Althea
It had been a month since I last saw Julian. Time seemed to go by really fast that it was the end of 331 BCE already.
I sat on my bed against the window, watching the Sun as it finally rose. Ever since Julian's mother had reprimanded me, I had to wake early when there wouldn't be an ounce of daylight in the sky.
Though it was tiring, it reminded me of my days when I would wake before dawn to study. Time travelling to this ancient city would've remained a dream if I didn't maintain a strict study plan.
Thinking of dreams, Julian was becoming a dream now.
When he had laid the treaty rules, I'd thought he would always be at nook and corner, keeping a hawk's eye on me if I made a mistake.
I couldn't be more wrong.
He was busy, rarely to be found in the palace. I had gone to his room three days straight to recite my writings, only to return when told he wasn't available.
I laughed, a humourless inkling to it. Was I so desperate to meet him? I should be glad he's keeping his distance. Which should be a bonus for my incognitoness of the job, but the truth was.
I missed him.
There wasn't a reason, but I still did, and it disturbed me.
If you feel someone's falling for you or vice versa, be prepared to get back to your century. Don't hesitate for a damn second. Remember, love is an attraction greater than the gravitational force which drives people mad.
I shook my head at the philosopher's thought, who was specially invited from Harvard to train us in several aspects.
No, I wasn't in love. It was a mere want to see him because I was not acquainted with anyone other than him. I shouldn't mix the concept of love and wanting to see someone. That'll surely push me to oblivion.
"Can I come in?" A faint voice called out from my doorstep.
I sighed, "I told you, Thalia, you don't need to ask when the door's open," I smiled, nodding when she didn't make a move. She was the same scared woman who had taken me to Julian's room for the first time.
"Aah, it's- it's just a habit," she hesitated, eyes so nervous to even look up to me.
"Here's the breakfast... It's been long since we returned from our morning prayers." She placed a plate which had something like tiny pancakes. "Why didn't you come to eat with us?"
By us, she meant Julian's mother and the concubine gang.
If you aren't a smarty like Cheryl, better be safe than sorry.
I lowered my voice. "They are scary, to be honest."
A tiny giggle escaped her, "Yes, they are. But I've got used to them."
"How come?" I bit into the teganites as a soft creamy filling coated my mouth. That was curdled milk and my recent fav food.
"I used to work as the concubines' helper before, His Honour appointed me to you..." her voice wavered again, her fingers fiddling with her linen.
"Is something wrong?" I asked her softly, and she looked up in hesitance. "You can share it with me," I prompted again. It's better if she's comfortable around me because she was the only approachable being here.
"H- His Honour, told me to be at your service, b- but I forgot when he was gone," she bit her lip, "A- And it was only this new moon I remembered, I had to be your helper," she was trembling by now, with her hands that had turned cold.
I said nothing, just wrapped my arms around her in a warm hug. My God, I hadn't seen anyone so scared, ever.
"Relax, calm down," she was taken aback and looked at my smiling face in disbelief. "Why are you worried? Is someone telling him you forgot this?" I asked.
"Wouldn't you tell?" she quivered.
I laughed, "Why would I do that? You described me half the palace in five days, with such accuracy. I thought we're friends already."
"Really?" she asked hopefully. "The concubines always complained about me to H- His Honour... If I did a mistake," she stated, saddened.
The sound of horses neighing broke us out of our conversation. I scrambled to the window side to see a royal carriage had arrived.
A woman stepped out with a baby in her arms. She was dressed elegantly in golden linen with the baby, wearing a matching little dress. The officials standing there to receive her bowed in respect and she greeted everyone cheerfully.
Armonia, who also stood there, engulfed her in a hug, cooing the baby in her arms.
A thought struck me like a lightning bolt.
Was Julian married? Were they his wife and baby?
My face reddened in embarrassment. Why hadn't this thought crossed my mind?! That he could be married.
Thalia clapped her hands in excitement. "She is the most amazing woman I've met in my life! You'll love to meet Her Honour!"
"I see," I mumbled. Great thing I knew today.
A knot formed in my throat, but I gulped it away.
Thalia led me down to the third floor, which was specially decorated for the lady's arrival. I peered down the hallway to see a small garden like sitting area which seemed like a hanging place for women.
"Doesn't Her Honour lives here?" I asked.
"No, but she visits sometimes. She came today to congratulate His Honour for their victory in the battle of Gaugamela." she piped in.
I hesitated, before speaking, "Uhm, what's the need for me to go? She must be enjoying with her family. What will she do meeting a stranger?" I reasoned out.
Even if I'd love to write about her, it felt awkward to bombard her with questions when she just arrived.
"Oh no, don't worry. She is a good friend and loves to meet me whenever she visits. So I thought, why not let her meet my new friend?" she smiled back, holding my hand.
We waited outside the said room before the guards allowed us to enter. I kept my gaze lowered, hiding behind Thalia as much as possible. It was seriously nerve - wrecking to meet a royal, especially after the disaster that was Armonia and Olympias.
My eyes popped out when I spotted a little rectangular pond by the wall. It was made throughout the two adjacent edges of the room, having flowers and stalks growing out of the fresh water.
