my heart in your hands

II

Her days continued on as just the same the next few weeks. Most sessions with Matthias on Tuesday afternoons where they slowly worked on improving her abilities. So she thought it would be nice to give him something.

She had to do some solo work to upkeep those skills. She found that on Thursdays at around 10:00 am, the gym was free of anyone except her.

Y/n's free time had been a mix of training, meetings for a ball her mother was throwing, and thoughts of Matthias.

It was easy to memorize his schedule when 1) she had access to it, and 2) he talked about it all the time. With the time they've spent together, they have gained quite a bit of knowledge about each other. Work was the main thing he talked about.

For a few seconds, it hit her that he may consider it creepy, but she had hoped that the sweetness would wash away any concerning thoughts he may have.

So there she was, standing outside the mess hall with some baked treats in her hands. Anxious thoughts flooded her head. Was he allowed to have sweets? Would he even want some after his lunch? What if he doesn't even come out at this door?

After she heavily considered turning around, he walked out with a couple other guards. The one on his left spotted her first. He was tall and almost lanky, much skinnier than one would expect for a guard. But he stopped what he was doing to bow to her.

She dipped her head and smiled at him in return. Matthias stood and blinked at what his friend was doing before he noticed her. A cheeky smile crossed his face as he took sight of y/n and the plate in her hands.

"Good afternoon, your highness," the lanky one spoke first.

"Good afternoon." She adjusted the plate to balance in a single hand as she reached out for his hand to shake. "And your name is?"

"Jesper Fahey, your highness." His head lowered again. Something y/n had grown to hate. She wished to have a normal conversation without her title determining everything.

"Well, Fahey, I've brought Matthias some honey cakes as a small gift." The two boys went bug-eyed at the casual tone she used with Matthias' first name. She hadn't done so in a public setting yet. Not like they have had many opportunities to speak publicly. "If he is willing to share, I don't mind if you have some too."

Matthias took the plate, and Fahey licked his lips while getting a closer look at them. He mumbled something along the lines of, "don't mind if I do."

"How'd you know I liked these?"

"You've mentioned them in passing, so it was a lucky guess." His face burned at that. "I thought it was time to return the favor anyway. You know, as a thank you." She waved her hand to emphasize that it wasn't much. She considered doing something that was more on the grand side, but she thought something small would be better to start off with. She could work her way up to something larger.

Other guards and some palace staff exited the hall. Most of them didn't even notice her, but she could still feel the peering stares. Y/n decided that she should take her leave. She curtsied, said her goodbyes, and walked away.

Once she was far enough away, Jesper turned back to Matthias, mouth agape, "What was all that about?"

"Nothing. I've just been helping her out with a few things." He shrugged. His grip changed and he took notice of a paper that was stuck to the bottom of the plate. A note. He slipped it into his back pocket. However, it was not without Jesper's notice.

"You two are fucking?" His jaw looked like it was unhinged.

"No," Matthias hit Jespers shoulder. "Of course not. I'm not stupid." Despite their hushed tones, he still looked around to make sure no one overheard Jesper.