Aleksei

Chapter 4

 "Good morning Rayth! Can I come in?" Frery was at my door.

I panicked, remembering that my hair is showing red. Then I remembered what Ade told me to do. I faked a cough, trying to sound sick. I strained my voice and said, "I'm not feeling great, can you stay out there? I don't want to get you sick."

"Oh ok, I hope you feel better. Ansellus and I are going upstairs to cook the deer we caught. And I think Ade's out to the market again. Call us if you need us!" I heard him run upstairs and close the front door.

I'm stuck in my bed until Ade comes back with my dye. For now, I just have to make the most out of my mind. I have to try and keep myself occupied. I lay back and close my eyes, letting my mind wander.

I start to think of my father, of how he treated me and everybody. I think of how people think he acts, versus the horrible person he truly is. I remember the day I ran away. How I could almost see the steam coming out of his head. All because I didn't want to marry somebody I didn't know.

"I'm back!" Ade came through my door, beaming.

I couldn't be happier to see him, he broke me out of my thoughts before they escalated.

He had brown dye in his hand. He had followed through on his promise. I couldn't believe it.

"This should last you a little longer than whatever you used before, and we have extra so when your hair grows a little you can just keep applying it."

He showed me the dye, seeming proud of himself. He seemed like an entirely different person right now. He used to be such a cold and quiet person. Now, he's practically jumping off the walls with energy.

"Frery and Ansellus are outside, if you didn't know."

"Frery told me. You seem excited, is something going on?"

He laughed, "You can say that. I just wasn't expecting to be in the presence of the princess anytime soon. If anything, I thought it would be when I'm held captive for some dumb crime I didn't realize I did."

"You need to be more quiet about that, somebody could hear you!"

He laughed again and rolled his eyes.

I wasn't lying, but I didn't truly think anybody would hear. If Frery and Ansellus are outside, then they shouldn't be able to hear anything. I still wonder where the guard that was following us yesterday went. He probably went back to Numiria.

Ade picked the dye back up. "Shouldn't we be concerned about doing this?"

I nodded, and tried to take the dye.

He pulled it out of my reach and shook his head. "I want to do it for you."

I sighed. No reason to deny that. I turned around so he'd have a better angle to apply it to my scalp. I flinched feeling his hands touching me. I'm still not used to getting touched. Especially in a non-malicious way. It was almost always use as a way to control me, to harm me. Except for when it was Fiona helping me into a dress.

After he finished dyeing my hair, I looked in the mirror. Other than my hair looking somewhat wet, it was perfect.

I hugged and thanked him.

He smiled and softly laughed. We kept talking for a while. Eventually, I accidentally mentioned something my father did once. His face got more serious, and he said, "Do you want to get back at your father for what he did to you? We can take a trip to Numiria if you want to."

I took in a sharp breath. I wasn't expecting him to ask that, not so soon.

I hesitantly nodded, "Yea, I would like both of those things."