Chapter 57
“My lady, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Rinch,” Welme said as his protective arm wrapped around her waist.
His eyes were glistening with tears, his dark skin damp with sweat, and his lean muscles shaped by years of hard work.
“It is an honor to finally meet you, Rinch,” I said with a smile, and his lower lip trembled. “Thank you, my lady,” was all he managed to say before, as though he could not resist, he pulled Welme into himself once again and kissed her.
Lys and I remained on the hill for several minutes, giving them time to truly reunite, before we slowly began making our way down toward them. By the time we reached the bottom, the two of them were sitting together on the porch steps, wrapped in each other’s arms.
“My freckled one, weren’t you taken to the court?” he asked in confusion, and her eyes widened. She pressed her lips together before looking toward me, and I gave her a reassuring nod.
“Rinch,” she said, kissing him once more before taking a small step away from him. “Allow me to introduce Princess Isolde and her Blood Knight, Ser Lysande,” she said, gesturing toward us.
For a moment, he froze. His eyes darted from me to Lysande and then back to me again. His cheeks slowly turned red before he lowered his gaze. “P-Princess, it is a great honor to have you here—”
“Please, Rinch. Don't call me that here. Call me Isolde.”
I stepped closer to them and took one of his hands in both of mine. He lifted his wide brown eyes toward me. “I-I don't know what to say,” he stammered, and I gave a quiet chuckle.
“Just call me Isolde.”
He turned his face toward Welme again, who had been watching us the entire time, and his eyes filled with tears. He looked back at me, and a single tear slipped down his cheek.
“You brought my Welme back to me?” he rasped out.
I gently squeezed his hand. “I didn't know about you until she told me. Welme is a free woman now,” I said, not wanting any thanks for something I should have done from the very beginning.
“Please, you and your knight, join me in my little house. It isn't large, and I know it isn't worthy of your station, but I would love to serve you at least some tea or warm broth,” he said, almost shyly, taking a few awkward steps up the stairs before suddenly turning back.
“Would you like to sleep here as well? You can have my bed, and—” He stammered before shaking his head. “I'm sorry. That was a foolish question,” he muttered, scratching the back of his head before glancing toward Welme for help.
She only smiled. Then she climbed the steps and wrapped her arms around his waist. “My love, calm down,” she said with a quiet chuckle.
He let out a shy breath, and nervously began twirling a strand of her hair between his fingers.
“It would be my pleasure to have tea with you,” I said. “My knight and I will sleep over there. If you will have us, of course.” I pointed toward the stable. “We'll be returning tomorrow anyway. For now, Lys and I will go fetch the horses while you prepare the tea.”
Both of them immediately began protesting, saying that it wasn't an appropriate place for me to stay, but I only waved them off. “My knight will protect me.”
I looked directly into Welme's eyes.
For a few moments, we stared at one another before I tilted my head slightly. Finally, she understood.
“My love, if the princess wishes to stay there, we have no way to forbid her. Now come, let's make the tea so we don't keep them waiting for nothing.”
She pulled him toward the door while Lys had already turned to begin climbing back up the hill. Welme and I exchanged one last glance. I winked at her, and she only shook her head with a teary chuckle.
Night had fallen over the meadow, and the crickets had begun chirping all around us. Lysande carried a lantern as he walked beside me, while Rinch and Welme walked ahead, already knowing the way.
“My princess, I know it isn't much,” Rinch said again as he opened the stable doors, where our three horses and a few goats were waiting, “but I hope it will be alright.”
“Don't worry, Rinch. Thank you for your hospitality, and I wish you a good night,” I replied.
I stepped toward Welme and wrapped my arms around her. She hugged me tightly in return. I slipped my face into her curly hair and whispered, “Don't break his bed immediately.”
She flinched and looked at me with shocked eyes. A smile slowly spread across her face, as though she couldn't believe I had actually said it, and the blush crept all the way down to her chest.
“G-Good night, Princess,” she somehow managed to mutter before taking Rinch's hand and pulling him toward the little house.
Now, Lysande and I, if the animals were not counted, were completely alone.
He hung the lantern from a hook inside the stable before closing the doors from the inside. With a creak, the doors shut, and his face, tired but somehow still wide awake, was illuminated by the single thin flame.
