Far too many emotions were at play in Ingrid's heart at that moment for her to pick any one of them. She was embarrassed at having been corrected by the Czar himself - she had only meant that now that she had been warned, Olga would never be able to turn her against her sovereign and her husband. But that was nothing compared with the sheer humiliation of tripping over her own feet while practically trying to strangle herself to keep her head from moving any further...only to be caught by Alexei an inch from the floor.<br/><br/>As he picked her up and guided her to the settee, she was drowning in embarrassment, but she was also quite keenly aware of the strength he possessed as he handled her as if she weighed no more than a feather. There was something thrilling to her about his brute strength. She had never had much physical contact with men before - none daring to touch the princess, the daughter of the king. But now, here was a man who had every right to touch her, and whatever else she might think of him and his reputation, his touch was strong yet gentle, a combination that made her heart skip a beat.<br/><br/>His kind words brought unexpected tears to her deep blue eyes, luckily tears that didn't spill over. That would have been the icing on the cake - to cry like a weakling in front of this man she had hoped to make a good impression on. Well, so much for that.<br/><br/>The combination of strength and gentleness was even evident in the way he spoke to her, his concern for her expressed kindly, and a terrifying growl for the man who had hurt her. When he touched her face, she felt a jolt of some new, unnamed feeling race through her body, leaving a curious tingling everywhere. She drew in a deep breath, her chest rising and falling.<br/><br/>"I am not hurt badly, my lord, just a bit sore is all," she said, still using Alexei's formal title as he had not invited her to use his name yet, unlike the Czar and Czarina. "There is nothing wrong with me that the ability to reverse the spinning of the Earth and turn back time by a few hours won't cure," she added with a sad laugh, thinking of how she would give much to be able to do over their entire first meeting.<br/><br/>She looked up into his eyes, blue into blue, hoping for...she could not give it a name, but she was afraid it might be a futile wish.