Chapter 115 - 116
The following day, Alistar and Anice awoke around the same time. He was shocked to find that he had turned over in the night and that they were now pressed up against one another like molten metal filling a mold, his front to her back as they lay there in the early morning quiet. Confusion held the fore of his mind, though he subconsciously marvelled at how comfortable he currently felt.
He had yet to regain his wits when she slowly blinked her eyes open, moving her hips with a tired frown and then reaching beneath the covers as if searching for a source of discomfort. Both of them froze as she grasped the cause with confused fingers, though before either of them could say a word of mortification, she punched him in the nose, scrambled out of bed and then hurried out of the room, forgetting her pillow in the process.
As he lay there with a stream of warm blood leaking down his face, Alistar was unsure of how to feel. Pulling the covers up and glancing at his lower body, he was just as or even more surprised than Anice had been. What’s going on? Why is it...? Healing his nose with a quick mending spell, he climbed out of bed and then stripped out of his pajamas, intent on washing his body before setting off to launder the blood from his bed covers. His arms moved as if on rusty hinges as he cleaned himself with dull movements, mind completely blank without the slightest bit of focus.
He was too out of sorts at the moment to attempt to wash his body with magic, so he returned to using the washrag that he’d rarely relied on in recent months. Staring down at his lower body that was still in an interesting state, he recalled reading about a specific reaction that supposedly took place around the area in question once a male reached a certain age, and if he recalled the purpose of this reaction correctly...
"I—I forgot my pillow," came Anice’s meek voice, the door opening to reveal a face as red as her dishevelled hair.
They both froze, Alistar wanting to simply blink out of existence as Anice ran from the room after a long stint of still, eye-wandering silence.
"At least close the door!" he called after her, his face heating to new levels. He locked the door after closing it, taking a few moments to compose himself as he stood there in a daze.
Calm down, he told himself. Remember your meditations.
Taking a deep breath, he set about his usual morning routine with an absent mind. As he did so, he kept an eye on Alder’s aura and resolved to have a long, distinctive talk with the chamberlain at the man’s earliest convenience.