Stacks

>>exception, doubt, nerve, order, faithful

The King's younger sister came to visit, something which made him incredibly nervous in his own way. The Empath woman seemed to be the only one to notice this, watching as the King flitted around through his library, rearranging stacks of law books himself.

"I can do that for you." She murmured, coming up behind him.

He jumped when she laid a hand on him, her touch hot against his cool skin. He turned and faced the Empath, face quickly changing to hide the worry that was written on his face. She could feel it though and she stroked his face with warm fingers.

"She's nothing to worry about, my dear. You know this."

The King shook his head. When he spoke, his voice had no rhythm to it, tone dull and quiet.

"I know."
"Now, let me arrange these books for you. She won't look at them anyway, you know this. She doesn't read law books."

He sighed and hesitated while passing the book over to the Empath. She noticed his hesitance and smiled.

"Worried that I won't order them correctly? I've done this time and time again. Besides, she'll be coming soon and she'll certainly notice if your library is a mess."

The King passed over the law book. Though he had lifted the heavy, leather-bound book with little effort, the Empath struggled slightly but, eventually, all the books were put away neatly.

"There we are. You shouldn't worry about her, you hardly worry about anything."
"It's not her that I'm worrying about."

The Empath laid her hands on his skin once more but, this time, it was her who shivered.

"Ah...your father's letter? Is that why she's coming to visit."
"Yes, she got one too. So did my brother, though he declined the offer to come and visit."

A loud whooshing noise interrupted the conversation and the King sighed.

"She's here."
"Well, shall we go greet her, then?"

The Empath smiled up at the King and held out her hand. He took it with slight hesitance and she squeezed it once before dropping it.

"Lead the way, my dear."

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