Post by Annemarie Gardiner on Jan 25, 2015 16:50:03 GMT -5
Jean-Luc's intercession in the matter of her feckless thieving cousin and Lucien's adamant protestations of innocence sent Annemarie from the courtyard in an effort to restore her accustomed composure and typical serenity. She did not think she could bear to stand there and continue to listen to Lucien's smilingly delivered lies, yet she struggled to understand what drove her to such enraged heights. On the surface, the situation was relatively minor, though admittedly, Lucien could have inflicted some damage on his intended victims. Syrup of ipecac was not a poison, however, and the humiliation might have equaled the discomfort of the induced vomiting. Chances were good that he'd known precisely what he wanted from the stillroom and had gone there deliberately in pursuit of one of his pranks.
Was Lucien ever going to become a man and leave the boy behind?
Annemarie was inclined to think not in light of that morning's incident. Merely thinking of it set her blood to boiling anew, her last few steps carrying her instinctively to the chamber allotted Alexander for his work on behalf of the Crown Princess. She raised a hand and rained several blow-like knocks in quick succession, not waiting for his permission to enter as she opened the door and stepped inside. The haze that filled her mind blinded her to any other person's presence in the room save Alexander himself as she slammed the door closed and threw the latch, turning to her mentor with an unchecked fire in her eyes.
Alexander was the only one who ever seen her in such a state, and that was one time prior to this. That event remained their closely-guarded secret, breathed to no one on pain of death. Today was far different, her skirts swinging as the battle blood continued to burn in her cheeks. Her chest heaved with fast, rasping breaths, staring at him without actually seeing him. In Alexander, she hoped to find the eye of the maelstrom in which she felt locked.
Alexander Romanov