★ELOWEN★
The bright light resting heavily upon my face told me what time it was. I opened my eyes and shut them immediately. I turned to the side and opened them again.
I sat up with a groan and immediately noticed Azrael wasn't with me in bed. I climbed down from the bed and walked to the window beside the wardrobe. It wasn't a floor-to-ceiling window, but it was grand all the same.
The curtains were already drawn. I opened the window and looked down, nearly swallowing my tongue as I did so.
Azrael was down there, in what looked to be his gym space. He was lifting handmade dumbbells fashioned from heavy rocks.
Why did I think he made those because he could already lift every dumbbell a proper gym might offer?
As he lifted two dumbbells with each hand, his shoulders and back muscles—facing me—flexed powerfully, a young man standing beside him—probably his right-hand man.
It was a worthy sight, and now I understood Mira.
At least he was handsome and possessed a fine body. Whether he was kind or not, I would have to discover in the remaining days. For now? He was simply strange.
I was not even aware that I had continued looking at him until he glanced up at the window—at me. My breath hitched as we held each other's gaze. He was still holding the dumbbells; my hands were resting on the window sill.
"You're up."
The distance between us was not that far, but he did not even raise his voice for it to reach me.
"Yes." Yes. I whispered it, knowing he was a werewolf and could hear me regardless.
Azrael nodded, then waved for me to come down. I raised a brow; he raised his as well. My lips almost twitched with a smile, but I held it in and closed the window.
I brushed my teeth and washed my body as quickly as possible, then went to my wardrobe. Good thing home dresses were more decent. I donned a corseted flare gown that stopped directly below my knees and wore one of the sandals in the wardrobe.
While releasing my hair from yesterday's hold, I wondered why a maidservant had not come to the room yet. I knew I could perform these duties on my own, but were they not meant to serve me?
My strawberry-blonde hair fell down to my waist. I loved how long it was, and the fact that both my lashes and eyebrows held the same colour as my hair. Once I was finished and satisfied that I looked pretty enough, I stepped out of the room.
Finding my way through all those corridors and passageways was not exactly stressful, but it was confusing. I soon came across a maidservant.
"Hello," I greeted.
She paused and turned over her shoulder to look at me. For a moment, a look of pure disgust passed through her eyes before she chased it away and stared at me inquisitively.
I was stunned—and curious.
"Yes?"
Yes? Now I was certain the servants in this house were not aware of Azrael's new marriage.
"I wondered if you could show me the way outside—where Alpha King Azrael does his early morning exercise." I decided to take the nonviolent path.
A brow raised upon her young but pretty face.
"Why? Your job here is done. I'm certain King Azrael wouldn't want one of his whores ogling him while he did his morning exercises."
Colour drained from my face.
"What?" I whispered, though I was certain it was even lower than a whisper. My shock knew no bounds.
"Who exactly are you calling a whore, Vanessa?"
I whipped my head toward the frail voice coming from behind me. Immediately noticing Azrael's grandmother, I dipped my head in a bow.
"Matriarch Isolde."
She did not respond to me. Her glare was fixed upon the maidservant—Vanessa—who had bowed her head as well.
Vanessa raised her head to answer.
"It is she." She still maintained her glare upon me. "She is asking to visit Alpha King Azrael when she is supposed to be out of the gate."
"And are you quite certain exactly who she is?" Matriarch Isolde growled. "Sometimes you must lend an ear to your fellows' gossip, so you will know when not to spout nonsense."
Vanessa and I were both surprised by the outburst.
She continued, "Now get down on your knees and apologise to your Queen."
Vanessa's eyes widened like saucers. She fell to her knees immediately.
"I apologise for my insolence, Luna Queen. Please forgive me," she said, frightened and hasty.
I saw myself in her. How I would always fall to my knees before Joy and Mira and apologise for something I had never done. I moved to her before thinking and lifted her up. She looked utterly shocked.
"It is alright. You did not know," I said with a soft smile, hoping it would calm her down. "But I believe you should not simply assume what people are before officially meeting them."
"It will be my last time," she said quietly.
I nodded and gently rubbed her hair.
"I'm E—" I cleared my throat as though I had choked. Phew. I truly needed to get used to calling myself Mira. "I'm Mira, Alpha King Azrael's new wife."
She nodded and escaped my hold, bowing again before telling me the way to Azrael's exercise place. She made an excuse and quickly left.
I turned back to Matriarch Isolde, who had been watching the entire exchange.
"I suppose my husband brought in quite a number of women in the past." I chuckled afterward, meaning it as a jest, but the matriarch merely shook her head.
"An insolent child he is. Does everything except listen to me," she huffed. "Where were you headed?"
"Where my husband does his exercise. He called for me," I told her.
"Good. I like the way you are comfortable with him."
Well...not really. But I kept that thought to myself.
"Is he comfortable with you?"
"It has only been a day since we were married. I doubt I could have done anything to make him uncomfortable."
"True," she nodded. "That is true."
Matriarch Isolde paused, and I halted with her. She turned and placed her hand upon my shoulder.
"I shall not delay you any further. Go meet your husband."
With a warm smile, she continued down the hall while I walked outside.