Harper was in the palace, keeping busy with innane tasks. Taking care of the leaves here, straining the herbs, brewing teas, learning about the ointment, helping the kitchen staff with making the dough, fanning the large earthen stove for the food to cook inside.
Her body was too busy for her mind to wander off. Good. This was what she had wanted.
After Kael had called her his Mate, and after the way he had behaved in the forest...taking her in his arms...
She shuddered. (The heat that ran through her was conveniently ignored)
Back on the task, she peeled the skin off the vegetables, putting them on the side when her gaze flickered to the door of the kitchen.
Kael.
Her heart started hammering again. There he stood, leaning against the doorway and staring right at her.
"Prince Kael!" A young maid squealed at seeing him. Harper dropped her gaze quickly, blushing at getting caught in his stare.
She returned to her task, chopping the peeled veggies, but significantly slow in her task. Her attention wavered, going back to the man standing at the passageway and talking to the blushing maid who had now clearly abandoned her work and was talking to him, starstruck.
An uncomfortable feeling brewed in her stomach at the sight, but she forced herslef not to react. It was probably nothing, just the effect of being around fires and food all day.
Yup!
Her eyes flikered up a few times to see the man was engrossed in the conversation with the young lady, answering all her queries, giving compliments when the situation called for it and being his usual self.
Charming.
Her lips curled involuntarily in distaste, but she focused back on her task.
Well, this was fine. He could talk to whoever he wanted to. Harper looked down at the vegetables she was chopping, pulling all her effort and force into the task.
The only thing she cared about was her work, and learning. Yes. So that she could have that house...
Good, think about that.
"If you put any more pressue on the board, I think it will break." A voice whispered near her ear.
She yelped, the knife sliding from her hand and cutting her finger.
A hand quickly reached out, snatching the knife away from her and taking her bleeding hand, walking her a way and carefully putting the bleeding finger above the low open basin. The both of them sat down on the small stoold surrounding the washing area.
A few people watched from far away, the washing area was a bit removed, and then went back to their tasks at Harper's placating smile. She had learned it after her time in sales.
She watched as Kael took water in a mug from the bucket, pouring it over her hand.
It stung, and she tried to retract her hand but he was relentless.
He filled the mug again, pouring the water on her hand with complete concentration, his eyebrows furrowed.
She looked away when she realised she had been staring at him intently. The uncomfortable feeling she had in her stomach going away at the scene.
"Forgive me. It was careless of me to startle you." He spoke through pursed lips, regretful.
Harper's hammerng heart settled as well.
"That's fine. I should have been paying more attention." She really should have.
He sighed, stopping in his task as he took hold of the hand he had, looking at her, unblinking. She swallowed, unsure, and tried pulling her hand away. He didn't let her.
After another second, he shook his head and stated, "No. It wasn't." And went back to the hand, this time drying the cut with a small piece of cloth.
It was a statemnt, and not up for debate. Harper wisely shut her mouth. That seemed to please him as his fingers caressed her hand, gliding down to the pulse on her wrist.
Her heart stuttered, and she let out an aborted breath.
The air was becoming tense between them, as he continued stroking her hands, the small piece of cloth moving around almost aimlessly in the wake of his fingers, as he weaved his own between hers, caressing the indents, the lines of her palms with feather light touches.
He knew what he was doing to her, how her breath and her heart was reacting, for he kept going down to the pulse on her wrist, caressing the boobing veing there, the smirk on his face ever present.
"I think the cut is quite cleaned up, don't you?" The two jumped apart at the interruption, the stools scraping on the stone floor.
Harper's face turned beet red as she took in Maerva standing over them both, her arms corssed.
She looked at Kael for an aborted second, before she quickly got up with a thrown away, "Uh...thanks for...yeah." And hurried back to her station. There was work to be done.
She watched as Maerva talked to Kael for a bit, and he nodded at something. He got up from the stool with lowered eyes, looked up at her, and left the kitchen.
The headiness that had wrapped itself around Harper just a moment ago, was gone.
What was that about?
Her breaths came in shorter and quicker as she thought back to the way Kael's fingers glided over her own, caressing, teasing...
She shook her head, going back to chopping the veggies for the broth.
It all went very smoothly, and no one gave her any shit for what had happened at the washing area, likely nobody had seen anything.
Not that there was anything to be seen, she reminded herself.
She continued working until she felt eyes on her again. Her body tensed, reacting even before she saw who it was. Her breaths betrayed her first, as she let out a harsh exhale from her lips.
She raised her eyes, filled with a heat that was completely uncharacteristic of her...to the doorway again.
And promptly, her reactions doused, as if with cold water.
There, instead of the seductive figure of Kael, stood another Prince. Someone, who had made her feel safe in this foreign land strange land.
A guilt filled her heart as she looked at his clenched jaw, and troubled eyes.
Sorien.