Ruby eyes stared back at Aleksander, and their owner spoke with a clear voice, "What are you doing?"
Aleksander was frozen for a few seconds before the idea sunk in that Elys was awake. He stared at her with a blank face, and her eyes traveled down to his hand.
"Must I repeat myself, husband?" Elys asked again, her gaze fixed at the vampire king.
Aleksander then realized he was still holding Elys’ hair, and immediately backed off.
In his haste to create distance between the two of them, Aleksander tripped on the long fabric that draped from the high poster. The vampire’s hands flailed as he tried to grasp for something to stop his fall.
Aleksander was able to reach grab the sheer fabric of the canopy. He looked like a man hanging for his dear life, his body just an inch to the ground. He could hear the rods slipping from their joints, and his eyes frantically zipped upward.
Common sense screamed for Aleksander to let go, but he was too preoccupied with the embarrassment he had done to himself that it just was too late.
The canopy rods unhinged, falling down and nearly missing him as it clanked to the cold floor. Drapes of fabrics fell, burying the vampire king as the metal rods continued to clank loudly to the floor.
The doors suddenly burst open, and Elys reached for Aleksander’s sword on his supposed side of the bed. She pointed the sword’s tip towards the people that barged in, but then immediately put it down.
"What happened?!" Henry and Cordelia screamed together.
The two of them glanced at each other, a sort of comical moment shared between the two of them. How many times have they spoke at the same time, and the same words too?
Henry cleared his throat and corrected his skewed pince-nez, a slight blush tinting his wrinkled face. Cordelia put on a stoic face and straightened her back.
Elys noticed the old woman held a sword herself, to which she couldn’t figure out where Cordelia even got it.
Her eyes darted towards the wide-open doors. The light from outside was starting to seep in the palace corridors, and only then did she spot statues of knights in full armor lined up the walls.
"!"
Surprisingly, one of the statues had a missing sword, to which Elys immediately assumed was the doing of Cordelia.
"Your majesty, are you alright?" the old woman spoke as she stood in a wary manner.
Her eyes darted to the pile of fabrics that moved suspiciously, and Cordelia took several careful steps forward.
"Put the sword down, Cordelia," Elys sighed and then waved an exasperated hand towards the other side of the bed. "Henry, help his majesty out of this mess, will you?"
The attendant’s face was puzzled for a second, but then he heard Aleksander’s familiar grunts of annoyance from the broken side of the canopy bed. The old man rushed forward and promptly set the fabrics and golden tassels aside.
After several grunts of lifting the heavy fabrics to the side, Henry uncovered Aleksander sitting on the floor, his eyes almost teary mad and his face beet red in embarrassment.
"Your majesty?" Henry asked, "Why were you under here?"
The old man’s eyes noticed the ribbons of Aleksander’s robes had come undone, revealing his pale skin and muscled torso. His hair was disheveled, and he was sweating uncontrollably – which in itself blared alarms in Henry’s wild imagination.
Aleksander was livid with mortification, but he knew nobody was to blame but himself. He waved for Henry to get out, and the attendant reluctantly walked away.
Cordelia waited for Elys’ instruction, her eyes begging for an explanation but her lips sealed tight.
"Go on," Elys sighed a second time since she awakened, "we are fine."
"Are you sure, your majesty? Do you want me to call for help to repair the canopies?" Cordelia asked.
The old woman also noted how Elys was covered in sweat. Stray hair stuck to her face, and her nightgown in itself was a bit crumpled too.
Cordelia was curious, but she knew it wasn’t her place to ask further at the moment.
Elys shook her head and said, "There is no need for that now. We will call you."
The maidservant heaved a concerned sigh. She trudged out of the bedchamber, and then closed the doors slowly, her eyes trying to catch what Elys and Aleksander would do.
The couple stayed in their places until the doors were finally shut behind them, and Cordelia huffed with worry.
She turned to see Henry waiting a few meters away from the door, waving at her to come closer. Cordelia raised her brows in confusion, but promptly walked towards the old man in curiosity.
"What?" she asked him.
Henry winced, obviously uneasy that Cordelia was speaking loudly. He brought his finger to his lips, signing for her to lower her voice. The old man reached out for Cordelia’s arm, and he pulled her further away.
"What do you think happened between the two of them?" Henry whispered when they reached the other end of the corridor. "Do you think they...?"
The old man trailed off, his lips quivering with thoughts of what happened.
Cordelia quickly caught up with what Henry was trying to imply, and her free hand smacked the old man on impulse.
"Ow!" Henry yowled, "What was that for?"
The maidservant’s brows knitted together as she spoke in a serious tone, "They obviously haven’t done anything of what you are thinking, old man. Mind your own business."
Cordelia walked back towards the door, determined to stand guard in the case Elys would call for her help. She might have put on a straight face when Henry spoke his mind regarding the situation they witnessed, but Cordelia’s thoughts has already gone into overdrive.
She leaned her ear closer to the doors, trying to get a little bit of conversation if Elys and Aleksander were talking.
Sadly, the doors were too thick for her to hear a thing, and Cordelia could only stand outside and wait.