Touch of Flame

Ravina was falling asleep when she heard Malachi leave. She told herself to get up and see where he went but she was so tired from being awake the whole night, bending over that bed, lifting, bandaging, and working for hours that her body refused to listen. She didn’t even open her eyes, and the darkness took over soon.

She managed to sleep well, without nightmares or strange dreams, and when she woke up, the room was bright with the sunlight pushing through the windows. She shifted and almost groaned in pain from having slept on the same side the whole time. That never happened since she rarely fell into a such deep sleep.

Taking her time to open her eyes, the scent of coffee greeted her senses and she found Malachi in bed with her. Despite the sunlight casting its rays on the side of his face, he was in a deep slumber. His lips were slightly parted, his dark hair pushed back, his thick brows relaxed and his skin glistened gold.

When did he come back, she wondered remembering that he had left last night.

Feeling sore from being in the same position, she decided to get up. She went and washed up, wetting her hair as well and splashing some on her body. Then she went to get dressed while trying to make as little noise as possible. She didn’t want to wake him up if he came back late.

When she sat down at her dresser, she took notice of the handmirror Malachi bought her from the strange old witch. Picking up she looked at the nicely carved golden frame and then she looked into the mirror.

“It won’t show you what you only want to see,” he had told her.

She looked at it and she could only see her reflection. What was she expecting to see besides what was it that she wanted to see? Another one who spoke in riddles and gave no information.

Putting the mirror aside she looked ahead at the large mirror as she reached for her comb. Her hand stopped when she took notice of the bruises on her neck. She leaned closer to look and she recognized them. Someone else had left them on her neck before.

She recalled Ares just walking over at the library and placing her on the table before getting between her legs and kissing her viciously and then Malachi positioning her on the bed before doing the same. The cold water evaporated on her hot skin. What was it with men and this?

“It is a lovebite,” she remembered Ester explaining.

Ester…

Ravina always felt a sting in her heart whenever she remembered her. God, she missed that woman so much. She knew Ester didn’t have a family either. She only had her grandmother growing up and even she died eventually. Ravina had planned to ask Ares if she could take Ester with her to their new home before she changed her plans and now she left her behind without a goodbye.

She swallowed the sad lump in her throat and began to comb through her wet hair when she took notice of Malachi through the mirror. He came to her where she sat and placed his hands on the back of the chair. “Sad in the morning,” he pointed.

It was barely morning.

She forced a smile. “I was just thinking of someone dear.”

“Who?” He asked curiously.

She stopped combing her hair and looked at him for a moment. “Ester.”

He frowned.

“She was my handmaiden… but she was more than that.”

Malachi nodded thoughtfully.

“You left last night…” she pointed.

“Oh, were you awake?”

“Awake enough.” She said, wondering if he would tell her anything without her having to probe.

“I… couldn’t sleep so I went to take some fresh air.”

“Is something bothering you?” She asked.

“Just your scent.” He said giving her a cheeky smile.

Oh… “Why didn’t you say something?”

“What would you do about it?” He raised a brow.

“I…” she didn’t know. Why didn’t she think of it? The scent was why she was here after all. “I could sleep somewhere else?”

He chuckled and then smiled showing his perfectly white teeth that always managed to make her envious. “Is that supposed to help?”

“I don’t know. How can I help?”

“How can you help me not find your scent intoxicating?”

Oh well… if he put it that way then she couldn’t help him.

“I guess I can’t help you,” she smiled back as a way to tease him since he was clearly trying to put her on the spot.

Then she went back to nonchalantly comb her hair. As if he was the only one who had a hard time sleeping and he could probably smell her as well which was reason enough to want to strangle him and herself.

Malachi only smiled amused.

“I will go take a bath at the river,” he said pulling back. “You can come by if you wish?” He smiled smugly.

She turned around to see the real him. “I don’t enjoy peeling skin anymore.”

He chuckled. “But you can enjoy other things like you did from there.”

He pointed at the screen from where she had watched him bathe. He was trying to make her flustered again. She already had the “they are pink” to agonize over. She wasn’t sure yet what he meant.

Before she could say anything, he turned sideways slightly as if listening to something outside the room before swiftly returning to her. “Seems like someone is in the kitchen.” He said.

“Nazneen?” She stood up. “We slept in late. I should probably go see her.” She said using it as an excuse to escape for a while.

Pink? Has he really never seen such?

When she arrived at the kitchen, she found Nazneen with Nako and Mara. Mara was showing her how they brewed tea and Nazneen was nodding. She wore the white garment she gave her with nothing else.

It was the first time Ravina saw her wear something this minimalistic and she still looked stunning. Her natural beauty popped out now that there weren’t other things to focus on.

Nazneen looked swiftly her way. “Good morning,” she greeted.

“Good morning,” Ravina replied.

“I am sorry if I kept them busy. They are teaching a princess who has never been in the kitchen how to make tea. I am terrible.”

“Oh well. A princess can learn too. I learned.”

Nazneen’s expression slowly changed, the smile fading from her lips.

“Ravina doesn’t act like a princess at all. It is almost as if she had worked her whole life.” Mara explained.

“Princess?” Nazneen raised a brow. “You are a princess.”

Ravina got a bad feeling. Why was she looking at her like that?