A Flower for Guy #Wattys2021

Chapter XVIII

[My heartfelt thanks to @JeannieGisborne for her invaluable help in correcting this story; pls check her lovely stories about Guy and the Robin Hood BBC fandom, I highly recommend them]

Chapter XVIII

Nottingham, July 26, 1194

When Violet awakened on the next morning, there was no trace of Guy in the room. He had folded the blanket and placed it on a chair with the pillow on top. She rose and crossed the chamber to open the shutters. The sun was shining, still low on the horizon. The window opened on the inner courtyard, where several servants were passing, minding their tasks.

Hearing a knock on the door, Violet withdrew from the windowsill.

"Who's there?" she asked.

"'Tis Rebelle", she heard her cousin's voice.

"Coming!" Violet cried. She hastily looked for her house robe, donned it and, still barefoot, ran to the door to open it.

Rebelle was back to her usual male outfit. Coming in, she watched her cousin closely.

"Everything's alright?" she enquired in a low voice. Violet nodded, closing the door, then she walked back to the bed to look for her house shoes.

"Well?" Rebelle urged her, still anxious. "How did Guy behave?"

Violet turned to her cousin.

"He was very understanding", she answered softly. Her words reassured Rebelle, but she noticed Violet wasn't smiling and this confused her, as a pleased bride would bear a dreamy and satisfied expression.

"Understanding?" she repeated, uncertain. "You mean that he was kind and gave you pleasure?"

"He was more than kind", Violet affirmed. Rebelle wrinkled her forehead and crossed her arms on her chest.

"What are you not telling me?" she queried. Violet considered keeping to herself that Guy hadn't imposed on her the consummation of the marriage, but her cousin deserved the truth.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone", she therefore said. "Not even Drastan", seeing Rebelle about to protest, she repeated more forcefully. "Not even Drastan! Otherwise, I'll say no more."

Rebelle realised the thing was very serious.

"I promise", she said with a nod.

"Guy guessed something was wrong and asked me to be honest with him", Violet told her, speaking in a low voice. "Thus, I told him everything about how Charles behaved in bed with me. For this reason, he... didn't touch me. He said he would wait for me to desire it as much as he does", she concluded all in one breath.

Rebelle was speechless and her jaw almost dropped to the floor.

"He didn't touch you?" she repeated, shocked. Guy's respect for Violet was much higher than she had anticipated.

"Well, almost", Violet corrected herself, recalling the kiss they had exchanged. "He kissed me in a very... intense way", she told her. Rebelle noticed she was now bearing a rapt expression and concealed a grin.

"Did you like it?" she asked.

"Oh yes, very much", Violet admitted.

"And... what did you feel? Your heart pounding hard? You felt hot? Tingling here?" Rebelle urged her, pointing to the lower part of her belly. Violet blinked.

"Um... aye, exactly. Everything you said", she whispered. This time, Rebelle didn't hide her smile.

"'Tis called desire", she informed her. "Guy made you feel like you wanted to make love with him, but you couldn't know it. Trust me and, next time, let yourself go!" she shook her head. "I cannot believe that, having you so excited, Guy didn't finish the task..."