Chapter 39

That morning, Nellie woke up feeling very tired. She had slept for most of the day. Earl was not in bed when she woke up, and he was not in the room either, she assumed she must have slept way more than normal. Slipping out of the bed, she peeked outside into the hall, Oliver and Scot stood outside, seemingly waiting for her.

"My lady" They both chorused.

"Oliver, Scot. Good morning" Nellie smiled at the two men.

"Good afternoon, My Lady" Scot said, giving a curt bow as he did.

"Good afternoon, My Lady," Oliver muttered. His head was bowed, a bit too deeply than normal but Nellie could see that his cheeks were flushed.

"I must have slept a bit too late, how long has Earl been gone?" Nellie directed the question to Scot.

"He left early this morning, My Lady. I heard he has a meeting with the tax Lords"

"Did he have breakfast?"

"No, My Lady. He said you can have your breakfast without him, My Lady"

"Alright, I'll just have a bath. Ring for a maid, Oliver." He nodded at the red-cheeked fellow.

"Right away, My Lady."

"Oliver" Nellie called after him.

"My lady"

"We resume our training later in the day, have something to eat"

"I'm honored, Lady Nellie"

Nellie nodded and went back into the room. The silent ticking of the large clock in the room shifted her attention to it, quarter past one, it read, she had slept for almost half of the day! Poor Earl, Nellie thought. He had barely closed his eyes last night and now he had to govern a meeting, had he had breakfast there? She could only wonder.

Nellie stood in the front of the dressing mirror and her reflection stared back at her. Large, green eyes and perfectly chiseled jawline and nose, a small round mouth, straight bony neck and a small round figure. She ran her hand through her hair and lifted it away from her face, she was a woman in every way a man could look at it, yet Earl slept on the same bed with her everyday.

There were marks on her body to indicate that she had been in any form of struggling last night, even the red circle on her wrists, where Konarh had grabbed her yesterday was gone. She had healed well.

Was she not tempting him by doing so? What if he was lusting after her already? More often than not, he had made slightly sexual remarks that were intended to make her feel things… ungodly things which she hated to admit. Nellie knew he made her feel certain things she had never felt before, certain things that no one had ever made her feel, not even Piere. But then she had never been this close with Piere, Piere was a gentleman, until he allowed himself to be seduced by Bella, she thought. Earl was the exact opposite, he had no care in the world as to what people thought about two unmarried people sleeping in the same room.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a gentle knock on the door, the maid must be here, she thought.

"Come in,"

The door opened and Nellie heard the maid come in, she did not bother checking who it was.

"My lady,"

Nellie turned abruptly, she didn't know if it was the warmth in the way the person said it but the voice was oddly familiar, she was surprised to find Ariel standing there, smiling at her.

"Ariel!" Nellie couldn't stop herself from hugging Ariel.

Ariel stiffened at the way Nellie held her tightly, certain parts of her body were still sore from last night, Nellie noticed and released her gently.

"I am sorry, Ariel. I just missed you so much! I have seen you in days, where have you been?"

"Slow down," Ariel said in a soft chuckle.

"Come on, Ariel. Where have you been?"

"Well, I have been around the castle, busy with other things, work related and personal" Ariel observed Nellie thoughtfully for a few seconds, contemplating whether to tell her about what had happened.

"But you are my personal maid, and my friend" Nellie said the last part in a very low tone, "Don't you think I deserve to know where you are? When you are available or not and why you are not available,"

"I am sorry, Lady Nellie. I'll try my best to avoid such in the future" Ariel hoped she would not ask further.

"It's alright, Ariel. I hope you were able to rectify whatever made you stay away for that long?"

Ariel said nothing, she only squeezed Nellie's hands in a friendly grip. "I have missed you"

"Come," Nellie took her hands and led her to a seat in the room, "Seat, what have you been up to, Ariel. Quit with the formalities now, need I remind you we are friends now? You can call me Nellie when we are alone, if that makes you feel any less uncomfortable"

Ariel looked skeptical for a while, "The palace is a big place, Nellie. One could get punished for disobedience, sent to a different part of the castle as punishment, maybe"

"Oh Ariel! Who did that to you? Did Earl do that? Was it Ma'am Dodda? How much were you punished?"

