His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 84: Poisonous Butterfly (2)

"Poisonous Butterfly," I whisper. My eyes shut to the distant memory resurfacing at the forefront of my mind like it had happened only yesterday.

"So you’re my new guard dog?" I sigh when there’s no reaction from this high-strung knight.

I step closer to him, my hands behind my back, my heels clacking loudly against the path to the hidden courtyard I’ve made my own. The fountain between us acts as a barrier, the frozen water still spraying outwards.

The droplets of ice drooping in elongated slender shapes reflect this new knight’s head, mirroring his face multiple times, the angle changing as I draw closer to him. He is impossible to read and has yet to respond to my slight.

I’d refused to meet my new guard when my last one, Asmund, mysteriously disappeared. By mysterious, I presume my brother killed him. Was I grieving his loss? Absolutely not.

I just didn’t want to waste my time on meeting another guard. Any expectations to have a civil relationship were gone after Asmund. He was a bully and became too arrogant, which led to my brother overhearing his words.

There was no point in arguing with my brother over this, but I showed my displeasure by not showing up at the meeting. Yet here he is. The first to discover one of my hiding places.

I stare back at the impassive expression on his face. Stoic like a statue. Handsome in a roguish way.

"You don’t speak much, do you?" I stop in front of him as sunlight reflects off the frozen water, casting shimmering shards of light across our faces.

The man just blinks back at me slowly. "What was your name again?" I knew what it was, but I wanted to see something else on his face, and it worked.

His brows pinched together but his mask of indifference fell back into place so quickly that he thought I didn’t see his slight annoyance at a typical Princess who didn’t remember the names of those who served under her. "Soren," he says flatly.

"Soren..." I murmur and stroll past him. "Well, Soren. I want to be by myself, so go eat, get merry with friends or whatever it is guards do..." I wave my hand nonchalantly.

When he didn’t move like I expected, I sighed and ignored him entirely for the remainder of my time there. Once I left, he followed, something else I didn’t really expect. Many before him did neglect their role because, well, why wouldn’t they when others neglected to pay attention to a Princess who had been abandoned by not only the Alpha King but her servants and nobility?

I was accustomed to the dark, looming building of my cobwebbed palace, but it must have been a shock to even someone like Soren, an outstanding knight with an iron will. The days after our initial meeting, something changed between us. It was imperceptible, but I’d noticed.

How can I not when the man was like a shadow, a concrete statue that moved from time to time?

All the times I had voiced my thoughts aloud or spoken harshly to see his reaction were suddenly being answered. Even if it was barely a nod of acknowledgement or the occasional murmur of a response. And so we were like that month after month until one day we started having civilised conversations.

I could actually read and understand him better.

"You know, Soren," I say lazily one day, sprawling myself along the grass, soaking up the small rays of the sun in the only month of summer we get. I still wore boots and a long-sleeved dress to the cold wind. It was still much warmer than the usual snow.

Soren stood idly by the tree near the forest that kept my palace and the main palace apart. In some ways, being abandoned and, at times, forgotten about gave me a lot of freedom when Deyanira didn’t call upon me.

The knight cocked his head and stared at me silently. "Your hair is getting quite long; you should start braiding it like the others."

Soren blinked at me once, then returned to scanning the area like some threat might appear out of nowhere. "Come here," I say, rolling up into a cross-legged seated position.

Soren glances at our surroundings and then slowly comes closer until he is kneeling by my side. "Turn around and sit on the ground." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Soren frowns.

"I’m your Princess," I state with the best imitation of haughtiness I could mimic from other nobility. "You must do as I say."

A smirk tugs at the corner of his lips, and he turns away from me. He can’t cross his legs due to the armour, but he does bend his knees beneath him. I rise up so I can look over his head and reach for his hair. Soren’s hand shoots out before I can touch him.

Our eyes connect as panic seems to settle in his. The grip on my hand loosens, and then he drops it, eyes flicking cautiously to the woods again. I follow his gaze and nod. Nobody is here, but I must be cautious, as is what his actions say.

I begin playing with his hair. Braiding it and creating different hairstyles. I ask for his input, what he prefers and what feels good. Soren is quiet, as usual, but there were times when his eyes would close, and I could tell he enjoyed it.

"What about this?" I ask, peering around him at the simple braids on one side of his head.

Soren nods. It is not the first time he has agreed with me. "Well." My fingers comb through the other side of his hair, feeling his stare focused on my face. "I think I like this one the most. It shows off your jawline, and if you are feeling shy..." I muse. "You can just drop your hair to cover the other side of your face."

"Is that so?" Soren’s eyes twinkle back at me.

I grin and flop back down in the grass, glancing at him and raise my hands to pillow the back of my head. "Yep. You will thank me when she-wolves will fall at your feet."

Soren arches an eyebrow, a silent message: You don’t think they do already?

"Don’t give me that." I shake my head. "You’re always brooding and following me around. At least now they will actually see your face."

He scoffs but gently grabs one of the plaits to look at it. As he does, a snowy white butterfly flutters over to him and lands on his hand.