CHAPTER 1 #2
“Some noble person probably needs their bathrooms cleaned in a hurry,” I replied jokingly, trying to ease her anxiety. She halfheartedly smiled at me, but I noticed that the smile did not meet her eyes.
As we made our way back to our rooms to prepare for the advisors’ visit this afternoon, a hand quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty classroom.
Maya's chuckle drifted through the hallway as my eyes met the gaze of the guards who had just pulled me into the room.
His eyes were deep brown, like the earth after rain.
“You really need to stop doing that,” I said teasingly to him, but he continued to watch me as a coy smile spread across his lips. His blonde hair was short; you sometimes mistook him for being bald.
“But what fun would that be?” He joked, leaning in and breaking into a full smile. “I have to keep you on your toes.”
“I’m always on my toes when I am around you.” Which I proved by perching on them and planting a small, gentle kiss on his lips.
He placed his hand around the back of my neck, and the other ran tantalizingly slow down my arm, to my hips, until it paused at the small of my back.
He pulled me closer to him, and our bodies pressed against one another.
His lips met with mine again; it wasn’t a passionate kiss, but it still stirred up the butterflies that lived in my stomach.
Breaking away from the kiss, I looked up at him, “I guess that is one way to keep me on my toes.”
He winked at me in response. “I’m going to miss this.” And he pulled me closer for another kiss.
Max had been a constant in my life since coming here.
During my first week here, my quick wit and smart mouth betrayed me multiple times, and according to Madam, I had to learn a lesson about respect.
He had been the guard assigned to fulfill my punishment, but he couldn’t do it.
He told me that when he came outside and saw me standing there with my hand secured on the wooden block, my other hand wrapped around my stomach, shivering, waiting to have a stone smashed on my fingers, his heart froze him in place.
I remembered looking at him, standing there, staring at me, his face not giving away any emotion.
It was windy that day, and my hair was fluttering in the wind along with the wings of the butterflies trying to escape.
My hair, dark like a raven flying across the night sky, full of unmanageable waves and curls, was cutting across my face as I stood shaking from the cold, waiting for whatever was about to happen.
He slowly walked up to me and gently moved the small cluster of hair that had caught on my eyelashes back behind my ear.
He didn’t say anything and just stared into my eyes, which he always reminded me were as vibrant as a forest in summer and the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.
He normally got an eyeroll from me anytime that he said that, in which he would respond with, ‘even when you roll them at me.’ His stare held me in place, and we were both lost in the moment.
I couldn’t even begin to tell you how much time had passed.
His face was unreadable and void of any emotion.
No one was around us; we were completely alone.
He looked around to make sure that no one had snuck out to watch the punishment take place, quickly grabbed a bandage, and put it around my hand.
There was no smashing, no broken bones, no pain, nothing.
“Leave that on for a couple of weeks.” He said while unlocking the shackle holding my hand in place.
He took one final look, turned, and walked away.
I stood there in silence, unsure of what had just happened or what I was feeling.
The Academy would task the new guards with carrying out the punishments; they said it helped ‘build character,’ but we knew it was to break them and scare them into obedience.
His hand moved to the back of my head as he kissed my forehead, which pulled me back to the present. “Let’s not think of that.”
Letting out a sigh, I tried to change the subject, “Do you know why those stuck-up assholes are here today instead of next week?”
He looked above my head, staring off behind me into the empty classroom.
“I’ve heard some rumblings around our bunker that there is supposed to be some sort of celebration for the King’s son returning from the battle.
” He looked down at me and kissed me one last time before pulling away.
“I have to go get ready for the commanders this afternoon,” He flashed me a quick, crooked smile before turning and walking away.
We never left together, so I waited a couple of minutes before exiting.