It was fortunate that he did, for Summer tried to put her weight on her strained ankle, which unsurprisingly refused to hold her. “Highness!” she gasped, clutching his arms while she found her footing. “Once again you come to my rescue. I begin to think you plan these encounters!” She teased, laughing up into his face. “When you did not come to the library I was certain the business of government overwhelmed you.”
Her weight fell upon his chest and arms as he held her in the hallway, the way she spoke and laugh made him smile down at her – he did not notice how close she was to him at that moment – and he looked down at her as he tried to balance her once more.
Henry opened his mouth to speak of the court matters, but then he remembered that it had been an assassination attempt to his life, that they had wished to take his life at the hunt.
So he said nothing, and looked at her with a smile.
“Shall I carry you to your room again?” he asked her, and without a second more he scooped her up into his arms again, and he turned down the hallways, making his way to her quarters.
“Did you find the library relaxing?”
“Your highness, really, you must not … ” Summer stumbled to a halt when Henry swept her up again, effortlessly, and the edge of his emotion flickered in her mind. “Are you well, sire? You seem … ” she studied him from her awkward angle, fitting one arm about his neck, “ill-at-ease. Is there some way I might repay your gallantry and ease your mind? I’d not have you upset for the world.”