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When Josephine’s hair was all wet, she sat up again and Noora wrapped a towel around her shoulders. The princess grabbed the ends in her little hands and waited patiently for Noora to take the brush and scissors from the sink.

“I think the hair looks great on you, Jo,” Lulva piped up from her place, making the princess grin.

“Thank you! I wanted to look like my brother, but it looks a bit different.” She turned to Noora, who was brushing her hair.

“Could you cut it like Nikolai’s hair? It always looks so soft and wavy!” Josephine asked excitedly.

To her horror, Noora felt herself flush lightly, agreeing that the king’s hair did indeed always look very smooth. When she met Tyra’s gaze she quickly took the scissors. “I can try.”

Now that the gauze around her hand was finally off and the stitches were only covered by a square sticky cloth, her thumb slid easily into the hole of the scissors.

“Your hand looks well. The thyme and Camomile helped?” Aileen asked and Noora nodded quickly as she took strands of hair and held them diagonal from Jo’s scalp before cutting a few centimetres off.

“I was wondering why the healer bound it up so securely, they never did that when I cut my hand. What sutures did they use?”

Noora snipped off more hair, feeling Tyra’s gaze on her back. “Polypropylene.”

“I thought so,” Tyra said and Noora relaxed slightly.

“My brother used the same one on my hand, he is very good at stitching up wounds, considering how frequently he had to.”

Noora accidentally snipped at her hand and yelped. “For Hel’s sake,” she cursed, as she watched the small drop of blood gather at the side of her finger.

“Here.” Aileen gave her a small cloth tissue. “Thank you.” Noora pressed it against the small cut.

“And you, Tyra Sophia Gyldenlove, stop teasing her. Your sister’s hair is currently in her hands and your taunting is not making this any easier.” Aileen never sounded so authoritative before and to Noora’s amazement, it worked perfectly on Tyra or maybe it was the usage of her entire birth name.

She stayed quiet for the rest of the procedure and Noora tried her best to imitate Nikolai’s haircut. When the cut was finished she kneaded Jo’s hair, the structure creating small waves on its own.

When she was finished, Jo hopped off the chair to walk over to the mirror, hanging over the sink. “This is awesome!”

Lulva grinned back at Josephine, her hand reaching out to softly weave through her hair.

The princess turned, shining brightly like a star. “Thank you, Noora!” She wrapped her arms around Noora’s middle in great enthusiasm, squeezing her with more force than Noora anticipated.

“I tried my best.” She patted her head lightly.

“And succeeded amazingly.” Tyra got up from her place on the floor and slid to Aileen’s side who nodded. “It looks amazing.”

“It certainly does.” Everyone in the bathing chamber turned at the voice. The king was leaning in the doorframe, in a casual white shirt half untucked and hanging out of his trousers.

“I wasn’t aware there was an audience being held in the chambers of a contestant. I am deeply hurt that I wasn’t invited.”

Chapter 30

Noora

Lulva hopped down from the sink and grabbed Josephine’s hand. “Let’s show Spike your new haircut.” Seconds later they were both rushing outside, their giggles echoing off the palace walls.

“I was just about to go, I have to clean my swords,” Tyra said, greeting her brother with a small nod. Aileen trailed after her, “I will help you with it. It is nice to see you, Nikolai.”

The king nodded at Aileen but his eyes were still stuck on Noora who stood slightly lost in the middle of the bathing chamber, the tissue still stuck to her finger, even though the bleeding had stopped.

“What is wrong with your finger?” He stepped forward, his brows drawn in and his hand stretched out as if he wanted to capture her wrist.

Noora quickly stepped back, getting rid of the tissue and throwing it into the sink. “It’s fine, just a small cut.”

“I’m only a few days gone and you procure a new cut and almost got your hair cut off.”