Alexia
I opened my eyes and felt Estevan's gentle touch on my arm, affection was something I could easily become addicted to, I knew I should pull away, but instead I squirmed a little and lifted my face to look at him, he returned the smile and greeted me with a brief smack on my lips.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, did you stay up?"
"No, I slept too, but I woke up first.
I looked at the window, where the sun had already gone down.
"It's already dark, what time is it?"
"Nine."
"My goodness" I got up hurriedly to find my clothes and Estevan fixed his posture a little on the bed by sitting down, his bare chest was something that could easily take my focus away so I didn't look at him, instead focusing on the floor.
"What are you doing?"
"We missed dinner, the king and queen must be angry.
"Do you really think they're still having dinner or waiting for us?" Estevan asked, making me stop in my room. He was right: "A servant came to the room two hours ago."
"Two hours ago? So you woke up two hours ago?" I asked incredulously, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You had just gone to sleep."
"But..."
"But nothing, I'll ask the servant to bring us our dinner," he said, getting up. Estevan walked to the door, exchanged a few words with the servant on the other side of the door, closed the door and turned around.
"I'm going to take a bath, then they'll fix us dinner."
I nodded and watched him go into the bathroom, and sat down on the bed to relax. So far it had been easy to pretend to be Princess Charlotte, I'd been wrapped up in the sheets with Estevan all day and that was good, much better than I could have imagined, maybe that was the hard part after a week.
I felt vulgar, a sinner because Estevan wasn't really my husband and I had lain with him, had not only handed him my virginity on a platter but had loved the feel of his skin rubbing against mine, his warmth, feeling him inside me.
I could hardly look at him without imagining things we could be doing alone, that's why the garden had become so hot, I was doing things that challenged my integrity and virtue without regret, the way I threw myself at him was something out of the ordinary and I didn't know how he saw me in his mind, but I couldn't stop.
It was automatic, when he saw me he was close, I looked at his lips only wishing that he would end the distance between us, this connection, this desire that I had never felt before was too new for me.
After I showered it took two minutes and dinner arrived, trays and trays, Estevan did something I didn't expect and put them on the bed, I looked at him as he took a piece of lemon tart skipping the main meal, totally at ease.
"Do you mind?"
"No, I'm just surprised."
"Because I'm too starched?" Estevan stuck a piece of meat into his mouth. "I used to eat like this with my brother when we were younger, it was much nicer than eating at the table and sometimes my mother would make an exception."
"For poor families who don't even have a table, eating on the sofa or in bed isn't unusual, it's just too informal to visualize a prince, that's why I'm surprised."
"How do you know? The stories I've heard about you are that you've never left the walls of Torrem Castle," he said intrigued.
My heart raced.
"No, I've never been outside. But I've heard a lot of stories," I said sincerely, leaving out that one of them was mine. Improvised tables and chairs in the servants' room were commonplace, sometimes crates would break and we'd have to replace them or nail them back together, I'd eat in my bed when it was very late, the small cubicle that only fit my bed and an old chest of drawers sometimes left me suffocated, I'd spent sleepless nights trying to breathe away from those musty walls.
I imagined that the life I had was similar to that of the poorest families in the city, although I didn't know them personally, the stories I heard around the castle were about the conditions I had as a servant.
I took a piece of meat and stuck the potato to my lips, I almost let out a moan of pleasure, I closed my eyes savoring it, everything I had eaten since arriving in Olimper was much better than any meal I had ever had as a servant.
"Your food is incredible."
Estevan smiled.
"Try this," he asked, raising his fork to one of the plates.
"What is it?" I asked, curious as I opened my mouth, feeling the crumbling of the dough and the explosion of flavors in the well-seasoned chicken.
"Pie."
I crossed my legs on the bed to make myself more comfortable and leaned over to take another piece.
"I think I'm in love."
"I have that effect on women."
"You're no Estevan tart," I said jokingly and he laughed.
"Would you trade me for that pie?"
"No way!"
"That's enough," he said, pulling the pie out of my sight.
"Don't be a sore loser!"
"Only if you say I'm tastier than this pie!" he joked while still trying to pick it up. We laughed without being able to contain the moment of relaxation and suddenly I was already on top of him, I almost fell and looked into his eyes.
I relaxed my muscles and smiled, feeling my chest flood with joy. I pushed my long hair back and sat on his lap, I felt his warm hands on me and Estevan's eyes looked different.
"You're not what I thought," I said.
"Did you think I was like the stories they tell?"
"Yes" I shook my head quickly and put my hands on his neck.
"I've done a lot of wrong things in my life, Charlotte, some of which I regret and some of which I don't, I've killed innocent people, power can get to your head and if I told you..."
"Do you think I'd be scared or turn away?" I asked curiously, "The Estevan in front of me, that's my husband.
"What if I went back to the way I was?"
I looked into his eyes, I knew that I had to restrain myself, that I had to walk away, yet I kept talking, I had fallen in love with Estevan almost instantly.
"I would save you Estevan, I would save you from yourself."