Prince Stewart ambushes her.

As Princess Adella staggered to her room, Xira made her way back to the ballroom. The heat Xira gave her should be enough to keep the princess occupied for the rest of the night, and might leave her lower body tender for the rest of tomorrow, but “eventually” the heat would go away. In the meantime, she didn’t have to worry about the princess asking if she was some nymph. Xira was sure that she would be asked more annoying questions once she returned to the banquet, but at least she could punch them without causing “too much” of a diplomatic incident.

She was about to round the corner of a rose bush on her way back to the throne room when suddenly she felt a firm gloved hand grab her wrist. Taken off guard, Xira found herself being spun around and pulled into the arms of the handsome Prince Stewart. The prince coiled a strong arm around her back and pulled her close to his chest. He then pulled her hand to his lisp and lightly kissed her wrist. “Good evening, my Queen,” he said with a sly smile.

Xira blushed hard as he pulled her close and leered up at him, “Prince Stewart, if you were any other man, you would be bleeding on the ground right now.”

Stewart chuckled, “I don’t doubt that my Queen. Even now, I can feel your muscles rippling against me.”

“I wish I could say the same about yours,” she replied. Although she could feel how toned the prince was, his strength was still nowhere near her own. “I do hope that you are referring to me as your Queen, as a crudity, and not to imply that you have claimed me.”

Stewart smiled and lightly brushed a hand over Xira’s cheek, “Nothing so crude, I only wish to court my fair Queen.”

“Fair?” Xira said with a light snarl. She could tell that the prince was trying to impress her with compliments, but not too long ago, she was using the word “fair” to insult Stewart’s sister. That ended with Xira being punched in the face, and she was very tempted to do the same to the prince, but thankfully the small voice of reason in the back of her head told her that he was trying to be…charming if this is what passed for being charming in man’s world.

Taking in a deep breath, she forced herself to smile and said through her teeth, “You are…too kind sir, I would be more than happy to let you court me, and I might even be willing to test you to see if you are worthy of my bed, if it wasn’t for one small problem.”

“And what might that be,” he asked, arching his brow.

Xira then learned up at him, “You are going to find it difficult to duel me with a pair of broken kneecaps.” Stewart’s face turned pale as the angry woman glared at him. Slowly he pulled his hand away from her hips and let her step out of his grasp. “Thank you…kind sir,” said Xira as she adjusted her dress, “I will admit you are incredibly handsome, and you do seem fit, but if you ever pounce on me in such a manner ever again I will bend your neck so far back you will be kissing your ass!” With that, she made a quick turn, flipping her braided dark hair and stormed off.

Stewart stood there dumbfounded for a moment until he heard the sound of laughing behind him. Turning towards the laughter, he saw his brother Duncan covering his mouth. “The usual approach not working, brother?” said Duncan with a smirk.

Stewart rolled his eyes, “You think you can do any better?”

“No,” said Duncan, chuckling, “That woman is fiercer than a volcano, it’s just nice to see you getting burned for a change.”