The Duke's Bed Warmer-Chapter 48: Austin

At night, Alina sat propped against the pillows in Austin’s chambers, her ankle resting on a cushion. The castle was buzzing around her with footsteps in the corridors, and muffled voices everywhere. Everyone was busy thinking about the king.

But she was thinking about the half-page Austin had written about her to the king. She didn’t know what it said, when he had written it, or why he had written it. But he had and that made her happy.

The door opened and Austin entered.

"The king requires my attendance tonight," he said. "I may not return before morning."

"Fine," she replied.

He nodded and turned to leave.

"Your Grace?"

He stopped.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Telling you what?"

"That you won’t be back tonight," she replied. "You’ve never done that before. I mean... you’ve disappeared for hours without a word, and arrived at three in the morning without explanation. You’ve never informed me of your schedule."

His hand tightened on the door frame.

"I’m just being courteous."

She sighed in disbelief.

"Why? What changed?" she asked, tilting her head.

He didn’t answer. She could see him struggling to explain.

"Stay inside," he said instead. "Your ankle hasn’t properly healed."

The deflection, as always.

"Goodnight, Your Grace." She smiled.

Austin went straight to the king’s chambers. They discussed military matters, trade routes and everything a duke was expected to report to the king. After the discussion, they both sat by the fire, each with a glass of wine.

The king leaned back in his chair and swirled his wine before speaking again.

"That girl," the king began.

Austin had been expecting it since the moment the king’s eyes had found Alina in the courtyard.

"I’m not here to order you what to do," the king said. "You’re a grown man; a duke. You have every right to make your own decisions." He paused.

"But my daughter has waited three years for this marriage. She has been patient and understanding. She has even accepted your...arrangements, pretending they didn’t matter."

"They didn’t."

"Do they now?"

The king waited for Austin’s answer but he had none.

"Resolve it," the king said. "One way or the other."

They talked for an hour. When Austin stepped out from the king’s chambers, the corridor was empty except for the king’s guards. It was past two in the morning.

Instead of returning to his room, he walked to his study and sat at his desk with his head between his hands.

He had been given a choice he couldn’t make along with a deadline he couldn’t ignore. And for the first time, he was actually scared.

In the morning, Alina woke and noticed he hadn’t come back, just as he had said. She was about to get up when a knock came at the door.

She opened it to find a royal maid standing there.

"Miss Ashworth. His Majesty requests your presence in his private chambers before breakfast."

Alina couldn’t grasp the words. She was sure she had heard wrong.

"His Majesty... the king?"

"Yes, miss," the maid replied. "He mentioned that you are to come alone."

The maid then bowed and left. Alina closed the door. Her heart began to pound.

The king wants to meet me alone. Why? Did I do something wrong? Or did Audrey say something to him?

Austin!!!!

She opened the door and ran. Her ankle screamed in pain but she didn’t care. She opened his study door but it was empty. He wasn’t there.

She then went to his steward, Mr Harrington, who was organizing morning letters in his own room.

"Where is His Grace?" she asked.

Harrington looked at her, surprised.

"His Grace departed at dawn, miss. He is riding the eastern fields with His Majesty and Princess Audrey."

The words hit her harder than they should have. She nodded and left. Standing outside in the corridor, she felt strange and weird.

She had been in this castle for almost two months now. She had been grabbed, humiliated, and threatened, and she had handled all of it alone. She had never needed him.

But only now did she realize how much his presence mattered to her. She was used to his attention, and to his warmth that slipped through the cracks. She was used to having him by her side, even when he did nothing.

Like something, you don’t notice until it’s gone. He had become that for her. And with him not here, she had never felt more alone.

She returned to the chambers. She needed to get dressed. She opened the wardrobe and stared at the dresses.

Which one do you wear when a king summons you alone to his chambers before breakfast? What was the protocol for this?

She tried the black dress, then took it off, then tried the blue one, and took it off too. She tried the green one next and stared at herself in the mirror.

It looks appropriate.

After getting ready, she sat on the bed with her throbbing ankle, and trembling hands.

What if he had already made a decision? What if Audrey’s list had reached him? What if he is going to tell me I’m being sent to Calder or Prescott or a lord I have never met?

The trembling intensified and her vision narrowed. She gripped the edge of the bed tightly to calm herself. But it wasn’t helping. The room suddenly felt too big and too small at the same time. She couldn’t...

Then the door opened. Austin stood in the doorway, still in his riding clothes.

"Mr Harrington said you were..."

She didn’t let him finish.

She crossed the room and crashed into him before her brain could even register the movement. She locked her arms around his chest, pressing her face into his riding coat. Her hands gripped his back so tightly that it looked like she might break if she let go.

"Thank God you’re here," she whispered. "I was going mad. I don’t know what to do...Austin."

He froze.

"Austin?" he repeated. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

She pulled back.

"I...".

She couldn’t finish. They stared at each other with her hands still clutching his coat, his arms still at his sides. Slowly, she stepped back, embarrassed.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t..."

"Don’t apologize." He cut her off immediately.

"The king summoned me alone. And you weren’t here and I..."

"I know," he said. "Harrington sent word to the stables that you were looking for me, so I came back."

She stared at him with surprise and curiosity.

He came back from the king’s riding party to the castle just for me? Because I was looking for him?