The Queen's Guard

Chapter 26

The rest of the night passed in a similar fashion—dancing with the court, then finding an excuse to slip away when Juliet went to get water. He managed to dance with her eight times throughout the entire night. On their last dance, most of the lords and ladies had already left, and the orchestra started putting their instruments away once they'd finished playing. Clarisse thanked everyone for coming and then had vanished with Commander Broce on her tail. They both managed to give Ryder and Juliet a last, lethal glare before they left, but Ryder didn't mind.

"Ready to go?" He asked his queen as they stood in the center of the emptying room.

"Hmm? Oh. Yes, let's go."

He guessed it was past one in the morning, from how long they'd been dancing and by how tired he was. When they got out of sight of the crowd leaving the ball, Juliet stopped him with a hand on his arm. Using him for balance, she bent down and pulled off her shoes. He took them from her wordlessly, silently marveling over how thin the heels were.

She groaned as they started to walk again. The bottom of her dress was now dragging slightly on the ground, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Do you think we got the support of the court?" Ryder asked as she started up the staircase. He walked behind her, partly because he was a little worried that she'd fall right over.

"Some of them were horrified with Clarisse," She replied, opening her bedroom door. "Others weren't as open, but I think we got a fair amount on our side. Can you unlace me?" She looked over her shoulder at him, tiredness evident on her whole body.

Ryder dropped her shoes by the door and stepped forward, brushing her hair out of the way before he started to untie the laces of her corset. She sighed as it loosened, and then grabbed the front of her dress since it was about to fall.

"Thank you, darling." She turned around and pecked him on the lips before staggering to her washroom. He grinned at the name and flopped down on her couch, unbuttoning his jacket and then untying the bow tie around his collar.

When she stepped back out, she was in the short pants and loose top of her nightclothes. She'd washed the color off of her eyelids and lips, but her hair was still pinned up. He beckoned her over with a finger, slowly sitting up, and she plopped down in front of him so he could take the pins out of her hair. It fell down, curl by curl, as he dropped the pins on the couch. When they were all gone, she reached back and massaged her scalp with a satisfied sigh.

She leaned back, her eyelids drooping, and nestled into his chest. "I just want to sit here for a second," She murmured. "Then we can go to bed."

He wrapped his arms around her and stroked one hand over her hair, kissing the top of her head. "Okay, Jett. I'll hold you tonight."

Only one more chapter!!