19 Only rumors

Ari gulped as she fought down the blush creeping up her face. For some reason, the terrified thoughts of staying with Arell at night had escaped her. It may have been the instinctual distraction of making sure that he was healthy or the nagging thoughts about the angry, red glow in his eyes. Either way, she was frozen in her spot with the sudden realization.

After noticing how tense Ari got, Arell chuckled and walked away slowly. He made his way into the bedroom and Ari followed tentatively behind. She stood in the middle of the room twiddling her thumbs as he stepped into his closet and changed out of his wet clothes behind the changing screen. Though Ari was purposely avoiding looking into his closet, she could see out of the corner of her eye that he was much too tall for the screen. Everything from his shoulders up was clearly visible and she made a mental note to never look directly in there while he was changing. That would be dangerous considering how he looked in the washroom earlier. Even just the thought of it made Ari blush again.

Arell cleared his throat as he exited, breaking Ari from her anxious trance. When she turned to him, he was wearing a simple sleeved shirt and pants. She looked down to see him clutching a pillow and a few heavy quilts under one arm. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she glanced back up at his face.

His sly smile faded as he laughed genuinely at Ari. The sight of the wide smile and sound of his deep, warm laughter made her heart skip a beat unexpectedly. It was the complete opposite of his usual coldness.

"Sorry. I couldn't help but tease you," he admitted as his laugh subsided. He lifted the blankets up a bit to show her. "I'll be sleeping on the floor until we're properly married." He began laying the quilts down and chuckled quietly. "So get your mind out of the gutter, Princess."

Ari narrowed her eyes at him. "It's because you-!" She stopped herself and groaned. She didn't think there was anything to say here that would help the situation, so she huffed away into her closet, ignoring the soft laughter she heard from Arell. She pulled out one of her satin nightgowns and painstakingly changed out of her damp dress, then looked down at herself. She'd been so comfortable wearing these nightgowns to bed because of the soft, thin material and the only people that saw her in them were the women that helped her get dressed so frequently. Now that she was alone in a room with a man that she was regrettably attracted to, she decided to throw the bathrobe on as well and wrapped it around herself. Then she rushed from the closet to the bed and pulled the covers over her body quickly. She turned to peek at Arell, wondering if he'd seen her, but he was turned away from the four-poster bed and already on his makeshift floor-bed under a heavy quilt. Ari let out her breath and relaxed, closing her eyes. She felt a little guilty that he was sleeping on the floor while she laid in the fluffy Atranian blankets. Then, exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks. She drifted off to sleep, reliving the events of the day in her dreams.

The next morning, Ari was up early. Even so, Arell was nowhere to be seen and the pillow and quilts were already put away. Milli and Jannah were waiting patiently outside the bedroom door with Vida when Ari poked her head out. They bowed their heads and the maids began making the bed as Vida picked out a moderately simple dress for Ari.

While Ari was getting dressed and her hair was being done, she asked, "What is Prince Arellan doing this early?"

Vida's lip twitched slightly as she answered, "His Highness is being briefed on the matters that came up while he was away. He'll more than likely be in meetings all morning."

Ari sighed and began packing up a basket with spices. "There's something else you want to say." It wasn't a question. She knew Vida well enough to tell when she was holding herself back. Probably trying to respect Ari's position as royalty.

Vida pursed her lips. "You like him," she stated abruptly. Milli and Jannah paused and shared a look with each other before pressing their lips together and returning to work.

Ari blinked at Vida, then attempted to scoff but it sounded fake even to herself. "I most certainly do not!" she lied. When she finally met Vida's gaze after a few silent moments, Vida's eyebrow was raised and she had on her yeah-I'll-believe-you-when-pigs-fly face. Ari huffed, then shrugged defeatedly. "I… I find him handsome. And intriguing. But I can't honestly say that I'm in love with him."

Vida searched her face for a minute, then nodded. "Alright, then. Just be careful. If the rumors were bad about him in Atrana, I have to say that the rumors here in Otha are even worse."

Ari flinched. "Worse than a land-thieving, murderous demon of the battlefield?"

Vida nodded again. "Milli and Jannah have heard many maids say that he has no respect for life. In battle, he kills all who cross him. And off the battlefield…" she paused, hesitating. "Women flock to him like birds fighting over the last breadcrumb. They say he had a different woman at his side every week, but he was never in a real relationship. He only used them." She shrugged. "Of course, rumors are only rumors. But they usually spread from some form of truth."

Milli piped up in her sweet voice while fluffing a pillow, "Apparently, having many concubines is very normal here. All of the women in the court fawn over him in hopes of becoming one."

Jannah nodded. "I can understand sleeping around before marriage, but taking multiple wives?" She stood up straight and gave a mock shiver. "Gross."

Ari's eyes widened and she looked around at the women in the room. Her voice sounded tiny when she spoke. "Will he take other wives?"

The girls immediately shook their heads and waved their hands in the air. "No! Of course not!"

That didn't help Ari's anxiety at all. She groaned. Polygamy was pretty taboo in Atrana, but she knew that other countries didn't share the same views on marriage. She bit her lip, then picked up the basket of spices and let the maids lead her down to the castle's kitchen.

The four women clearly stood out in the kitchen. Though Ari's skin tone was one of the lightest in Atrana, it was still a much darker shade than any of the Othan maids and chefs scurrying around. They all eyed Ari curiously, some completely shocked, as she got to work making a small breakfast for Arell and herself. Jannah stayed behind to clean up Ari's prep area while Milli helped carry the tray of food up to the meeting room.

Ari caught sight of Ronan standing guard outside of the room just as she made out the sound of Arell's deep voice seeping through the cracked door. Ronan briefly bowed his head in greeting and Ari returned the gesture with an added smile. She quickly knocked on the wooden door and pushed it open before the nerves could make her hesitate. The men sitting around the table all turned to look at Ari with furrowed brows. Arell was leaning over the end of the table, but stood up straight when he saw that it was his fiancée that had entered.

His eyes softened ever so slightly. If Ari wasn't looking at his reaction, she probably wouldn't have seen the minute change in expression. "What brings you here?" he asked curiously.

Ari ignored the narrowed gazes of the noblemen burning a hole in her face and smiled softly. "I made breakfast," she stated simply. A few of the nobles pressed their lips together to hold in their laughter or sneers, but it didn't faze her.

Arell nodded. "Thank you." He turned to the rest of the room. "Look over those papers again and we'll meet back here in an hour." Then he put a hand on Ari's back and led her out of the meeting room to a similar door further down the hall. "This is my office of sorts," he explained as he held it open for her.

The room was a large den with a formal sitting area on the right and a huge desk on the left. Behind the desk was a wall of bookshelves, all filled with books. Ari stared at it with sparkling eyes for a moment before she heard Milli set the breakfast tray down on the coffee table and leave with a small bow. Vida and Ronan also bowed their heads and stood outside of the office.