In order for someone to love you, you must stand completely naked and bare before them. You must be willing to expose the most intimate knowledge of your body and mind to that person and allow them to pass judgment upon it. Love is not blind, love reveals the truth and your desire for it. Love is the recognition of all of the things you value in a person. Love requires you to know what it is you value and for you to see it in order to exist. I know what I value and I see it reflected back at me every time I see my love. I hope that you may one day share in this feeling and to understand just how clearly Love can see. Enjoy...
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Amber awoke to find herself still lying in the soft silken sheets of the Prince's bed. There was a low light coming from a few candles spread throughout the room. She could see from his window that night had fallen not long ago. Her body ached, but the pain was bearable. She looked around and wondered where he had gone. He must have left her while she was sleeping and she wondered if he expected her to leave or not.
It was at this point that she realized that she was still nude and that she had no idea what had happened to her clothes. She scanned the room to see if he had left them some place obvious so that she could let herself out. They were nowhere in sight, which led Amber to the conclusion that he must not want her to leave yet and that he would have to return before she could go.
Knowing this, Amber wrapped the blankets around her tighter reveling in the sensation of the silk against her body. She had felt it before, but she had never had the opportunity to fully experience the feeling of his sheets embracing her. Nothing in her past could compare to the touch of the blankets now wrapped around her.
No bed should feel this good, was the only thought that she was capable of. She could understand why it was that anyone in the position to afford such a lavish and luxurious bedspread would insist upon having one. Amber knew that she would likely never experience something like this again; she used the spare moment that she had without him and enjoyed it unabashedly.
She knew that time was fleeting and that she would have to return to the reality of what had happened today and what her true position was soon, but for right now, she would pretend that she belonged here. She would pretend that this was her bed, her home, and her room. She would pretend that she was the lady of this house.
Within a minute or two, her fantasy was placed in limbo. The door had opened and she saw the Prince as he entered the room. She made herself sit upright on the bed with the blankets covering her chest modestly as he walked toward her. His face seemed to hold little emotion as he came near to her. This worried her as she thought that she may have angered him in some way or another.
She found that this was obviously not the case when he leaned over and kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, one that felt different from any they had shared before. The immediacy and violence that was normally associated with a kiss between them was not there this time. Instead, this kiss had a tone and a quality that was of simple, effortless bliss. The kiss made both of them feel as though happiness was the only possible state of existence and that any sort of pain or suffering was unnecessary and irrelevant.
When the kiss ended, she looked at him feeling starstruck and dizzy. Before she was able to fully regain her wits, he asked, "Feeling better?" His face was just inches from hers.
"Much," she said cheerfully. It was only after she responded that she realized that he had never asked a question like that before. His proximity kept her from being able to think deeply on the issue.
Just as her slight sense of uneasiness started to set in, he spoke again. "Good. Now, before you go, I should warn you that the kitchen in the palace has closed," as he said this, his voice held no special character, but she could see that something greater lay just beneath the surface. There was a reason he was telling her this and that reason was revealed as he said, "In light of this fact, I want you to eat dinner here tonight. I will not have you being left to starve."
Amber was thoroughly confused by his actions. He had let her sleep in his bed, he had taken the time to make her more comfortable, and now he wanted to make sure that she ate something. The way that he was treating her today was very different from what she had thought that she could expect from him. His actions made it almost seem like he cared for her.
He had paused in his speech and was observing her, but she did not notice his watchful eye upon her. He had left her baffled. Her face had a very large question mark written on it. He was fine with her being confused as she was as he did not particularly want her to understand his current actions. He snapped her out of her revery as he ended the pause by saying, "I took the liberty of exchanging your uniform for your own clothing and have left the outfit sitting and waiting in the bathroom for you. I wish for you to dress promptly as I shall await your arrival in the dining room. Do you understand?"
She did not understand, but she answered, "Yes I do, and I shall hurry."
"Good, then you have all of my instructions," with that said, he moved himself off the bed and out of the room just as promptly as he entered it.
She sat in the bed for a moment or two longer than she meant to as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. She moved herself off the bed sluggishly as she continued to think. Something in her interpretation of the events today must be wrong was the only possibility she could see or believe.
It was not possible that the man who had put her through such a long and, wonderfully, agonizing torture could care about her well being. Those two facts seemed to contradict each other and she could see no way to reconcile them. She decided that the only reason that he could have for having dinner with her was so that he could exact a new sort of torture upon her. No other reason made sense.
Her movements became more rapid and exact as she gained confidence in her theory. All of his previous, seemingly, caring actions towards her must have been part of a plan to leave her more vulnerable to him. The thought that he needed her more vulnerable confused her at first, but began to make sense as she realized that she had only been vulnerable physically to him before and he wanted her to be mentally assailable as well.
Every one of his actions made sense with this as a motive. However, one thought crossed her mind that made her stop in the middle of dressing herself. She could not understand how he could kiss her like he had upon entering the room without meaning it. She kept telling herself that he had done it so as to complete the ruse and that he must simply be a very convincing actor. Her mind would not accept this answer fully, but she did not have the time to come up with a more satisfying one.
She had not noticed what outfit he had brought her when she was putting it on, but she now saw herself in the large mirror in the room. He had picked out her favorite dress. It was pastel yellow in color and fit her very comfortably. The cloth held onto her slender frame lightly, only hinting at the figure hidden beneath. She had always felt beautiful in that dress and she could not help but to smile seeing herself in it.
Amber tried to raise her guard as she rushed down to meet him, but if his goal had indeed been to leave her vulnerable in a way that she had not yet been, he had succeeded. She could not help feeling comfortable and happy. He had made it impossible for her to feel any differently.
He stood waiting at the bottom of the stairway ready to meet her. It took all of her willpower not to run down the stairs and kiss him. Instead, she walked down the stairs without trying to seem rushed or hurried. She moved with the patient grace of the women that she had always admired growing up.
Her entrance to the room was a feat that he had not expected her to achieve and that he greatly enjoyed watching. He could not help thinking that she looked as if she belonged here. She was a worthy adversary indeed.
When she reached the bottom of the stair she stood and waited for him to speak. Instead of speaking, he simply smiled at her and began walking in the direction of the dining room. She followed him obediently.
After they entered the room, he pulled out a chair and stood waiting for her. It took her a moment to realize that she was meant to sit down there. She hurriedly moved towards the waiting seat and sat down in it as he pushed it in for her. He then sat in the seat next to her.
There were two plates and a bowl on the table in front each of them. The larger plate was covered and hid whatever lied beneath from view. The smaller plate held a decorative salad that had items on it that she did not readily recognize and the bowl contained a creamy and delicious smelling soup.
The soup lay directly in front of her and it seemed that this was where they were both to start their meals. Smelling the food made her realize just how hungry she was and the effort needed to keep from devouring everything in front of her was momentous. She did manage to wait with the effort she exerted.