Ariel chuckled lightly, "Slow down, Nellie. Earl did not punish me, neither did Ma'am Dodda, besides, I believe I deserve whatever punishment comes to me"

Nellie tilted her head to one side, she appeared to be thinking for a while, her eyes suddenly lit up in realization, "Oh my! It was Charlie, wasn't it? what did you do to provoke him and how severe was the punishment?"

Nellie recalled what Ariel had said about being Charlie's mate, the man did not seem like one who appreciated such favors, Ariel must have blurted that to him which must have attracted severe punishments. Goodness! She must have met him in a really awful mood. Nellie quickly ran her hands over Ariel's body, checking for injuries or bruises, Ariel watched the frown settle in when she did frown bruises- in unexpected places.

Ariel herself had been surprised when she woke up this morning to realize the bright red marks from Charlie's tight grips on her hands were still imprinted there. They were probably there to serve as a reminder that he had touched her. She had tried her best to hide the hickeys his sensitive kisses had left imprinted on her necks, the spot he was supposed to mark her which he had done a good job at avoiding.

The frown on Nellie's face only grew deeper when her gaze traveled up to Ariel's face and settled on her neck, where several hickeys lay, "Did he…? Wait, have you been…?"

"Relax, Nellie. He did nothing less than what I wanted him to do" If only he had been a bit more gentle, she thought.

"You wanted him to…"

"Touch me, yes."

"Why would you want that? What if he doesn't marry you? If he takes you to bed without…"

"Nellie, you think too far. Just relax and trust me" Ariel gave her a reassuring smile, "He did not hurt me and I don't want him to marry me,"

"Then what do you want?"

"I need him to mark me"

"Mark you?"

Ariel sighed in exasperation, "As he mate, Nellie. I already told you"

"You really do believe in that? Why are you so convinced it's Charlie? What if it's not him and you give yourself away to him?" Nellie could not help but wonder

"You will know soon, Nellie. When you are marked" Ariel said it in a very serious tone that made Nellie laugh out loud.

"I do not believe in such things, dear girl. Some of us are lucky enough to find mates, most of us are not. I believe I'm among the later"

"That is a very primitive way to see things. I, on the other hand believe there is a mate for everyone"

"It's a good thing you believe that, it might actually work out for you. But I'm afraid you have set your eyes on a pretty high target, dear girl. I don't want you crying in the end."

"I hope not, I intend to win this one" Ariel wondered if she was reassuring herself or dismissing Nellie's fear.

"But may I ask, why is it so important for him to mark you?" It would have made sense if Ariel was the daughter of a Lord or royalty, finding a mate quickly would have helped reduce the chance of her being married off to a total stranger she wasn't accustomed to, but Ariel was no royalty- she was but a maid.

"You will not understand, let us run your bath, My Lady, it's almost midday and you have had nothing to eat"

"Nellie nodded" She knew better than probing further into Ariel's private business.

Ariel went in to prepare a cold bath for her while Nellie sat in the room, waiting. Her mind wandered to a lot of things, Nellie tried to push the thoughts to the back of her mind because they only got her more confused each time she thought about them.

Ariel was indeed, too brave for a maid, she thought. She prayed that Charlie does not take advantage of her, whatever they were doing. She couldn't ask, but she wondered how far his 'touching' had gone. Charlie did not seem like a man who was ready to settle down anytime soon, he did not even seem like one who believed in the mating process, and she could understand, being that Earl had been betrayed by a lady that was supposed to be his most trusted. But could Ariel understand? Nellie doubted.

"Your bath is ready, My Lady" Ariel called from the bathroom door.

"Oh come one! Quit with the formalities already" Nellie snorted.

Ariel only chuckled as she led her into the bath, "You are beautiful, Nellie"

"You think so?" Nellie could not stop the smile that crept into her face.

"I know so, My sweet Lady" Ariel smiled as Nellie stepped into the vomd water.

"I feel honored, Lady Ariel" Nellie said in the same sarcastic tone as the two women laughed.

