Phillip gawked at the space where Aurora was supposed to be. It took nearly a minute before he realized that she had sashayed her way out of the cold chamber.
Muttering a series of curses under his breath, he got off the bed to run after her. "Where in the bloody hell are you going?"
"Oh, that's what this place is called now?" she replied with amusement. "Does this bloody hell have someone who could draw me a bath? I feel...filthy..."
"Aurora, you are trying my patience! You can't be seen walking these halls! No one would believe me if I told them that you've woken up from more than a century of sleep!" he whispered furiously following in her wake.
"Hm...what a predicament that would be. A Prince who talks about someone rising from the dead."
He grasped her hand firmly in his before pulling her with him towards his sleeping quarters.
"Whose room is this?" she asked as she looked around the opulently-decorated bedroom.
"Mine."
"Oh...fabulous!" she crooned.
He put a finger against his lips. "Shh!"
She nodded smiling before she made a zipping gesture across her mouth.
He huffed. "Like I can trust you to shut up..."
"But, you can trust me..." she said. "I want you to trust me."
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"Have you done anything trustworthy?" she asked back. "Or is undoing the laces of a lady's gown the definition of being upright in these modern times?"
"I was drunk!" he defensively issued.
"You don't sound drunk to me. And as my father used to say, a drunk man's actions are a sober man's thoughts."
"You must think you're irresistibly attractive," he sarcastically said.
"At least to you, I am," she countered.
He gazed at her wide, innocent eyes and then at her succulent lips before he turned his face away.
"What?" she queried.
He looked at her. "My apologies," he said. "I was at fault. I did not behave like a true gentleman and took advantage of your predicament. But, because I realized that what I was doing was wrong, I stopped. That should count for something, right?"
"And that's why you're here with your head still attached to your neck because I took that into account," she said with a sweet smile. "Now, who should I call to draw me a bath?"
"Everyone's sleeping."
"But you're awake..."
"And?"
"And I am a helpless damsel in a familiar castle where unfamiliar people now live. Surely a bath is something that I deserve after all the wretchedness I went through."
He raised a brow at her. "You don't look wretched to me."
"Do you want to see how wretched I could get?" she asked before she clutched at her chest and then opened her mouth as if to scream.
He vehemently shook his head. "No, no, no, Aurora, stop!"
She smiled. "A bath. Please...."
He let out a defeated sigh. "Fine."
She curtsied in reply.
He walked to the door and then rang the small bell attached to it; seconds later, he could hear a scurrying of feet.
