Gentle Hearts --Commander Lexa--

Chapter 14

Lexa had feelings for Bambi.

She knew it and couldn't hide from it.

Yet she thought she was being subtle about her feelings for Bambi in front of others, but her guards knew the truth. They saw how their Commander smiled more around Bambi than they ever saw her smile, laughed occasionally and genuinely seemed happy in her presence.

Many of the guards would place bets for when the two would ask to be alone and what they were doing.

Many of the younger guards thought they were having a sexual and passionate affair, but the older guards who were there longer would laugh at them and tell them they are simply writing poems to one another or exchanging gifts. That was more romantic and more in their nature.

While they disagreed on what they were doing, they all agreed on a couple of things.

If they asked to be alone, the guards would move just a bit away from their post in front of the doors to give them more privacy, but were also more alert so no one else could interrupt the Commander and the Ambassador/Advisor.

They would make whoever was looking for either one go away and say that they were talking about important things that did not need them.

Lexa's personal handmaidens saw how Lexa would take long when looking in the mirror one day and began to gossip—not in front of the Commander of course. This was unusual behavior and they wondered what the cause was.

Once the handmaidens' gossip hit the guards, they added in their own information from the things they saw. There were many possibilities of what was going on, but which one was true? Were they lovers? Were they professional?

While heading to drop off the Commander's clothes to be washed, two of the handmaidens caught sight of Keyleth bringing Bambi's back to her room. They immediately stopped her and started to ask questions about Bambi, the small Ambassador from the stars.

"How is Ambassador?"

"Is she bossy?

"Is she kind?"

"Does she really smell nice?"

Confused at all the questions being thrown at her, Keyleth tells them the truth of Bambi. "Bambi is kind, always thinking of others. She doesn't really boss people around, only when she can't do it herself. Um, she does smell nice... why?"

"It's just—" One of the maids paused. "We hear so much of her but we've never really had to spend so much time with her like you do."

"What does she do in her room most days that we don't see her?" The other maid stepped forward, wanting her burning question to be answered.

"Well, she either goes through letters for her duties, she paints or draws—oh! She teaches me things she learned in the sky!" That grabbed the maid's attention, so Keyleth continued. "She's taught me art, music and some healer things. She's even teaching me to sew properly, since I'm so terrible."

"Sew? What can she do?"

Keyleth reached inside the woven basket that held the woman's clothes and showed them the lace patterns on a dress that Bambi had repaired for her. "She started making this recently while I'm practicing. She said I have to be careful when I wash it because it's so delicate."

This makes their mouths drop in amazement, since it's not a thing seen out in the world anymore.

One of the handmaidens ripped her eyes away from the lace pattern when she noticed a similarity between an embroidered shirt in Keyleth's basket and one in hers from the Commander's.