The Princess's Servant

76. The Kiss

"Ooooo!" Nara brought her hand to her mouth as she watched the scene unfold.

Sybil stepped towards the prince. The prince took one step back.

"W-Wait." Holden held his arms out in surrender. What had happened? He'd had complete control over this situation mere seconds ago. And yet... Now...

The princess wore a wicked smile as she stepped towards him again and again like a wolf pawing towards prey. "Come on, Wardian," she grinned. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

"We don't have to do this," he said. The prince tried to not let fear into his voice. He did not succeed.

He was running out of room. He took one step back, and then another until his heel hit the kitchen wall. The princess Sybil stepped forward and took his hand in hers, weaving her fingers through his. She closed their distance until he could feel her heat and then—

She kissed his hand.

"Ha!" Sybil said with a strange tone. "You didn't say where I had to kiss you. Dumbass."

Holden stared at the girl who seemed to stare past him.

"Alright. Let's roll again!"

Holden watched Sybil as she stepped away from him. It couldn't be. Was it? Had he just seen Sybil be shy? That wasn't possible. Sybil wasn't the type of person to be shy. He'd taken her for the type to steal kisses (and more) when given the chance. He must not have seen what he thought he'd seen.

Holden felt a strange pit in his stomach as he sat back down.

They rolled again.

The rest of the game was relatively relaxed. There were a lot of "drink" commands and the occasional "do a dance" or "do an impression of so and so" and the like. Whenever Holden got his turn, he stuck to Nara and whenever Sybil got her turn, she stuck to Nara too. Lucky for the both of them though, the huntress won most the rounds.

The game ended abruptly when Nara won for the umpteenth time and commanded herself to take a little nap. "I'll be up in 20 mins. I swear it." She collapsed on the couch — out for the night, Holden was sure.

And once the cushions had sighed out all their air and the room turned still, it struck the prince that he was once again alone with the psychopath princess. 

"And that's my cue," Holden said, as he got up and made for his room.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sybil said, her tone enough to stop him in his tracks.

"To sleep," he replied.

Sybil gave him that devious look that told Holden that whatever he wanted was not about to happen.

"I want to sleep in my house, in my bed. A bed I very much missed last week, no thanks to you. Good night," he said.

Sybil stood. Holden suppressed a groan.

He turned to face her more fully. "I've already played dice with you once," he said. "I didn't like the outcome. What makes you think I'd ever do it again?"

"Our game tonight was fun. Simple fun." The princess traced the golden hem of her sleeve.

"It was," Holden agreed. "And happily it didn't end with anyone enslaved. Now I bid you again, good night."

"It was the kind of fun children enjoy, Wardian." Her pale eyes bore into him through the flickering candlelight. "I'm not a child."

The prince gave her a chiding look. "Are you sure?"