Page 83 of Scars and Burns

Queen Freya’s tender nature seems to come just as naturally to Princess Saphrina. Light and ethereal. Pleasing to look at and interact with. Everything a proper lady should be. Beautiful and sweet. Her grace makes it easy to fall into serenity when she is around.

While Dinalia holds a darker power inside of her. She’s stern and rigid. I’m sure the world has forced her to become cold and hard. Not bothering to hide her dominance. Her strength. She is a force to be reckoned with but needing to conceal her true amount of power.

I smile back at her, “Just - ” pausing for a moment, being sure to look into her eyes with tenderness, “enjoying the view.”

Her smile widens ever so slightly. Her eyes revert down. Her cheeks are already a bit rosy against her ivory skin. But now even more so with the blush rising to it with the comment that she thinks is about her.

“Did you enjoy the Welcome Masquerade Ball?” she asks, voice like a lovely melody.

Clasping my hands behind me. Walking over towards her. Looking her in the eyes as I say, “The ball itself was… fine” I pause briefly. Using the same word and tone she used to describe Prince Proteus. “But the last moments of the evening were extraordinary.” I stop directly in front of her. Not crowding her space. But close enough that our body heat mixes. One small falter forward and we would be in each other’s arms.

Giving her arms a small swing. She claps her hands behind herback in the same fashion as my own. She turns, crossing her left foot over. Grazing me with her shoulder as she walks past me. “Oh? And what made these moments so extraordinary?”

I turn around as she walks past me. Following her with my eyes. As she makes her way further into the garden.

That question makes me pause. Taking me back to the last conversation I had with Dinalia in the woods. I take in a deep silent breath. Swallowing down the lump that is starting to form in my throat. “Everything”

She pauses but doesn’t turn toward me. Simply look down at the patch of black dahlias. “And what were these last moments, Prince Aeron?”

They were false. Pretty embellished words. Words she wanted to hear. Words that would soften her mindset of me.

“They were honest. Raw and revealing. And I can’t get them out of my head.” I reply.

Princess Saphrina wants to be loved. She wants to feel as special and chosen as everyone around her has said. But more importantly she wants to be seen by someone for who she is. Not for what she is. She’s open and willing. Longing for affection. She’s putty in my hands. Though there is something about her that is ever so enticing.

She’s still looking at the flowers when she asks, “Was it something or - someone that made these moments so memorable?”

I walk over to her. Standing by her side. Looking down at the flowers with her. “Someone.”

She looks over at me. I see her out of the corner of my eye. Though I do not look at her.

Not yet.

“Someone who is without a doubt blessed and extraordinary. Someone tender and kind. An individual I had only been privy to by rumors but I see clearly now.” I finally looked over to her. She’sstill staring at me. Wide doe eyed. I turn. Grasping her and shifting our bodies to face one another. “Someone who has now captured my mind and every thought.” I have one hand on her shoulder and the other on her hip. She’s taller than Lady Dinalia. Though I still have to hunch a bit to comfortably set my hands around her waist.

I will make her feel worshiped. Giving her the love and adoration she craves. Until her heart is mine.

I move the hand that was on her shoulder to her cheek. Caressing it with my thumb. She slightly leans into it. Her affections for me are growing quickly.

She takes my hand from her cheek into her own between us. Allowing me to leave the other on her waist. “You are right, Prince Aeron. Those moments from last night were honest. More honest than I should have been. Knowing better, I should not have shared such worries and concerns with you. Having only met you yesterday as well. I cannot say why I chose to confide in you last evening. Perhaps, it was because I had been sitting alone with only my own thoughts for so long when you found me. But there is something about you…”

She looks up into my eyes. Placing a hand on my cheek. It takes everything in me not to pull away. Not able to withstand another’s touch on my skin.

Not since my time in the woods.

I play it well. Leaning into her hand just as she did mine.

“Something I cannot explain. A comfort and familiarity to you that shouldn’t be there.”

Taking half step forward, I say, “Perhaps, in time more will be revealed.”

Her breath hitches. She pulls away. Smoothing her palms down her dress. Clearing her throat, she says, “Yes, perhaps.”

That’s enough for now. She is faltering in her feelings toward me. Ican see it in her eyes. A few more sweet words, some soft touches, and interactions like this she will be ready.

She looks back down to the flowers. “Lovely aren’t they? Though we have no idea what kind of flowers they are. Nothing like them has grown here before nor in the forest. So, I am told.”

I quirk a brow at her, “We?”

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