Chapter 51: Chapter 51Zayne moved his hand from beside Rose’s head to let her enter the room. He might have gone too far with his last question. "Forget about it, Rose. We need to get your lessons started."

    "You have brought me a way to be happy so I would say yes," Rose answered, looking down at the floor. "You have done more than others ever did and you are kind to teach me, making me happy. I’m sorry if I don’t express well that I am grateful for what you have done."

    Rose slowly lifted her head now that she had finished answering Zayne. She felt the need to tiptoe because of the height difference. Did Zayne have trouble walking into some rooms? "Was my answer bad?" She asked.

    Zayne was staring at her like he expected to hear more. Rose didn’t know what else to say. Did she need to tell him she was terrible at speaking to someone? She normally kept to herself and it was only recently that she spoke with others so much.

    "No," Zayne replied, walking ahead of Rose.

    He had never faced a moment when he wanted to touch someone but couldn’t. It was wrong to have some of the feelings he felt toward Rose. He wanted to touch her hair or simply hold her hands at times but he couldn’t. He might have her running away from him or this home.

    "Zayne, did I say something wrong? It does not look like you are happy," Rose said. Should she have just said yes and leave it at that?

    "It is fine, Rose. I was only teasing you so I didn’t expect an answer from you, but it is good to know how much you care for me. You’ve placed some of the books in here," Zayne said, switching to another topic.

    He went to a large shelf and reached for one of the books on the top.

    "You are quite big. I had to step on a chair to get up there. Oh!" Rose gasped, surprised by the book that Zayne dropped. "I will get it for you."

    Rose rushed to get it but Zayne had to move quicker to pick up the book he dropped.

    "You, were you sent here to kill me?" Zayne asked as it was starting to feel that way. Rose was going to be the greatest test he ever had to face.

    "W-What? No! H-How could that ever be possible with the way we met? I don’t walk with the knife you gave me now that Janice is here-"

    "Rose, calm down. I wish I could explain what I meant but then you might start to panic again. I know that you are not here to kill me but you certainly know how to catch a man off guard. Now, are you going to hold my hand forever? Should I say goodbye to it?" Zayne asked.

    Rose was puzzled by what he meant until she looked down to notice that she had reached for his hand instead of the book. "I am sorry," she apologised.

    "We are comfortable here so sit, let me show you my homeland," Zayne said, taking a seat on the floor.

    Rose easily sat on the floor as it did not bother her. She placed her hands in her lap and waited eagerly for Zayne to get started. Sear?h the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "We must work on getting you to learn letters but we can save that for tomorrow as we will need more time. This book has a few drawings in it. It is from a special writer who liked to draw what he spoke about. He has only made five of these books since it took a lot of time to do. You must be careful with it."

    Rose nodded her head. Regardless of how special the book was, Rose treated them all with great care.

    "This is a small part of the palace."

    Rose leaned close to Zayne to see better. "Is it? Have you visited the palace a lot? Do generals get to do that?"

    "I do and despite its beautiful look, the palace isn’t somewhere you would enjoy. I hope you never step foot in one. Even the one here. Your king is a pain in the ass and so is mine," Zayne said, flipping through the book to find another drawing.

    Rose tried not to but she ended up laughing. "You looked grumpier than normal just now. I will listen to your advice and never enter a palace. You have my word."

    Rose already didn’t see herself going into a palace so she would stay away from whatever danger Zayne knew was there. "Is this the map? Where do you live?"

    "Why? You want to sneak onto my boat and stalk me?"

    "No! I would never do such a thing!" Rose defended herself. "You are mean," she said after Zayne started to laugh.

    "I told you, your reactions are the reason for me teasing you. I live here," Zayne pointed at the map.

    Rose looked at where Zayne pointed and where the palace was. "It is far away from the palace. Shouldn’t the general be near?"

    "I should but I prefer to ignore fools talking about nothing. My choice in my home is good since I was banned from the palace for a week," Zayne confessed, regretting it right away that he did.

    "Banned? A general can be banned from the palace but they still allowed you to be here to do the truce so they must trust or need you. If you don’t mind sharing, what did you do to get banned? You don’t have to share it if you don’t want to," Rose said as it might be embarrassing for him.

    "There was a disagreement and someone lost a finger," Zayne answered.

    Rose was frozen in place as this didn’t want she thought he would say. She couldn’t help looking at his hands now to see if she had ever missed that he did not have all his fingers.

    "How wrong of you to assume it is me without a finger," Zayne said, showing his hands so Rose didn’t have to be secretive with her looks.

    Rose slowly moved her hands to place them behind her back. "Should I ever offend you, I would like to keep my fingers. And my toes. I have forgotten that you might be a skilled soldier."

    "Do you fear me now?" Zayne asked, their gazes meeting. It might be the first time Rose did not shy away from his gaze.

    "I told you, you are scary looking, but not to scare me. I think it would be quite useful if we had you stand by the gates. Then anyone who comes near the gates would run away. Though your face is handsome for women to linger. That would bring too much attention," Rose reconsidered the plan.

    She now remembered some of the women in the brothel speaking about Zayne. It didn’t matter to them that he was from enemy land. He was handsome so women were going to stare and men would get jealous.

    Zayne wished to hear more of what was going on inside her head especially after she called handsome. Rose certainly was going to be the death of him.