Mr. Jasper moved towards the sofa and was about to sit beside the king when the king stopped him.
"Jasper, find Charles and see why he wasn't present for the practice in the grounds today".
"Oh, yes. I will ask the guards to find him".
"No find him yourself". The king's face was expressionless but he gritted his teeth. "Because I want him to sharpen my dagger". His voice was sharp and Mr. Jasper coughed.
"Yes, Your Majesty", Bowing his head, Mr. Jasper left.
Mariana wrinkled her brows thinking Mr. Charles didn't look that day as someone the king kept to sharpen his dagger. But she shrugged realising it wasn't her business. The king had his own rules perhaps.
As she sat back on the sofa, Mr. Roberts came forward. "Allow me for the measurement, Your Majesty".
With a nod, the king stood up.
Mr. Roberts gestured at a beautiful ottoman in the room. "Kindly place yourself here, Your Majesty".
"Are you good with your eyes, Mr. Roberts?" The king suddenly asked.
Mariana and Mr. Roberts exchanged a confused glance.
Mr. Roberts blinked. "Of course, Your Majesty".
The king stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Because I do not want any mistakes in my measurements". He looked at Mariana for a moment and then back at Mr. Roberts. "Once a man of your age read forty as merely four while measuring me and it became a bad scene", he said bobbing his head.
Mariana narrowed her eyes. What was he upto?
Mr. Roberts widened his eyes. "His Majesty is right, Miss Mariana", he said turning to her. "Perhaps you should take the measurements and read them to me. I'll write it down".
Mariana glanced at the king who was just on the verge of a smirk, amusement clear in his eyes.
"I'm afraid, I'm not tall enough", Mariana said looking at the ottoman. Standing on it, the king was certainly out of her reach. Thank the Lord! His nearness would've made her so nervous, she thought.
"That's not a problem", the king shrugged. "I will stand down for the upper body measurements".
"Oh, yes. Your Majesty". Mr. Roberts said handing her the measuring tape and took the papers to write down her readings.
Mariana clutched the tape. Her heart began to thrum loudly in her chest as the king stood straight near the ottoman, ready for measuring. Facing him was a task for her. Perhaps she should start with his back and face his eyes later.
She came to stand behind him. He had his hands in his pockets. Perhaps she must not make pockets in his trousers to tease him.
His back faced her, all clad in black, tall and broad.
With trembling fingers, she raised her hand. This wouldn't do, she was working and she must be stable. Taking a deep breath, she placed one end of the tape on the edge of his left shoulder and placed a finger over it. He was warm and her skin highlighted over his black shirt. She stretched the tape to the other shoulder and read the measurement which Mr. Roberts write down.
Withdrawing the tape, she swallowed and moved around him to stand in the front.
As she came before him, a magical whiff of sandalwood engulfed her senses. She wondered it it was his soap or perfume.
Without meeting his eyes, Mariana stared dowm. "Your hands, Your Majesty", she said in a soft voice.
He removed his hand fror his pocket and Mariana placed the end of the tape on his wrist. She shivered from the tiny skin contact. Warm. Stretching the tape all through his arm upto his shoulder's edge, Mariana read it's measurement. She could feel his eyes upon her and the skin on her nape pricked.
Still looking down on the tape in her hands, she requested softly, "Please raise your hands, Your Majesty".
A moment passed and he didn't raise them. Mariana finally looked up at him. There was no smirk on his mouth now as he stared deeply in her eyes. He raised his arms wide.
"All yours", he whispered only for her ears.
Mariana blinked nervously and averted her eyes. Spreading her hands to the either side of his torso, she wrapped the tape around it to measure his waist. The cloth on her sleeve grazed his shirt.
After reading the waist measurement, Mariana dragged the tape up to measure his chest.
This time, Mariana's fingers touched his chest over the barrier of his shirt and her breathing increased. He felt warm and hard and clean and fragrant. She again felt his eyes on her as he lowered his hands.
Clearing her throat, she read the measurements and surprisingly, her voice was hoarse. But Mr. Roberts didn't glance up from the paper, so engrossed he was in concentrating on the readings he had written to make sure not to make any mistakes.
The next step made Mariana's hands shake a little. That won't do, so she again took a breath slowly to compose herself and suddenly inhaled his scent.
Looking up, she stretched standing on her toes and raised her hands over his head and brought them over around his neck to measure the collar. She met his eyes, a beautiful shade of blue. Suddenly, Mariana wanted to paint her whole room in that colour, own every dress only in that shade.
How beautiful his eyes were, darker than his sister's and mother's eyes but strangely more glimmering. Like sapphires. Mariana inhaled again and his scent made home inside her. She didn't think she would ever forget this scent. They looked at each other as Mariana held the tape beneath the hollow of his throat. The top of her head, full height reached equal to that spot.
His eyes held hers until they heard Mr. Roberts call her. "What is it, Miss Mariana?"
She blinked as if getting out of an entrall and looked at the tape to read it. The first two buttons of his shirt was undone and Mariana eyed his skin there.
She then placed the tape to the side of his neck and stretched it to the middle of his chest. Placing the palm to secure the tape there, she felt his heartbeat. Loud and fast, just like hers. Was he affected too? She closed her eyes, feeling the thrumming of his heart as his chest rose and fell beneath her palm.
Reading the numbers, Mariana looked down. "Your wrist, Your Majesty".
He raised it to her.
She wrapped the tape around his wrist to measure the cuff and her hand grazed his silver chain. It was cold, contrast to his warm skin. He had a handsome wrist with veins, fine dusting of hair and some fainted scars.
Her composure shook when she realised the next step was to measure his trousers. She moved her hand down as her chest heaved heavily.
"Mr. Roberts", the king screamed suddenly jerking her. When she met his eyes, he cleared his throat and normalized his voice. "Take the measurements. I can't let a lady bend down".
Mariana wanted to thank him. Measuring his lower body would've been really awkward.
They looked at each other, breathing heavily and then Mr. Roberts came to them. Handing him the tape, Mariana took his place to write the measurements. Not once did sje look up while the tape grazed his trousers.
After the measurements was done, the king sat back on the sofa.
"Make sure to get the princess's dress ready first", he ordered.
She nodded. "Would you like to choose the colour, Your Majesty? She asked.
He shook his head and smiled. "You choose it".
She blinked and nodded again.
After a moment, Mariana again met his eyes and found them still on her. "Allow us to leave then, Your Majesty".
As he gave a nod, she stood up and curtsied before walking towards the door. Surprisingly, she still felt his eyes on her back even with Mr. Roberts following her.