Slave's Love (Pirate!Spamano)

Capítulo 23 (veintitres)

Elizabeta

I whipped my eyes for the nth time that day, sniffling softly and wetting my lips as I fumbled around with the napkin in my hands. The cloth twisted and turned under my fingers and with each glance at it, I teared up again. My legs were pressed close and my whole upper body was leaning forward in a helpless manner.

"Eli..." I heard a soft male voice beside me. I sniffled again, trying to gulp down my sadness and anger and whipped my orbs once again, taking a deep breath in an attempt to hold back any more tears. Worrying my bottom lip, I glanced sideways at the man sitting beside me. His rich green eyes were staring at me with the most worried expression I've ever seen in my life.

After running away from that Austrian asshole, I accidentally bumped into Toni who was just returning from one of his horseback rides he recently became fond of. I couldn't handle such pressure and after seeing him, I burst into a great cry and he, most probably too taken aback, pressed me against him in a comforting embrace, soothing me wordlessly.

"You should really stop crying," he said at last, voice sweeter than honey and softer than lace. I sighed brokenly and sniffled once more, tugging gently at the white piece of cloth in my hands. My eyes must've been already red for they were stinging me greatly. The heart in my chest was still twisting though and my head was beginning to ache uncomfortably. Thus, I leaned on the Spaniard, his warmth calming me down at last.

Toni's big and somehow still tanned hands clasped mine, squeezing them dearly and holding them afterwards, a thumb brushing gently atop my hand. His head rested on mine, nuzzling his cheek against the mess I ought to call my hair. Even the ribbon has gone lose and fallen off; such mess I was!

We sat in silence, snow coming down on the ground to join in and warm it under a white blanket. I stared at the outside word, my lips slightly parted and my own self seeming to be lost in a Neverland most probably. And truly, I was lost; I couldn't think, I was so tired and numb from what has happened. If someone from my fellow servant-friends saw me, I'd be pitied and although I felt like my whole world shattered, I did not want others to think so lowly of me.

The body warming me suddenly disappeared and I blinked once, twice while looking about the hall, studying my surroundings only to fail in my task of finding Antonio. Panic arose in me, heart begging to beat fast once again as I took in and swept my eyes everywhere just in case the brunette would pop out from behind a corner with his lovely, beaming smile and fresh sparkle in his emerald eyes.

Instead, I was all alone with nothing else but cold air around me and the snowflakes outside falling down and down, stopping only when they hit the ground. Despite wanting to do something, my body didn't manage to even stand; was I really that fragile? Or have I always been this weak? Funny how a single event could change my life so rapidly. Who would have thought that something like quarrel between two people could have such great impact on one.

"Sorry I left so suddenly, but I went to get something to warm you up."

Ah, there he was, our little sunshine and that beaming smile of his. He walked swiftly towards me with a blanket thrown over his arm, holding two white cups of something in his hands. I went to stand up and help him but he only mentioned for me to be seated.

After placing the cups down carefully, he also found himself a place beside me, wrapping me into the blanket gently before reaching out for the cups again and handing me one. My fingers, all shaky and my nails all purple from the coldness were finally warming up and I couldn't help but sigh in relief at that. A chuckle echoed next to me and I glanced at my friend who was taking a sip from his tea, a faint grin tugging at his lips.