Not Your Princess

Chapter Twenty

If August could abandon his princely duties to spend all his time with Asch, he would do so in a heartbeat. He spent the rest of the previous day taking care of her, seeing to any and all of her needs.

August enjoys taking care of Asch. It makes him feel reassured and filled with a strange sense of purpose. Almost as though he was meant to dote on her.

Leaving her alone in the heavily guarded house is the last thing that he wants to do. He needs to learn more about the previous day's events, which can only be accomplished by leaving the seclusion of the house.

As he dresses to leave, however, the small seeds of doubt deeply imbed in his mind, causing it to go to worse case scenarios. What if there's another assassin lurking within the palace walls? What if they are waiting for August to leave so that they can strike?

These fears are enough to bring August back to bed, where he wakes Asch with a kiss. A smile grows across her face while her eyes flutter open. She wraps her arms around his neck and draws him close. "Good morning, Prince Charming," she greets.

"Good morning, my love." Her smile widens and she pulls him in for another kiss. This one is much longer than the first. It's slow and full of love and passion.

All of August's self-restraint goes into breaking the kiss. He looks down at his wife. Both love and desire course through his body. It fills him with heat and makes him wish that they could stay like this for longer. "You make it incredibly difficult to get out of bed."

"Then don't," she responds. "We can just lay in bed all day and let everyone else deal with everything."

His lips land on hers once again, lingering for a few seconds. He groans while lifting his head back up. "Unfortunately, we cannot afford to put our duties on hold. They found the man responsible for setting fire to our room."

The light in her eyes dim. Asch withdraws into herself as if she is suddenly remembering yesterday's events. Her hands move to his face. Goosebumps raise across his body while she gently rubs her thumbs on his cheeks. "I suppose that is important."

"I would like for you to come with me." August studies her face for a reaction, but Asch only appears to be confused. "You have the right to confront your attacker."

She's silent for a moment, allowing for August to realize that Asch may not want to face the man who tried to kill her. Too many traumatic experiences have happened to her over the course of the past several months. They may be starting to wear away at her.

"Unless you don't want to," he amends. "I'm certain that my mother would love to see you to ensure that you are safe and perfectly fine."

Shaking her head, Asch snaps out of her daze. "No, no. I want to," she responds. She makes direct eye contact with him, a sudden vision of pride and strength. "I want to know everything that he knows."

August moves so that she can get up, but Asch pulls him back down for another kiss. She smiles coyly at the prince once they pull apart. "Just one more for good luck," she claims.

Never in his life has August believed in fate. He never believed in preconceived destinies guided at the hands of gods. This moment, however, has changed his mind. He and Asch were always meant to meet at the bar. Their unconventional marriage had always been written in Fate's book.

August has always been meant to love Asch. It is one of the greatest purposes of his life, surpassing being the heir.

It is a purpose that he is more than happy to cherish and fulfill.

*****

The amount of guards that surround the couple makes Asch uncomfortable. All of them are heavily armed and stand within a small following distance of the pair. Were it not for August and Henrick standing on either side of her, Asch is certain she would have lost her nerve.