Heaven Can't Wait ۞ Baldwin IV

V - Remedy

Baudouin and Lluna walked side by side once again, but this time their silence was not uncomfortable or worthless. They used it to reflect on each other, seen as they could not remain strangers for long, every possible little moment of reflection would help.

His breathing was harbored within his mask and only so faintly perceivable through that stillness in the air. As for her own breath, it remained constricted as it did that day on Noah's ship. No matter how chivalrous the King had resulted to be, no matter the warm welcome, or the embrace of the palace walls... her heart did not encompass the bravery of her name.

A stumble of the clumsy footsteps behind them reminded her they were not alone. Another young man accompanied them. The King's chamberlain and assistant, Charles le Bascou, as he'd been introduced downstairs.

His short and sharp hazel hair was combed forwards and pointed towards round grey eyes as large and shiny as a child's. Brown garments matched the tone of his hair. He was roughly the same height as Lluna, or even shorter, which made both of them appear like pawns next to the King.

They had reached the top floor, the residential area where every noise from below echoed distantly. This was comforting, considering the walkway overlooked the courtyard and, while bird songs and calls could be beautiful, it was nice to have spaces free from noise.

From this view the olive tree stood out less than the palm trees, although the diameter of its crown was still impressive. Valentia softly flicked a palm that intruded into an opening in the balcony.

Baudouin stopped by a set of double doors of heavy-looking wood that granted the chambers an impenetrable appearance.

The keys jingled within Charles' grasp while he tried to find the right one.

"Ah, escusez moi," he said after a while.

While exchanging bashful glances, the King and the lady both stifled their shy amusement at the gauche chamberlain's attempts to unlock the door. Charles was taking absurdly longer than he ought to; there were not so many keys and he'd gone through all of them two times already. Until finally the relieving noise from the lock proved the impenetrable doors wrong. With an outstretched arm, Baudouin invited Lluna to go in first.

Unfortunately for the carefully curated appearance of her grace, she walked straight into hanging drapes and felt like a trapped fly for a brief moment. If she had stepped just a little to the left they would have been avoided. Both men had to unravel the fabric away from her flailing arms. The humbling was immediate, yet neither of the company exercised a laugh on her behalf, although they were probably dying to.

"Merci..."

Even more drapes hung in the distance that she now saw as nothing different from spiderwebs. The left side was engulfed in darkness behind them. However, she could make out a bed that would be impossible to miss due to its blatant size. The room did not spare in archways inside it either.

The doors were left ajar while the King rediscovered the space with her.

"These will also be your chambers once we are wed. It is important that you have your own space, as my duties could be disrupting to your own routine and sleep."

It was an understandable arrangement. However, one that differed from what she had come to know of married life from her parents, who had shared the same room since the day of their controversial wedding, no matter what. And although, every time she'd seen their room there had been two beds separated by the width of a table, the wooden floors betrayed the sound of how they pushed them together every night.

The afternoon light that entered this particular room was made up of all the colors of the rainbow, filtered through panes of stained glass before the balconies at the other side. Lluna lifted her hand at it, the rays of colors bending to her skin's curves like liquid light.