The crowd scattered and Mariana took Tamira back into her house.
Seating her on the sofa, she asked her in a soft voice, "You dont have a family?"
Tamira shook her head.
"If you feel alone here, you can come to my house for few days," Mariana offered her. "I live with my aunt and my little cousin sister. They would love to have you."
Tamira shook her head. "T-thankyou so much, Miss M-Mariana but I like here."
Mariana smiled. "As you wish. No one will trouble you now."
Tamira smiled faintly. The stress on her face and the earlier shivering both had lessened almost to the end. She looked relaxed.
Mariana took a moment to eye her beautiful house. Small but cozy and pretty. "You have so many books, Miss Tamira. Do you like to read?"
She nodded her head. "D-do you like it too?"
"I do. I also have many books in my room. But more than that, I like sewing."
"Sewing?"
Mariana sat beside her. "Yes. I am a seamstress. You should come to my shop. I would love to make dresses for you. You are so pretty. It's in the village."
Tamira smiled and nodded.
"Shall I go now?" Mariana asked.
Tamira nodded her head and placed her palm over her's. "Thank you so much for visiting. I really feel good when you are near."
Mariana's heart soften. "I would visit you often then. I also like you. And you can come to my house whenever you want."
Leaving the house, Mariama saw Mr. Charles there talking to the guards. She could see their carriage was gone and so did Tamira's culprits.
She moved towards him. "Mr. Charles." He looked at her. "Can I talk to you for a bit?"
"Sure, Miss." He dismissed the guard and turned his full attention to her.
"Please forgive me for what I said earlier. I was unaware of what had happened and misunderstood everything."
"No need for any forgiveness, miss. Anyone would have thought the same," he said with the same strict eyes but there was a hint of kindness in his tone.
Mariana smiled at him. Her eyes wandered around to search for the other person who deserved her apology.
"The king has gone back to the palace."
Mariana blushed when he identified the person she was searching. "I shouldn't have talked to him that way. He must be angry."
"Angry but he would respect you for standing for the woman," Mr. Charles said.
Mariana hoped the respect would hold more place in his mind than the anger.
Aaron galloped his horse, the evening breeze rushing through his face and hair. But he didn't care. He was furious on many things.
Firstly, the lone women in his kingdom were not safe despite any laws he enforced. He was aware he couldn't keep an eye on every corner of his kingdom but realizing that something bad could be happening when he was sitting leisurely, made him feel really uneasy.
And then Miss Mariana. The woman just yelled out all the blame on him without thinking over. Of course, the moment presented her thinking like that. But still, it made Aaron furious that she could misunderstand him. And why she, he didn't know. But her accusations pricked him more than any other person's. He was aware people compared him to his father. They were always guessing if Aaron was like his father or not and he didn't miss their doubtful eyes. But when he saw the same thing on her big brown eyes today, he wanted to punch himself.
God, it was so confused. He knew she would come to him for apologising or say something and he didn't want her to be near her when he was so angry. On himself, on those bloody people who harmed Tamira and partly on Miss Mariana, too.
Aaron suddenly realised, her opinion about him mattered a lot to him. And there was nothing between them that could justify this feeling.
He groaned.
After some time he reached his palace. Giving his horse to the stable boy to take care, he strode inside the palace.
"Your Majesty," he heard a breathy voice and stopped immediately realising the source of that voice.
"Princess Priscilla".
She came towards him walking in a very seductive way. Aaron sighed knowing she was upto something.
As she came near, he saw a frown marking her forehead. "Is everything alright, Your Majesty?" She touched his forearm subtly. "You look so stressed."
"Not at all," Aaron smirked at her. "Merely some issues". She wasn't capable of understanding what was stressing him out.
"Oh," she raised her breasts up to him, caressing his arm with her other arm. "You are such a hard-working king. I hardly know any other king who works even half of it."
Aaron smirked at her seductive pout. She was pretty with her blond hair and gray eyes, the breasts she forced on him to notice were small but enticing.
But Aaron wasn't charmed by any of it. No matter what, Princess Priscilla didn't have a quality he liked in a woman. A quality he himself couldn't exactly name.
He stopped her hand on his arm by touching it softly. "I appreciate your care, princess. Thank you. Now allow me." He raised his brows.
She pouted but freed his way. Aaron smirked and bowed at her hand before walking towards his study.
He was thankful no one was there in his study, because he really wanted some solitude. He took a bottle of brandy from the cabinet beside his desk and poured himelf a glass. Sitting on the armchair by a window, he sipped the brandy and watched over his kingdom.
He wanted to make it the best land for every person living on it. Men, women, children, witches.
Miss Tamira did not clarify today if she was a witch and Aaron intended to find it out some other time. But she did clarify the audacity of certain men in his kingdom and he was happy the way he dealt with them. Though they would face other punishments in his dungeons. Working hard and thinking cleverly were the only things he could do to try his best protecting the women of his kingdom.
Keeping his empty glass down, he leaned his head on the chair and closed his eyes. He stayed like that for a while, alone with his thoughts.
A dim knock on the door made him open his eyes.
"Tired?" He heard a soft voice say.
Aaron whirled his neck around to find a pair of blue eyes staring at him. Not his sister's or mother's. Aaron stood up. "Honoria."