the high king and queen of elfhame get matching hairstyles

the king and queen of elfhame get matching hairstyles

Now it was all doomed, and he was to blame, and Jude would be-

"Cardan?"

With a jolt, his back hit Jude's chest. Cardan felt his whole body tense, panic quickly rising, embarrassment flushing his cheeks. Dread filled his every bone as everything slowly unraveled before him. His wife was awake, his hair was a disaster, and he was making a fool of himself. Of course Jude would wake up right at this moment, it was exactly his luck.

Instantly, her hands grabbed his shoulders, and he felt just how deeply she was staring into him through the mirror. He could imagine her curious, hypnotizing, brown eyes studying him, trying to make sense of him. Her gaze caused his skin to burn, but not for the life of him would he bring himself to look back.

"My queen." He mumbled, playing with his rings, considering a sixth glass of wine. He tried not to panic at the thought of Jude taking all of this in. He felt more than humiliated. He looked ridiculous.

"What are you doing?" Her raspy voice was closer. She wrapped her strong arms around his chest, resting her chin on his shoulder; and despite it all, no matter how many times he reminded himself that Jude Duarte was his wife, butterflies still fluttered inside all of him. Especially when she was this close. His rotten heart beat fast and eagerly when her voice was this near. Even more so in moments where, inside her eyes, he could find that she actually, genuinely, desired him. Cared for him. Wanted him.

He tried to find an answer, but as he opened his mouth words came short. So he, indeed, poured himself a sixth glass of wine instead. Oh, how he wished he could lie right now.

His skin rose in goosebumps when his queen let out a tiny laugh into his ear. He considered feeling further embarrassed, but her proximity was distracting. The smell of her sweet skin, the touch of her rough hands, the flutter of her eyelashes against his cheek when she blinked-

"Will you ignore me then?" Jude said. There was a slight edge to her voice, one that made his eyes close shut. Finally, he made the words come out of his mouth.
"I am quite in a predicament if you cannot tell, my Jude." Slightly, he opened his eyes, finding Jude through the mirror, this time she was looking right at his hair.
"I see it." One of her fingers traced his jaw softly, back and forth. Back and forth.

Cardan did not hesitate to down his glass of wine. Jude's soft giggles did not escape him. So he poured himself the seventh. It was never too early to be drunk. Especially when his hair looked like this.

"Give me a moment to drown in my misery, I beg." Cardan cried as he began to drink.

"You're begging?" His wife responded, he could hear the wicked smile on her lips. Even if Cardan was able to tell a lie, he would have never hidden his own slight grin and his following response.

"For you, always."

Silence followed, but only for a slight moment, before he felt his queen's fingers at his chin. Forcefully, she tilted his head up, demanding of him to finally make eye contact. For all his embarrassment, he couldn't help but also feel heat all over his body as she held her commanding gaze. And this time, when she asked, he didn't deny her an answer. He didn't think he could deny her anything, to be precise.

"Were you attempting to do my hairstyle, Cardan?" Her deep brown eyes bore into him, and he felt like she could read the depths of his soul. Cardan was sure that Jude Duarte could see how his heart overfilled with adoration for her if she looked hard enough. He hoped she did. He wasn't trying to hide it. If he could stay under Jude's gaze forever, he would.

But preferably, with a better hair-do.

"I was." The king's voice was groany, and breathless, and might he add, desperate. His brain was mixed between feeling utterly humiliated and just taking Jude into his arms and kissing her.