” King Belzari bellowed, gesturing with a gold-laden arm. Aegir lifted his hand at the king, then started his way down the stairs, motioning for me to follow.
“I don’t think I should join you,” I reluctantly said. I knew that Mounir was there but so was Princess Yosefa. Semuel had introduced us once. I wondered if she still remembered me.
“I don’t care,” Aegir replied flatly.
My lips quirked. But as we were making our way up the stairs towards King Belzari’s stall, Mounir said to his king, “Your Majesty, if you’d do me the honour. I would like to serve the esteemed winners. I don’t think their servants are needed here. It’s already awfully crowded, don’t you think?”
“Agreed,” the king said, shooing Lord Senn’s servant and me away with a gesture of his ringed hand.
Aegir was about to say something but I whispered, “It’s all right, I’d rather stay away from him anyway.”
He looked at me from over his shoulder and murmured, “Come to my room tonight.”
I gave him a nod—small, but one filled with promise.
I went to say hello to my beautiful mare.
The other horses didn’t begin to compare, I thought, nuzzling my face against hers.
I smiled, thinking about Selmira receiving the fantastic news.
I imagined her gasping, with teary eyes.
And as I filled the trough, I imagined her replenishing the orphanage’s reservoir.
I sank into the rich scent of peach and lavender.
Knees drawn close, I contemplated the different ways I could thank him.
For everything. I didn’t have anything to give, I had very little, but I did know some.
And so I decided I would make something for him.
I was short of cotton, wool, and buttons, so I had no choice but to sneak into Lina Mounir’s sewing room. He was worth the risk, I told myself.
Then I locked myself in my room and spent the rest of my hours threading, stuffing, and sewing. I wished I had more time to perfect it, but night was pressing.
I hid the stuffed creature in my dress pocket, hoping that I wouldn’t be crossing any more paths with Mounir.
My hands remained in my pockets, and I often grazed the creature with my fingers as if to make sure it didn’t come to life and run away.
As I rounded the corner, I froze, halted by an unexpected sight.
I took one quick step back, then rested against the wall and peeked an eye, allowing just enough of my face to show.
She knocked on his door.
I struggled to slow and silence my breaths.
It was hard, doing that, when I had an oxygen-demanding heart that thrashed against my rib cage.
When he opened the door, Princess Yasmina practically leapt onto him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, placed her mouth on his, and carried them inside, slamming the door shut.
A prickling and tingling pulse gushed over me.
What should I do? Should I go interrupt them?
I wanted him to stop. I needed him to stop. But I didn’t want to be the one stopping him—I wanted him to do it himself.
It’s been five seconds. The door remained silent. Did he set a sound barrier?
Should I go knock? I should go knock, right?
I was back-pinned to the wall, my breaths coming in small hitches.
“Delia? Have you seen Princess Yasmina?” Shit. I stiffened at Nadya’s approach. “Delia? Are you all right? You don’t look well.”
“Yes, I’m—fine. It’s just a little heartburn, that’s all.” Half-truth—I did feel like my heart was on fire.
She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and walked us away. “Come, let’s go get you some goat milk. Mounir’s in the west wing right now, but we should hurry still. Princess Yasmina can tuck herself in bed tonight.”
My ears strained, desperately trying to hear his door opening somewhere behind Nadya’s words.
I needed to hear it open. I needed to know that Yasmina would indeed be tucking herself in tonight—in her room, on the other side of the castle, and a hundred beds away from Aegir.
I wasn’t sure if it did, or perhaps it was just my distraught mind playing tricks on me.
I forced down the milk and made sure it stayed down, all the while trying to offer Nadya a small smile. Then I crawled myself into bed, giving Nadya my curved back as I curled into a ball of frenzy.
How dare she set her lips on his? Those same lips that had once kissed away my bruises. And that little clink I heard when his door closed, opened another one—one that led into a room made of envious and roaring tempest.
I tried to force myself to sleep but my mind wouldn’t allow it. It kept replaying their mouths colliding and his door slamming shut—kiss-lock, kiss-lock, kiss-lock—and the million different possibilities of what happened after that.