I took a few steps backward, trying to hide the nervousness in my eyes and the trembling of my hands caused by the realization. We were alone. In a stable, yes, but one large enough that it could almost be called a very cheap inn.
I tried to look away from him and from the muscles tightening beneath the light gray linen shirt tucked into his black riding trousers.
Finally, when he began unfastening his belt and pulled it from his trousers, letting out a quiet moan of relief as he loosened it around his waist, I turned away and looked around the dimly lit stable.
I loosened my hair from its simple braid and shook out my curls before walking toward the place where Rinch had said we could sleep.
It was a section of the stable, separated from the animals by several feet and a large wooden wall that could be completely closed off.
As far as I understood, he kept clean hay there, protected from the animals, and now he had spread it out from the pile so that it resembled a mattress as much as possible. Lysande, when he realized that Rinch had no blankets or pillows to give us, had gone into town and bought them at the market.
Now they were spread neatly over the hay.
Only then, when I heard my knight in the background open the doors again and step outside, did I realize that I had made a mistake.
Something dropped in my stomach when I understood that we had only one bed, if this could even be called a bed.
The other stalls were occupied by our horses and Rinch's goats.
I swallowed and began playing with my lower lip.
“Princess.”
Lys's voice startled me, and I only looked at him from the corner of my eye.
“Rinch left us this bucket of water. He heated it for us, in case we need to wash or something.”
He lowered the heavy bucket, steam rising from the water and spilling into the cool air, then tilted his head.
“What is it, Princess?” he asked, his eyes softening as he began walking toward me, but I only shook my head.
“Nothing. I think I'm just tired,” I said, stepping toward him and the bucket.
He handed me a cloth and a sponge. I bit my lip and looked at him in confusion. “What am I supposed to do with these?” I asked, and he laughed.
“My apologies, Your Highness. I know you're not accust—”
I smacked the cloth against his chest, and he grinned.
“We bathed in the river this morning,” I reminded him, separately, far enough from one another that he couldn't see me undress or dress.
“And the water was so warm,” he teased.
But I had already turned away and started walking toward the bed.
For only a moment, I was allowed to move before his arms were around me.
Strong forearms encircled my body, and his lips touched my neck.
They moved toward my pulse, where he gave the skin a gentle bite, sending goosebumps racing across my body.
A soft, shaky breath escaped me before I could stop it.
My nipples pebbled, and warmth spilled down through me.
I swallowed a moan, trying not to let him hear it.
“I'll help you, Isolde,” he whispered into my ear.
“Knight, are you saying I smell?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible even though my heart felt as though it wanted to break through my chest.
“Just a little.”
He lightly bit my ear before whispering, “Do you want me to?” He asked in a voice that told me that if I said no, he would simply kiss me once more and put me to bed to sleep. Yet this man had no idea how much I wanted this too.
Slowly, his hands slid down my arms before finally turning me toward him. My lower body pressed against his, and unmistakable hardness pressed against my stomach. I swallowed when I felt that warmth against my skin. Yet through his hooded eyes and parted lips, he patiently waited for my answer.
For a moment, I said nothing, fighting against the pounding of my heart. Then I placed my trembling hand against his strong chest and slowly moved it across the soft fabric. My fingers played with the hem of his shirt before moving to the collar around his neck.
“Yes,” I said.
He smiled faintly. His eyes closed as he lowered his head toward mine.
His lips gently took mine in a kiss. It lasted only a moment, no more than a blink, but there was so much promise in it, so much certainty, that my legs began moving toward the bucket on their own.
Sometime during those few moments, I don't even know when, he had managed to take a low wooden stool and place it in front of the bucket. He ran his hands over my body before gently turning me again so he could reach the laces of my dress.
His lips lowered beside my head, this time touching my bare shoulder while his hands worked at the ties behind me.
“Is this alright?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Words, my love. I want to hear you say it.”
“Yes, my knight.”
He kissed my shoulder again, and in a single movement, as though he had done it hundreds of times before, my dress slipped to the floor.
My hand instinctively flew over my breasts, and every inch of my skin prickled, but he said nothing.
His finger only moved lightly over my skin, waiting for me to adjust on my own and turn whenever I wished.