The Masquerade Ball (A tale of Eswor Book 1)

Of course we're going to celebrate

The cleric put some paste on a cut that had made its way on my face. She had inspected my ribs and said that she could give me some medicine for it, but other than that they had to heal on their own which could take a few weeks or so.

I hissed at the stinging sensation once the paste settled in. She put the paste back in her bag and smiled at me. "Now, because of the state you are in, I'm going to have to tell Kinnley that you can't continue on the inspection. You are to return home with His Royal Highness. As for what you can and cannot do, no exercising, sword fighting, hand combat, or any sort of physical activity. That includes horseback riding. You might also want to stay away from corsets for awhile."

I snorted. "Like I wear corsets. Those things are death traps."

She smiled. "You might be able to continue physical activities in at least two months."

I sighed. "So looks like I'm going to be stuck training new guards. Whoohoo."

She shoved something in my hands. I looked down at it. It was a glass bottle with a cork and a clear brown liquid. "It makes your body heal just a bit quicker then normal medicine. Take it once in the morning and once at night for about a month. It should help." She smiled and then closed the door behind her.

I sighed and flopped back on the bed. We made it back to the castle from the mansion this morning and the cleric took at least most of the morning inspecting me. I hadn't seen Cole yet, and frankly, I wasn't in the mood for his overprotectiveness and motherly attitude.

~

I had fallen asleep, and I just woke up. I sat up looking out my window and stood up. It was dark out, meaning I had slept most of the day away. My muscles groaned in protest, but I ignored it. I walked out my doors and onto my balcony. The wind was somewhat chilly, the scent of fall blowing with it.

I heard my door open and close. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "Hi Cole."

"How are you're injuries?"

I had to keep from rolling my eyes. "Fine. How are you're lessons going?"

Cole moaned. "They're so boring. It's just useless information about the kingdoms history."

I laughed. "At least you didn't have to get broken ribs."

Cole leaned against the railing and looked at me. We didn't say anything. His eyes scanned my face. "How is His Royal Highness doing?"

"He's doing fine. Why?"

Cole shrugged and leaned his head back, his hair going over the railing. "Just wondering. You two were together the whole time right?"

I frowned. "Yeah why?"

He shrugged again and looked at my hands. I was twirling the ring Kinnley gave me when he announced me his heir around my finger. It had become a habit of mine whenever I was thinking. Cole intertwined my fingers with his and kissed my knuckles. "So now that we know where the pirate encampment is what's the plan?"

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. "I need to talk to Kinnley and then Derrick and I can hold a meeting and talk about it when everyone gets back. I have a feeling that we might have a traitor in the castle and that's how the Pirate King knows what we are doing and where I am all the damn time."

Cole pulled me towards him gently, and rested his forehead against mine. "Why don't you just relax for a little bit?" He smirked. "We can relax together." His hand was wrapped around my waist, tracing shapes on my skin, forming goosebumps. The offer sounded tempting, but I couldn't. Not right now.