Oh, Anna

chapter 6

"Why do you cover your face," I asked as I looked up at Anna. She evidently stiffened and began to fidget with her hands. "Hey, if you are not comfortable with telling me, that is fine," I said as I put a hand on her forearm, grabbing her attention. "I am sorry that I brought it up," I said as I looked to the floor, retracting my hand from her arm. I heard shuffling before a hand lifted my chin to face Anna. She had removed her gauntlet and had placed it on an empty spot of the bookshelf. Her hand gently holding my chin to face her as her blue eyes gazed down at me. "Don't worry princess, you will know soon enough. Just give it time," Anna said.

I felt my face heat up as I smiled at Anna. Even though it was my title, it made me slightly flustered when Anna called me 'princess'. She made it sound more like a harmless pet name rather than using it to be formal. "Do you mind if I ask a different question," I asked as I moved my hand to place it on top of hers. She nodded as she began to rub her thumb along my chin. "How did you get the scar that traces along your eye," I asked as I slightly tilted my head. She gave a very confused and worried look as she retracted her hand from my face, leaving me to miss her touch. "How did you know I have a scar there?"

"Relax Anna, your mask this morning allowed me to see the upper half of your face, and to see that you have beautiful brown hair with purple highlights," I said. Anna gave a small 'oh' causing me to bark a laugh. Once I calmed down, Anna let out a sigh, "sure, I can tell you that story." I could feel my eyes light up once she told me that. She told me to stay put for one second. She walked away and soon came back wearing the same mask she wore this morning. "Do you just carry that mask around," I ask as I crossed my arms, clearly amused. "Not always, but sometimes," she replied.

I walked up to her and admired the small amount of skin that I could admire. I could see small faint freckles that were sprinkled on her cheeks. I placed my hand on her cheek and rubbed my thumb over the scar on her upper cheek. It was deep, evidently wasn't from a simple accident. I felt the skin under my hand heat up and I looked up to face her, frowning. "What's wrong princess," Anna asked, I felt my face warm up as I heard 'princess' roll of Anna's tongue. "I can't see your mouth," I said as I moved my hand from her cheek to the mouth of the black mask. Anna sighed as she grabbed my hand from her mask and placed it into hers. She grabbed her gauntlet off the bookshelf and placed it under her arm. She then guided me further into the library.

"When I first joined the guard, I would always train, and I wouldn't take very good care of my body," Anna started, "it got to the point where I would stay up for multiple days at a time to work on my footwork or sword handling." Anna looked back at me, I nodded for her to continue. "General Chonk, who happens to be a good friend of mine, saw that I wasn't sleeping or eating. He told me to go rest, but my dumb ass refused to. So, he challenged me to a duel. If he won, I would have to go rest. But if I won, I could continue training. It was a sloppy fight, and he got my lip pretty good." She looked back at me to see my reaction, in which I just gave a simple sigh. "You still don't take great care of your body Anna."

Anna hung her head as she played with my fingers, trying her best to not maneuver them uncomfortably. "Come on Anna, Dorka will probably be here any minute now," I said as I handed her the gauntlet. She reluctantly moved her hand from mine and slowly put the gauntlet on. We headed back to the front of the library, and I could see on a table Anna's helmet. "Go put it on," I said as I turned my back to the table, "I won't look." Anna gave a skeptical look before going and changing out of her mask to her helmet. "You can turn now," Anna said. I turned to see Anna with her helmet on, and her mask stored away. I smiled as I looked up at her, "see, I told you I wouldn't look." Anna chuckled before walking towards the door and opening it. I thanked her before walking into the hallway, Anna quickly joining my side.