--Vincenzo POV--
"My King, shall we go?" Don shouted from behind me and I nodded, standing up and dusting myself and Eleanora followed.
As we both approached the horses, I glared at all my men who were looking at her with lustful eyes and of course, Eleanora herself didn't realise any of their eyes since she was too focused on all the horses.
"Ah, don't get too close to him- He hates people-" I cut myself off when I saw her smile at my black stallion and my jaw dropped when she stroked his mane and he huffed, kicking his legs in acceptance.
That-That's not possible. The only people he likes is me and Don!
Oh, wait, nevermind. I guess the story mother read to me as a child was real after all. With a single smile, Eleanora was able to tame the wildest of beasts and my horse wasn't an exception to that statement.
"What's his name?" She asked me, turning her head to gift me with a smile and the shock of that caused me to take step back as if I had just been punched in the gut.
"Amadeus... but call him Deus," I itched the back of my neck, almost nervous as I waited for her reaction to that and it wasn't a terrible reaction.
"What a lovely name," She complimented him and it was obvious that he liked it. With a scoff, I approached them both and she moved away from him to look up at me.
"You never said that about me," Damn, that came out sounding jealous even though I wasn't jealous in the least right now. No way.
"Said what?" She acted innocent and I glared at her but she wasn't affected by it at all. She wasn't affected by my smirk either.
"Nothing, nevermind. Let's go," I mumbled, preparing Deus for our journey back to the city but stopped when I felt a small hand grab onto my wrist.
"It's because I don't know your name," She mumbled and I froze.
"Of course you-" Didn't. Great, I had the nerve to act jealous when she didn't even know my name. Great going, I scoffed at myself.
"Vincenzo," I mumbled out and turned to look away for a moment to pick up my fallen pride before turning back to see her smiling at me.
"You have a beautiful name. Vincenzo, I like it," She giggled and that's when I lost it.
Moving forward, I wrapped my arms around her waist and crushed her body to mine, loving the feeling more than I should as I stared down at the top of her head.
Amadeus must have been jealous. She said he had a lovely name while I had a beautiful name. Clearly, it was understandable for him to be jealous though.
I smiled down at Nora then realised that I was still holding her close to me and quickly moved away then coughed awkwardly before meeting her gaze again.
I looked her up and down.
"You won't be comfortable on the journey if you're dressed like that," I said and she tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"Your hair. It's dragging behind you," I mumbled and her jaw went slightly agape in realisation as she turned her head down to her long hair that rested on the ground behind her.
I held onto her wrist and turned her away from me so I was looking at her back and carefully, I grabbed strands of her silky hair before pulling it up into a ponytail. I guess Charlotte came to use for once.
"Once we return to the palace, we'll get you a proper haircut... and a new wardrobe," I mumbled, looking down at the plain white dress she was wearing right now and it did her body no justice, I can tell.
"We'll stop by an inn on the way back to rest up," I said as I pulled the reins and Deus started on a trot with everyone slowly trailing behind us on their horses.
"If it's for me then you don't need to do that. My energy levels are higher than other humans," She reminded me and I paused for a moment. "Along with my resilience levels," She added.
"Because you're a mage?" I guessed.
"No. Because I'm a woman," She corrected and I paused once more.
"My mother will love you," I stated without thinking, then upon realising what that sounded like, I choked. Damn it, I'm not usually like this.
"She will? How so?" She asked and I chuckled thinking back to the woman that gave birth to me. It's understandable how father fell in love with her, she was and still is one of a kind.
"You remind me of her. Most other women in this world are simply damsels in distress and of course, there's nothing wrong with that and I do respect all woman if they deserve to be respected but strong, brave and resilient women like you are rare," I mumbled.
I can't see what face she's making right now but I'd like to and at the same time, I don't. I might just fall off of Deus if I see her smiling at me once more.
"You'll be surprised by how resilient any average woman can be, Vincenzo," This woman. I didn't even need to see her face for her to make me feel at a loss for words. She'd make me fall off my horse by smiling? Yeah right, just saying my name was enough.
And so... we decided not to stop at an inn and instead, travelled with regular breaks throughout the days that it took us to return to Lazarus.
And it was weird.
I've never once talked to a woman so much before. When I tried to do so with other women in the past, they'd talk about things that never interested me and I'd find myself dozing off without realising.
Not Eleanora though. She could talk for days and I wouldn't get bored and I don't think it mattered what she talked about either because I found myself entranced by the mere sound of her voice and don't even get me started on her light, breathy laughter.
...