Another Villainess

Chapter Twelve

"You again." I grab the knights hand as he hoists me into the carriage. "Why are you here?"

"It's nighttime and you shouldn't travel alone." Eden's face has no emotion as he sits in front of me.

I rest my head on my palm as I stare out the window, feeling his focused and eerily wide eyes on my face. "I see."

"Do you still want to hear why I was hurt?"

Not really. . .

"Yes."

"The knights did it. Because I'm dirty." He bottom lips trembles as he tries to suppress a smile."

"How so?" I ask, a little interested now because I realize it's my first actual conversation in days.

"I'm from Leisl."

Zachary mentioned that. I'm pretty sure it wasn't significant in the book. . . Or else I would've remembered it.

"What's dirty about Leisl?" He seems stunned at my question, but only for a moment. As his eye twitches his expression returns to it's flat state.

"You don't know?"

"No. So stop being ambiguous and tell me."

He shakes his head and stands up, walking over to my side of the carriage and getting on his knees. He takes my hand in his, the cold metal armor anything but comforting.

"Thank you for helping me." He smiles, the scar running down his cheek darkens with his face, bruises that have not yet healed make his face more frightening than it should be. "I wish I could've thanked you sooner. . ."

"You don't need to do that." My heart clenches and beats as he stares up at me. But my actions don't match my words as I run my fingers through his hair and down the side of his head before cupping his cheek and tracing my thumb over the scar.

He leans into my hand, his eyes almost completely shut, biting his twitching bottom lip.

I kick him back, a little harder than I intended to as he laughs, my mind regaining some sense.

"What are you doing?"

"Leondra-"

"Stop calling me that." I lower my eyes to him as he sits against the carriage seat opposite of me.

"But you told me that was your name?" He rubs the back of his neck, looking not at my face, but right beside it.

"Call me Lady Raiyus. I could get you thrown out, if not killed for your disrespect."

Finally, his face holds a fragment of sadness.

"Lady Raiyus, I'm not yet fully accustomed to knighthood. But I will try my hardest to keep my place here."

"You say that but you let yourself get beaten on your first day."

He raises his eyebrows amused. "I did. I don't see why that's so bad, I wasn't bothered much in the beginning, but I left when they became too. . . Aggressive." He looks away nostalgically. "But then I got to meet you."

He pushes his head into his hands, rubbing his face down and digging his nails into the skin under his eyes, his mouth lopsided in an off putting grin.

Weird. So weird. What the hell?

"Stop tha-" I move forward off the seat, trying to reach and slap his hands from his face but he grabs me and pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around my torso and rubbing his head against my neck.

"I'm so lucky." He whispers as I stop moving, confused.

"You were much less crazy when you couldn't speak." I grumble and pull away, he lets me with no resistance as he gets up and sits back down on the seat.

"That's because I didn't know you would help me, My Lady."

"Anyone who has some sense would've done what I did."

"No. You're wrong."

"I'm not. So you would act like this if just anyone helped?" There's no way the author wrote a character like this into their light hearted, simple novel. Absolutely no way.

"Yes. If they did it like you did."

I squeeze my body into the corner of the carriage, fear tickling the back of my head, paranoia eating at my mind. "And how did I do it?"

"Unconditionally."

". . ."

"You're making me tired. Stop talking."

"Please feel free to sleep, Leon- Lady Raiyus. I'll make sure to keep you safe." A warm smile opens in his cracked face, the yellow moon lessening the tension as he remains silent.

I highly doubt that.

I stare out the carriage again, I can't fall asleep, but I'm at least glad he isn't talking to me anymore.