Chapter 39: Chapter 39

39 CHAPTER 39 : You purse your lips when you lie

King James Burchard was sunk into his chair as the members of his royal council argued back and forth.

“It’s treason! If indeed the king of Meria sent their prince and that woman to cast some sort of a spell on prince Adam then they directly attacked the crown! I say we wage war!”

“Are you daft?! The prince is probably in Meria as we speak, if we wage war now he might be caught up in the crossfire!”

“So you suggest we just sit back and watch?!

“Shall I remind you all that my daughter Julia is heading to Meria as well, a war would uncover her identity and she could be killed.”

“Lord Boleyn with all due respect, but your daughter was under no obligation to put herself in the front lines like that, she is probably doing it because she has a little crush on his highness.”

“Say that to my face you old wind bag!”

“Enough!” King Burchard slammed his hand on the table in fury, silencing the council members. “The Merian empire has broken the alliance and desecrated the crown, and for that they must be punished.”

Mummers of agreement could be heard from different occupants of the table.

.....

“Yes..”

“Indeed your majesty.”

“However,” the king continued, “because my son is on enemy grounds we cannot just charge in without a plan. Not only would it put the next heir of Gavaria’s life in danger, but lady Julia and the knights prince Adam traveled with as well. They are our citizens and we owe them our protection.”

More mummers could be heard from the opposing group.

“Therefore I suggest we send a small group of knights in disguise to the Merian capital,” the king explained, “their objective will be to retrieve the prince and his comrades and then kill every member of the Merian royal family. With the bloodline lost, the whole kingdom is as good as crumbled.”

The members of the royal council all nodded in agreement, it was no wonder James Burchard was considering one of the greatest kings of Gavaria, not only did he have a good head on his shoulders, but he was a great warlord as well. And these traits seemed to have been inherited by his only son prince Adam, hence it was imperative that the prince be brought back home alive and safe.

*

Ella stepped out of the bathroom but froze when she saw Nathan standing by the bed smiling at her. Instantly her face blushed as the recollection of the events of the afternoon replayed in her mind. It all seemed like a wild dream, had she really given her body to Nathan? It felt so good yet so wrong.

“Freshened up my love?”

Nathan walked over to the redhead and smiled in satisfaction, even though the beauty before him was trying hard to cover herself with her robe, the prince could clearly see her skin, soft and silky after her warm bath and her dump hair that draped down her shoulders making her look like a beautiful water goddess.

“Yes, I’m just getting ready for bed,” Ella stammered, she made sure to keep from looking at his honey brown eyes in fear that she might drop her robe and hand herself over to him like sacrificial lamb to a hungry wolf.

Nathan tilted the redhead’s head up and locked his eyes with hers, “Are you still embarrassed around me?”

“I Umm...” Ella’s face began to burn up a little, those eyes, it was like sorcery to say the least, just one look and her treacherous body was ready to be taken by him.

“Come on now Ella,” Nathan spoke in a husky tone, he pulled her into his embrace with one hand wrapped around her slender waist and the other cupping her cheek, “how can you be embarrassed when you and I know each other inside and out.”

[Inside and out?]

The blue eyed woman gulped, her face was completely red and she was sure Nathan could hear her heart thudding hard against her chest.

“I’m just-”

“How are you doing down there, are you sore? I think I was a bit too rough on you.”

All the air in Ella’s lungs bid her body farewell at those words. Could this man be anymore shameless, how could he ask her something so embarrassing? Ella clasped her gown and looked to the floor, her body ached for him but her heart had many doubts, this was going to be her husband but did she really love him?

“I’m.. you weren’t...” Ella’s mind and mouth seemed not to be cooperating because she was having a very difficult time formulating sentences. “I’m fine Nathan don’t worry,” her voice was so jittery and anxious that it brought a grin to Nathan’s face.

“I’ll be more gentle next time,” Nathan whispered into her ear, “I just couldn’t control myself Ella, you’re just too sweet.”

