Raven and Rose

Chapter 8: Undertones

Garth left the pub rolling the information in his mind. Rose's story was wilder than he thought. He thought of her dancing figure. He wanted her more than ever.

He just had to find a way to secure her. A plan formed in his mind. He got to the room and entered quietly. Brent's large figure was missing. Instead Prince Mark slept with the beautiful woman in his arms. Her dress was discarded on the floor but Garth could see the edging of her slip above the blanket. Garth knew they had chemistry. He would have to warp the Prince's mind to have him give her up but Garth had enough ammo to ensure that could be done.

He climbed into the second bed and leaned against the wall watching the bedded couple. The morning sun was all ready rising. A few moments later Brent tried to slip into the room. A smile quirked when he saw the couple but disappeared when he saw Garth.

Garth smiled at having the upper,
"I guess Mrs. Hull may have some explaining to do. I am not sure how the King will feel about this."

Mark's eyes shot open. He looked at Rose in his arms, he felt content. But then their night began coming back in pieces. He met Garth's eyes then saw Brent. He gulped nervously as he sat up taking care to pull the blanket up over sleeping Rose,
"Um.. Brent, I am so sorry.. we didn't.. um. This looks so bad!"

Brent smiled kindly but his neck was red,
"Aye. Rose is quite weak when she drinks. I assume she most have just crawled in with you by mistake. She is a bit of a black out."

Mark smiled at Brent, relieved that the big man wasn't putting his face through the wall. Brent passed Mark his shirt
"I didn't mean to be so late. I had a few too many myself and ran into with my cousin. We talked later than I realized!"

Garth cocked an eyebrow at the lie,
"I am surprised you felt comfortable enough to leave your wife unchaperoned. Especially if she is a weak drinker."

The brute scratched his head,
"Well.. it's a small inn. I trust her and in an emergency she can technically do more damage then me."

Brent knew he messed up looking like a respectable husband. But he also wanted to remind Garth that Rose was capable of more than an average woman. He saw her twitch, she was awake but pretending to sleep. No doubt forming a plan.

Garth challenged,
"Well I suppose you are lucky that the Prince is a respectable man Brent. It would seem she could have made a break in her vows last night had it been another man."

Rose took that as a cue to "wake up." She wrapped the sheet around her and sat up. She looked up at Mark first,
"Mark is very sweet Garth. Brent, my husband, I did ask Mark to dance. He is very terrific at dancing." She smiled sweetly at Mark, then looked back to Brent,
"But I assure you that neither one of us were in a state to do what Garth suggested. We simply finished dancing and went upstairs to sleep. I believe out of habit I cuddled up to poor Mark here but he was polite enough to not awake me.

Now, I am not much for mornings. How about we all go for some coffee and breakfast. I do not recall Garth being here last night and I know your cousin Brent! No doubt he talked your ear off all night. I am sure we all need some coffee!"

Brent and Mark nodded happy to be excused from the small room and awkward convo. They each grabbed their bags and headed out the room. Garth stood looking at Rose as he he did. He grabbed his bag from above her head taking time to run his eyes over her bare arms. She pulled her hair to the side to achieve more modesty. He chuckled,
"You know Rose?" He leaned forward and ran his hand around the back of her neck applying pressure to the scar than pulled a few escaped trendails into the side sweep,
"You look pretty in pink."

With that he left the room.

Rose sat momentarily lost. Did he know about her scar or was that just a coincidence? She touched the back of her neck softly. Her mind wandered back to Jason's dark eyes. Maybe he was actually there last night! Did he talk to Garth? And what would he have said? After she kicked Jason out he never came back to even try to apollogize.