In the kingdom of Aeziris, a rebellion is rising, but its reins are not in the hands of its citizens. With a fine string entwining her heart with that of its chieftain, Esméralda must walk a knife-edge while navigating her way through a palace of ma...
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E s m é r a l d a A l b y
"Ow!"
His exclamation alerted me into action and with most careful of gentle touches, I rested his poisoned arm back on the other side of the bed. "You stupid, stupid idiot. Why would you lift your hand when you know your wound will hurt?" I said.
He chuckled, coughing as he did.
I was by his side in the blink of an eye, stacking a wall of to bolster him against it. I held a glass of water to his lips, whispering him to take it easy over and over.
I kept his half-emptied glass aside. "I'll call Liliana. Don't try any other stunt until then, Prince Aedric."
I detangled our fingers but, although feeble, his grip on my wrist stopped me from going away.
"Tell me, how can I stop being a Prince to you?"
A bark saved me from answering and, to Arthur, I was grateful. Eirik was never just a Prince to me ever but always more, and I always knew. Then why the confrontation felt so hard?
Arthur's tail wagged rapidly as he supported his front paws on the bed, staring at Prince Aedric with his dilated brown pupils. Eirik softly patted Arthur's onyx head, scratching him behind his ears. "Did I scare you too, Buddy?"
The movement of his tail died down and he rested his head on his paws, his whimpers answering Eirik's question.
"You said Liliana. What happened to Chief Keiser?"
I restored my fallen smile at the mention of the traitor's name. Aedric didn't need shit to deal with every waking moment. I sunk myself into my chair, reminding myself that I didn't have much time before the nurse showed up for her hourly round.
"You're stupid to worry about anything and everything," I mumbled. "Give yourself a break."
"He was to kill me, was he not?"
I froze, then gulped. "Stop stressing, please."
His nod was meaningless.
I brushed back his bangs and let my lips linger on the warm skin of his forehead. "You scared me so much."
"I know I did." He admitted, his gaze moving from Arthur, who resumed his earlier position on the ground. Eirik's amber softened to a captivating shade of warm honey at the sight of my tears. "As long as I was conscious, all I could do was think about you."
"I know you did," I whispered, my chest filling up with so much emotion, I felt it'd physically choke me. My tear dropped upon his cheek like an orb before I sunk lower and kept my lips atop his.
Like a river frozen to a glacier, he forgot movement. I cupped his face and let his breaths mingle with mine, no shame shadowing me under its canopy. I was kissing my man and that act wasn't going to stain my character, not in his eyes and I cared about no other.
