All I Need ✔️

Chapter 12

Safania's POV

Shit. I quickly turned away. Did he see? Were they glowing? Of course they were. Shit. Now he knew. He had to know.

"Did I . . . are you crying?"

Did he seriously think the glowing was tears? Maybe . . . in the daylight, from somewhat of a distance, and without any idea what else it could be, it was possible he actually thought I was crying.

"I am sorry your highness," I replied, still not making eye contact. I wanted to make sure my eyes were back to normal. While the anger faded, I tried working up some tears as a cover and found it wasn't that difficult to do.

"I think you've had enough questions for now. I'll leave you with a guard until Emalina arrives. I have a meeting now, and after that I will come back so we can have dinner together. I trust that should be enough time for your mood to recover."

I nodded, still not making eye contact. I felt the prince hesitate, then he left without a word. You have got to handle yourself better than that, I scolded myself. You can't afford to lose control like that.

I heard a guard enter the room, but I didn't look at him either. I sat in silence until I heard Emalina burst into the room. "So how was it? What did you talk about? Tell me everything!"

"We just talked about how I ended up here," I replied non-committally.

"So it went well?"

"I don't know," I responded.

"Well my meeting went well! Wait until you see the dresses I have picked out for you. They're already working on the first one. They went out to buy the fabric and they're going to stop by in a few minutes to measure you. So you should have your first dress by tomorrow! I hope you like what I chose," Emalina said, bursting with excitement.

"I'm sure I will, but I can't stay."

"What?" Emalina said, her excitement changing to confusion.

"I can't stay here. It's too dangerous. I already lost control of my eyes in front of the prince."

"He knows?" Emalina asked quickly, clearly concerned.

"No, he thought I was crying. He didn't get that good of a look I guess. But it's a matter of time. I've spent the last five years not being around people. I'm not good at regulating my emotions."

"But you can't leave," Emalina replied. "You're in a wheelchair for goodness sake. How do you plan on escaping and travelling in your condition?"

I paused. I didn't really have an answer for that one.

"Look," Emalina continued. "Just stay until your leg is healed. In the morning while the prince trains and has his meetings we can work on practicing how to stay calm. Okay?"

I didn't respond, just thought through things in my head. I didn't really have a choice. Emalina was right that in my condition I wasn't going anywhere.

"Okay," I replied. She smiled. "Good, because I really can't wait to see you in the dresses I've picked out."

"Doesn't it bother you?" I asked Emalina.

"What?" she asked.

"That I went from being a slave to a royal guest. That I went from being far below you and now you're going out of your way to help me?"

Emalina smiled. "You stick around royalty enough and you realize how arbitrary the system is. They act on whims all the time. And to be perfectly honest, I would much rather serve someone like you who knows what it's like to be lower class than one of those noblewomen snobs who treat their maids like trained pets and order them executed if their tea is too cold."

"Thanks, but I'm sure the noblewomen aren't that bad," I replied.

"The tea temperature execution was something that happened last year," Emalina responded without batting an eye.

"They killed someone over that?" I exclaimed, still not believing it.

"Yeah. Like I said, royals are arbitrary. Princess Celine is able to get away with pretty much anything. Prince Alterius is trying to keep up the façade of a happy marriage, so all she has to do is threaten to leave him and he obeys her every word. Rumor is that he has thought about ways to 'get rid of her' if you know what I mean. But I think as long as he has a steady stream of maids he can screw, he doesn't mind how demanding she is. I mean, what does he care if she kills a maid? As long as he still has some left to have sex with and it doesn't threaten his claim to the throne."

My eyes widened. Emalina noticed my shock.

"Don't worry! Prince Cassius is nothing like that. I mean, I guess I don't fully know what he's like because he's never been in a relationship. But he definitely doesn't go around sleeping with everything that moves like his brothers do."

"What do you think Prince Cassius wants with me?" I asked Emalina.

She looked at me carefully. "I don't know," she replied. "If I did I would tell you. But this is all very unusual for him. And he's so quiet. He's impossible to read."

I nodded.

The tailors entered at that point and took my measurements, with Emalina commenting the entire time. "Such a thin waist! But don't make it too tight-fitting - she'll bulk up once we start feeding her right." Eventually the tailors left, leaving the two of us alone again.

"Emalina, do you think I could have some time to myself?" I asked.

Emalina looked at me sadly.

"I've been instructed not to leave you alone," she replied.

My stomach dropped. Of course I wouldn't be allowed to be alone after all the idiotic things I had said to the Prince.

"So I'm a prisoner?" I asked.

"Not exactly . . . " she responded.

"I'm being held against my will, am I not?"

"Safania, you couldn't leave anyway," Emalina relied. "The prince was worried you would try to escape again and injure yourself."

"But what about when I'm better?" I asked. "Do I get to leave then?"

"I don't know," Emalina replied, not making eye contact. I sighed.

"Can we please do something to take my mind off this?"

"Oh . . . sure!" Emalina said cheerfully. "Do you know how to play pitchkettle?"

"No."

"I'll teach you. It's a very simple game, you should pick it up no problem. It's kind of a peasant game though."

I gave Emalina a look. Did she really think I cared about that?

"Right, okay. So you pick five cards . . . "

Emalina proceeded to explain a relatively simple card game, somewhat similar to a game played out East. It didn't take too long. We played one round, which Emalina won easily, and had started the second when a guard entered.

"His royal highness has requested your presence at dinner." He walked over to my wheelchair. "May I?" he asked politely. I nodded. "I'll see you later," I told Emalina. "We'll have a rematch!" she responded cheerfully.