Fire and Ice

Chapter 42: The Consequences of War

I hum softly as Seth plants a line of soft kisses along my cheeks. Down down down he goes until eventually he reaches my lips capturing them in the softest kiss imaginable. 

He pulls back and leans in closer his breath hitting my ear. "Good morning, beautiful," he whispers. 

I smile and roll over to face him. "Good morning, handsome," I mumble my voice still groggy from sleep. 

Groaning he shifts himself sitting with his back against the backboard of my temporary bed. After our reunion in the stables and a brief stroll through the fields, we made our way back up to the house. We didn't want to bother Stevie, who needed some sleep, so we stayed in my room talking and occasionally making out before eventually falling asleep in each other's arms. 

Rolling onto my back I look up at him silently watching as he wipes away the sleep that built up over the night. 

"We need to have a meeting today to discuss where we're going to go next. I don't want to stay here any longer and put my grandparents in any more danger. This isn't their fight," he says as he shifts out of the bed and slips on his clothes from last night. 

I nod. "I agree." Watching him rush around getting himself ready with that stern look in his eyes I chuckle to myself. 

He stops in his tracks and turns to face me. "What's wrong?" My chuckle turns into a giggle and then full-on laughter. "What?" he asks through a chuckle of his own. 

I shake my head my hair bouncing from side to side and a few strands settling over my face. "You just woke up and already talking about business."

He smirks as he walks back over to me and plants a kiss on my forehead. "Well, if I remember correctly there was this certain princess that used to get so annoyed with me for taking too long when it came to serious topics. She used to say...  what was it..."

"We have duties to perform so we can't spend all day sitting in bed," I repeat the words I spoke to him so long ago fondly remembering that first night he spent in my room and the morning after when he tried to convince me to stay in bed all day instead of going to work. 

"That's it." Pressing one more kiss to my cheek he playfully smacks my side. "Come on, time to get up and face the day."

 I groan and pull my pillow over my face listening to his retreating footsteps. I hear the door swing open and he makes a kissing sound before the door is closed. 

With sleep-covered eyes, I wander around my room and bathroom getting myself into a decent enough state to go down for breakfast. The smell of bacon cooking alongside eggs and toast fills the air following me to the dining table which was in a small hook just off the kitchen. 

"Good morning, Ice Girl," Stevie greets me way too enthusiastic for this time of the morning. 

"Is that my official nickname now?" I ask sliding into the chair beside him. 

"Well, I was considering Walking Anger Issues or even Attempted Murderer but Ice Girl just sounded better."

I roll my eyes. "Lucky me," I sigh. 

I look over at James sitting at the head of the table a crossword book on the table in front of him and his pen twirling between his fingers.