I smiled brightly as I stood up to smell the flowers. They were beautiful.
"The first prince must be happy with my lady, he picked those himself…it is the talk of the palace"
I smiled even brighter…everything was coming up just the way it was supposed to be. True love always wins.
I bathed and allowed myself to be dressed by Evie. Afterwards, I asked to go for a walk, a chance to see the castle before my picnic with Markle but Evie said she needed to go with me so I wouldn't get lost.
She was going to drop off the breakfast plates and come back for me and i told her i would stay even though i had no intention of doing so,
I wanted to see the castle on my own, to explore and have a little bit of a laugh. I deserved some laughs after the horrible ordeal I have passed through in these past few days and Evie was too rigid to allow me some fun.
I waited till she was gone and then I snuck out with Charlie. I wandered for a while before I found a garden.
For a while, I wandered aimlessly smelling flowers and picking fruits until I heard a sound of falling water and I followed it. I came across a sight I never thought I was going to see in this lifetime.
It was Prince Abbott and he was bare chested and floating inside the little pond in front of me, i would have looked away but he went under the water and he stayed there. I counted to ten waiting for him to re emerge but he didn't.
He was drowning!
I looked around for help. There was none inside. I didn't stop to think, I ran toward the pond but before I could jump in, he emerged.
I was out of breath mostly because of the terror I felt when I thought he was drowning.
He looked at me like I was an out of place piece of chess and I stared right back before I realized that he was still bare in the chest area and his breeches were soaked and clung to his body outlining every single part.
I wanted to stare some more out of curiosity but I found myself turning around in shock.
"I apologize, your royal highness, I didn't mean to…i didn't mean to…"
"To look at my naked body?" he asked me bluntly.
"Yes!" I blurted out before closing my eyes as I groaned inwardly, I was supposed to deny being improper with him. A lady would.
"I am so sorry, I didn't see anything. I swear this by the gods and hades! There was nothing to see….nothing whatsoever. Please, don't kill me"
"Really? You didn't see anything. I will try not to be offended" he murmured which sent me into another panic.
I pressed my hands together like i do whenever i prayed to the creator and turned around again but he simply stood there with a white linen and he wiped his hair with it. He made no effort to put on a shirt or conceal any part of himself.
"I beseech you, Prince Abbott. Do not have me hanged!"
"You are still staring, Miss Spencer" he had this little smile on his face like he was more amused than angry.
I turned away immediately and groaned. If embarrassment was a person it would be Abigail Spencer.
I clutched the red dress I was wearing tightly at the helm for comfort, it didn't help but it was better than trying to strangle myself.
I wondered what would happen if someone saw us like this, I would be ruined. My reputation would be in the mud and I have a feeling that this prince cared nothing about reputation.
"I am decent now" he grumbled and I slowly turned around. He had a shirt on now. Water still dripped from his hair down to his face and his cheeks and his lips….wait!
I took a step closer to him.
"You are hurt!" I exclaimed and grabbed his face like he was a porcelain doll on display. He was so tall, I had to yank him a little bit to get him to lower his head while I continued to inspect his split lip.
The cut made him oddly human to me.
"Miss Spencer" he called out…it was more like a whisper like he was too shocked to speak louder.
I could be wrong. He was the prince of darkness, nothing is supposed to shock him.
"Oh my! It is a nasty cut!'
"Miss Spencer!'" He tried to take his head out of hand but I wouldn't let him.
"Don't worry. I can make it better, i just need a fresh linen and a pain portion like mandrake or Poppy. I prefer Poppy roots, i have scraped my knees more times than i can count"
"Doing what?" he surprised me by asking.
"Things" I chuckled "I once rescued a baby tiger, more like stole it from her den. I thought it was a cat. Her mama came looking. I have a scar right here to show for it "
I pulled down my dress a little so he could see my back. "This scar right here was from a snake…i can tell you this, they don't like being kept as pets" i laughed out loud. "Giva was fun until she tried to eat me and i had to set it free"
"Giva?" he asked. He looked curious.
"My pet snake"
I cleared up the confusion.
"I dread to ask but how many scars do you have?" Abbott asked me.
"Hmm" I tried to remember and I did "Seven…no, nine scars"
I looked at him and I trailed my finger along his lips, close to the split but not quite. "You poor thing, you must have been in pain all day. Give me a few seconds to get things I will need and…" I said and leaned in to take a closer look.
"Miss Spencer!" he called out again.
"Hush! I am trying to figure out something. I think…I think there is something stuck in the wound, I just need to…"
"Abigail, take a step away from me or i am going to push you against that tree and kiss you senseless"
I stopped immediately.
"Oh"
That was all I could say. It took me a few seconds but I took a step away from him but i kept looking at him, i couldn't tear my gaze away.
"What are you doing here?" he asked me.
"Oh. i hmm…i was just taking a walk before i…"
"No, what are you doing in Zurich…in the Palace, Abigail. I never figured you out to be some sort of exploiter"
I blinked. And I blinked again.
What did he just call me?
An exploiter? It was just a fancy way of calling me a golddigger.
I looked at him as this burst of anger filled me up and threatened to overtake me. Only the worst of ladies were called gold diggers, only harlots and mistresses were called that.
"I am…I am definitely not that, sire! I am a baron's daughter!"
"But you want to be a princess, don't you? You want to be a Raven. It is why you are standing alone with a half naked man in a deserted garden, to lay your traps and brag to your lady friends that you managed to trap a raven in a marriage with you. Would you like to be caught in a compromising position with me? For instance, a kiss…."
Before I could make sense of what he was saying, he grabbed me and pushed me against the tree behind us and without giving me a moment to think, he placed his lips against mine.