Steel Rose

Chapter 55

Isabelle Pov

I hate them. I hate them so much. It wasn't just Ptolemus' parents I was enraged with, it's was the Tiberous and Barrow and even that Montfort man, Davidson. I didn't want to leave. I wasn't ready. I would be further away from my family. In Norta, at least they knew I was still there. That I wasn't completely unreachable. But in the foreign country of Montfort.

Things were just beginning to turn around for Ptolemus and I. Slow, yes. But moving. I knew we would be set back, even if he couldn't see it. Husbandly duties. I could scream at the painfully obvious implication. Ptolemus was a prince now. He would be under even more pressure to produce an heir. Evangeline and Elane cannot be too thrilled either. At least we could all be miserable together.

I close my eyes and rest my head back against pulling my coat tighter around my shoulders, all the while trying to ignore the way the belt buckles of the carrier dig into my chest and abdomen, probably going to leave indentations on my skin. My hair however, is thankfully tucked away into two braids again so not to bother me. I've made sure to do everything I could do insure a comfortable trip, but despite my efforts, every little thing suddenly bothers me. My skin itches. I'm not warm enough. My braids are too tight. I was never one to stay still for such periods of time though. So instead I try to think back to Ptolemus' and I last moments before my departure. 

They way he felt pressed against me. His hard muscle under my hands. The silk of his hair, and the dance of his lips of my skin. The cold of the silver chain I stole, but didn't really steal from him. And finally, the whispers of his promises that he would never let me go again. Of what to expect when I got back. A familiar thill runs up my spine and gut and reach up running my fingers over the silver chain at my neck.

"I'm right here, Isabelle." I hear Evangeline hiss, but not harshly, beside me.

I open my eyes to see her staring down at me. She is a few inches taller than me, and broader too. Her eyes are dark. I can't help but draw comparison to her brother. I pull my hand away from my neck. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She purses her lips and could almost pass as amused. "He has got it worse than you, you know."

I smirk, lowering my eyelids, pursing my lips, and lowering my voice in a way that works all too spectacularly well on Ptolemus. However, I know this will only make Evangeline draw away. "How wonderful."

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The bed in Piedmont was nowhere near the comforts I'm used to. The mattress was thin and the blankets and sheets, rough and scratched my skin. I shivered from the cold all through the night, even though I'm sure it wasn't that cold outside. It was probably just me. I tossed and turned most of the night, listening to the rain pour outside my window. It was too quiet. I'm not used to such emptiness. No Roe or Kess to keep me company, it would only stir the turmoil between us and the Reds. None of my family. Ptolemus. So all night, I toss and turn all night, my imagination running wild.

At least finally we're on our way to Monfort. I feel physically exhausted but restless all the same. I lean my head back inhaling slowly, letting my mind clear. I exhale. Inhale. Exha-ugh. I let my breath out sharply as my gut clenches with a cramp. Now?  I ask myself particularly annoyed with my own body. It's only a premenstrual cramp, not too horrible. My thoughts go back to Ptolmeus' whispered promises from yesterday and feel disappointed. That will have to wait a few days.

Instead I close my eyes again, although I know I'm not going to get any sleep. I'm too cold and I wish I had brought a warmer jacket.

It is the middle of summer, daughter. Why are you wearing that? Take that off. My mother's voice says in my midst of my mind from a long ago memory. I couldn't have been 12 yet.