The Bastard Princess

46.

-HER-

After the debate, I tried to go back to sleep but the constant sound of hammer kept me awake. It felt like he was testing my patience and sanity deliberately so early in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet and my sleep was incomplete. I wasn't ready for the day yet.

I let out an annoyed cry and he stopped instantly.

"Good morning to you too," He spoke. I didn't miss the smug tone in his voice. It only proved that his actions were blatant and his sole motive was to provoke me. I ground my teeth as he continued with his work.

I took several deep breaths to calm myself before I contemplated going out. As I climbed downstairs, his curious eyes found me. My annoyance deepened seeing the tips of his lips tug up into a smirk. I wanted to wipe that off his face.

I threw him a glare before I walked outside. I was still very drowsy due to sleep but it appeared to me that he was determined to not let me sleep. I sat by the lake groggily while I heard him work inside the house.

He stopped for a moment before he walked out to get some more wood. He instantly spotted me by the lake. After picking up the woods, he walked towards me. I did my best to act oblivious to him. I crossed my arms around my knees and stared ahead of me.

"OW!" I screamed even though he had tugged very gently at my hair to get my attention.

"Come, help me with the nails," He grumbled above me, "I keep losing them,"

"I don't want to help you," I gritted at him. He continued to irk me by pressing his knees against my back. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" My voice echoed in the woods.

"It's you who sleeps on the ceiling," He spoke.

"I was sleeping at the temple but you didn't like it," At this, I heard him frown. Meanwhile, he kept pressing his knees in my back, stretching my patience thin.

"But you have a house now," He countered.

"A broken house,"

"That's why I am repairing it so that we can live in it," His words struck me before I turned to him and gritted, "If you expect me to play house with you then I am going to disappoint you," Silence followed my words. He didn't move from his place. His knees remained planted on my back.

"I just want to make this bearable for us," He grumbled.

"I am finding it hard to bear with you, honestly,"

"You aren't trying hard enough," At this, I pressed my lips in a thin line. I had never felt such a strong urge to strangle someone to death.

"If you don't leave me alone after this then I am running away," I muttered under my breath as I stood up and walked inside. He followed me closely. He must have heard me because he poked me with a plank of wood before he grumbled, "We'll see about that,"

I knew exactly what he had meant by that.

"Hand me these pieces one after the other," He said, handing me some wooden planks. I noticed that he had cut them with precision. I was careful enough to not let our hands touch. Though he noticed it and frowned at me. I deliberately ignored it but he didn't seem to be pleased by it.

When he reached out for my other hand and held it, a strange sensation coursed through my body emanating from the contact. I was shaken from the core for the moment and wanted to snatch my hand away but his hold was tight, "And here are the nails," He transferred the big iron nails in my hand. I didn't miss how smug he looked knowing that he was having an effect on me.

After I had recovered from the small moment, I stood behind him as he hammered the pieces. The sound was pushing me closer and closer to a headache. When he asked me for another nail, I handed it to him. He deliberately brushed his fingers over my hand, giving me those strange sensations.

I shivered as it travelled throughout my body. Something stirred inside me before an unknown feeling bubbled inside me. I didn't know what was happening to me but I was sure that he was responsible for it.

When he asked me for the next nail, I was very careful to not let him touch me. His frown didn't go unnoticed by me. It deepened every time he was unable to brush the tip of his fingers against mine.

"I have to leave now," I told him when the sun rays peaked into the house. He was still halfway putting the ceiling together. I heard him sigh before he grumbled, "Ok, we'll continue this evening,"

"Hell no," I muttered before I finally left for work. The grogginess was still there when I reached the temple. As I got to work, my mind kept wandering. It was constantly thinking about those strange sensations.

What were those? I hadn't felt them before. I wanted to know what they were but at the same time, I didn't want to ask him about them. Just the idea made me turn red with embarrassment. He was already taunting me. I didn't want to provide him with more opportunities to do so.

"Arsinoe," Theto's voice snapped me out of my daze, "What are you staring at?" She questioned when she had caught me dazing off.

"Nothing," I mumbled as I got back to washing the fruits for the offering. I felt Theto's stare on me before she continued to ask, "Who's he?"

"Huh?" I was still struggling to think straight. Theto repeated her question again, "Who's he?" It took me some moments to understand that she was talking about Ares.

"Edara said that you told her he's your husband," She claimed. I gulped, realizing that I had told two different things to the head priestess and Theto respectively. She'd be mad at me for lying.

"Yes," I mumbled. My cheeks were starting to head up slowly. I couldn't decide whether it was due to the topic itself or him being referred to as my husband.

"I remember when you were found, you had told me that you lived alone in the woods. How come you never mentioned being married?"

"Er... we weren't at good terms then. I decided to leave but he followed me here," I lied although it was partly true. Theto narrowed her eyes at me for some moments before she nodded to herself.

"So, how is it now between you and your husband?" She inquired.

For a moment, I was speechless because the question was very alien to me. Maybe what was more alien to me was the idea of being married. I had always known that I was undesirable by men and no would want to be with me.

"Yeah, we're doing fine now," I mumbled as I got back to work. Or at least I tried to.

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