Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Just a Little Bit Mad

Minerva was waiting for me in her tower, pacing back and forth anxiously. The moment I entered, she ran to me and cupped my face in both her hands. I blushed at her touch, intimately aware of how close we were, how soft her lips looked and how they were only inches from mine.

"Are you alright?" she begged. "Did they hurt you?"

Her eyes were wide with fear; the light that danced in them was no less mesmerizing. It took me several moments to process her question.

"Who, princess?" I asked.

"My brothers," Princess Minerva said, "you were with them in their chambers were you not? Eve, did they hurt you?"

"They didn't harm me." I put a hand on the princess' shoulder to reassure her. She took it as an invitation and fell into me with a tight embrace. That alone would have stunned me, but Princess Minerva took the opportunity to bury her face in my hair. I could feel her breath on my neck and the gentle rise and fall of where her soft chest pressed against mine.