I wake up with fingers tracing down and up my spine. I lazily open my eyes and see Theo looking down at me, with his head propped up by his right arm. I am still snuggling against him. He feels warm and cozy. I gaze up at his eyes, not knowing what to say, or how to make sense of all of these.
"Maybe, I should always bring you with me every time I travel. We have the most peaceful moments when we travel."
My brows knit and I look away. I remember. I am angry at him for not choosing our child. I remove his arms from me and sit up. I look around and I realize that without my studies, there is nothing to do on this ship until we reach Orttenburg. And that will take weeks of travel.
Suddenly, Theo wraps his arms around my shoulder and presses his forehead on my neck. "What do you want to do today?" he asks.
I untangle his arms around me and climb out of the bed. I check on the cabinets, dressers, and desk drawers, all the while I can feel his gaze on me.
"What are you looking for?" he asks.
"Anything I can spend my time on."
"I didn't bring books for you. Just stay in the bed with me."
I continue to rummage through our things. He brings the prettiest dresses and accessories. And that's all he brings for me. No weapons. No books. I open my small bag and take my knife. I rather practice my combat rather than stay here with him.
"Where are you going?" he asks. He hurriedly runs after me, and I am about to escape him when suddenly the door opens. I take a step back, and my back hits Theo's front. He groans at the same time that I did. The one who entered is a servant with a bath and food in tow.
"Did… did I disturb you, Your Majesty?" she asks.
"No," Theo answers. "Just place the food on the table, and prepare the bath, then off you go."
I whirl towards him, and he brightens up. "Well, it's better to have breakfast first before you do whatever you want," he suggests.
Begrudgingly, I sit on the chair and start to eat. He sits in front of me and stares at me.
"Eat your breakfast, My King. Else your personal guard will feel bad for enjoying the food."
He reaches to the side of my lips and brushes something on it. Then he brings his fingers to his mouth and sucks on them. I swallow hard, before he says, "Delicious."
I ignore his meaning and hide the blush that's creeping on my face. Instead, I focus my attention on eating and delude myself that no one is intently watching me eat.



**************************
I climb up to the docks. Contrary to what Theo wanted, I wear the plainest dress I can get. I even cut some of its skirts so I can move freely. However, it feels so wasteful, that I stopped cutting at the second dress.
Then, I see Klevon, half-naked, sweat glistening on his perfect form, and muscles straining from hand-to-hand combat with another warrior. He really is a huge, muscular man.
"Klevon!" I call and I sense Theo bristling behind me.
He finishes the combat with the warrior first, before turning his attention to me. He is not in a good mood. The first time I have seen him like this. He is always charming and smiling whenever I meet him.
"What?!" he snarls.
I walk towards him and look up. I can't believe I thought of him as intimidating the first time I met him. Yes, he is still taller than me, larger than me, but the way he looks at me is nothing to be scared about. Rather, he looks pained as he stares me down.
"What do you want?!" he grumbles, repeating his question.
I smile, and somehow, a bit of his annoyance vanishes. "I have nothing to do. Teach me combat, or wind magic."
"Just read some books."
"No one brought books."
"Learn magic on your own."
"I want to learn a new magic."
"Then have yourself fucked up by the King!"
I raise my brow, especially when he is too close that I can already feel the heat emanating from his body. "Teach me wind magic. I need your help on that," I repeat.
His eyes soften for a bit, but then he withdraws. "See those mages there?" he starts, pointing at a group of people sitting by the edge of the boat, eating their breakfast.
"Ask them to teach you wind magic. In exchange, you can help them with the navigation of the ship."
"You are giving out the hassle of teaching me to others," I comment.
"Because I don't have the energy to teach you!"
I scowl, and he glares back. "You are jealous, aren't you?" I ask. "Even if you have no right to get jealous. We are not a couple."
He snorts. "Well, thank you for stating something so obvious." He leans toward me and I take a step back. "See here, little wolf, right now, I really want to kiss you to show you how jealous I am. But I can't, because right now, my King is already looking murderously at me and if I even touch your lips for just a second, the knife he is playing at, will come flying at my chest."
"Is he stronger than you?"
"Snooty, little werewolf," he whispers. "His is ocean magic and as you can see, we are surrounded by it. And besides, why would I follow him if he's not someone I can respect?"
"Fine," I say and push at his chest. "If you don't want to teach me, just say so!"
"That's what I've been telling you!"
I wave my hand at him, and say, "Shut up!"
Then, I make my way toward the wind magicians that he is referring to. Standing before them, one chokes on his food, the other has her mouth wide open, and the other openly stares at me.
"Hi," I greet. When no one from them responds, I add, "Captain Klevon refers you to me. May I request a favor?"
They nod.
"Will you be able to teach me wind magic? In exchange, once I learn it, I will help you with the navigation of the ship. Or anything really. I am just a lowly grunt."
"I don't think you should call yourself a lowly grunt," the young man with green highlights in his hair says.
"Yes, especially when King Theo has his eyes on you."
"Don't bother about him," I say, waving my hand. "I don't want to waste my time doing nothing, so I'd rather learn wind magic instead. I think navigation will be a bonus. Also, I will take no pay. In fact, if I have money right now, I'd like to pay you."
"How much?" the young woman asks, who is sitting amid the other young male magicians. She seems to have recovered already from her initial shock.
"The King is coming here," the other young man whispers.
"Kaiya, care to tell me what this is about?" Theo asks from behind me. He places his arms around me.
I take a deep breath and remove his arms from me. I turn to face him. Then, I unfold my palm in front of him. "I need money to pay them for teaching me wind magic," I say.
"Money?" he asks. Probably, shell-shocked to have his personal guard ask for money from him.
"I will get paid as your personal guard right? All I am asking is an advance."
He raises his brow at my outright rudeness. I snort and withdraw my open palm. "Fine, if you can't pay me, I will just have another person to teach me."
Then I intentionally look at Klevon who is practicing like crazy now. There are also a couple of warriors fallen on the ground. Suddenly, Theo touches my jaw and forces me to look at him. He is about to kiss me when I cover his mouth.
"You can't kiss your personal guard," I scold.
He removes my hand over his mouth and shifts his attention to the young wind magicians. "How much?!" he barks.
"It's free, my King. No need to pay us."
He turns his attention to me again. "See, you don't need to pay them."
I punch at his chest. "You are just intimidating your subjects!"
He groans. "Come to my room later. I will give you your payment. Just…" he pauses and gazes at me. "Make sure you will return her to me during dusk."
"Yes, my King."
But I hiss at him with a, "I am not your belonging."