"Thalia!" the woman greeted her, a beautiful sing-song voice. "It's been a while, dear. How are you doing?" She was sitting on the bed that was placed in the centre of the room. The baby she held appeared to crawl away from her now and then.
I stood awkwardly beside the bedpost while Thalia went to sit at the bed's edge. The lady seemed like a happy-go-lucky woman, unlike other royal women I'd encountered.
My gaze shifted to the baby, who was happily crawling around the bed. I tried to gauge the face. It was a girl. Did she look like Julian? Her eyes, her nose, anything?
"Why are you standing, dear? Please come sit with us," I jolted when the royal woman called me out. Her ever-present smiling face turned towards my shocked one.
She was beautiful. The innocent and sweet kind. Her dark brown hair was tied into an intricate bun, with some falling down the shoulders. Hint of superiority or ego, non-existent on her face.
Did she just say please and asked me to sit beside her? On the bed?
"Uh... I- it's all right. I'll stand here, my noble lady," I bowed, stuttering. She was too kind to be a royal.
Her laughter echoed in the enormous room, "I am the last person you should be afraid of," she lightly grabbed my shoulders and made me sit in front of her, "I love knowing about new people," she gave a soft smile.
She exuded a certain warmth, the kind that anyone would want to become friends in a single conversation. Smiling back, I told her about me being a writer. It was surprising to see her delighted by the idea, instead of being repulsed by women doing such jobs.
"That's wonderful, Althea!" she exclaimed. "Julian has made his sister proud!"
I took a double-take at that. Still unsure, I asked, "His sister knows about me?"
She glanced between me and Thalia, then looked carefully at me again. "Um..." she creased her brow, "I'm his sister."
A wave of jittery, strangely relieved feeling passed through my chest. "Oh," was all I could utter. What a misery I am.
"What did you think of me?" she giggled. "No wonder Thalia would have forgotten to tell who am I?"
Thalia nodded her head in embarrassment.
"I- thought you were... his wife." I bit my lip, giving her an uneasy smile. After all, she looked nowhere like him, or their mother, Armonia.
She laughed even more. "Julian and married? Good gracious, I don't know since how long I'm praying that to be true!"
"I've heard him say that he's not a marriage material," Thalia added from behind me. We burst into a fit of laughter.
"Whatever, but it's about time he gets married. I mean, it's important to have an heir to the throne, and he's twenty-five already!" The lady whined.
Impressive age, definitely.
"Maybe he'll marry one of his concubines?" I thought out aloud.
She waved a dismissing hand at that. "What's the need when princesses from neighbouring kingdoms are pouring in for marriage proposals?
"Even their fathers are ready to offer part of their lands to the Romanowskian empire. Stubborn young man doesn't want to budge," she huffed.
At this rate, he's seeming like those CEO billionaire bachelors.
"What about you?" she beamed. "Do your children live here? Where does your husband work? How do you manage it all?"
And here I was, fretting over, bombarding her with questions.
"I- uh, I'm not married," I tucked my hair behind the ear.
"Oh, my!" she gasped, keeping a hand over her heart. "I thought you would have a lovely family by now. How come you're still not married?" she asked, concerned. My heartbeat spiked up.
This was one of the problems of ancient times. A woman must be married by sixteen to nineteen years of age.
While I was a whooping twenty-two. Thankfully, I am stuck at this age.
I told her another made-up story of getting out of the enslaved city of Macademia and becoming a writer, making sure it was the same version I'd told Julian. God, I can't mess this up.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to you," she held my hand, "But don't worry. I know about many able men who are looking for brides. Some of them are in my kingdom too," she said excitedly.
Blood drained off my face, "I- actually-" But she cut me off.
"It would be great, trust me! I'll arrange it if that's what concerning you. If we look hard enough, we can also get a prince to marry you! Especially those who don't want to marry a royal blood. Isn't it, Thalia?" she looked close to jumping up and down the bed in excitement.
"We know you are an excellent matchmaker, dear," Thalia clapped.
Last week, I was laughing my head off when Lorenzo was sobbing on the voicemail about how the queen, older than his grandmom, wanted to marry him. I'm guessing karma really comes to bite back. Harder.
The department's insane idea reeled in my head.
It may become difficult for Coretta and Cheryl at some point because society had the norm of getting women married as soon as possible. If the situation arises and you find no option, don't hesitate to marry any three of them. Yes, Lorenzo, Aarmen or Dunkin. Boys, you can act like their husbands...
I should've stuck with being Fartaxerxes' second wife from the beginning when we'd fooled that horde of people in the forest.
Lost in this dreaded situation, I was startled when I felt something on my lap.
The baby had her tiny palms on my thighs, showing me her toothless smile. She looked down, then proceeded to crawl over me.
Babies always bought a sense of calm over me. I knew I would love them to bits, even if they aren't my own.
Not knowing if it was allowed to hold a royal baby, I spoke, "My noble lady... your daughter," I motioned to the super active baby who was stumbling over me.
"She seems interested in you," she winked. "Haha, don't worry, you can hold her. She's been in the arms of every warrior back in our palace."
