(From Blue's Perspective)
I started pacing around the cave where we were supposed to stay until Perita and Flint checked the other safe place Dem secured for . Ruby sat down on the damp floor of the cave. It had rained last night. The air was chilly. But that did not matter. I had more pressing matters in hand.
"Maybe you should sit down, Your Highness," Calix suggested.
"No, I'm fine," I said.
"Your Highness, I do not regret what I did. You can punish later. However, to , Your Highness's safety cos first," Calix said and went back to the front of the cave, where he kept an eye on everything.
I felt sick. In my throat, I could get the sll of the salmon that I had eaten that night. It had been tasty, but now the sll felt disgusting.
"Gosh…"
I almost ran outside the camp to puke. I threw everything up that I ate. Ruby had gotten to her feet and was not patting my back.
"No, this is not okay. What we did back there, nothing can justify it," I said. "Yes, I might be needed to be saved before everyone else, but really, it was too ruthless to destroy the mansion too. A lot of people died…"
They did not say anything. I did not know what I was supposed to do. Should I just jump into a river? There was one nearby.
We walked deep into the forest. It was not as near as Perita said. It was near a river, which was fortunate and unfortunate at the sa ti. But we would stay here very little ti and by that ti, nothing unfortunate could happen.
I tried to slow my breathing, cradling my stomach with both of my hands. I went to the cave again and sat down on one of the rocks. I rested my head gently behind against the rocky wall.
I did not even know when I fell asleep. And I did not know if I was actually sleeping or not, because the place where I was, was the cave. But others were not there.
He was there, the shadow, watching from the entrance of the cave, with a silly smile on his face.
"You…," I mumbled, pointing my finger at him. "That day…"
"Your Highness, it is a pleasure to see you again, alive."
I did not know what ca up to . I ran to him and grabbed the front of his cloth, whatever it was he was wearing.
"Show ! Show it to again!" I yelled. "Please, show it to ! Take there! Take to him!"
"As you wish," he smiled.
Was it a mistake? But who cared about that? If I could see with my own eyes, just once, I would be content. I just needed to make sure Dem was safe, alive.
He took my hand and kissed the back of it. I cringed. I wished he had not done anything like that.
"Take there!" I insisted.
"Be gentle, Your Highness. This ti, I will not take you there. But I will give you sothing," he said.
"Give what?" I asked angrily.
He placed sothing cold on my palm. When he pulled his hand away, I saw it. It was the teleportation device I made. My heart sank with the last hope I had. I had given it to Dem before he left.
"No… He cannot…"
"See for yourself, Your Highness. Wake up and go."
"Wake up?"
I jerked awake and bumped my head against the stone wall of the cave. I rubbed the back of my head, feeling a bump rising there. Ruby was sleeping beside , her hands resting on mine.
I opened my right palm and saw the teleportation device there. I blinked a few tis to make sure I was not seeing things.
It was, in fact, right on my palm. It was real. Then what I saw was the middle of a dream and reality? That ti, I did not just dream. It in fact happened sohow.
I did not know what Dem's tent looked like, or if he was in the tent. But sohow, as I squeezed the device, I just knew where he was. I closed my eyes and took sharp breaths.
When I opened them again, I was not in the cave anymore. I was inside a tent, the golden light of candles flickering around . Before I could look around, soone pulled by my good arm and pressed against the floor. Even if I did not see his face, I knew it was him.
But… why was there only one eye?
I trembled, my hand gently touching the black eyepatch. 'No… No…'
"Oh, darling, don't cry."
I did not even know when a sob left . When his calloused wiped my tears, I felt like I would lose myself.
"Your eye…," I sobbed.
"I don't think I look ugly," he said. "I watched myself in the mirror. Luc made this eyepatch. How does it look? I could not just walk with an empty socket, right?"
"Oh… Oh, Dem…," I ran my fingers on his face, on his eyepatch that covered his left eye. "Not ugly… Never ugly. You are just as much handso as you always were. But… oh…"
I lost my words. I tried to talk, but all that ca out were sobs. He ran his fingers over my face, his other hand shielding my fractured arm.
"You are beautiful. You can be beautiful for both of us, in case I am ugly now."
"No… You are not," I cried. "I am not crying because you are ugly! Oh, Dem… I am not crying because of that! I really…"
How foolish I had been! How naïve I had been thinking a battlefield was just a ga! How could I dream of a future with Dem when he was on a battlefield and nothing was certain? My foolishness was that I took his safety for certain, deep in my heart. Everyone said he would be okay. He always was okay.
Even if I said otherwise, I tried to believe them.
Now I knew how wrong they were. On a battlefield, anything could happen. No matter how strong the person was, they could still die.
He took my face gently and kissed . I sobbed in the kiss as I wrapped my arm around his nape. I needed him closer. I tried to be positive. He might have lost one eye, but he was warm, he was alive. And that was what mattered the most.
It ant he fought. He would keep fighting until we won. Even if we lost, he would not lose without fighting till his last breath. That was who my husband was, that was the King of Querencia.
I should be proud. I should be happy to be the wife of such a man.
But truly, I wished he was just an ordinary man. I wished he was just a commoner. If we were normal people, we would not have to face such things. Dem would not be in danger.
I clutched the front of his loose robe. It was not even tied properly. He did not care when it slid from his shoulders. His lips were far too busy caressing mine.
I touched his bare back. There were marks on his back. They were not there even a few days ago when he went to the mansion.
He pulled back and looked at , his eye still shining the way I knew them. He touched the side of my neck and on my shoulder, where the mark lay; the mark which connected us. I knew this mark was the reason I knew where he was.
But why had Dem not been able to find ? It was probably because the mansion where I was kept by Azure was secured with magic.
"Tell you love ," he said. "Tell you still love ."
"I love you," I said desperately. "I love you. I love you. I love you."
I could say it a thousand tis. He smiled and I noticed a scar on his unshaven jaw. "Tell this every day. When I feel sad, tell you love . When I feel happy, tell you love . When I smile, tell you love .
Tell you love no matter what I do. I need it. I need it very badly."
"I thought… you died…"
"No, darling, I might lose my eye, or both of my eyes, I might lose limbs, but trust , I won't die," he said. "The ones who are firmly set on returning can never die. Never."
I trembled under him, the word 'Never' echoing in my head.
I brought my face up and pressed my lips to his. I felt his warmth spreading all over my body. I just wanted to feel him closer. 'A little more. Hold tight. Let hold you, touch you.
Let know you are real.'
He beca aggressive. One of his hands held the back of my nape, pressing more to him. His other hand slid through my gown, getting a hold of my bare thigh.
It was only a matter of ti before my gown was at my waist and we were kissing intensely. I just wanted to forget everything. For a mont, would it be too wrong to let go of everything and live in a dream?
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