Ariel took her time to wash Nellie's hair while Nellie relaxed in the bath, no one did her bath any better than Ariel did. She closed her eyes and savored the moment, "Oh, how I have missed you, Ariel"

Ariel smiled, "I missed you more, My lady"

Nellie rolled her eyes from the bath, "I have merely as old as you are, Ariel. If you are not even older" Nellie mumbled.

"It doesn't matter, a maid is expected to respect…"

"Enough already, Ariel. You have never asked me how old I am"

Maybe because I already know, Ariel thought but go Nellie, she said, "Tell me"

"I am only but twenty six, but in few moons I'll be twenty seven. You see, you are older than I am"

"You are young, My Lady" Ariel remarked wryly.

"If only you would agree." Nellie smiled as Ariel rinsed the soap from her hair, "Now tell me, how do you speak with the Beta, what does he think about you so far?"

She felt Ariel's hands in her hair stop, Ariel paused tiredly as if thinking for a while, but after a brief moment of silence, she only sighed in frustration. She honestly didn't know, the man's thoughts were becoming too complex these days, his actions were equally weird. But how could she say it? He had taken her last night, she had thrown herself at him ofcourse, but how was she even sure she had not made a mistake? With the way he treated her afterwards and the way he had kept her at bare like a pandemic.

She was convinced without doubt that he was the one, but how could she convince him that it was really her? The man had been too stubborn to evb pay attention to his own body reaction, could she tell Nellie? She was running out if time already It was just a matter of time before her Pa found out she had…

"Ariel?" Nellie touched her hand gently go bring her out of her trance.

"Oh, I am here" Ariel gave her the sweetest smile she could come up with.

"Are you alright?"

"I am. Just a little bit tired" She found herself admitting.

"Oh dear. How about you go in and prepare a dress, I'll just wash up and meet up with you before I catch a cold in this water" Nellie offered.

"But…"

"Don't worry, Ariel. When I'm done you can rest, please ring for my food. I have to practice with the boys in the field later so I might as well speed up the process"

"What boys?"

"Oh, my guards. I am just taking them on a little sword training"

Ariel chuckled, this was one of the reasons she particularly liked Nellie, the lady was brave beyond what she cared to admit. Just the perfect lady, courageous and loving, the people's person.

"How does the Alpha take that?" She couldn't help but ask.

"He doesn't have a choice, besides they are my guards and it's just a way of killing time" Nellie waved.

Ariel nodded and left the bathroom. Nellie took her time to rinse and dry herself, she allowed the water to sooth her skin for a little longer before she finally stepped out if the bathroom. When she came into the room, Ariel had prepared a beautiful dress for her, she sat in front of the mirror, smiling.

"Seat" Ariel pointed at the chair next to her.

Nellie took a seat like she was compelled to, Ariel took her time to dry her hair. She massaged the oils into it gently, and then she began to comb the locks out, gently. Nellie closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being treated like a princess, Ariel chuckled at her behavior.

"How are things going between you and the Alpha?" Nellie heard Ariel ask.

Her face flushed immediately, "I don't know, Ariel. We are getting along just fine"

"Just that?" Ariel asked in a tone that made Nellie's stomach fluster.

"Is there supposed to be more?"

"Come on, Nellie. You both live in the same room, literally like a husband and I wife"

Nellie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "That is just a way of protecting me, Ariel. It is safer to be here with Earl than to sleep alone in my chambers"

"Oh, is that so? Why? If I may ask" Ariel held her gaze in tbe mirror.

"The Rogues, you know they have invaded my room a little too much and…"

Ariel laughed loudly now, "But the Rogues can no longer bother you, My lady. Atleast for now."

"What… why is that?"

"Why do you think the Witcher was here?" Ariel watched the frown settle in on Nellie's face"

"Why? I was never told"

"Well, the castle is kind of… protected from the Rogues invasion now, so everywhere is as safe as the word itself"

"You mean, the Rogues can not invade the…"

"Exactly"

Nellie's frown grew deeper, why was Earl still keep her in his chambers? She felt the anger sip in, was he trying to…?