The Arranged Marriage (9 page)

He found her behaviour quite
refreshing, knowing females usually did only two things around him.
They would either flee in terror or to try and seduce him into
their bed. It was a rarity to find someone he was becoming strongly
attached to, to do neither.

He took his time to undress as he
sensed her moving about underneath the covers. She was probably
pretending to go to sleep and at this moment in time, that was fine
with him. His eyelids felt very heavy, as the sight of the large
bed in front of him was enough to tempt any man this close to
sleep.

He noticed the room was cold but
welcoming. He liked how Rohesia had personalised it with the
colours of amber and green. Ecripian colours, but she had also
added her own twist of black and gold. The large room had drapes
and tapestries displayed tactfully around the room in order to give
it a more serene appeal than the remainder of the castle. He
understood the décor of the other rooms to be the choice of Yena; a
fashion that one could not call, tasteful. Looking around Rohesia’s
chamber, or should he say their chamber, suddenly made him feel
like he belonged somewhere for the first time he could ever
remember.

He let out a sigh, pushing the
feelings aside for now, and decided he would have to go bed naked
rather than sleep in his travelling clothes. He would ensure his
men collected the baggage from The Loyal on the morrow; but right
now he just needed sleep.

Rohesia felt Ison get into the bed and
forced her eyes closed, which was proving to be quite a difficult
job. She was aware the room had darkened when Ison had blown out
the candles, but she knew the moonlight still pierced its way
through the drapes. She decided to take a sneaky look out of her
right eye to see if she could witness what he was up to.

All she could see was his shadow as he
placed himself under the covers next to her, but she didn’t need
eyes to sense that he had no clothing on his body. She froze, yet
at the same time she felt the warmth of pleasure roam through her
at the acknowledgement of his nakedness. She wanted to move but
couldn’t move an inch, and the sudden urge to push up closer to him
and remove her own eve gown was unbelievable. She let out a sigh
and started to tap her pillow, the only movement she could actually
manage, and started to cough in order to get his attention. Ison
finally grasped the meaning of her sounds.

“Can’t you sleep?” He asked huskily
and the prickles on her skin made her legs feel like they had lost
all feeling.

“It has been an unusual time as it
not. Can you actually believe that we are married? Do you think we
could be dreaming?” She asked, and she was unprepared for the
sudden feel of his fingers on the top of her leg. What started off
as a caress suddenly turned into a little nip of her
skin.

“Ouch,” She shouted. “What did you do
that for?”

He quickly rubbed the place where he
had pinched to make amends.

“Just making sure you’re not
dreaming.” He said sleepily, and she had to suppress a smile. He
was still rubbing her leg but the motion had slowed, and the
tingles that she was experiencing were making her feel light
headed. She never wanted him to stop. No matter how angry she still
was with him.

“Get some sleep ‘hesia, it’s getting
late.”

She smiled at the way his voice was
losing momentum. She liked this relaxed attitude that seemed to
overcome him when he was tired. She didn’t want to
sleep.

“I’m not tired.” She told him, wanting
so much more than just his fingers on her leg. Ison propped himself
up on his elbow and faced her, she matched his movements and lay
opposite him.

“May I remind you my lady that you
have had more sleep than I, and I am quite exhausted,” He lightly
touched her cheek as if to lighten his words. “You can take as much
time as you like to seduce me on the morrow.”

The glorious feelings that had been
running through her like a tidal wave, suddenly crashed as the
obnoxious meaning of his words came to light.

“Why you insufferable, pretentious,
horrid little man,” She gasped through gritted teeth at his
audacity. “Like I would make any attempts to seduce you when I
loathe the act of making love. If you even think that you will be
coming anywhere near me with that, that thing, then you are
seriously deluded,” She didn’t take a breath as she got up on her
knees so she could get in a better position to shout at him. “The
only time I will let you rip me in two is when we are at the
unfortunate crossroads of producing an heir, and even then I will
not be over willing, do you hear me?” She folded her arms across
her chest and even in the dim light of the moon Ison could see her
pout.

He had to suppress a smile at her
explanation of ‘sexual relations’, but it was a nice confirmation
she had never made love to anyone before. Unless she had been taken
by force in the past, his thought’s continued. Maybe that’s why she
was so reluctant to the act of lovemaking? Many women her age and
under were either desperate to lose their virginity or were at
least curious about it. Ison suddenly felt terribly angry as
another reason came to him.

“Has anyone ever forced you to lay
with them Rohesia?” He asked with authority, raising himself on his
own knees to meet her position. He took her shoulders into his
hands.

“Ison you’re hurting me.” She gasped
not quite understanding the turn in conversation.

“You can tell me, has anyway ever
forced you to, you know, hurt you that way?”

She suddenly grasped his meaning and
started to giggle. The giggle quickly turned into hysterical
laughter.

“No,” She breathed through giggles. “I
am as virgin as they come,” She held her stomach as her laughter
deepened. “What made you say that?”

Ison was annoyed that she was laughing
at his concern. He released her shoulders abruptly.

“I don’t find my concern funny
Rohesia.”

His serious change of attitude just
made her laugh all the more and tears started to escape her
eyes.

“Well you can’t blame me,” He said as
her laugh was becoming infectious. “You kept on going on like a mad
woman when any other woman would be willing to lose their
virginity.”

She placed her hand on his arm as her
laughter continued and he reluctantly joined in with her. In the
end, neither of them knew what they were laughing at, yet at that
moment they both felt comfortable with each other for the first
time since they had been introduced. It felt good.

“Oh Ison,” She moaned as her laughter
started to subside. “I haven’t laughed like that in so long. It
appears I have just had a fit of the giggles.”

