{Music Recommendation: 6.6 Gigue ~ Peter Gregson & Richard Harwood}

Morning sun finally kissed the soil of Eridor, and inside the palace, where two out of the three delegates from Avon held each other closely, their bodies still humming from the bliss they had shared the previous night. Unbothered by the world outside their room, they slept peacefully.

As the servants carried the tray of food to the dining table to set it, Louis entered the dining room. The members of the royal family had already arrived for breakfast except for two persons.

"What about Freya and Rowan?" the princess asked, picking up a napkin.

The second prince raised his face, looking at the empty chairs. Without saying anything, he continued with his meal.

Louis knitted his brows. "Maybe Freya is still sleeping. I’ll go wake her up." He tried to stand up, but the princess waved her hand.

"You should enjoy your breakfast; I’ll go to her room." Princess Lirien pushed her chair back, gave her brother a small bow, and then left the room.

Reaching Freya’s room, the princess knocked twice, but there was no response. She waited for a few minutes and knocked again.

"Freya? It’s time for breakfast..." the princess called, trying to peek in through any available gap. "I’m coming inside now."

The young princess pushed the door open and walked inside the room, her eyes scanning for Freya.

"Fre-" The princess paused. The bed was clean, as if Freya hadn’t slept in it, or the maids had already cleaned it.

"Freya, are you in the bathroom?" Lirien asked, but there was still no response. She pursed her lips, wondering where the girl had gone. "Library?"

The princess was about to leave the room and go look in the library when her eyes fell on the fireplace. It looked dry, as if no wood had burned throughout the night, which meant one thing: nobody had slept in the room the previous night.

"Where did she sleep?" the princess muttered to herself. Leaving the room, she was on her way to the dining room to report that Freya was missing when a thought crossed her mind. She decided to check if the girl was in Rowan’s room. When she reached the next door, which belonged to Rowan, the princess knocked.

"Rowan..." she called softly. When she didn’t get a response, the princess knocked again.

Inside the room, Rowan stirred in his sleep when he heard the soft knock on his door. He tried to move his hand, but he couldn’t because it felt heavy.

Rowan opened his eyes and saw the girl sleeping comfortably in his arms. He smiled as the memories of last night returned to him, how the girl had screamed his name, begging for him to claim her, and how she had shed all her innocence under him. It was a night he’d never forget, and for the first time in his life, he slept so deeply throughout the night.

Tracing his fingers slowly on Freya’s back, Rowan found himself wanting to take her all over again. He wanted to claim possession of her, making her beg and squirm under him while she called out his name.

"Hmm..." Freya hummed, snuggling closer when she felt the finger tracing her skin. She moved in, pressing her naked form against Rowan’s bare chest.

Rowan smiled. "Beautiful..." he muttered, rubbing the girl’s hair. When he heard the knock on the door, he frowned.

"Rowan? Are you inside?" the princess shouted from outside. "Your help is needed; Freya is missing."

Rowan raised his eyes when he heard the princess. The corner of his lips curled into a wicked smile, his eyes now settled on the girl snuggling into his arms.

"A missing girl..." He tapped Freya’s shoulder, but the girl moved his hand away.

Freya turned to the side, rubbing her eyes. "Let me sleep more," she mumbled.

"Yes, I don’t want to wake you either, but you’ll feel embarrassed if the princess finds you here," Rowan said, tapping Freya’s shoulder again. He waited for a minute, and when the girl didn’t wake up, he said,

"If you don’t wake up, I’m going to open the door, and the princess will find you naked in my bed."

Freya jumped up from the bed, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She looked around the room.

"Princess? Where?" Her eyes widened with fear.

Rowan’s gaze moved down, looking at the girl’s breasts that jiggled the moment she sat up with speed. And just looking at them made Rowan want to wrap his mouth around them again while squeezing the other.

Freya followed Rowan’s eyes, looking down at her chest. She quickly grabbed the sheet and covered herself, her face burning red.

Rowan narrowed his eyes when the girl tried to act shy in front of him, covering her body when he had seen her naked the whole night and done more than just touch her.

Freya’s grip on the sheets tightened, her eyes looking down at her toes that stuck out at the end. She could still feel her core throbbing, and the soreness from last night’s pleasure still enveloped her. The reality dawned on her that the man beside her had taken away all her firsts. Her first kiss, and her first... Freya swallowed hard. She had promised to keep herself for her husband. Sitting there, Freya didn’t know what to say to Rowan, especially about what happened between them last night and how their relationship was going to be like starting now.

The silence in the room was broken by the knock on the door, and the princess’s voice was heard.

"Rowan, can I come in?"

Freya forgot she was hiding herself and jumped up from the bed, pointing at the door.

"The princess is outside?"

Rowan nodded, stretching his body with an unbothered look on his face.

"I should let her in; she thinks you’re missing."

Freya gulped. "No! You can’t let her in. I mean... I should hide." Gathering up her clothes, Freya looked around the room for a place to hide.

Rowan’s eyes followed the girl, her actions at the moment amusing him greatly. Picking up his trousers, he slipped them on up to his waist, leaving his chest bare.

"You know you don’t have to hide," he advised the girl, with his hand on his waist.

Freya shook her head. "She was supposed to come here last night... never mind." How was she to tell Rowan that the main reason she came last night was because she didn’t want him to sleep with the princess? It would only make her look like a jealous, spoiled girl.

"I’ll go hide in the bathroom. Tell her I’m in my room," Freya said, slipping into the small silk gown.

Rowan nodded, though he knew the reason the princess had come to his room was because she had probably checked Freya’s room first. But he couldn’t explain that because Freya looked really disoriented at the moment. And for some reason, he liked the look of fear on her face. The look of someone caught doing something bad, and the innocence once in her eyes was gone.

"Freya? Are you in there?" the princess asked. "I’m coming in now."

Freya widened her eyes, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest as she watched the door. The princess pushed it open slowly.