Chapter 17
Nicole stirred, turning to her left to seek out another comfortable position, yet the effort was futile as she met the solid surface of the floor with her buttocks suffering the collision.
She groaned in pain and her little theatricals soon ended when she heard Lady Wynonna’s rather calm yet inquisitive voice out of nowhere saying, “I would be so inclined to aid you from your fall but, first, I must know why you are sleeping in my sister’s bedchamber. Have you, somehow, lost your way to your own quarters and fortuitously ended up in here? ”
Nicole looked up and gaped at the older Earp in silent, not knowing how to answer the question without causing any misunderstanding; the last thing she wanted right now was to raise any indecent rumors between her and Lady Waverly, though sleeping in the lady’s bedroom suggests exactly that but surely, there’s a proper approach to elucidate the basis of her presence in the younger Earp’s sleeping room without being misinterpreted, she just wasn’t sure how to begin.
And when she failed to provide a coherent response other than absolute silence, Lady Waverly suspiciously added, “Should I be concerned that something intimate might have already happened between you and my dear little sister the night before as she nursed you back to health? Because Nicolas, if that is the case, I…”
She interjected in haste, “Oh hold your horses there, Wynona! I am dressed, aren’t I?” She picked herself up from the floor and presented herself to the older Earp, momentarily pausing at the realization that she had, somehow, obtained a change of wardrobe without her knowledge and fortunately for her, Lady Wynonna seemed to not notice her sudden confusion, she cleared her throat and added, “The fact that I am sleeping in her lounger should have been just as good as an answer to you, but to make it perfectly clear and to appease whatever concupiscent thoughts you might have conjured up with that ingenious mind of yours, no obscene scenarios happened between me and Lady Waverly. I vow on my father’s grave.”
“That is a great relief then.” The older Earp sighed at ease as she sat down the lounger that was earlier occupied by the king. “Because, though I know I’ve already voiced out my personal opinion and approval about you being wed to each other, I still wish for my sister to keep her innocence till after marriage, so I do suggest for you to hold on your urges properly well and to conduct yourself accordingly.”
Nicole took a seat next to her friend. “I would never enforce myself to anyone, Wynonna, no matter how deeply I feel for them.” She sincerely admitted. This is, by far, the closest she could ever go at conveying and disclosing her own emotions; having hardly anyone to really talk to other than her mother.
“That’s good to know, because I would so hate to have an irreverent fellow to call as my brother-in-law.”
Lady Wynonna’s unembellished reply made her ask, “Why do you say it like that?”
“Like what?” The older Earp asked back with the same inquisitiveness that she has and Nicole momentarily considered whether her friend would answer her truthfully, given how facetious the younger girl is, but she took her chances as she stated, “Like you are so convinced that I will be marrying your sister.”
“Why? Do you not want to?”
Lady Wynonna stared at her, eyes probing into her as she did so; and Nicole had to look away in fear of having the older Earp find whatever she is seeking for. She has yet to explicitly admit what she really feels for Lady Waverly other than that she’s quite fond of the younger girl, intimately so, if truth were to be told. She heaved a deep sigh and replied, “She doesn’t want to be wed to anyone, Wynonna. I have told you that before. So how can you be so certain that she will just give her hand to me without so much so of a resistance?”
The older Earp was about to say something but rendered silent when the door opened and in came her sister, carrying a serving dish.
“I instructed you to check on his Majesty, not to wake him up, Wynona.” Lady Waverly said, eyebrows rising at her older sister who immediately relented, “No, I did not. I believe he was awakened by the floor. Your lounger did not accommodate him well enough and so he fell.”
Worry filled the younger Earp’s eyes as she glanced over to the king after setting the dish down to the nearest table. “Are you alright, your Majesty? Were you hurt somewhere?”
The king was about to reply that her drop did not impair her at all but Lady Wynonna, such a tease that she is, answered for her, “I suppose his bosom needs a little mending my dear little sister, would you be so kind to check? I’m afraid he might have broken some bones there.”
Nicole quickly hopped off the lounger and defended herself. “There is no such thing needed. I am quite alright Lady Waverly, I assure you, my fall did nothing else but wake me up from my slumber. Your sister is just in her usual humorous self.”
The older Earp cackled with laughter, finding the king rather entertaining as she tried her best to convince her younger sister of her satisfactory condition, which only earned her threatening glares so she immediately excused herself. “I think it’s best for me to take my leave before I get a beating. I shall see you both later.”
Knowing that the older Earp does not have any other cullies in the castle, given how flippant she is, Nicole inquired, “Why? Do you have somewhere else to be?”
“Your knight, Xavier is it? I am to accompany him to the southern village as per your queen mother’s insistence, citing that a journey far out would keep me occupied whilst the both of you were to spend your time doing tedious work around here.” Lady Wynonna informed her reason for her early visit to her sister’s bedchamber. “We will be gone for about a day, I suppose, best if you do not wait for me if our travel back were to be tarried. Do you want me to bring something on my return? I’m quite sure your royal guard will not mind deviating from our intended route if it is something the king would so like to possess.”
Nicole replied, voicing out the same sentiment she was sure Lady Waverly has, “Your safe return is enough Wynonna. Though I would never doubt Xavier’s adeptness of keeping people safe, but please, do be careful on your way.”
Lady Wynonna offered a smile before leaving the room and once again, leaving her royal friend and her younger sister alone in the confines of the latter’s bedchamber, much like the night before.
The youngest Earp was about to offer the meal she had personally prepared to Nicole but the king, remembering that she is no longer in her proper royal clothes, had to raise the substantial matter, and so she found herself asking awkwardly, “I have noticed that you have acquired me a wardrobe change late last night, but may I ask, who dressed me?”