The Kings Mistress Chapter 105

[ … words ]

Roxine pulled Sierra to the side. She was still looking over to where Alistair was while trying to theories on what Roxine meant. Once they were in the corner of the hall, she leaned in and whispered in her ear again.

“Alistair won’t be coming over to speak to you. Not today.”

“Oh. That’s alright,” Sierra slumped her shoulders as she looked away from Alistair and turned her attention to Roxine instead.

“You definitely don’t look alright. I can tell,” Roxine mused as she folded her arms, “The Royal court noted that Alistair had not been giving any attention to some of the other princesses, so he has to make up for it today.”

“Oh, I see,” hearing Roxine’s explanation made her feel a little better.

“Sierra, I’m going to need you to do me a favor again,” Roxine switched gears in their conversation.

“A favor? What sort of favor?”

Roxine glanced across the hall, making sure no one seemed to be listening in on their conversation before she gave her reply.

“Same as the last one.”

Sierra was a little surprised. It had only been a few days since Roxine and Diane met.

“Is everything alright?” She asked out of concern in a lower voice.

“Everything is fine, she just asked for us to meet again. I think what happened last time worried her,” Roxine replied.

“When would it be?”

“Tonight,” Roxine replied as she bit her lip.

She glanced over to Sierra who looked a little surprised.

“I know this is short notice, but I would really appreciate your help with this. So will you?”

Sierra nodded without a second thought.

The rest of the evening was pretty mundane. Roxine left her side shortly after when some nobles came forward to speak to her. Sierra also got to mingle with some of the nobles too.

When they started asking questions about her home kingdom of Cair, she was a little flustered. But as the conversation continued, Sierra was able to answer their queries with confidence.

Ida, who was by her side, had sweat trickling down her forehead the entire time. When the evening finally came to a close, she was so relieved that they survived.

“You did really well, princess,” Ida praised.

Sierra looked as if she had worked all day and night. She was exhausted from having to entertain the nobles of Drakin and their questions.

“Thank you, Ida, but it seems like today is going to be a long day for me.”

That night, after a relaxing bath and shoulder massage from Ida, Sierra got dressed and left her room by the window.

It was the same as the other night, Sierra met Roxine near the gate leading out of the castle. A carriage was already waiting for them. Without exchanging any words, they both hopped on and took off into the night.

“What’s with the sudden rush, Your Highness?” Sierra asked out of curiosity.

Based on the Queen’s expression she sensed something was amiss. She looked nervous.

“Sorry, did you say something?” Roxine asked moments later as she glanced up at Sierra.

Worried for the Queen, Sierra sat a little closer and repeated her question. This time, Roxine heard her.

“To be honest, I’m not sure either,” she replied while looking down at her hands.

“Is Lady Diane in danger?” Sierra whispered to her, afraid of who might be out there, listening in on their conversation.

Roxine looked up at her nervously. Her words planted worry in the Queen’s mind. She had received Diane’s letter early that morning. Though she did not look like it earlier in the day, she had been worried since then.

She had not been able to think of anything else, wondering why Diane had called to meet so urgently. She was excited and thrilled to see her again, but worried something might have gone wrong?

“Oh no…” the more her thoughts swirled in her mind, the more worried she got.

“Sierra, what if she changed her mind? What if-” Before they could continue their conversation, the carriage came to a stop.

A knock on the carriage door caused both of them to jump.

“Miss Sierra, Lady Diane wishes to speak to you. Her Highness is to remain on the carriage,” a voice explained.

The Queen and the Knightess turned to look at one another in confusion. Worried that it might be a trap of some sort, Sierra, had her hand on the hilt of one of her swords.

Roxine whispered to her, “Be careful.”

Though she still wondered what was going on, she reached down to her shoes calmly and revealed a hidden dagger. If things were to go sideways, she was going to fight to the death.

Sierra turned her attention back to the carriage door. She opened it cautiously and peeked her head out. Everything seemed normal, so she got off the carriage as the source of the voice had instructed.

The carriage door closed promptly behind her as the messenger, guided her towards a clearing further up. It was at this moment, that Sierra realized they were in a different location from where they last met before. The area was decorated with lanterns and flower arrangements on each side.

Putting two and two together, Sierra instantly realized what it was.

This was a ceremony, a love declaration.

Sierra saw Lady Diane at the end of the candle-lit trail. She looked even more nervous than Roxine did.

“I guess I don’t need to explain what this is anymore, don’t I?” Diane chuckled nervously as she wiped her hands on her pants.

She was dressed in a cream-colored suit with matching colored shoes. Sierra smiled as she watched Diane fix her collar for the third time.

“Did she say anything? Suspect anything?” Diane asked Sierra as she reached over and helped her to readjust her collar.

“She’s worried for you, thinking you had an emergency,” Sierra chuckled as she dusted off her suit.

She took a step back to admire Diane. Once she made sure she looked great, she gave her a smile.

“Don’t keep her waiting too long. She might burst out of that carriage with a knife in her hands thinking I killed you,” Sierra mused.