-Your POV-
Soft blankets envelop my body, the soft crackling of a fire somewhere in the distance. I'm wondering where I am, how did I get here onto this soft mattress. My brows furrowed as I forced open my eyes to see a wooden ceiling. Licking my lips I felt how dry my mouth was, my tongue feeling like sandpaper against the top of my mouth. My eyes search for water only to see my father sitting in a chair beside my bed. "You're alive... where am I?" I ask him quietly.
"We're in Derby little dove. You went unconscious during the fight with Thorkell." He answered calmly as he grabbed a pitcher of water already knowing that my body would be craving it after being out for so long. "Thorfinn won? We got away." I smile, watching my father pour water into a wooden goblet. I try to reach for it but I feel a sharp pain courses up my right arm. I let out a sharp hiss of pain, my other arm going to hold my right.
"You broke your arm and a few ribs in the fall dear. Be careful." He tells me as he holds the cup up to my lips. I greedily gulp down the water as fast as possible, relishing the taste of it. He pulls back the goblet once I'm done and digs into his satchel, pulling out the very same bottle of poppy seeds that I had used to treat Thorfinn with all those weeks ago when he was beaten by Thorkell.
I let out a small giggle, instantly regretting it as soon as I did thanks to my ribs being broken. "What's so funny?" Askeladd asked me, raising a brow as he opened the bottle and let a few of the seeds fall onto his open palm. "It's just. I gave those to Thorfinn when Thorkell hurt him back in London. It's ironic isn't it. Now I'm the one who needs it after a beating by Thorkell." I let out a huff of amusement as a smile graces my lips.
My father doesn't find this so amusing as he gives me a hard look, staying silent for almost a minute before saying. "I don't want you near him again. You are to try and marry the prince, no matter what your feelings are toward Thorfinn." He ordered me, my smile falling off of my face.
'Right.. I forgot about all of that with all that chaos.' I think as my father hands me the poppy seeds. I quickly pop them into my mouth and swallow them. Happy to go back to sleep if it meant I didn't have to remember my problems at the moment. When a thought occurs to me. "Did we lose the prince?" I ask.
"No, he came back and took over Thorkells group. Now we all work for him as he is trying to overthrow his father. There's a lot you missed while being out cold. We're currently staying in Derby, the prince was kind enough to make sure you have a room to yourself at this inn. Not only that but he wants to make sure that you get as much rest as possible before we head to where king Sweyn is stationed." He explained to me as he stood up to leave. "What? He's holding everyone up till I'm well enough? Why would he do that." I ask, my nose scrunching up as I try to make sense of the prince's reasoning.
"Seems that my plans at getting you two closer has worked for at least one of you." Is all he tells me before he leaves the room, the door clicking shut behind him.
My heart falls at his words, I didn't want him to like me at all. If he didn't like me there was a chance he wouldn't want to be with me no matter how important my bloodline may be.
I lay there as thoughts fill my head before the poppy overtakes me and I drift off to sleep.
•••
I wake up once more, my body aching a lot less and my mind more clear after getting some good sleep thanks to the poppy. I noticed it was currently nighttime as I'm Looking around the room and I see that the inn was quite nice, definitely must've been expensive. It was roomy with adequate space filled with the king sized bed I currently laid in, along with a wardrobe, dresser, and a vanity with a mirror connected to it. Not to mention the finely woven tapestries that adorned the walls
'My my mister prince you sure go all out for your ladies.' I think in amusement before I hear a knocking at the window, I turn to see.. Thorfinn? He waves at me before opening the window and sliding himself into the room. "What do you think you're doi-!" I exclaim when I'm interrupted by him running forward and slapping his hand on my mouth. "Shush! Your father put men outside your room and won't let me come and see you!" He hissed.
My brows shot up in surprise, no wonder he came in through the window then. I nod my head in understanding before he pulls his hand back. "I'm sorry I didn't know." I apologize. "It's fine. How are you feeling?" He asks me with a sigh.
"I'm doing a lot better actually. My ribs hurt a lot less than they did last time I was awake." He nods at my words, giving me a soft smile."That's good to hear." He whispers.
I pat the bed, an invitation for him to lay down besides me. "There's a lot of room for just one person." I say.
He climbs in under the covers on the left of me. Snuggling up closer to my body. "There, that's better." I say happily.
We sit there for a moment staring into each other's eyes, inspecting the others face as if it was our first time seeing each other and we were trying to memorize every little detail. "Could I kiss you again?" He whispers.
"Like you had to ask last time you did." I tease him and he gives me a wry smile. "I could've died, what else was I supposed to do not kiss you?" He replied, cocking his head.
This time it was me kissing him first as I leaned over to him and pressed my lips against his. He let out a low moan as he closed his eyes. He props himself up on one elbow, breaking the kiss momentarily as he repositioned himself so that his head was above mine before kissing me again rougher.
His tongue Licking at my bottom lip I opened my mouth to him. Instantly his tongue dives in, rubbing against mine. I let out a needy moan, my left hand going up to his head and running my fingers through his hair.
He pulls back for air and we're both gasping for breath as we stare deep into each other's eyes. That's when I finally noticed that his body was flush against mine, and that something was currently hard and poking my leg "What's poking me?" I ask slyly, giving him a smile.
He juts out his bottom lip as he gives me his notorious glare "you know what it is don't play dumb woman." He says, causing me to giggle. A blush forming on his cheeks, eyes still narrowed as he pulls away from me "It's my first time being in a bed with a woman. My bad." He says, a hint of sarcastic playfulness in his voice before flopping his back down on the mattress.
"Oh really? I heard that you paid for a prostitute a while back." I say looking over to him. At my words his face turns beet red, his frown deepening. "I didn't pay her to have sex.. I paid her to tell me how to please a woman.." he mumbled embarrassingly.
"Why would you pay for that?" I ask genuinely curious. "Because I wanted to please a woman who had recently caught my interest." He mumbles peeking over at me.
Now it was my turn to blush. And Gods did I, face burning with heat, I turn to look up at the ceiling too embarrassed to hold his gaze. "Well I'm sure she would be very happy with your devotion." I squeak out. He chuckles, "I'm sure she would.. now get to bed, you need your rest." He whispers, carefully pulling my body close as he holds me.
I nod against his chest before he leans down and gives me a kiss on the forehead. Eyelids growing heavy with sleep, I ask. "Will you stay with me?" As he begins to rub my back.
"Always."