บท 8: Friends
Dominus lay the queen on the bed and took his bow and arrow which were still on the cupboard.
He sat beside her and kissed the back of her hand, "Wait for me, my queen. I won't be far, and I won't make you wait for so long."
He smiled at her sleeping form before stepping out of the hut and locking the door behind him.
The queen opened her eyes after he left, finally 'waking'. Her heart beats fast against her chest as she felt her cheeks heat up when she remembered his kiss.
It was unexpected but, she did feel warm from that kiss. It was so hard to correct his wrong notion that she was asleep for how can she explain she didn't know how to deal with him when she is 'awake'.
How can she explain her reasons for pretending to be asleep when she herself could not even accept it for what it is?
It is all so confusing for her, the way her knight made her feel. It's a new surge of emotions that envelops her every time she hears his voice or feels his presence alone near her.
Naming that kind of effect her knight has on her can be troublesome for so many practical reasons, and she as the queen, could not in any way be impractical.
She is worse than a committed woman, she is committed to all her subjects, she carries the weight of the whole kingdom on her shoulders. Such responsibilities include not allowing herself to behave as silly as she would have wanted. It doesn't allow her to dream or to hope for more than what she can have.
She glanced around and found some broom, picked it up, and started cleaning the old rickety hut. She also found some new bedsheets and changed the old ones.
Sure she has castle maids to look after her, but she always has been observant of how they do their chores and will do their jobs silently instead of calling their attention to every small thing like cleaning up her room.
She didn't even realize he was already back except for when he cleared his throat and raised his arm showing her some dressed meat ready for cooking.
She smiled back at him and invited him to come in to which he laughed. His baritone voice filled up every corner of the room.
"I didn't realize the queen can clean a house," he teased her but also trying not to overreact by taking the broom from her and examining if she has hurt herself somehow.
"Well, it's a simple thing," she smiled again as she looked at his worried face.
"Do you really think I may have injured myself in doing so?" she asked, pouting.
"I dare not think about such a thing, my queen," he denied yet his eyes were roaming all over her trying to look for any bruise or cut she may have gotten while tidying up the hut.
"Sir Dominus, you are not a very good liar," she castigated him and raised an eyebrow.
He chuckled and went straight to the kitchen counter, cleaning up the meat and trying his best to stop worrying over her since it is what she obviously wanted him to do.
She went over to him after she was done, and observed him, looking at him expertly cleaning up the deer meat and cooking it over a slow fire.
She smiled in awe at how a big man like him seemed to somehow fit right in the small kitchen.
"You do look good in there," she blushed when she realized what she just said.
"Do I?" his eyes turn murky gold from the first compliment he ever received from her. His jaw clenched trying his best not to lunge at her and kiss her senseless from the way those words made him feel.
"Yes, indeed. I dare say you look better in the kitchen than when you are out holding a weapon," she giggled, finally being able to relax in his presence.
"Really?" it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. A comment like that from anyone else must be taken by him as an insult. But not from his queen, because she said it, those words became precious.
"Well, yes. Because while holding a pan you look like a person who can take care of someone. But while holding a sword, you are about to end a life," she said sincerely, her smile turning soft.
"Do you fear me, my queen?" he asked, as he turned the meat, slowly roasting it over the fire.
"I do not," she realized she just said the truth and felt a heavy weight lifted from her chest.
"I have killed hundreds nay might even be thousands of men. I have lost count. But I have ended lives more than I can count. I never once regretted ending them. I am a dirty barbarian," he smiled bitterly, feeling unworthy to even stand before the queen.
She walked towards him and tiptoed as he instinctively lowered his head when she did so. She smiled when she was able to touch his cheek.
"You are a gentle giant, no I am not scared of you," she said sincerely, meeting his eyes.
"Why?" he asked her, leaning close to her, doing everything in his power not to touch her.
"Because... I feel that you are someone I can trust my life with. When you look at me, it is as if I am something, someone you can't afford to break. I feel safe in your arms, protected, cherished..." she looked away as she bite her lower lip to stop herself from adding, loved.
Hearing those words, Dominus couldn't hold back from pulling her closer to him.
"Thank you, for not being afraid," he muttered under his breath.
"It meant the world to me... that you aren't," he added, a tender smile painted across his face as he pulled her into a hug.
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Mary_Algen_Guiang1
Mary_Algen_Guiang1 If you like the story try my other books on Webnovel: "Bewitching Illusions", "The Male Lead is Obsessed with Me", and "The Male Lead is Obsessed with Me (Book 2)".
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