Part 6 of 7

Now Asta truly knew she had gone too far.

Harbouring inappropriate feelings towards Lord Montalli’s betrothed was already dangerous; kissing her could have Asta’s head taken clean off if she caught Lord Redfallow on a bad day. And she had not only kissed her. She had pulled her in, grappling at her dainty frame and collecting fistfuls of her dress as an animalistic desperation overtook her. For a few minutes, she had utterly lost her senses.

When she had returned the next morning to collect her wineskin, Riella had regressed to her skittish, deer-like state. They did not discuss the kiss. It was a few days before the tension had eased enough for small talk once again.

Despite her common sense and the impending doom looming over her shoulder, Asta found herself knocking on the wooden door at least once a day. Sometimes she could think of a reason why she needed to enter. More often than not, she had nothing.

But when Riella would answer with a sweet and tentative, “yes?” she would slip inside without hesitation. They would talk for an hour or so, usually until they heard the approach of a servant or guard outside. Then Asta would wish her a good rest of her day and return to her post.

Worryingly, it had become the highlight of Asta’s days. Riella’s secretly talkative nature had bewitched her, filled with sweet sayings and adorable anecdotes. The lips her words fell from had Asta just as hypnotised. She wanted to bite them. She wanted to feel Riella cry out into her mouth and shiver in her embrace.

Asta shook her head and rubbed her fingertips through her shortly sheared hair. She was sinking deeper into a pit that she should never have even approached.

~

The precious lord had not returned for another visit and it had been weeks since his and Riella’s stroll through the grounds on doctor’s orders. Apparently, Lord Jon Montalli had better prospects for his time than spending it with his future wife. Riella had no such opportunities. She was trapped in a room that would drive any animal mad.

The least Asta could do for the woman, as a fellow human being, would be to provide her with company and a few excursions into the gardens for fresh air. Riella’s thrilled reaction to the suggestion had hit Asta like a bolt to the chest.

They had been questioned once thus far, a bold guard asking after their permissions. Asta had been quick to concoct an answer: that the gracious lord had requested she take his betrothed out for air and light after her sickness since he had not been able to do so of late. The lie had had Riella trembling for an hour afterwards.

“As far as you are concerned, you are a hostage in these walks,” Asta advised her once they were hidden amongst the tall hedges that surrounded the white stone fountain. It was one of Riella’s favourite areas amongst the rolling lawns and long flowerbeds. Asta had noticed she liked the secluded corners, topiaries and trellises that blocked them from view of prying eyes. “That is what you will say if you are questioned about my lie, so relax yourself.”

“That is a double lie!” Riella gasped.

“Well, if both of us lie then who will they believe? Either way both lies keep you out of trouble.”

“And what about you?”

“I have never had trouble finding work, especially guarding important women. The husbands like the thought of a lady guard. I doubt my next charge will be as beautiful as you, though.”

Riella’s entire body broke out in a dark blush. Asta revelled in its bright pigment; it was highly addictive. She found herself spouting honeyed words more and more often simply to see it. A troubling transformation was taking place and she found herself morphing more and more into a soppy fool. The worst part was that she could not bring herself to be irritated by it, she had simply accepted her new existence as a love-struck buffoon.

~

On a wander amongst the rose trellises, Asta lost her senses once again.

A thorny vine had snagged Riella’s hair in passing, halting her with a yelp. Asta turned quickly, her hand tapping the hilt of her sword reflexively. Ready to protect her charge at a moment’s notice. A step behind her, Riella was stuck to the trellis beside her. The young woman’s doe-like eyes were raised to peer at the entangled section of hair, but she did not lift her hands to free herself. Her eyes met Asta’s, and a giggle burst from her. Her smile was wide, and her eyes crinkled as she laughed at herself. Asta joined her, laughing quietly as she approached, and began to carefully separate hair from nature. Riella held still as a stone but Asta could feel her breath on her throat, tickling her skin as she worked on the untwining of lady and bush.

Once the vine was released, she tucked it back into the trellis and pushed her other hand through Riella’s lochs, grazing her fingertips over the smaller girl’s forehead and then scalp. Riella shivered at the light touch and her lashes bounced a little in surprise before they locked eyes. Asta stooped forward. Their lips were drawn together like magnets, the closer they got, the harder it became to pull back. Until eventually they snapped together as the clasp of a coin purse would.

Somehow Asta felt out of breath before a few seconds had even passed. As though Riella were dragging the air from her lungs through the kiss. The hand buried in Riella’s hair slid beneath her ear and tilted her heart-shaped face up, offering more of her mouth to Asta’s. Her eyes were closed but it only mattered what she could feel. The tremble of Riella’s tiny hands pressed into her leather chest piece. The hum of her soft moans in Asta’s mouth. The tender press of her tongue when she finally cracked her mouth open to allow Asta entrance.

Her hands found Riella’s waist, slamming them together and curling the pair of them further into the metal frame of the trellis. Her knuckles were pricked and poked by thorns but that was better than them digging into her beloved’s back or tearing her skirts.

Asta groaned in a combination of hunger for more and the slowly-building resignation to the fact that she had to let go at some point. She had to release this beautiful woman back to the world she lived in eventually. It was not a reality they could share.

When she pulled back their noses remained touching, their eyes locked and their breath colliding in the tiny space between them.

“I should not have done that,” Asta whispered.

Riella answered, “I hope that will not stop you from doing it again.”

Bold. Incredibly bold for the timid Riella.

“I hope you have the sense to tell me to stop, because I cannot find the strength to.”

Riella dotted a chaste kiss to Asta’s cheek and spun away, striding away from the rose gardens and leaving the mercenary to play chase. Apparently, that was all the answer the young lady was willing to give. Asta did not need more, in fact she genuinely wished Riella would give her less, would allow her less freedom to act on her inappropriate whims. Without a refusal, Asta did not know how she could stop.