#Muse | Riika

[luxmaeastra]

Nandor sat up staring down at where the maid laid in the bare bones of his bed. He wasn't sure how it all spiraled into this. It was just harmless flirting. Something to help him get messages and food to his younger brothers. At least Gaspar was with the younger ones.

He sighed and laid down pulling her tightly to him. At least there was straw in these cots to warn them. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Riika? Sweetheart you need to get up soon. The gaurd's won't wait too long."

He supposed there was something to be said about loyalty then.

They always told her to be careful, not to fall for his charm. When it had begun she had tried to dismiss the flirtation, she had tried to remain professional and maintain distance. How could she continue to say no? One thing led to another, and then she just couldn't help herself.

Riika let out a soft sound of discontent when felt him pull her tighter, her face buried into his chest as she wanted nothing more than to stay. It wasn't an option, he was right, the guards wouldn't wait.

"I wish we had longer," she reluctantly pulled back, looking at him in the darkness. "This isn't fair..."

[luxmaeastra]

If anyone had told her what he had been taught, she would have been horrified. It was not something she would consider, it was not something she would do. How come anyone use him? He had been kind to her, he had never treated unduly.

Her breath caught in her throat when he stepped closer, the feeling of his fingers running over her jaw and her neck drew her in. Her skin felt so warm under his touch, his touch almost felt as if it burned.

Kiss her, take her against the tree. Her heart was pounding in her ears, she was sure her face was turning a nice shade of red at that moment as she found herself struggling to find her words.

"I wouldn't stop you," she finally spoke up. "Not cause of your position, but because..." Riika was drawn to him, she was attracted to him. It had been an annoying mutter within her mind she pushed aside, she was nothing but a servant. He deserved someone better.

Her smile returned though when he spoke, he still wanted to see what she spoke of, he...he found her fasinating? Most found her annoying, how was he so different?

Her hand caught his, drawing it against her chest. "I would love to show you everything."

He should heed the warnings he'd been taught. Servants and others would use him, of course they would. But now he wanted to see this on principle, to make her smile. What was wrong with him?!

Why was she of all the servants in his father’s Palace making him pause? He stepped closer running his fingers over her jaw and down her neck.

"And if I wished to kiss you now? Press you against the tree ahead and take you...may I?"

He stepped closer, close enough to scent her now. It made him nearly dizzy with want, with lust. What was happening? He'd think a love spell had he known this had started long before he'd touched her.

"I do still wish to see what you spoke of Riika. It - honestly you fascinate me in ways that I don't quite understand."

She didn't fit in his neat black and white world. Should his world change for her? Or he for her?

[luxmaeastra]

Nandor stilled again and looked to where Riika clung to him.

"I was just moving to try to get you your plate. You need to eat Riika. I know you don't nearly as much as you should."

Her fingers gripped his arm, he had been leaving her side and a sense of dread filled her when she had no longer felt him beside her.

Eat, she supposed she should eat. Her grip eased. "I'm sorry, I was just...It's nothing. I don't need much food."

[luxmaeastra]

Nandor wasnt sure why he was indulging the servant girl. She'd looked so excited and he supposed he was doing a service to indulge her. He didn't think they'd be walking this deep into the gardens.

"Have you lost it Riika?"

//before they were together?? Riika was gushing to someone else about something she found and none of the other servants were interested and so he decided to ask to see it??//

Why was it that everyone always seemed to brush her off, always seemed to ignore her when she was excited about something? The fact no one had wanted to share in what she had found, that no one had cared enough about how excited she was. He did though, he had indulged her.

Riika looked back at him, her eyes shone with delight until he questioned if she had lost it. She came to a sudden halt, a frown crossed her face. "N-No," she looked away. "You didn't have to come if you didn't believe me, I don't want charity..."

[luxmaeastra]

She hadn't truly as he'd asked but the wolf-girl was dying and Gaspar would be inconsolable. He'd probably beg him to take his place. He turned to Riika guiding her to sit on his bed while he changed out of the now stained duleman. Stained with Pagan blood and false beliefs. He walked to the otherside of the room making a plate of his own food, of his own drink.

"You still did well, I know it was a lot."

He set the plate beside her seeing her still trembling. Right, the pagan wench had tried to use her black magic to kill him. He took her hand placing it on his pulse at his neck. Her scream still echoed in his ears.

"I still breath Riika, my heart still beats. Her false magic cannot harm me. Now, how -"

He paused really taking her in. Usually he let her ask for things. For gifts of himself she could have when she helped him, helped secure their future.

Not that he'd let anyone think it was anything but lust. The last thing he needed was her dead and spiked on the city's spikes. Her job took her outside his purview even with all his spies and Woodsmen loyal to him.

Was she even aware of where they were? Of what he was saying? He needed her to listen to him, to hear him. So he did the one thing he did only before their God.

He knelt before taking her hands, running a thumb over her knuckles.

"What do you need from me Riika?"

Riike followed him as he guided her to sit on the bed, her eyes watching him as she felt the energy buzzing through her. The anxiety, the fear of loss. She could have lost him, he could have been killed. Her mouth felt dry, her focus began to shift as she fell further back into her mind.

The images were there, the screams were there. She jumped when he took her hand, blinking as she felt that strong and steady beat of his pulse under her hand. He was there, he was alive. Blood still pumped in his veins, his heart was still strong.

Her attention was drawn back to his face, as much as she had wanted more than they had, she would not push those boundaries. He made them for a reason, it kept them safe and that was all that mattered!

When he asked his question she blinked, seeing him kneeling before her felt strange and wrong. "Please, don't kneel before me." I'm not worthy. She took his hand, urging him to stand. "I don't need anything, as long as you're alive."

[luxmaeastra]

He cared, it was the small things he did that told her how much he cared. He never had to say it, they didn't have to make this official or add some title to it.

Riika closed her eyes, she buried herself into his side. A comfort, a presence of safety.

She looked up, he wanted to feed her? She couldn't deny him, she couldn't pass another meal. "I will eat for you."

He bit back a sigh adjusting so he pulled her closer to his side. He pressed his nose to her hair, gathing his thoughts.

He wasn't savoring her shampoo, of course not.

"If I feed you would you actually eat for me?"

[luxmaeastra]

Riika froze in her actions, her focus upon him as she allowed him control in that moment. He said he didn't do things out of charity, yet he had questioned if she had lost it. That was something she had often heard from the others, those who looked down on her.

She folded her arms when he finally let her go, her hand lifted a few minutes after to touch where he had gripped her chin. "You have no reason to apologize, I am a servant and you can do as you wish," her tone had lost the earlier excitement. "I am wasting your time..."

It wasn't her place to make him feel bad, or make him feel as if he had to appease her. She shook her head, she couldn't look at him. "You can touch me as you wish, you also are not able to upset me."

She didn't know why it now hurt though, why she had been so excited earlier. The idea that she could speak so freely and openly with someone like him, the Prince.

He stiffened catching her chin on instinct. He brought her face to his.

"I don't do things out of charity Riika. I do want to see it."

He let her go rubbing the back of his head.

"Forgive me I didn't - I didn't mean to upset you."

He suppose living among Peasantry and monks in the villages made it hard to play the Prince here. He was meant to be above them wasn't he?

"I didn't mean to touch you without provocation, forgive me."

So why did he say it again?