At that mont, he was just barely an inch away from her. His eyes were focused on her face, while her eyes were focused on his. He reached out his hand and gently wiped away the smudge of ice cream on the side of her lip with his thumb.
He stepped away, increasing the distance between them in an instant as he licked his thumb.
"Mmmm delicious," he whispered with a grin.
Sierra did not know how to respond. Her heart was pounding in her ears. All the noise on the streets was drowned out by it. It was all she could hear. In her mind, Sierra was trying to get through to herself. She wanted to move. To counteract.
But her feet seed rooted to the ground and her hands refused to move. She watched as the ice cream in her hand slowly began to lt.
I have to do sothing, she thought to herself.
Sierra glanced over to the ice cream in Alistair’s hand. An idea blossod in her mind. Everything that ca after that felt like a blur. For the next mont, when Sierra ca to her senses, she realized she had a mouthful of ice cream.
She licked her lips, "Yours is pretty good too."
The flavor in her mouth tasted foreign. It was not the rocklon flavor she had from her ice cream. It wasn’t fruity, yet it tasted familiar at the sa ti. It tasted like chocolate. Sierra glanced over to the ice cream in Alistair’s hand and then up at him.
The expression on his face was absolutely priceless. He looked like he was in shock. She glanced over to Ida, only to realize her maid looked equally surprised.
"You sure are full of surprises, Princess Sierra. Full of surprises," Alistair chuckled.
Looking up at the sky, and the nearby clock tower, Alistair noted that their fun excursion was coming to an end. He safely escorted Sierra and Ida back to the castle.
When they re-entered the castle from the side gate, Alistair bid them farewell. Sierra did not say a word throughout. She was so deep in her thoughts that it was not until Ida shook her that she ca to her senses.
By then, they were already back in Celestial Lodge.
"Princess, what has gotten into you? It felt like you were physically there with us but your soul went sowhere else," Ida said worriedly, her voice filled with concern.
Sierra looked all around them, surprised to know that they were already back at the lodge.
"Weren’t we... market... ice cream..." she looked around in complete confusion.
Had the events of the day being nothing more than a dream? She had to know for certain. Sierra pinched her arm. She winced in pain.
"Definitely not dreaming," she muttered to herself, still confused by what had just happened.
"Princess! What are you doing? Why did you hurt yourself?" Ida exclaid in shock as she quickly helped to rub the area in which she had pinched, praying that there would not be a bruise.
"Is everything alright?" The maid asked again, "You didn’t say a word after-"
"Ida, what happened?"
The maid furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you an, Your Highness?"
"We went out today, to the market, is that right?"
"Yes."
"The King, was disguised as a guard, and he followed us?"
"Yes... Princess Sierra, you’re scaring . Are you having a fever? Should I call for the doctor?"
Ida was confused. Why was Sierra asking her all these questions? She sounded confused and incoherent.
"The ice cream. Tell what happened while we were having ice cream."
Though confused, Ida did as she asked. She carefully recounted how they each got a cone. She told her about how King Alistair wiped so of the lted ice creams off the side of her lips.
"What happened after that?" Sierra asked impatiently.
"Princess, I... I don’t think I can repeat that," the maid was blushing, feeling a little embarrassed.
Sierra buried her face in her hands, "I did sothing, didn’t I."
Ida nodded. She took in a deep breath and recounted it in detail. As she listened in silence, the mory resurfaced in Sierra’s mind. Her counteract to Alistair’s action was to take a lick of his ice cream.
Then, she delivered the line.
"Yours is pretty good too."
Sierra walked over to her bed and face planted onto it. She could feel her cheeks burning like fire in embarrassnt. Whatever willed her to speak like that had to be a demon. She had to have been possessed to say sothing like that.
"Oh don’t be sad, princess," Ida consoled her as she gently rubbed her hand on Sierra’s back, "Atleast, he didn’t look angry."
"Of course he wouldn’t be angry!" Sierra exclaid through her pillow. Her voice was muffled but the embarrassnt was clear.
"I bet he enjoyed it," she pouted, "I can’t believe I did that! I really am his jester."
Ida could not help but laugh.
On the other side of the castle, King Alistair returned to his quarters. He re-entered his room through the secret passageway and changed out of his clothes. He kept the guard uniform safely in a secret wardrobe space only he had access to.
In it, was a series of garnts, all of which were part of his disguises. So he used while he was traveling, others he used when he wanted to explore the capital on his own.
He was in a jovial mood, humming to himself as he made his way to his personal study. All the guards and servants in the King’s Quarters noticed it. They could not help but wonder what put the King in such a good mood.
When Queen Roxine ca to visit him later that evening, she noticed it too.
"My my," she said as she unfurled her lace fan, covering her lips as she continued, "What has put my dear husband in such a good mood? Would he care to share the joy?"
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