He didn’t know what to say to her as a
number of emotions came to the surface at once. He tried to deal
with the sudden pleasure she had evoked in him, feeling with it the
usual doubt and guilt that appeared at times like this. He quickly
forced the voices away.

“Get some sleep Rohesia. I have a fear
that you are turning crazy on me through lack of slumber.” He
smiled through his words so she would take no offence. She had been
the first person to make him laugh since he had been a child and he
was not about to award her for it by appearing
ungrateful.

“I shall my lord,” She replied
happily. “But I fear it is you who will go mad through lack of
sleep, thinking that I will be seducing you on the
morrow.”

He lay himself down on the bed and
pulled her with him. If he didn’t feel so tired right now he would
certainly make her eat her own words, but his eyes felt extremely
heavy and he had promised he would meet with Argarth as soon as he
woke. He must not find Rohesia a distraction. He settled for a
gentle kiss on her soft lips and quickly forced himself into a
slumber before the threat of his erection awakened him more than it
had already.

Chapter Six

When Rohesia woke the next morning she
didn’t expect to feel so disappointed when she discovered Ison had
already left their chamber. She had felt so close to him when they
had laughed together, and for the first time since their joining
she wished that the rumours surrounding him weren’t true. She lay
there for a long time before deciding to rise, feeling drained and
confused about all that had happened. But feeling sorry for herself
made her feel lousy, then it just irritated her.

“Oh this is no good,” She said aloud
before lifting the covers and calling for Kaya to assist her with
dressing.

After a moment of hysterics upon
seeing Rohesia’s safe return, Kaya set about the task of dressing
her hair into a golden net, careful to entwine tiny golden rosebuds
in the net to complete the style.

“We were so worried about you when we
learnt you had disappeared. Your father even suspected Baron Minley
at one point.” Kaya’s eyes were wide when she spoke.

“Really?” Rohesia enquired, slightly
taken aback. “I can’t believe my father would believe such a
notion. Baron Minley is not a man of violence, he is a gentleman. I
doubt very much he is capable of kidnapping.”

Kaya nodded.

“I agree with you, but there was no
other notion that we could think of, and when I found out you had
fled to meet Sir Ison, sorry, Prince Ison I could not believe it.
Especially when Nani told me that you were to be wed to him,” She
caught herself before Rohesia could respond. “Oh I’m sorry my lady,
Nani didn’t mean to gossip. It’s just that I’m close to her and she
knows you’re close to me, she just wanted me to know as your friend
is all.”

Rohesia noticed Kaya’s sudden change
of colour.

“Do not fret Kaya. I would trust you,
Nani and Dracheon with my life, you are all family to me,” She
smiled to reassure her. “But you’re not the only one who could not
believe it when I wed Ison. It was a bit of a shock for me
also.”

Kaya knew Rohesia well enough to cease
the conversation there. Any other maid or chaperone may have
pressed further in order to get the gossip, but Kaya was devoted to
Rohesia and the other royals of the castle. Except maybe for Yena.
She could go and jump into the lagoon for all Kaya
cared.

“Your hair is all done my lady. It is
so nice to see you back.”

Rohesia studied her hair in the
looking glass and stood to shake out her dress. She faced Kaya and
smiled.

“In a way I suppose it is nice to be
back; especially to see you again Kaya.” She hugged her friend
tightly and quickly fought back the tears that threatened to
consume her. She knew then that it would have been a mistake if she
had ever made it to the Foreign Lands. She would have missed her
family far too much.

“Have you seen Prince Ison this
morning Kaya, I wish to seek him out.” She felt the need to get to
know her husband a little bit more; and that of his
intentions.

“I understand he had a meeting with
your father this morning my lady, in the Throne room.”

“Wonderful. Thank you Kaya. I’ll see
you soon.”

Rohesia ran into her father whilst she
was on her way to seek out Ison. The anticipation of seeing her
husband again starting to build quite rapidly and she could hardly
contain her excitement.

“Good morning father, I was on my way
to look for Ison. Has your meeting finished?”

“It did so a while ago my dear, and I
am afraid you have missed him. He is on his way to the Loyal right
now.”

“To The Loyal?” She started to feel
the first stab of disappointment.

“To collect some of their things I
believe. They did not have the room to carry it on the
way.”

“No, they wouldn’t have would they?”
She retorted before continuing. “Why couldn’t he send his men to
get it? We have a lot to arrange today.”

“He is also on an errand for me
Rohesia and should be back before dusk.”

Rohesia sighed and felt pushed out yet
again.

“Are you going to relinquish your
errands enough in order for me and Ison to celebrate our union,
father?”

Argarth shook his head and directed
her into his study chamber.

“Come child, you can make some of your
arrangements with me seeing as I will be organising some of them. I
shall give you a wedding ball shortly to make up for your hasty
wedding.”

“What is the errand that you have sent
Ison on?” She asked, smiling at the exasperation on her father’s
face. She truly did love him and his tolerance for her.

“That is of royal business. So, are
you content with me making the announcement of your marriage
throughout day? I shall have to send messengers to the different
villages to make the announcement but it can be arranged this
morning. We can invite them to the wedding ball at the same
time.”

She shook her head.

“No, I think it is best that we wait
for Ison to return before we do that. You can arrange the
announcements to be made on the morrow instead can’t you?” She said
as her father nodded his consent. She was then struck with another
idea. “Once the announcements have been made, would you mind if
both Ison and I take the Walk and invite everyone personally? It
may compensate them for having missed out on a royal wedding.” She
smiled as she leaned her head on her father’s shoulder. “You know
how much your people love a wedding.”