The Last of Sansora

THE ATTRACTION

             I wake up the next morning in my large royal bed, let out a loud yawn and sit up, only to see my eight handmaidens in my room, holding towels, oils and toiletries.

"Good morning. How long have you been standing there?" I ask, rubbing my bleary eyes.

"For about thirty minutes." one of them says, the tallest, who I learnt is called Athena. I reach under my pillow for my watch and check the time. Nine o'clock. Right. That's what happens when my noisy alarm isn't around.

"You... you didn't have to do that." I tell them.

"It is our duty to be here when you wake up, so that we can take you for your bath." Athena replies. I nod. Great, I'll have to go through this treatment as long as I'm here. I really should tell Baxter about this. Oh he'd absolutely love having eight handmaidens take him for a bath.

I get down from the bed and Athena abruptly puts a white bathrobe around me and bathroom slippers beneath my feet. I allow myself to be lead to the bath and when I see it, my jaw drops.

It is a large kind of pool that could occupy thirteen people, which smelled of perfume and had red rose petals on the surface, with vapor emanating from it. The ladies help me take off my clothes and I climb the steps and slide into the water, welcoming the warmth that engulfs my body. Oh this is beyond cool.

I suddenly feel fingers massaging my scalp, and some sort of gel being smeared on my naked hands and neck. It's really weird having people bath you. I mean I'm 24 and definitely not a princess. But this water smells amazing.

"My lady! My lady!" a small childish voice fills the room. I'm unable to turn around because one of the ladies is washing my face.

"Otis! Get out, you are not allowed here!" I hear Athena shout. Otis? What is he doing here? And I'm very naked.

"Oh no, let him come." I say to Athena, who reluctantly lets him see me.

"Hello, Otis." I coo with a smile, making sure enough water is hiding my breasts. But he's not even looking.

"I wanted to speak to the king but his guards shooed me away. So I came to see you." he pouts.

"Why did you want to speak to Ace- I mean the king?"

"I'm enjoying my stay here, there's a lot of food. And I even got new clothes." he steps back to show me his new cotton clothes.

"Well, that's great Otis. I'm glad you're happy here."

"But, My Lady, my friends are still in the clinic. Their parents died of the disease too. And just like me they have no family and no place to stay. Could you talk to the king so that he could let them stay here too?" Otis implores. I wince with sympathy, saddened by the fact that many children have lost their families to the disease.

"How many are your friends?"

"Three." Otis says, but shows me ten fingers. Either he's got no education or he's intentionally contradicting himself.

"Are they three or ten?"

"Well..." Otis looks down, fidgeting with his fingers. "...they have brothers and sisters too."

I look at Athena and she shakes her head. I turn back to Otis and caress his cheek.

"You are such a good friend, Otis. And don't worry, I'll talk to the king. Your friends will surely have a place to stay." I say reassuringly. Otis grins and hugs me. Athena pries him away from me with her telekinesis.

"Thank you. My friends and I can clean really well." he says proudly with another toothy grin.

I nod and wave him off.

         After taking a bath and reluctantly allowing the ladies to dress me up, I head towards Ace's room. Damn, I smell like heaven. My hair feels fresh and I feel pretty comfortable in yet again, another white silk gown. These handmaidens are so good. The guards step away from the door and let me in, where Ace is also getting dressed by some ladies. Their hands are roaming all over his shirtless body, smearing oil over it.

I don't know why I feel bad about it. Anyway, scratch that.

"Ace?" I call, and then I remember he's a king. "I mean Your Highness."

He turns to me and dismisses the ladies. He stands up from his dressing stool and says: "Good morning. How was your night?"

"It was good. And the handmaidens are pretty good." I say.

"Hm." he says with a small nod. "Anyway, why are you here? Did you come to dress me up yourself?"

"No!" I deny, quite loudly. "Absolutely not."

Ace smirks. "Right. Exactly what I thought. Why are you here then?"

"It's Otis. And other kids like him, without any parents. He wants them to stay here too..." I say. "...and they can clean very well."

Ace runs his fingers through his hair, thinking. "They can stay, I guess. As long as they're productive."

"Come on, Ace." I sigh. "You're really not going to let kids work. It's child labor."

"They can train to become warriors and knights. After all, we lost many."

"Isn't that illegal?" I ask.

"No, not here. I started my training when I was eight. I had my first battle scar at age eleven." he folds his arms, causing his muscles to flex. The scar on his torso catches my attention. The one he refused to let me heal.

"How about you let me heal that?" I try again, hopefully.

"No. It reminds me of my brother's atrocities."

"You don't have to remember that." I say. "It's not a good memory. Healing that scar is all part of the process of forgiving Hudson."

Ace rolls his eyes. "Fine. Make it fast. I've got things to do." I smile excitedly as he goes to lie down on his bed. I walk over to him, his eyes are closed, so I take advantage of that to admire his abs. They're so tan... and beautiful. I unconsciously let my hand travel over them with a huge gasp escaping my lips at how solid they are.

"If you just wanted to ogle at my body, you could've just said so." I hear Ace say. I snap out of my reverie and pay attention. Focus on healing.

"No, I was totally not doing that." I say evenly, not trying to sound too dramatic.

"It's okay to be attracted to them." he says, then he sits up and whispers in my ear: "Because they like you too."

I swallow really hard and yank him back down to a lying position.

"Shut up, Ace."I breathe out. Then I touch his scar and watch it fade away in a split second.

"It's done. I'm leaving." I announce, looking anywhere but him. I begin to walk out, but I feel myself being pulled back towards him. Right. Telekinesis.

"What?" I ask.

He smirks. "You're so compassionate. You'll make such a great queen." he stares intensely at me with eyes I never thought existed. And it rendered me speechless. There I was, staring back at him like a total idiot, unaware of my surroundings.

Someone clears his throat at the entrance. I snap out of my trance to see Moros at the door, with a tiny smile on his face.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the patients are..."

"...no, no, no. I'm coming with you right now." I say, stepping away from Ace, who has a stupid teasing smile plastered across his handsome face, not at all embarrassed.

Stupid stupid entrancing eyes.

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