Alexia
Estevan looked at me seriously, and the tension between us seemed to increase.
"Does it matter? The question here is who did this to you?"
"Stop the carriage," I asked.
"Charlotte."
"Stop the damn carriage!" I shouted and knocked on the door, he knocked twice on the back and the coachman understood that it was to stop, I hurried downstairs and put my hands on my knees taking a deep breath, I looked at my hand without the glove, I knew from the start that hiding the marks on it would be difficult, I thought I was doing well, apparently not.
"Charlotte."
"No, please. Don't call me that."
"I don't understand why you're acting so strange."
I walked away from him and into the streets of Olimper, just wanting to breathe, time, space, but Estevan was right behind me.
"Charlotte, let's go back, these streets are dangerous!"
"I just need some air, please," I asked.
"Stateside near the clay road, there you can breathe in the open air."
"I need air now."
I kept walking as I descended a slope.
"If you don't want to talk now, fine, but don't be reckless Charlotte!"
I turned angrily and glared at him, Estevan's expression softening.
"I asked you not to call me that."
" What? Charlotte? But that's your name."
I turned around tiredly and kept walking.
"All right, Princess of Torrem, let's get back to the carriage!" Estevan looked away, I was about to argue with him again, but a noise caught my attention.
"Wait!" I asked and Estevan stopped, he frowned and looked around "Do you hear that?"
Estevan hurried towards me and put me behind him pressed against the wall and he became alert.
"I told you this place was dangerous!"
"That's not it, my hero," I said wryly and pushed away his arm, which he held out to protect me. I stepped out from behind Estevan and approached the alley from where I could hear the meowing.
I stooped over the white kitten and stroked it, it looked scared. I turned to Estevan and looked at him excitedly.
"It's just a kitten, I've only seen one of these once," I said, remembering the Siamese cat. "It belonged to Countess Jordana, she had it everywhere, it only stayed in the castle for one summer and then left. I never got to touch it."
Estevan smiled and stroked the kitten on my lap.
"You really didn't live long in that castle."
"You have no idea what my life was like before you." I let go and Estevan looked at me seriously.
He held my hand.
"Whatever it was" He turned my hand palm upwards, taking me by surprise, I caught my breath and looked at him "I can only imagine how bad it must have been, who did this to you?
"I can't talk."
Estevan nodded.
"When you're willing to trust me, I'll be here to listen. But one thing you can be sure of, you're with me now Charlotte and no one, not even the king of Torrem will touch a strand of your hair!" He bent down a little and kissed the back of my hand, my eyes watering.
"Let's go back," I said and he nodded.
When we arrived at the port, the ship was on the shore and small boats were coming towards the quay. We waited until they arrived, tying their boats to timbers.
"Anything I need to know about your friend?" I asked to prepare myself.
Estevan shook his head.
"Yes, he can be a bit inconvenient, but I don't think it will be with you."
I looked at Estevan and almost said that his mother was inconvenient enough, but preferring not to stoke the fire, I remained quiet, as a good princess should.
"Estevan!" shouted the man with the black hair tied back, he had eyes as blue as the sea, a strong jaw and a lively manner, he shook Estevan's hand and pulled him into an embrace, slapping him on the back "I'm late for your wedding."
"Only four days."
"I'll make it up to you by disturbing you."
"Don't do that," said a woman coming up behind him, her curls falling over her neck, giving her a charm, her large breasts and pink lips together with her slim waist made her look like a doll. "He's just got married, don't rent his time and ears."
Estevan laughed.
"I'll lock him in a cell so he doesn't bother me early in the morning wanting to hunt," Estevan said to the woman.
"I'll be busy in my room too, I imagine this must be your wife," he said, seeming to notice for the first time that I was there too. He approached me, looking me up and down, took my hand and kissed it. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, we all knew Estevan would get married one day, but we didn't know it would be to someone so beautiful."
I looked at him in surprise.
"Don't take it personally, Lorenzo is..."
"Inconvenient" I said with a smile "Estevan already warned me, he was anxious this morning waiting for you to arrive."
"Estevan and Lorenzo have known each other since childhood," said Mariah.
Actually, Estevan had only commented on Lorenzo this morning and hadn't mentioned that he was married, but I wanted to make them feel welcome and from what I could see, Estevan and Lorenzo were very close. As they began a lively conversation, Mariah stopped in front of me and bowed briefly, the gesture was strange, but I couldn't question it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Princess Charlotte, your marriage has reached the four winds and impacted the entire world economy, new agreements between Torrem and Olimper may have benefited some places and harmed others" She gave a slight twist to her mouth before continuing "Lorenzo and I have felt the impact, in a positive way of course, we work for the crown of Olimper."
"You're..."
"Mercenaries? No, we just own part of Olimper's land and sell almost every kind of crop. Coffee, wine and sugar cane are the most profitable."
"So you're coming back from a business trip."
"Yes, we travel a lot."
I smiled, I could listen to Mariah talk for hours about her travels.
"Could you tell me about your travels?" I asked her and for some reason she seemed surprised.
"Sure, I'll do that over tea. I just don't like knitting."
"I can't stand knitting either."
We laughed together, Mariah wasn't like the women of the Torrem court, perhaps it was because of her life experiences, which I imagined traveling the world and doing business had given her, she seemed like a woman ahead of her time, she wasn't shallow, quite the opposite, she seemed mature, everything indicated that we would be friends.