Page 35 of Tales of Earth and Leaves

“Considering my lack of heirs and Vikram’s choices, she is counting on you to produce offspring, I suppose,” Damaris’ voice tried to remain casual, although a hint of pain lingered at the mention of his mating problems.

“Why not Vikram?” I shifted my head outside the wardrobe to point at the middle brother who was cleaning his nails with a small dagger.

“He’s Mother’s favourite, you know that. She would never ask him to do something he didn’t want to, that’s how he managed to become commander. The bastard,” Damaris threw Vikram a sharp look to which the middle brother blew him a kiss and continued with his manicure.

“Are we going already? My stomach is creating a soliloquy,” Vikram asked from the bed, still concerned with the cleanliness of his fingers.

“I don’t want to know where those have been, if he is cleaning himself so obsessively,” Damaris chuckled and we started walking towards the door.

The dinner presented a traditional earthling feast, containing several dishes that were only supposed to be cooked during specific events, yet at the request of the King, they had been prepared and brought out for the enjoyment of the guest, who seemed cheerful and delighted to experience such a treatment. After the first course, mushroom milk with roasted pea puree and black seeds, the conversation about politics and military situations held mostly between the king, Vikram and Amara, faded in favour of more relaxed and cheerful subjects, such as solstice traditions, river bank dances and childhood memories.

The second course, lamb marinated in truffle oil with purple carrots and Romanesco roots, found us giggling and making fun of one another, enjoying the company. Amara made a point in trying to guess the flowers in the surrounding decorations, much to the delight of the entire family.

For dessert, the lady insisted on bringing some of the chocolates she had received earlier during the walk and we held a tasting contest, guessing the exact composition of each chocolate and cleansing our palate with various wine fragrances.

At midnight, the King and Queen gave up, failing to keep up the drinking and eating with the young and retired to their chambers, bidding me farewell. The Queen lingered a moment onto my cheek and whispered how much she liked our guest. In retort, I whispered softly, “I do too.”

Not too long after, Damaris and Takara, the ones that usually stayed up until dawn during every family reunion decided to take some chocolates to enjoy privately in their chambers and left, with the heir to the throne winking at me and nudging Vikram with an elbow to the head who for once, took the hint and said his goodbyes not long after.

The lady smiled knowingly as Vikram closed the door, leaving us alone in the dining room, surrounded by wine, chocolate and flowers, with a full moon throwing a curtain of rays onto our faces.

“I believe we have intentionally been left alone, Prince Ansgar,” she chuckled.

“I believe we have,” I agreed and bit into another chocolate, chewing slowly and moving the piece around my mouth, rotating it onto my tongue and through my teeth to find all the aromas.

“Dark chocolate, cinnamon, lemon zest, a touch of spice and lavender,” I confirmed as my companion checked the ingredient list for the particular truffle I had selected and released another chuckle, before throwing the handwritten note onto my dessert plate.

“How are you so good at this?” she lamented with a playful smile.

“As I am sure my mother has told you, I have a thing for plants.”

We both started laughing at the informality of my answer and as we did, Amara extended her hand across the table to touch mine. It was sudden and urgent. Seeming that she had just managed to raise the courage and was afraid that if the moment passed, she wouldn't have the strength to do it again. She pinned me with her dark gaze and did not allow me to shift outside her vision, until I quieted, returning her glare, unsettled sea waves crashing into adamant rocks.

She moved closer to me, maintaining my hand in hers and squeezing slightly, grabbing me like a stag in a vine, not too strong, but firm enough to prevent any attempt at escaping. Her fair face rested inches away from me. I had no intention to disturb the steady peace she created, I squeezed my lips shut and moved my tongue across, releasing them moist and rosy, prepared for what was to come. Amara copied the gesture and licked her lips with a visible slide.

It made me grin a little and without waiting for her to complete the courageous race towards my lips, I pressed mine first, finding her mouth with a straight shot. Our lips touched and greeted each other, not in a lover’s caress but in a courteous movement, almost a formal presentation. We remained immobile until the very last necessary movement, when we both felt comfortable and I pushed my tongue towards her lips, caressing them and moving to open her mouth. She allowed me to inundate her with my taste. Her tongue jumped in motion and greeted mine, performing a slow dance, touching and releasing, changing directions and stopping. The kiss was long and honest, my hand finding its way towards her neck. I clutched her nape with my fingers, pulling her head towards me, supporting her while my tongue explored deeper and deeper and after a while, both her hands were tangled in my hair.

We rose from the chairs we had been occupying and stood, in need to be able to touch each other more openly, our kiss only interrupting for a second until it reburst, more openly and passionately. My hands wandered on instinct, wanting to touch the windling and feel more of her, which somehow, ended up with Lady Amara pressed against the wall while I caressed her ear with a hand. The other was situated on her hip and dangerously moving towards her lower back. On her end, Amara lifted herself on her toes to be able to reach me and kissed me eagerly. Her hand pulled hard on my hair while the other navigated on my abdomen, gently scraping with her nails.

A door snapped open and an immediate “Apologies, my prince,” interrupted us. Parting my lips from hers, I shifted towards the door to find one of the servers bowing his head low and avoiding any possible eye contact. Sensing that the attention in the room had shifted towards him, he burst out an explanation.

“A thousand apologies my Prince, we didn’t hear any noises so we assumed you and your companion used the double door to exit the room. We only wanted to start cleaning,” he apologised and bowed so low that his chin touched his uniform.

“Please continue, I will escort Lady Amara,” I replied. I heard a disappointed breath from the lady who must have wanted to dismiss

the cleaner and continue our activities. Part of me did too, but the open door snapped me to reality and cut off any desire for the night.

I extended my arm to Amara and she snatched it without saying a word, then walked outside the dining room and into the corridors. We remained silent until we reached the staircase, her hand on my arm, just like the first time we met, a few hours back.

“I must bid you goodnight, Lady Amara and thank you for a wonderful company this evening,” I bowed almost as low as the cleaner did and kissed her hand for a third time in the evening.

“Thank you my prince, I would ask you to call me Ama from now on, that is how all my friends know me,” she threw a suggestive look, her eyes flashing images of what had just happened between us.

“Then I must insist you call me Ansgar. No short name, I am afraid. It was never a tradition here.” I returned her smile.

“Ansgar it is,” she curled her lips and started to climb the stairs. I watched her take each step, waiting for her to arrive at her floor so I could go to mine as per protocol. Before she took a turn out of my vision, she smiled, her voice almost purring.

“Ansgar?”

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