Sigrid made her entrance at that mont, stepping into the room, a smile on her face and frost in her eyes. "My love, I have been looking everywhere for you."
Lady Dove bowed, "Your highness."
Sigrid walked closer and slipped her arm into Roland’s. "Why are you hiding out here? You are missing all the fun. And who is this? I don’t think that I recognize her."
Roland gulped, just a little. "This is Lady Dove....err...."
"Wheatley!!!" Lady Dove exclaid, a look of alarm on her face.
She had just introduced herself to him, not even an hour had passed and already, he had forgotten her na. How could she compete for space in his life when he could not store her na in his mind for five minutes?
Sigrid almost cracked up when she saw that look of pain mixed with surprise on Lady Dove’s face. Next ti, she would leave her kingdom and travel all the way to another empire and offer herself up as a mistress.
Outside the door, Mauve and Christie were laughing silently.
"Do you know her, my love?" Sigrid asked Roland.
"From a war, a long ti ago." He answered.
Sigrid nodded. "Okay. Let’s return to the ball, my mother is about to send out an entire army to find us." She tugged on his and he followed her. "Enjoy the ball Miss Dawn."
Roland did not look back, not even to peek at Sir Samuel, the human pigeon that had a bruise on his cheek and another on his ribs. In silence, they were driven back to that gardens and Sigrid cast an invisibility spell over them both. Secretly, they were able to return to her isolated dark corner which had been protected by a panther and a griffin. She undid the spell as they settled onto the couch.
Sigrid reached out and touched the table, only to realize that it was empty.
"My snacks!" She wailed. "Who stole my snacks? What kind of party is this where soone cannot even leave their snacks on a table for a mont? I am going to turn everyone here into popcorn and crisps. How dare they steal from a crown princess?" She turned to the panther and griffin. "Great guards you two are." She said sarcastically. "At least show the fingers of the thieves which you managed to bite off."
If the music was not loud, her cries would have been carried all through the garden. Roland decided to solve the problem by sending Mauve and Mrs. Elsworth a ssage, asking them to bring snacks as soon as possible or else Sigrid would turn the guests into food.
"In two minutes, you will have fresh snacks." He assured her.
She yawned and laid down, resting her head on his lap. Sigrid faced the crowd, wondering what she had missed. Surely, there was more that was happening other than guests huddled in groups, reading the little rmaid.
"Aren’t you going to ask?" Roland turned her head with his hand, making her look up.
"About what?" she asked. "Dove."
Sigrid had no questions because Cosmos had already told her the story and she had heard Roland’s response. What else was there to know?
"She was nad after a bird." Sigrid said.
"Huh!" Roland frowned. "Na aside, do you really have nothing else to ask ? I know that you were there right from the beginning of our conversation. You must have heard her talking about the ti I spent with her in the past. I want you to know that it ant nothing."
Roland yawned again. "That is a lie. How could it have ant nothing? At the ti, I am sure that it ant sothing."
Roland’s nerves that had started climbing slowly returned to normal. "In the past, perhaps it did, I don’t know. I was a boy when I t her and I found her brave, warm, funny, beautiful...." he sighed. "But, I have not thought about her in a very long ti. And by very long I an years. I certainly haven’t thought about her since I married you." He lowered his eyes to hers and asked, "Do you believe ?"
She nodded. "If you had thoughts about another woman, I would know."
Roland was grateful for her trust in him this ti but he still felt the need to clarify another important fact. "I never confessed love to her. You are the first and only woman I have confessed love to in my life. I am not going to create any space in my life for her. I have you, I love you and I only want you."
Sigrid felt a blaze of warmth sweeping over her. She took his hand and kissed the back. " too."
Roland exhaled, letting go of the breath he had been holding in. That was the closest he had co to hearing a verbal admission of her feelings. It was missing the key phrases but he was certain that he would get her there.
"So, how badly beat up is Sir Samuel?" he asked.
Mauve and Mrs. Elsworth reached them, along with the rest of her ladies in waiting. Lanai and the maids hung up more lanterns, while Alistair handed her a letter.
"Let guess, my mother wrote another one." Sigrid said with judgent.
Alistair laughed. Everyone else sat around, hoping that would get to listen to the contents of the letter before it was passed to to wherever the letters disappeared to. The letters were as popular in their group as they were in the bank.
"When did she have ti to write this?" Sigrid asked herself.
Between the restaurants, helping Deanne with Thor, working on the coffee plantation, planning this ball and her fairy godmother assignnt, Lady Iryne did not seem to have much ti on her hands.
Especially the fairy godmother assignnt. It was in another world so she often disappeared for at least six hours a day and when she returned, she was always complaining about what a chore it was because her queen was not a good listener.
Roland was reaching for the envelope when Sigrid swung her hand and moved it away from his reach. "Who did she address it to now?"
She opened the envelope and her eyes skimd over the address. Suddenly she turned it down and looked at Mauve.
"Where did you leave Do..." Sigrid winced as the na escaped her mind for a mont. She could hardly believe that she had forgotten the na of the woman that had just all but thrown herself at her husband.
Was it really that difficult to rember her na? Had Roland actually encountered the sa difficulty truly? For a woman that was pretty, she was weirdly not morable.
"Dove?" Mauve quizzed.
Sigrid exhaled loudly. "Oh yes! her. How could I forget her na? It’s so easy to recall?"
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