It stung. Sasha had not anticipated her childish behavior. These lands weren't the kindest to women and he had only wished to shield her from any massive headache that may come her way yet when presented with kindness she only returned it with animosity. All of the respect she had been given had been thrown out the window at that point. In fact, he no longer felt any guilt for forgetting her. If she was as unreserved back then as she was now, then perhaps forgetting her was for the best. The fact that she placed so much importance to her existence when even her country couldn't care for her was as laughable as her contradicting statement that followed.
She didn't expect love but wanted him to try to love her anyway? Really? It was clear this queen was a foolish one. She supported foolish ideals that were rare amongst royalty. Marriages, alliances, they were all the same. I use you, you use me. It was simple, straightforward, and easier to get along in a friendly manner when emotions weren't involved. He had extended his hand, not only in friendship but also to see where she stood. For her to have the gall to resort to violence when they had a similar idea in the first place and then try to smooth it over as if he was no more than a dog didn't sit well with him at all. He had truly been too soft on her.
He took a step back away from that warm palm that had sought to soothe the turmoil that had shaken his core, making it clear that her apology wasn't accepted completely. Instead, he calmed himself and looked at the bright side. At least she was as outspoken as he was and the two would have no need to hide anything from each other. Adding to that, he had no intention of taking a mistress in the first place. Honestly, he had no idea where she pulled this idea out of. Aside from those points, her requests were reasonable. Before he could voice this, it seemed something had caught the young Queen's attention. Before he could even guess what was going on, she shamelessly lifted her skirt and sent a dagger flying. She didn't want him take a mistress yet carelessly revealed herself to others? Sasha could feel a headache gradually coming on.
The events that took place after happened quickly. It only took a glance to see that the mysterious male was up to no good.
`Don't tell me he's going to try to kill her..` The man didn't hesitate to act and instantly proved Sasha right. Sasha being Sasha, didn't make a move to save her. He had the situation thought out well enough with just a glance. If the man wanted her dead, she'd already be lying on the ground in a pool of blood. It was clear he wanted something.
As a woman of action, the young queen took care of the matter herself. Sasha applauded her mentally for being smart enough to not kill him off and handing him over to the guards to interrogate instead.
"Be on the lookout for any other roaches. They don't always come alone. We can have Damien... or Oliver interrogate him at a later time." It was more of a suggestion than an order but Sasha knew Damien was pretty good at getting answers out of people. At the same time, both would be busy at the banquet later so Oliver would probably be the better candidate. While two guards moved the man over to the dungeon, another ran off to find the two aforementioned only to run into Damien on the way out. Only after relaying the message did the guard move out to locate Oliver.
They say if you speak of the devil, he will come, and now here he was with a lady in tow. Although Sasha was curious about how this came to be, he also wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. When he was younger, he'd walked in on Damien and his conquests enough times to realize it was better not to question him.
"Brother." Sasha greeted him, a subtle smile pulling on his lips. He had always looked up to this older brother to a certain extent and was quite fond of him despite of his commoner lineage.
"I am glad to see you getting along with the ladies already. You don't have to interrogate the prisoner if you're busy. We still have Oliver. Judging from his poor pain tolerance, he's definitely connected to a noble in some way. Practiced hands can usually take on more than a few broken limbs." Turning towards the queen, he kept his cool and spoke naturally.
"I'm glad you're alright. Do you still wish to visit the garden to continue our conversation? Or would you prefer somewhere more safe?"
Alys was stunned in place when one of the ladies went off with Damien. Was that girl blind, deaf, or completely out of her mind? Anyone who would willingly go with that sleaze of a manchild must have been dropped as a child quite often. She snapped out of her shocked state when he passed by her and spoke in a threatening tone. Annoyed, she stuck her tongue out at him when he turned his back before focusing on the rest of the ladies in waiting. Seeing Aralia walk off, another one of the ladies seemed curious enough to wander off as well.
Alys began to wonder why Sasha hadn't assigned a maid to each lady. It wasn't as if she could multiply and attend to each one of their needs. Recalling his face prior to sending her away, she began to feel a little stuffy. Watching him dote on the queen so much, Alys couldn't help but want to peek on them to make sure the queen wouldn't do anything improper. Sasha was pretty innocent for a royal and lacked the experience when it came to woman. If that witch decided to seduce him... Convinced it was for Sasha's own good, she signalled two passing maids over, assigning them to the remaining ladies.
"It's probably best to not let your friend go off alone. These two will take care of your every need. The banquet begins in two hours so please make yourselves comfortable."
Leaving the ladies to themselves, Alys than wandered off in search of Sasha. All the while, she thought of all of the possible dangerous situations Sasha might put himself in without her by his side. He was good with social cues but not so much with emotional ones. Along the way she heard maids clamoring about in a panic.
"What's going on?" Alys questioned a maid before moving towards them and finding out the cause herself. The lady that had wandered off seemed to have fainted in the hall. Annoyed by the extra task, Alys wished she could just leave her in the care of the other maids but they were so worried over whether they would even be able to keep their heads that they seemed so pitifully lost and unable to process the situation before them.
Unable to leave Viola alone to such scatterbrained maids, Alys ordered them to help her carry the girl to the closest bedroom. She didn't realize the closest bedroom happened to be Sasha's until they were right outside of it. With the weight in her hands urging her to act against her conscious, she opened the door anyway and accidentally bumped Viola's shoulder on the doorframe, leaving an unsightly bruise on her fair skin. Taking a second to strengthen her hold on the girl, she then led the party in to set her down on the crown prince's bed.
"Seriously, why are these girls so much of a hassel? One is probably whoring herself out to the bastard and now this one is taking up the prince's room. Really too much."
Proceeding to remove Viola's shoes and loosen the girl's clothing so she could breathe easier, Alys took good care to make her comfortable before chasing everyone out of the room and sending them back to their own task. Recalling the times Sasha had felt faint during his weaker moments, Alys wandered off to the kitchens to get the girl some fruit juice. If it helped her master with his sickly body ailing him, it should be adequate for a healthy woman. Used to having her own way around Sasha, Alys didn't even bother questioning what the girl may assume when she appears on a foreign bed with loosened clothing and a bruise on her shoulder.
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