Chapter 83

Rose served them their food dutifully and then they all retired to the sitting area to eat, all of the younger children were to eat in their rooms as the visitors needed to plan their escape.

Bastian sat next to the flower, awkwardly balancing a bowl of hot stew and warm bread on his lap.

"So, we need to get you guys to the capital city?" The brother named Linden asked, his hand holding a piece of bread that he had dipped in the stew.

'That looks good.' Bastian thought and he held his bowl with one hand and with the other he picked up his bread. He raised his eyes to listen to the conversation.

"Yes, we need to get all the way to Viskogorny. But we would like to stop at the capital on the way." The flower answered and Bastian dropped his bowl.

"Damn! Samadur! Holy fecking!" He jumped up yelling profanities as he did.

He looked to see the flower covering her mouth, her eyes betrayed her amusement.

He glanced around at the others and when his eyes met Dimitri's his friend burst into laughter, this encouraged snickers from the others. After the dark haired man had calmed himself he wiped an imaginary tear away and said with a voice full of merriment, "Well, it looks as though the almighty Sovereign got stew all over himself just by a single word."

Bastian ran his tongue along his teeth in anger as his friend stood and announced, still laughing, "May he be remembered always." And with a bow the others all erupted into laughter. Bastian willed his blood not to rise to his cheeks but his body disobeyed him and he felt his cheeks heat.

Bastian glanced down at the flower who was trembling with suppressed laughter.

His ears burnt and he trudged off to the outdoors and climbed the ladder to the loft.

"Well, that went well." He muttered to himself as he stripped himself of the soiled clothes only to find that there were no more clothing articles in the loft.

"Damn!" He muttered as he fell to the bed he'd slept on the previous night, massaging his temples as he fought the embarrassment that he'd just experienced.

~~~~~~~~

Hydrangea inhaled deeply as she attempted to fight the laughter but his expression had been priceless.

Though she did not approve of his use of profanity it did add a certain hilarity to the situation.

Once she'd gotten most of the laughter out of her system she smoothed her skirt—which had some splotches of stew—and clearing her throat she said, "Dimitri, you should go apologize."

The man was still chuckling to himself, "Nonsense. That man needs a good laugh. And he will come to laugh at it, I guarantee it."

She smirked, "I agree that he needs to laugh at it but you also need to apologize. You hurt his pride." She didn't care, but she would want an apology if Brigitte or Rose had said something like that to her.

"He'll also need new clothes."

"There's some laundry folded in the closet, Gladi made them for Row but they should fit." Rose said.

Hydrangea nodded, "See? There you go. You can bring him some clean clothes and apologize."

Dimitri nodded but the glint in her eyes made her doubt his intentions.

They walked out to the barn and she handed the folded clothes to Dimitri but he shook his head with a wicked grin. She gaped at him and he chuckled silently.

He mouthed the words, "He's your husband." And then trudged off.

With an angry sigh she tucked the clothes under her arm and climbed the ladder.

She knocked on the hatch and heard a gruff reply, "What?"

"I have clothes for you." She said with an irritable bite.

"Flower?" She heard him ask and she rolled her eyes. With gritted teeth she answered in the affirmative and then heard shuffling feet.

The hatch opened and her eyes widened when they saw the semi-naked Sovereign. Looking down she handed the clothes up and began to climb down.

She grumbled to herself as she stomped back to the house, her clenched fists swaying with her steps. Why had she felt so flustered? It wasn't like he was… her heart did a backflip and her stomach fluttered when she recalled the way he'd looked. With his hips slightly revealed by the blanket hung loosely on them, and his flawless chest shamelessly shown.

A bright blush on her face she reentered the house.

~~~~~~~~

Bastian smirked as he dressed in the clothes that the flower had handed him.

At least she wasn't immune to his looks. That was comforting.

With his mood lightened he strode back into the house with his head held high. He hoped to find the flower ogling him but she didn't and she seemed to purposefully ignore him. He frowned subtly but pushed his upset feeling aside and sat down in his previous place by the flower and crossed his ankles.

The mess of the stew seemed to have been taken care of, although he would really like a bath he would live.

Dimitri was talking to the flower's two brothers. He observed the twins. One had brighter eyes, the other had fuller eyes but both countenances seemed switched.

The one with brighter green eyes, Linden he believed, was more relaxed. The one with fuller eyes, the one the flower called Row, was more intrigued with Dimitri's story, his posture exuded a youthfulness.

With Dimitri's story ended they then began to plan their journey.

"If you take the direct route you'll have a less likely chance of being spotted." Rowan said.

"Why?" Bastian asked.

"Because the soldiers rarely scout the main roads, and I doubt they think that you will actually be brave enough to attempt to do so. I suggest you stick to the main roads, maybe even service a coach."

Bastian nodded, impressed with his thought out plan. The five travellers then went over what necessities would need to be packed and made for them.

"Me and Gladi will get on making the new clothes immediately." Rose said, her wavy brown hair bouncing as she raced of to find her sister.

In the evening the house was bustling with activity as everyone was busy with one thing or another.