𝐌𝐫𝐬. 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲 | Choni

Thirty

Toni had given Cheryl as long as she could risk before they would inevitably get caught.

The problem was that Cheryl wasn’t calming down. The Serpent then made the decision to pull the Princess to her feet and coax her back along the path they’d come from and towards her and her brother’s room.

Miraculously the pair made it unseen to their destination while Cheryl’s breathing continued at the increased rate it had; she was beginning to look a little pale and light-headed. Toni guided her to sit on the edge of her cot while she crouched in front of her taking her hands in her own and squeezing tight to ground her.

“Cher, look at me. Nothing is happening right now, you need to calm down and breathe easy.” She exaggerated her slow breaths for the redhead to copy. Eventually, it seemed to be working.

“What if Reggie doesn’t want me? They’re going to force me to marry a man I don’t know?” Cheryl almost sobbed out some of the thoughts that had been rushing around in her head.

“He’d be crazy not to want you! But if not then maybe you can talk to them, let them see your side.” From where she was crouched, Toni tried to look the redhead in the face as she looked down to her lap.

Cheryl jolted her head up and looked like a scared child. “They’ll never understand and then I’ll lose you too!”

Toni rubbed Cheryl's hands and shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere” She meant it, even though it was going to hurt like hell to watch her with another.

“But if they knew how I feel about you, they’d never let me see you again.” Cheryl seemed to be calming down again.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” The Serpent stood and brought the redhead into her arms.

“What am I going to do?” Cheryl hiccoughed.

Toni stepped back and held Cheryl at arm’s length to look at her properly. “We’re going to breathe. We’re going to get through this together, we’ll make it work. If I’m still your Lady’s Maid, then I’m not leaving your side ever. Everything is just like we said before.”

Cheryl looked up to the woman in front of her. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve the world, Cheryl.” Toni affirmed as she smiled down to the red-haired woman.

“Will you lay down with me for a moment? I’m feeling a little light-headed.” It was as if Cheryl had just realised where they were as she looked to the bed under her.

Toni nodded at the idea. “We can stay here for as long as you need.”

The pair slipped their shoes off and laid down with Toni enveloping Cheryl in her arms. The Princess soon fell asleep in the warmth of Toni’s embrace.

________

Anton entered the room sometime later but halted as he took the scene in front of him; his sister with the eldest Princess in her arms.

Toni held a finger to her lips to tell him to stay quiet when she noticed him standing there staring.

“What are you doing?” He whispered holding his arms up in disbelief.

Toni checked that the redhead was still asleep before she whispered back. “She heard her parents talking about forcing her to marry and she kind of freaked out.”

“So you thought you’d bring her here?” Anton shook his head at his sister as he perched on the edge of his own cot.

“Well, I couldn’t really get her to her room. This was somewhere private!” Toni whispered over the top of the sleeping Princess.