The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 39: Small Obstacle

"Well played, Your Highness," Rafael said lowly into her ear as he quickly helped her up the horse. In one quick motion, he leaped up and wrapped his arms around her own, allowing her to rest against his chest.

It would have been more appropriate for him to sit in front, and for Soleia to be holding his waist, but Rafael didn’t care about propriety. Soleia had effectively been humiliated by Orion’s mistress, and his so-called best friend merely sat by and watched it happen.

While his heart ached for Soleia, the opportunist in him wasn’t going to deny himself the chance to get even closer to her, to show her that he was the much better choice of husband. He gently reached out a hand to pry her shaking hands away from the reins.

"Princess, you’re going to spook the horse," he chided gently. "Let me do the guiding, alright?"

There was only a slow, shuddering breath from Soleia, who resolutely kept her grip on the leather straps. Ralph chanced a look at her face and was shocked to see a tiny tear nestled at her lower lash.

"Come on Princess Soleia," Ralph said, purposely making his tone lighter and cheerier so that Orion and his little pet wouldn’t sense her distress. "Let’s have a fun wintertime ride, shall we?"

Soleia gave a sharp, jerky nod, and Rafael gently nudged the horse along its flank, purposely creating a large distance between them and the carriage so that they would not be overheard.

"...Thank you, sir Ralph," Soleia said with a tiny sniffle as she quickly wiped at her eyes with her gloved hands. She coughed lightly, clearing her throat. "I’m sorry that you’ve been pulled into this mess."

"Mess? All I see is a fun adventure," Rafael replied.

"I wish I had your optimism," Soleia confessed. Her earlier bravado and anger were draining out, and replacing it was slow dawning horror as the horse continued to trot placidly in the thick snow. "I fear I might have made a terrible mistake."

"Why is that?"

"For a start, none of us brought anything for such a long journey to the palace. We have no food, no proper attire― we don’t even have any clothes to change out of!" Soleia exclaimed, and there was a pause as she took a look at the state of her dress― it smelled of the sewers, and it was completely unsuitable for travel.

How could she wear the same dress for weeks? If it wasn’t already smelly before, it would be positively rancid by the time she rolled up to the palace.

If she didn’t want to smell like the sewers, she would be forced to share dresses with Elowyn― a thought so distasteful that she might be willing to go naked instead.

And then she would freeze to death in this current snowfall.

A tiny groan escaped her lips. Maybe she could get the horse to turn around, just so that she could dash back towards the estate to pack her meager belongings. Her inventions, her clothes... she didn’t even have a single cloak on her. That old woman had taken Lily’s old cloak when she had imprisoned her.

As if to prove her point, a sharp gust of wind blew straight at her, causing her to shiver from the cold. To make matters worse, neither she nor Sir Ralph had gloves on. Soleia stared down at Sir Ralph’s bare hands, gripping tightly onto the reins of the horse. It was slowly turning red from the cold.

"You’re going to lose your hands," Soleia muttered despondently. "So am I. We’re going to turn up to the palace without our limbs, smelling of decay."

"Well, I’ve always wanted to terrorize members of royalty," Sir Ralph retorted cheerfully, as he reached out to cradle her icy cold fingers with his own hands. They were warmer than hers, but not by much. "Princess?"

"You can’t lose your hands," Soleia said as she tried to warm his hands by rubbing them. "What kind of knight is handless? You’ll be out of employment soon enough."

"I should say the same for you," Sir Ralph said, covering her hands with his much bigger ones, before tugging her back so that she ended up nestled in his arms.

Soleia blinked in surprise, staring up past the sharp jawline to see his twinkling brown eyes.

"Princess, come into my arms," Sir Ralph offered.

"Sir Ralph! This is highly improper!" Soleia protested, despite his warmth being much needed. She tried to squirm out of his grip, but Sir Ralph held firm.

"What’s improper is letting you freeze when I can help," Sir Ralph said sincerely. "I would take out my coat to lend you, but knowing you, you would have made it back on again. I would also take off my pants to remove the necessary jewels, but that would scandalize you further."

"You’re not wrong," Soleia grumbled, irritated at the way he could so easily predict her actions.

Rafael couldn’t help but laugh at the way his future wife was sulking.

"Just bear with it for now, Princess, at least until we arrive at the nearest town. I know you’re worried about our circumstances, but it’s not as terrible as you think. We have gems to barter for supplies, and I’m not entirely penniless. We’ll get through this, and we’ll do it so well that we’ll make Elowyn sick with envy. I’m sure that garnet in my pants could get us a better, more opulent carriage than the one she’s currently residing in."

Soleia couldn’t help but snort. "If we got one, we’ll certainly be drawing too much attention to ourselves. Besides, I highly doubt anything could burst her bubble, especially with Orion hanging onto her every word."

A frown crossed her face.

"She must have drugged him again while we were in the black market. How are we going to free him from her thrall?"

"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it," Sir Ralph said reassuringly. "We have at least two weeks. I don’t believe that we can’t pry her away from him. Now breathe, Princess. This is nothing more than a brief obstacle."

His words entered Soleia’s mind, slowly calming her down from the worst-case scenarios she had conjured up.

However, despite his comforting words, when night fell, Soleia and Ralph found themselves staring blankly at the carriage. It was rocking from side to side, but shoddy workmanship wasn’t to blame.

A mewl of pleasure echoed through the air, followed by a short, sharp grunt.

Soleia and Ralph exchanged glances of disbelief.

Surely they weren’t... copulating?!