The Commoner Consort: The Country's Respected Empress

Maya rolls her eyes "Stop speaking loud! He will become ruder if he hears you praising him!"

Xavier laughs heartily "True. But trust me. You have no clue. He can be more rude and arrogant sometimes ...*sigh* but I am not complaining. It's just his nature. He is not bad, Maya".

Maya rolls her eyes earning a chuckle from Xavier as a result.

Xavier asks with a smile but his eyes search for something else from her face "How did you faint? Why would you leave alone? I would have joined you if you had informed me before leaving alone. That could have been dangerous, Maya. It's good that my brother found you".

-_-!

Maya felt like arguing after hearing Xavier's unreasonable words.

'Your brother found me?! Isn't it another way round? I was the one who found him! And I was the one who saved his life!'

>_<! Frustrating! 

'Forget it! Wait! Did he....'

Maya asks as she remembered something suddenly "Wait. Where is my bow?!"

She looks around anxiously as the thought of missing that precious bow made her heart clench! 

'How could I miss that when I hung it over my shoulder?! I never forgot to keep my bow safe until I come here. Seems the sudden luxury I got now made me less careful in keeping my bow safe? I even forgot my Royal Bow while escaping from the Cursed water. It's good that Prince got them back.

In her country, even though she didn't have any chance to hold an actual bow, she always made her bow out of tree branches. It's just that she never used to shot an arrow. 

Alas! Her New Bow is now missing!

Xavier stands and leans forward making her freeze.

Maya looks at him startled 'What is he doing? Why is he so c-close?'

He asks teasingly "Are you avoiding my questions, Maya?"

Maya gulps darting her eyes over his face.

She blinks blankly as she finds it hard to recall his previous question and then her answer which she had to analyse why it made him think that she was avoiding his question.

Her mind is blank and her ogling at his face is not at all helping. She stammers finally to manage the situation "I-I am not avoiding... I just remembered the Bow. I don't want to lose it. I left alone ...as I thought... I might delay your progress... you had to reach Sir Victor on the other side... and I didn't know I would end up fainting...".

She can't say that she saved his brother from fire, can she? Moreover, she couldn't stomach seeing Xavier thinking so highly of his useless brother!

Humph! 

She felt like dragging Kalki by his ears here and ask him to explain Xavier's questions!

>_<!!

'But why isn't he moving away?!'

Xavier smiles seeing her gone stiff and tucks her under her blanket "It's still early. Get some rest. I will ask someone to bring the bow here".

Maya is relieved 'Ah! At least the Bow is safe...'

He didn't move away yet and enjoys her reaction in silence. She can be teased easily.

Maya closes her mouth timidly as she is in a trance seeing his small smile sneakily when he leaned close to her.

Xavier states staring at her face "Lay back, Maya". 

She blushes hard and nods faintly. She couldn't utter a word.

Xavier makes her lie down by holding her shoulder softly. His hands are too gentle and make Maya gulp hard. She feels his breath on her face and shrinks back nervously. 

Xavier pretends to be calm and stands straight.

She huffs when he decided to stand finally and say "Sleep well".

She couldn't take her eyes off till he left the camp.

Xavier steps out of the camp and lets out a nervous breath. He looks back at the camp as he starts walking away with a smile. Her fl.u.s.tered face made him forget all his previous worries.

He doesn't mind Kalki's visit too as he noticed her reaction when he told her that he would leave them alone.

'She was startled as if I let her alone with a lion! Seeing her desperate face to stop me... does she like me too? or... Was she just trying to escape from Xander's presence?'

He chuckles recalling how she almost jumped out of the bed to stop him from leaving.

In the tent, Maya blushes at her bold actions and closes her eyes tight. She feels her heart thumping so hard that she can hear them in her ears and takes deep breaths.

'Why am I nervous whenever he is around?! How could I just stare at a man for this long?!  How could I be so shameless?'

She closes her eyes to try to sleep and wakes up soon feeling suffocated. She feels somewhat restless yet. She thought it was due to Kalki and Xavier's presence before but she couldn't calm down even after they left.

She feels something is amiss. She thinks about Kalki and tilts her head 'Only he was in danger previously and he looked fine. Why am I feeling ... Let's ask her. She might know'.

She looks around "Bhommi-" and frowns at the sudden thought "I didn't send her back... She should be here with me! Where is she?!"

She blinks and a sudden chill passes in her heart igniting fear "How can I forget about her?!"

She tosses the blankets immediately and winces painfully as soon as she kept her barefoot on the ground.

Ah!

She gasps lifting her foot up "C-cold...So cold...but why does it hurt? It felt like stabbing...".

She presses her aching foot and realises her tears filled her eyes. She hisses impatiently "What's this new problem? Can I not keep my barefoot on the ground again? Will it hurt in future? But why suddenly?".

Maya looks at the ground hard and purses her lips tight. She keeps her feet on the again to check and grunts loudly "What the hell?!".