Winter

I sounded a bit breathless and I know that I was flustered. He walked over to a stool and put it down next to my bathtub, not caring if I was feeling uncomfortable and I had to give it to him as he wasn’t looking in the tub for now. “We need to talk.” I nodded because I know we had to do that but I’d never thought that he would want to talk while I was naked and vulnerable.

“Okay but couldn’t this wait after I am dressed?” I asked him sceptic and that made him look in the bathtub. I tried to cover everything but it was as if he saw right through me hands and the smile that appeared on his face was one of pure lust. “You’re beautiful.” He whispered and suddenly I felt the air shift and from uncomfortable it went to sizzling. I squirmed under his eyes and that was not something I wanted him to see.

“Okay, eyes up here buddy.” I got through to him and he actually did just that but the fire didn’t go out and it made his eyes a shade darker than usually and that was a hot sight.
“I’m sorry but what are we going to do, we can’t stay here Winter.” He was right, we had to leave but I wasn’t sure on the how part and I know he also didn’t have a clue. “I think we just have to find out as much as possible.”

He nodded but I know what he was thinking. “What if we never get out of here Winter?” I shrugged because I really didn’t know. I wish I did have an answer but I didn’t. “I don’t know Niall, the only thing I know is that we have to make the best of this and just pretend that we belong here.” I didn’t sound convincing at all and I knew this but what else could I have said? Niall looked at me a little bit longer before he sighed and got up.

“All right, I will see you soon.” He bended over and kissed me on my forehead before he left the room. I had to get some air after that but Elaine still hadn’t returned. The only thing I could do now was to try and relax and think about anything other than Niall and the kiss he gave me or the way he had stared at my body. I also knew that if we had known each other longer, he would probably had done more then only stare. The thought didn’t make me feel better, it only made me feel warmer and I really was ready to get out of the tub.

It was like she could read my mind because I was just about to call her, when she entered the room, with a beautiful dress. The dress was deep velvet and she even had a cloak, which was made out of fur. I really didn’t want to wear it but I don’t think I had much choice in the matter, as it was really cold here and there was snow everywhere and I couldn’t wear my own coat, not if we wanted to blend in that is. I got out of the tub and Elaine immediately put a towel around me and helped me dry my body.

To say that this was weird, was an understatement but this was how things went back in the days, so there was no way I was going to protest. When she was done she helped me in my dress but when I saw what I had to put on as underwear I had to smile because it looked ridiculous but the I was happy I didn’t have to wear a bra but instead of that damn thing I had to wear a corset, which was ten times worse as she had to reign in tightly, this because I was slim. “Does it really have to be this tight Elaine?” I asked here through grunts, every time she reigned me in. “Oh yes milady.” She sounded so happy that I didn’t complained once and I was thanking the lord when she was finally done. I took a deep breath to see if it hurt but that wasn’t the case.

“Milady if you’d please?” I stepped into the beautiful dress and was surprised it really fitted me. It felt soft against the skin and it left my shoulders bare but as we were in the castle this wasn’t a problem not with fire everywhere. “Please sit here Milady because I have to do your hair now.” She was really sweet and I wondered what she was going to do with my hair. I hoped she was going to braid it but that wasn’t the plan apparently. She pulled the brush through my hair and let it fall loose and as I had waves in my hair from myself, she didn’t have to do a lot to give it volume, not that I know if she can even do that but still.

“All done.” She smiled at me and waited for another instruction. I walked over to the big mirror in the corner of my bedroom and when I looked at my reflection, it was like I was a completely different person. My skin was really pale and she had put something red on my lips, my hair was shining and looked actually really good. She really had to tell me the secret to that because in the real world, there was no way I could get my hair to shine like that. There was a knock on my door and Niall appeared, I know my mouth had dropped when he came walking through the door because he looked way too hot.

He was wearing a kilt and it actually had the colours of Ireland but in a subtle way and the shirt he was wearing stood open at the neck and the leather jacket he was wearing on top of it, looked really smashing. He also was wearing a belt, which contained a real sword. He wore boots, which made him look even more manly. I was aching to touch him and had to contain myself from doing so because that would probably be awkward.

“You look stunning Winter.” He was checking me out with a small smile on his face and I couldn’t stop myself from blushing. “You don’t look that bad yourself.” I complimented him and as we were staring at each other, we heard Elaine sigh.

“Is something wrong milady?” Elaine asked worried but there was absolutely nothing wrong right this minute. “No Elaine but could you direct us to the dining room?” I didn’t know if they had one but I know it was dinner time. She nodded eagerly and we followed her. I hold on to Niall’s arm and together we made our way downstairs. Candles were lit everywhere around us, giving the castle a more romantic vibe and I know I should be panicking about our situation but I was actually feeling not to shabby.

I know Niall was looking at me while we were walking behind Elaine but I tried to ignore it. “It’s right behind this door miss.” She curtsied again before leaving us alone. I took a deep breath and that’s when Niall opened the door and my mouth dropped almost to the floor because in front of us was a really large table, set with so many candles and the food that was occupying the table looked mouth watering. The only thing I didn’t like was the hummus that was in the middle. “This is beautiful.” I mumbled. I glanced at Niall and he was also taking it all in and I actually heard his stomach growl.

I couldn’t stop myself from giggling when I heard that, which made Niall look at me. I smiled at him and even felt so free as to wink at him. “Welcome Lady Blackwood and lord Horan, please join us at the table.” The duke really sounded nice and we were happy to oblige. A page pulled the chair back for me and immediately poured me some wine.

“Let’s eat.” The duke said to everyone. I had to stop myself from staring at everyone because there were so many people, who looked like they walked out of one of my history books, it was truly amazing. I had to remember myself how to eat like a proper lady, as table manners were important in these classes. “So lord Horan, A little bird told me that you two are engaged to be married, is this true?” I kept staring at my hands and Niall knew I wasn’t going to answer that because the question was not asked to me.

“Yes, we are engaged milord.” Niall sounded way to happy and I know what the duke was going to say now, I had read about these kind of things often enough to know that the duke was going to offer to marry us, right here, only if it is to have a party.

“Isn’t that great news but I can’t let you two go without marrying. So what do you think if we marry you two the day after tomorrow?” he was not really asking and I know we didn’t have a choice. This was going to be a disaster and I felt even more guiltier than I did when we were captured by that knight but never in a million years had I expected Niall’s answer.

“I would love that very much lord Albany.”

Notes