The Kings Mistress Chapter 77

[ … words ]

Alistair stood there for a moment. Though he did not know it at that time, he wanted the same thing Sierra wanted. He wanted to dance with her for the rest of the night and no one else. He did not realize just how much he had fallen for her until the moment he released her hand and waist.

He simply wanted her back, and nothing more. If he wasn’t the King, and did not need to care for all the formalities, he would have held onto Sierra’s hand just a little longer. Or, he would pull her back into his embrace and kiss her in front of everyone.

But alas, he could not.

Alistair walked over to Princess Myra, and asked for her hand to dance. The princess was a friend to Sierra and generally friendly. He had enjoyed the dinner they had previously and hence, decided he would honor her with a dance. Sierra smiled, excited for Myra as she quickly made her way to the centre of the dance floor with Alistair.

Sierra grabbed a glass of wine from a passing servant’s tray and took a sip as she forced a smile. It was getting increasingly difficult for her to manage her emotions around King Alistair.

“We can’t let that happen again,” she reminded herself as she took another sip of the wine.

Looking over at the dance floor, she gave Myra a smile. She was over the moon to be able to dance with King Alistair. Sierra was happy for her too. As she watched them dance, Sierra’s eyes could not help but travel to meet Alistair’s. For just a moment, she swore he was looking in her direction.

She blinked and looked over again, only to see that he was looking and chatting with Myra as they danced. Just as he had done with her. She could not help but wonder if he was saying the same things to Myra as he did with her.

Sierra sighed. Her heart was filled with butterflies moments ago and now they had all flown away. She placed the half glass of wine down on a nearby table. She walked out into the open night air and took in a deep breath of fresh air.

She leaned over the balcony and gazed at the view before her. How she wished to be out in the forest hunting, or out on a night ride on her horse, Midnight. Seeing as there was nothing else left for her at the party, Sierra decided to call it a night.

“Ida, let’s go,” she whispered to her maid who was standing just a short distance away from her.

“My Princess, don’t you want to stay a little while longer with Princess Myra and Princess Taita?” She asked.

She could see the look on Sierra’s face. It was a look of disappointment.

“What’s wrong, princess?” Ida asked again, when Sierra did not reply.

She looked over to Ida, uncertain of how to put her emotions to words. She bit her lip as she turned back to the open view beyond the confines of the balcony and sighed.

“Ida?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Have you ever felt jealous before?”

“Jealous?” Ida pondered. She glanced back into the ballroom to see Princess Myra still dancing with King Alistair.

At that instant, Ida understood that she had asked such a question.

“I have, just once.”

“Oh?” Sierra turned around, hoping to hear more about Ida’s experience.

The maid was a little shy to share her own experiences, but Sierra had never once made her feel awkward. She freely shared her story with the princess. Ida once had a boy she liked. She did not know why she liked him but it was what it was.

Once, she saw him chatting with another girl. They were laughing and joking, having lots of fun together. Ida went over and broke them up without a second thought. She poured a bucket of water over the girl and ran away laughing.

Sierra laughed along with Ida as she recounted the tale.

“Looking back at it now, I was so foolish. I never realized why I did that until I was older. Jealousy is a powerful emotion,” she lamented.

Sierra nodded in agreement.

“I guess it would be inevitable. It’s impossible for a King to just love one person, isn’t it?” She sighed as she continued to space out at the open view.

Sierra pondered over her current circumstances. If she was chosen to be Alistair’s concubine, she would be over the moon. Not only would she have fulfilled her duty to her home kingdom, she would be by his side. But that would also mean she would have to give up her freedom.

The Vargos castle would be her new home and Drakin would become her Kingdom. She looked down at the dress she was wearing as the thoughts continued to swirl in her mind.

She would have to wear dresses everyday and attend events, likely with the Queen, and adhere to all the rules that came with being a royal. She would no longer be the carefree knightess she once was.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to give everything up, Ida,” Sierra sighed.

“Give up? Give up what?”

Sierra felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest. She turned back to see Alistair standing at the entrance of the balcony, looking straight at her.

“What are you doing here?” She asked as she tried to calm herself down. Her heart was still pounding in her chest. “Weren’t you dancing with Myra?”

“I was,” Alistair replied with a grin as he walked up to her, “But not anymore.”

He walked up to Sierra and picked up her hands. His warm touch contrasted her cold hands. She had been standing out on the balcony for a while and there had been a cool night breeze.

“Your hands are cold,” he whispered to her as he rubbed his hands around hers before breathing some warm air onto them, “this should warm you up.”

Sierra was stunned by Alistair’s actions. For quite some time, she did not know what to say or do. She simply looked at him in shock. What felt like ages was actually just a few seconds.

She quickly removed her hands from his and took a step back, hoping to create some distance between them. But Sierra was backed up on the balcony railing, she had nowhere else to move.

Alistair took a step closer to her. He furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why Sierra seemed to be avoiding him. She was even avoiding his gaze, no matter how hard he tried to catch hers.