She came closer and kissed her baby lovingly.
"My baby has also closed her tiny palms around a sword's hilt," she sang in a babyish voice, smothering her with more kisses.
The little one made an adorable noise of being annoyed, then gave me a pout so cute, I thought I'd scream.
Enclosing my arms around her tiny frame, I picked her up as she giggled, snuggling more into me.
"Baby, you don't want to go to your mama hm?" I tickled her cheek, and she shook her little head to a no.
We laughed at her little antics, but I remembered the previous talk that was turning serious, "My Lady, it was so thoughtful of you to decide my marriage, but... my father will fix it," I gave her a sympathetic look then continued,
"He would send me a letter when he chooses a suitable groom for me."
Someone give me a trophy for accurate lying.
We continued chatting merrily, and I also got to know she had designed this room. Amidst our talk, a guardsman came at the door, "My noble lady, His Honour, would like to meet you."
A warmly nervous feeling enveloped me. He was here. After such a long time.
One month's time isn't even long. How am I going to cope up when I go back to my century?
"Hm, send him in," she ordered. "Althea, can you take her for a walk outside? I'm positive she won't come back to me unless she's hungry," she laughed, patting her baby gently, who was snuggled in my arms.
"As you wish to, my lady. It was an honour to meet you." Smiling, I stood up and bowed, with the baby now enthusiastically twisting in my arms. I kissed her temple and turned around when my heart somersaulted up my throat.
Julian stood a foot away from the bed as if he'd paused his walk midway, upon noticing something in the room.
When it seemed to register in his head who was holding his niece, his gaze levelled at mine. But it didn't stay there longer as it dropped to my neck and all the way down until they travelled back to my eyes, causing a heat wave to spread like fire in my body.
And this time his gaze didn't hold the earlier confusion, but a look so heated that I couldn't differentiate if it was anger or... something more dangerous.
Desire.
"Brother, did you miss someone more than you missed me?" The sing-song voice of his sister burst our bubble.
My face flushed red. Looking at him had made me forget. She was still in the room.
There was a sickly sweet undertone to it, mockery even, and it confirmed when I heard her chuckle. Julian's eyes merely shifted to look at her, then averted back to mine. As if he didn't have a care in the world.
As if his own sister wasn't standing there!
I did the one thing that might make this situation normal.
Walked over to him, bowed a little in an act of acknowledging the king and dashed out of the room.
Once out, I heaved for breath as if I'd just ran a marathon. The baby looked at me curiously, then brought her palm to touch my cheek.
"Aieoeiei... aaa... amm," she mumbled, clutching the linen around my shoulder and looked around. Her little eyes taking in the colourful decorations in the hallway.
I kissed her cheek gently, "Baby, why didn't you make these cutesy noises when your uncle was..." I shuddered. I didn't know what to make of it. That wasn't merely staring.
The morning went by with me, entertaining the baby, showering her with kisses and cuddles. There wasn't a doubt they pampered her a lot, as she kept scrounging for my attention when she felt ignored.
Thalia was long gone for some work ordered by Armonia, leaving me with the baby on the third floor.
"So baby, how do you find your uncle? Is he a good or a bad uncle hm?" I wiggled her and she turned her head to stare into my eyes.
"She has the best uncle in the world," A voice spoke behind me. Deep and sensual, as always. I shivered, holding the baby tighter.
Before I could turn around, he came to stand in front of me, leaning casually against the corridor wall, "How's it going, baby?" he smirked.
My stomach twisted. Surely he was referring to the baby girl, but his eyes on mine messed my head.
I gulped, clearing my throat, "Congratulations my Lord, for your victory in the battle," I said formally. A smile twitched on my lips when I thought about the bet we'd agreed upon.
"Would you like me to do anything, my Lord?" I asked, smiling at the sudden change in the look on his face. The one that told, he shouldn't have been too excited about that bet.
Which meant,
Darius had fled. I didn't change history, ta-da!
"Nothing as of now," he snickered, only for his eyes to darken again, just like back in the room. I stiffened when he came closer. The baby, being the only thing stopping him from invading my personal space.
"But don't worry, you aren't winning every bet, Mila," he whispered, tucking the baby out of my arms.
My eyes flickered to his right shoulder, which had a cloth tightly wrapped around it. Was he wounded in the war?
Once in his arms, she squealed, aiming her little hands somewhere. He brought his finger to her, and she held it with both hands, biting on it. The way he smiled softly down at her melted my heart.
"I will teach you how to walk," he spoke to the baby, walking past me, but I felt him stop, right behind me.
"How to walk towards me. And trust me baby, you'll learn a lot more than just walking." I couldn't breathe. And I could feel it in my bones,
That he was talking to me.
"One baby step at a time. Let's see if you fall in the process or not." Even if he wasn't touching, I could feel the heat from his body seeping into me. My breathing halted completely when the meaning of his words settled deep into my head.
Time was passing fast, and I yet had to discover, without falling.
The uncharted territory that was Julian Romanowski.
One baby step at a time.
This chapter reminds me it's so long since I held a baby :')
When was the last time you held one?