Persephone

24. Moving on

Persephone sat situated between Alastair's thighs, his hands on her hips, face pressed against the side of hers. Her back was pressed to his chest, a plate of assorted breakfast foods in her lap. Alastair had finally caught onto to avoidance to meat, though never question it, and requested Martha bring her something else. This morning was scrambled eggs again, this time with mixed fruit in a little bowl, which was now placed on the low coffee table in front of the pair, and a side of home fries. A glass of orange juice was next to the bowl of fruit, half drunk. Persephone picked at her eggs nervously as Alastair rubbed soothing circles into her small hips. Her confusion swirled inside her strong enough that Alastair could feel it. He smiled, drunk off her nearness, nuzzling his nose into her hair, he pressed a kiss to the side of her neck before sighing.

"Please eat, darling, we have a long day ahead of us."

Persephone furrowed her eyebrows at this, but did not say a word, just simply leaned forward to scoop up the bowl of fruit and begin on that.

It had been early morning when their strange exchange had happened and after Alastair had calmed her tears, he had insisted they go back to sleep until the sun rose. It had taken a little while for Persephone's nerves to calm down, so Alastair had a slight amount of compulsion over, allowing her to relax into the dark  inviting arms of sleep. He, however, had remained awake until next she woke, mentally making plans of what needed to be done. He had decided that she would no longer be leaving his side. The bond had finally started to take its effect on her and he could not risk his absence giving her time to think too much about why she was suddenly so much more comfortable with him than she had been just hours before. It was now mid morning and Alastair had only left her for the few moments she had needed to use the bathroom. He could feel the cloud of confusion around her, but he did not mind, she was quiet about it.

Alastair smiled to himself, she was being such a good girl.

Alastair waited patiently for Persephone to finish her food, not particularly happy that she only finished half of the food, but he said not a word, deciding that was something else they would work on. 

Rising from the sofa on which they sat, Alastair led Persephone over to the wardrobe and picked out a dress for, laying it on the bed. Pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, Alastair left for the bathroom to shower, allowing her to change in piece.

As his skin left hers, Persephone suddenly felt cold, wishing he would come back and hold her again. She stood staring at the dress on the bed, unsure of what to do. This dress, like the one of the previous day, was beautiful, but far from modern and she had no clue how to correctly put it on. Just then the door swung open and Martha bustled in.

"Don't worry, dear. I have everything under control. You have nothing to worry about at all today or ever. I have everything planned out," she was now moving around the room gathering things she needed to help Persephone prepare for the day, "All you have to do is listen to what I say and you will be in good hands. Arms up, please." She was now tugging at the hem of Persephone's nightgown, wishing to get started with the day.

~~~~

Persephone tucked her hand into Alastair's elbow, just the way he had led her to do on her first night in the castle, this time she did not protest as he led her down the hall. Forty five minutes later, Persephone was dressed in the plum colored dress Alastair had picked out for her, hair loosely pinned around her head as alastair led her through the winding corridors of the castle. Finally, two floors above, they seemed to be at their destination. Alastair lightly rapped his knuckles on the ornately carved door in front of them, waiting patiently for the person on the other side to answer. Soon the door opened with a flourish to reveal a jaw-droppingly stunning woman, beaming at the pair.

"Hello, Darling! You must be Persephone!" The woman grinned down at Persephone, delighted to see the shy girl by Alastair's side. Her bright red hair was curled upon her head, a forest green dress adorning her figure. Putting out a hand to Persephone, she introduced herself, "My name is Rowena, I'm the royal dress maker."

A/n: boring, I know, but more updates soon, ya'll best be loving me right now