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To Anna’s disappointment Lord Rosenkranz did not leave when he heard that they were staying another day.
“Are you really up for a party after all, that’s happened?” he had asked with a concerned look that for some reason annoyed her.
“It’s not a party. It’s just a small get-together for important people of the area,” Anna had said, repeating her aunt’s words. “If you don’t want to wait, that’s perfectly fine.”
“I told the king that I would escort you, and that’s what I’m going to do,” he had said.
Anna had had to refrain from sighing. Now he was sitting next to her at dinner. Probably something that her aunt had come up with to try and push them together. It did not work however since the lady sitting on his other side kept speaking to him and he had to keep answering her.
The man sitting next to Anna and the man sitting opposite her were both showing her a lot of attention. Anna tried to charm them, but at the same time kept her distance. Her aunt was right, she would probably work with them later on, and it was a good thing to be introduced to them.
Aunt Mathilda had made sure that there was plenty of wine and each time Anna had emptied her glass it was immediately filled again. Anna could feel that she was starting to get drunk. She had not drunken proper wine in about two years. In the monastery they would usually drink a thin ale, that it would be impossible to get drunk from.
Anna sighed and looked around. She could feel that her eyesight had become a little blurry and she felt better, than she had in a long time. The guests were staying there overnight, and Anna knew that the party could easily go on for hours, but she felt tired, and she knew that she should not drink any more. After they had finished eating, she got up.
“It was lovely to meet all of you, I will go to bed now,” she said and tried to focus on each person but was not really able to. A servant removed the chair for her and Anna almost tripped as she walked away from the table. Lord Rosenkranz caught hold of her lower arm.
“Lord Rosenkranz, why don’t you escort Lady Harold to her chamber? She seems a little unstable,” Aunt Mathilda said and smiled.
Anna skewed at her, but Aunt Mathilda did not seem to notice and Lord Rosenkranz was already on his feet, ready to help her. Anna cursed inwardly. She had brought this on herself she guessed.
When Anna walked to the door, she could feel that she actually needed his help walking straight. Lord Rosenkranz managed to get her out into the corridor without falling. The cool air of the corridor helped Anna sober a bit and she pried her arm loose of his grip.
“I can walk myself, thank you,” she told him.
Lord Rosenkranz did not say anything but walked alongside her, ready to catch her it seemed. When she was about to fall, he reached out an arm and got her back on her feet again before he let her go.
“Goodnight,” Anna said when they were in front of her door.
“Goodnight,” Lord Rosenkranz said.
He did not leave however, and Anna did not go in. She looked at his face and wondered what he was thinking. Would he take this opportunity to kiss her? No, he was far to correct for that. He had not even tried to feel her up when walking down the corridor, even though he had had every opportunity to do so. No, if she were ever to kiss Lord Rosenkranz, she would have to do it herself.
Anna stepped forward, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him without thinking of it. She could always blame the wine, she thought somewhere in the back of her mind as he put his arms around her waist, holding her tightly to his body. Anna put her arms around his neck. To her surprise he was a good kisser. Slow, lingering kisses that did not seem to end, but just repeating themselves in a nice circle, that made Anna press herself even closer to his body.
“Come,” Anna said breathlessly as she broke of a kiss. She took his hand and opened the door to her room. Her whole body felt like it was on fire and all that she could think was, that she wanted him on top of her.
“No,” Lord Rosenkranz said in a low voice. He gently dragged her back into his arms. “We shouldn’t.”
He kissed her softly.
“What do you mean? I thought that that was what you wanted,” Anna said angrily to cover how disappointed she was.
“You’re drunk – we shouldn’t do this,” he said.
“Don’t tell me what I should or should not do,” Anna said. She stood on her toes again to kiss him, but he turned his head and stepped away from her.
“I’m sorry, it was not meant like that,” he said. “I don’t want to sleep with you, when you’re drunk.”
“When do you want to sleep with me then?” Anna said in an angry tone.
A part of her knew that she would regret asking him tomorrow, but right now she wanted to know. She needed more of those kisses. All over her body.
“When you’re sober...” he said and could not meet her eyes.
Anna nodded as she tried to keep a clear head. Damn, that wine. She should not have had so much.
“Who says I’ll sleep with you when I’m sober?” she said.
She had not thought of how hurtful it was, but she could see it in his eyes the moment she had said it. She almost apologized but didn’t.
“Then we shouldn’t sleep together at all,” Lord Rosenkranz said in a strained voice and looked up and down the hallway.
Anna realized that they were still standing outside her door. Still in public. If anyone had seen them, anyone of her aunt’s guests... The rumors could make her have to marry him.
“Come,” she said and tried to drag him into her room. “We can’t have this discussion out here,” she said, and he finally stepped into her room, and she closed the door behind them. They looked at each other for a moment. She was still holding on to his wrist.
“Anna, I need to go back,” Lord Rosenkranz said. “The others will think that something untoward has happened...”
Anna shook her head.
“No, stay. I need you to stay...” she began.
“Anna, you’re not yourself right now...” Lord Rosenkranz said appealingly and moved his wrist slightly to get it out of her grip.
Anna could feel the anger rising inside her. She felt like a spoiled child that did not get what she wanted and now she was not afraid of making a scene.
“I’m not myself right now? You don’t even know me. Maybe you think that you do, because you’ve had a crush on me for years, but we’ve never actually talked to each other. I’m an actual woman. Not the idea of me that you, for some reason, have fallen in love with,” she said, feeling like the words poured out of her mouth like vomit.
Lord Rosenkranz looked like she had hit him with a frying pan.
“You knew?” he said in a low voice and looked down at the floor.
Anna nodded.
“I thought no one knew,” Lord Rosenkranz said.
His shoulders were hanging, and he looked like he wanted to find the nearest mousehole and hide there forever. Anna could not help but feel sorry for him.
“I really tried to hide my emotions. Everyone could see how in love with prince Valdemar you were. I knew that I did not have a chance...”
“Well, you’ve had your chance now, and you blew it,” Anna said, opened the door and shoved him out of it. Then she practically slammed it in his face.