Ella physically went limp, Nathaniel Aldos’ words were like the fires of an inferno and her limbs a messily cube of ice, his voice alone was like a philtre. Curse this man and his alluring, well, everything!

“But..” Nathan lowered his head and started planting soft kisses down the redhead’s neck, “in as much as I’d love to pin you down on that bed and explore every inch of your delicious body right here and now....”

Ella gasped at the sensation the little kisses were causing.

Nathan lifted his head and smiled at Ella, “you have a visitor.”

“Hmm..” Ella moaned slightly, her mind still in a daze.

“Ella?”

“Hmm.. hmm? What? I’m sorry did you say something?”

Nathan chuckled mischievously, “Ella, William is here and wants to see you, i can bring your little reverie to light after you speak to your brother.”

“Oh yes of course, I’ll be right down.”

Nathan released the girl, planted a kiss on her temple and walked out of the room, immediately he closed the door, Ella plopped onto her bed and buried her face in the palms of her hands.

[gods what the hell is happening to me?! Why am I reacting this way to him, argh I need to get a grip!]

*

Prince Adam Burchard splashed his face with the warm water from the basin and took a deep breath. Gods what in the world was happening to him? Was he falling sick? He couldn’t afford falling ill at such a crucial time.

~Get it together Adam, Guinevere needs you, you’re alright! You’ve come this far there’s no turning back now~

The dark haired handsome man looked up at the mirror in front of him and jerked his head back in surprise, was he starting to hallucinate or did his face look a little different? The prince wiped the fog from the mirror and looked at his reflection once again.

“What in the-”

Adam stumbled backwards in a panic. No, his eyes must be now playing tricks on him. He stepped towards the mirror slowly and looked at his reflection again.

He cocked his head to the right and then to the left, as if not believing that it was his reflection in the mirror he was looking at.

Adam lifted his hand and touched his ears, trailing his fingers along their helix which seemed to have elongated somehow. His fingers then landed on his forehead that now bore some strange dark markings. His eyes where a dark shade of purplish-brown and his hair had grown a lot longer than he remembered.

“No.. no these are all mind games!”

Adam moved away from the mirror and sat down on his bed, he was sure he was seeing things, this was all a hallucination. Was he that tired? Or maybe he had been poisoned without knowing? No, there was no chance for anyone to poison him, so the best guess was that he was tired and just needed some rest.

The prince touched his ears again and immediately retracted his arm. “I just need to rest, I’m sure I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

*

“William..”

Ella walked into the royal library and sat down across from her brother, “you’re here so early,” she looked around the library and furrowed her brows, “where is Klaryssa? Weren’t you supposed to attend the wedding with her?”

William glanced at the open door of the study, of course prince Nathan was probably standing out there eavesdropping on their conversation. He was using another one of his tricks against him. That bastard.

“She couldn’t make it, she’s not feeling too well,” William responded, “She sends her love.”

“Oh I hope it’s nothing serious!”

“No she’ll be fine Ella no need to worry.”

Ella nodded and smiled at her brother, with everything going on, she was actually glad he had come a bit early. The wedding, Nathan, prince Adam, it was all so overwhelming, she needed someone to talk to.

“Nathan said you wish to speak with me about something, is there something the matter?”

William leaned back on his chair and stroked his chin, “No nothing is wrong dear sister, I mean you’re getting married to the man you love in a few days, you must be absolutely happy.”

Ella lowered her gaze to the ground, for the past week, ever since Nathan asked her to be his wife, she had been convincing herself that this was right. Nathan loved her and he would be there for her.. forever.. this was the right choice. But she couldn’t deny that deep in the crevasses of her mind there was a voice that was telling her she was making a mistake.

“Yes.. the man that I love.”

William arched his brow as he watched his sister’s expressions, he’d known Ella all his life and knew when she was lying. Whenever Ella Morrell lied, even as a child, she would bite her lower lip immediately after. Good thing she still had that little habit, because William was going to exploit it to get some answers and hopefully send his message across to her without Nathan knowing.