The King's Guard

Chapter 8: Be careful what you wish for

It all starts with a little spark,
Then piece by piece,
A giant house is reduced to ash scattered by the wind.

Joana smiled as another group of soldiers patted her on the back as she went about her assigned chores for the evening. It had been a week since her victory over the annoying General and she'd smiled at him through all the dreadfully hard exercises he had given them, a supreme form of self-satisfaction in her belly because she could tell she had successfully ruffled his too proud feathers.

It seemed her feat on the trials as well her bold challenge to the general earned her both respect and envy from her fellow brothers in arms but nobody had had the boldness to call her out on it. Some still sent her dirty looks and there were some scathing remarks that floated by as she passed but she couldn't care less.

She felt a pair of eyes on the side of her face as she dropped the pile of wood she'd been carrying to the large hearth to serve as the cooking fire and turned to see the storm gray eyes of King Rowan staring at her.

Since her trials, she had caught him staring at her more often than not and some part of her hoped he had not discovered her secret but that couldn't be so. She had been very careful and even her tent mates hadn't suspected a thing.

Perhaps he suspected her because of her skill with the bow and her red hair.

Sketching a bow that certainly startled him, she returned to her duties sighing as the night came to an end and she could finally sneak away for her bi-weekly bath in the lake she had found deep in the woods, hoping no one would come upon her one day.

An arrogant part of her felt she couldn't get caught as her disappearances were rather late at night or at odd times when all the others were at dinner but a more cautious part warned that if her disappearances caught anyone's attention, she'd be suspected to be a spy.

"I need to speak with you after dinner." A gruff tone sounded in her ear as light as a whisper she would have doubted she heard if she hadn't seen General Ian stomp away from her to his tent.

Groaning at having to delay her bath, she made her way to his tent and waited for his guards to announce her expecting to be called in but surprised as he came out a sent a 'walk with me' command her way, dismissing his guards.

She noticed some other recruits like her snicker as they passed and hope this didn't reinforce the sick rumors they had in their head that she was the general's paramour.

She walked in silence behind him sighing as they went further away from camp further delaying her bath time.

"You should know that I'm only looking out for you when I say that you should stop this charade and return home, Jon. You might be skilled with a bow but you're not cut out for the heat of war."

Joana noticed with a raised brow that he hadn't used her real name. Perhaps he had also heard the comments and knew that every meeting they had would attract eavesdroppers. She decided to play the game with him, according him due respect when she overheard the snickers so horribly muffled in the forest around them.

So they had an audience, did they?

"I assure you General, I can hold my own." She argued, "Besides I thought we had a wager that I won fair and square."

It took him a minute to respond and with a heavy sigh that let her know he was exasperated at having an audience that wouldn't let him speak as freely as he wanted.

"Get to bed soldier." He sighed at last, "Tomorrow's another hard day."

"Yes, sir." She smiled with a mocking bow as they made their way back into the general camp.

Joana didn't need to look to know that escaping to her secret hideout now was risky but a slight whiff of her underarms told her she couldn't compromise on it one more day.

So feigning the excuse of a troubled stomach, she took off albeit with extra precautions because here were more than a few things they were bound to notice.

As always, the beauty of the small lake took her breath away.

It was fed by constant trickle from a small waterfall that glinted a beautiful silver in the moonlight surrounded by flowers in all array of colors that only added to its beauty and perfumed the air.

Stepping under the gentle drip of the waterfall always left her moaning in pleasure.

"God." She sighed as the cool water ran over her hair and down her body leaving a delightful kiss of cold in its wake.

Perhaps she should have avoided her bath tonight. If she had, she would have been able to avoid the embarrassment that came next.

"You're not very good at keeping your secret, Jon." A masculine voice called out startling her.

She let out a scream that could wake up the dead and turned around forgetting she was currently undressed to find not a soldier but the King of all people staring at her, her scream getting even louder when she realized her mistake.

"Oh God. I can explain." She stuttered once she regained her senses, kneeling in the lake so it was only her head that was above water.

In the moonlight she saw him fold his arms and send a mocking half smile her way, eyes looking her up and down as if to emphasize why that would be impossible.

"Oh really?" He stated folding his arms and leaning on a huge oak, "You'd be able to explain why you have balls on your chest rather than between your legs?"

SUSPENSE!!!!!

I literally howled reading this part.

Next Chappie is up.

Keep up with the drama.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

Let me know what you think.