First, there was a great deal of splashing as the tall, thin, very naked man clambered out of the tub, followed by the crashing of the doors being swung open as the guards stormed in from the hall and Lantha ran in from the servants' hall. Mina had picked up what she thought was a random object, only to find that she was holding her own dagger against the intruder, who was trying unsuccessfully to cover himself with a loofa.
"It's alright! It's all right!" Lantha yelled shrilly, stepping between the man, the oncoming guards, and a terrified Mina. "It's just the wielder."
"The human?!" Mina was offended by the suggestion. There was no way the man standing before her was the same filthy creature who pulled the dagger from her. He was too clean, too groomed, and frankly too handsome. She looked again at the dagger in her hand and walked closer to her uninvited guest to get a better look. There they were, those impossible blue, kind eyes that had watched her while he… while she… her cheeks flushed and she turned away. "Why is he in here?" She whispered through gritted teeth, waving the guards away.
"The Reagent, miss," Lantha responded quietly. This was why her father let her go without so much as a slap on the wrist. This surprise was his punishment, but to what end?
"Dress him," she ordered and went back out into her sitting room to wait. He'd have to put the dagger back, but then he had to leave. There was no way he was staying in her rooms. It was only moments before he emerged in layered robes fit for the king he was going to be. She frowned anyway.
"I'm so sorry, princess. I would never have surprised you like that." The words tumbled out of his mouth. He was so sincere that her anger cracked a little.
"I'm the queen now." She didn't need to be petty, but she'd had a long day.
"Yes, of course, my queen." He sat down on one of the chairs near her. His hair had been cut up to around his ears and was piled in wet, messy waves. His beard had been cleanly shaven, and his eyebrows tidied up. He looked like an entirely different person except for those eyes. They were the same. Impossible blue and lined too much for his age.
"And you are the wielder. By the end of this week, you will be my husband and king. Are you prepared for what that entails?" She sounded stiff and regal, as though she wasn't sitting talking to her future husband. Her "destiny." She nearly vomited at the thought.
"To be honest? No. I didn't do this thinking it would work. I was looking to work at the palace, and failing to pull the dagger was the easiest way to accomplish that. A place to sleep and regular meals were all I was after." He scratched his now beardless face and fussed with the tie on his outermost robe.
"And you couldn't get employment outside of the palace?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. This had to be the weirdest reason in history for someone to attempt to wield the dagger. The candidates wanted to be king.
"I've just gotten out of prison. Been there since I was 16 for stealing some food for my sick mum. Nobody cares about the reason. They won't hire a criminal." It wasn't until then that she noticed the diagonal cross brand on his wrist, still fairly fresh and angry. She softened momentarily. A lifetime of struggle for trying to feed his sick mother hardly seemed fair.
"Here. You have to put it back." She held the dagger out to him and avoided eye contact. "I assume it's just the opposite of taking it out, but I've never done this before."
"Evander."
"What?" Her eyes snapped to his.
"Evander Aldebrand, but people used to call me Van. I figured, if we're going to be doing this again, you should probably know my name." he smirked at her and raised his eyebrows again. She barely contained the slap that she itched to give him. It would have been much more efficient now that his face was bare.
"Mina of Sapphirus, your Queen." She emphasized the last two words. He sobered up pretty quickly and looked away sheepishly.
"Are you ready?" He grasped the dagger and held it out. She took his hand and slowly guided it towards her chest. The same warmth filled her chest as he drew near. When his knuckles touched her chest, the warmth was so overwhelming she struggled to keep her breathing steady. She closed her eyes so she could focus. When she felt the barrier of her chest give way, she moved her hand to grasp his forearm and continued to guide his hand inside her until she felt the dagger settle into its home.
"Let go," she ordered. She felt him release and began to pull his hand out. She continued to grasp his forearm, struggling to keep her breath as even as possible. All at once, the feeling stopped. She opened her eyes and released her hold on his arm. His deep blue eyes were staring intently at her. She hated it and quickly looked away. "Lantha?"
"Yes, little miss?" She emerged, looked at Evander, and corrected herself, "erm… milady."
"Please see the wielder to a guest room until his permanent quarters are prepared." She said as casually as she could muster. The sweet older woman clicked her mouth and looked solemn. "The Regent has ordered you not to," Mina said, annoyed.
"Yes, milady. And while my duty is wholly to you and I would carry out your every wish, the guards do not feel the same. They've even placed one in my hall. He is their king until your wedding coronation in a week. The wielder must stay." Lantha's voice was very low and steady in an attempt to make the words coming out of her mouth less harsh, but nothing could make anything she was saying seem better. She was being forced by her own father to live and sleep in a room with a strange man whom he knew nothing about. Absolutely typical, and she's not sure why she was so surprised by it.
"I'll just leave on my own two feet, then." Evander slapped his knees before standing and making for the door. Before she could stop him, he swung open the door. At the click of the latch, the guards had already begun to turn into the doorway, and he was face to face with a wall created by two large men. He began to try to squeeze himself between them. "Hello. Uh, I'm sorry, but if you don't mind, I would like to go somewhere else. Perhaps the library. I'm sure it's lovely this time of day…"
"You may not pass." One of them said.
"Yes, it's just that, your queen and I… your… your wielder, we'd like to…"
"You may not pass." The guard said again.
"I see… and there's nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?" The guard tilted his head down as much as his helmet would allow and glared at Evander. Evander shifted uncomfortably. "Right. Well, you have a good night. Try not to fall asleep." The two women were obviously trying to stifle laughs when he turned around to face them. Mina wasn't sure why he thought that would work, but she admired his boldness.
"The guards are, unfortunately, very loyal to my father. Apparently, before my mother died, he was a very benevolent king." She intended to soothe his ego a little, but she was pretty sure all she managed was to piss herself off at her father even more. He was once so good that the guards still revered him, but he couldn't muster that "good" for his own daughter.
"It's alright, I'll sleep on the settee," he offered. She may not like the idea of anything that was going on, but she couldn't make him sleep on a couch that wasn't even long enough for him. That seemed cruel.
"I can't allow that. I couldn't..." He put his hands on hers, and she stopped. His face was filled with such resolve that arguments didn't seem useful.
"After 10 years sleeping on a stone floor without even a pillow, the settee will make me feel like royalty. There aren't any other good options, and I refuse to make you uncomfortable." He was very solemn.
"Lantha, please get the wielder anything he needs to be comfortable and then prepare my bath. I'd like to be clean before I rest." Lantha bowed gently, and Mina decided to leave the sitting room without further conversation. She had reached her limit on dealing with the day. Lantha was perfectly capable of taking care of the whole situation without her.