Rose of royalty

XII

We arrived back and Tamika went into the kitchens preparing me a cup of tea while Sebastian led me to my room. I went into the joined bathroom and dismissed Sebastian while I ran the bath making sure the water was the right temperature and added some lavender body wash to create bubbles. I laid a towel out on the floor and hung my night dress on the hook with my gown. I put my hand in the water feeling the temperature before stripping and stepping into the tub slowly turning off the tap and sitting in the tub watching the bubbles cover my body. I could see the night view of the garden from the window listening to calming meditation music I put on playing off my phone. I closed my eyes only hearing the faint sound of the water moving and the meditation music.

I sunk back against the tub feeling the water completely cover my shoulders, my head resting back on the edge of the tub. My body felt completely relaxed as I rested, "Catherine can I come in?" A knock on the door followed by the sound of Harrison's voice. "Yea come in" i said as I gathered as many bubbles as I could to cover me, he walked in and had a slight blush on his cheeks. "How are you even here?" I asked as he walked over to the tub sitting on a nearby stool and rolling his sleeves up. I looked up at him as he dipped his hand in the water moving it from side to side then brushing the back of his fingers up my arm. His eyes focused on the water as he slowly creased the back of his fingers against my skin and I could feel the slight graze of his nails on my skin.

The sensation of shivers being sent down my spine as he continued moving his hand and grazing his fingertips against my neck. "How'd you get here?" I asked regaining some sense of reality, "I flew as soon as I heard what happened I had to make sure you were safe" he whispered. "I'm not hurt" I whispered and he gently grabbed my chin turning my attention to him, "but you could've been" he whispered leaning in a little closing the gap. "How did you?" I asked stuttering as he took my hand gently messaging my arm kneading it as he worked down to my hand. "Sebastian messaged me when he heard what occurred at the time the police arrived" he explained, "oh" was all I said as he continued massaging my arm. I turned my head so I was looking up at him instead and holding onto the edge of the tub so I didn't slip, "I'm glad you're safe" he said creasing my arm.

I finished in the bath and got dressed, Harrison seemed on edge as he followed closely behind me. We entered one of the free rooms in the servants quarters seeing the double bed, "after you" Harrison said holding open the door and I walked inside sitting on the bed with my back against the pillows. He laid beside me and gently grabbed a hold of my hand holding it as a rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. "I'm sorry for the way I acted when we spoke on that video call" he whispered, "it's okay" i said and he sighed with a soft gaze. "No it's not because I want to tell you but I can't or you'll be in danger" he said fading into a whisper, "I can fend for myself" i said placing my hand on his cheek to which he shook his head.

"This is a dangerous game that a beautiful woman like you shouldn't play" he said as he leaned in kissing my forehead. We stayed silent and I noticed Harrison drifting off, he looked exhausted like he hadn't slept in days. I ran my fingers through his hair to which he tilted his head and sighed getting comfortable. I peered at his face seeing how peaceful he looked and defenceless, I turned to my back was facing away and I felt a warm hand on my stomach. I felt a sense of peace as I fell asleep being pulled closer to Harrison feeling his bare chest against my exposed skin. My eyes grew heavy as I inhaled the scent of his cologne. "Get some rest" I heard him mumble through a yawn, and I intertwined our fingers as I fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning rolling over feeling the warm bed sheets besides me. Harrison must've woken up not too long ago, I looked around the room feeling confused for a moment. I brushed my fingertips on the soft cotton sheets, I heard a knock on the door and the clicking of the knob hearing the door open and Harrison peek through the door holding a tray. "What's this about?" I asked as Harrison bought the tray over placing it on the bed and sitting across from me, "breakfast" he said serving me a cup of tea. "Green tea how'd you know?" I asked taking a sip from the cup, "I asked Tamika" he said as he poured hot water into his mug containing coffee. I showed him a smile and took another sip of my tea, "how are you feeling?" He asked as he opened a container of chive cottage cheese and packets of bagels.

"Tired it's been quite overwhelming and I've heard nothing of my uncle" i said with a sigh rubbing my eyes with my free hand. "Well today do you wanna go for a walk and take it easy?" He asked, "you're not busy?" I asked and he rolled his eyes. "No I'm not" he said taking the empty cup from my hands, "I wanna recover the books from my uncles study" i said and Harrison's changed his posture. "What's so important about those books?" He asked sounding defensive and I began to get annoyed thinking back to the conversation on the FaceTime. "Who's Irene Ryhill and why did you get so sensitive?" I asked and I sounded so determined to find out, I watched his nostrils flare as he breathed deep closing his eyes.

"Don't get mad at me you're hiding something" I said raising my voice slightly, I narrowed my eyes glaring at him and he looked really annoyed. He came forward pushing me down by my shoulder having a grip on my arm as he made eye contact with me. "Don't test my patience" he growled into my ear, "or what" I challenged and his grip tightened. "You don't want to know miss" he whispered and his warm breath tickled my ear and sent my heart racing in a good way. "If you must know then Irene was my mother and she was murdered right in front of me" he said and my heart skipped a beat as he pulled away getting off the bed and exiting the room slamming the door behind him.

I felt like I was frozen lying on the bed touching my arm where Harrison's hand was, no bruise left but a slight throbbing pain was left behind. I sat up hugging my knees to my chest hiding my face as my body trembled. Something isn't right, I looked around seeing the window open and the cool breeze making the curtains sway. I got up and got dressed for the day, grabbing my book and pulling my hair back into a ponytail before leaving the room and going out to the garden to clear my head. I walked through a different way to the gardens going through the passages instead and hearing the sound of my heels echo through the walls as it hit the concrete.
I reached the heavy wooden door at the end of the hall to the left unlocking it and squinting when the sunlight hit my eyes. I went to step out when I looked at my hand noticing red liquid mixed with some sort of powder, what the hell is this.

I took a step back from the door closing it slowly to see where the liquid came from that looked like blood. I jumped in a fight when I saw the sight of a man hanging from the metal pole that hung a lamp. Their body was shredded and they're intestines hanging out, I took in a deep breath ready to scream when a strong scent and a cloth covered my mouth making me pass out into darkness.