Mine (Book 1 )

Part 24

The Capital, Kingdom of Ayra

Eleven years ago....

The four children run towards the back of the Palace, sneaking in one by one. Their eyes making sure where the guards were looking. Their laughs erupt when they manage to get inside the south garden without anyone catching them. 

"We should go" Hal says to Lexie. Kyrr and Viktor look at her with raised brows and she shoves Viktor's shoulder playfully. 

"We're going to get the lanterns" Lexie laughs. Kyrr gives her a knowing look. He had heard her confess her feelings to him moons ago of her falling irrevocably in love with the soon to be sixteen year old Prince of Gaia and Ayra. 

"Shouldn't we come along too?" Viktor asks ignorant of what was happening but Kyrr's nudge in the form of his elbow meeting with Viktor's stomach cleared it out. A blush rose on Lexie's cheek as she said goodbye to her best friends following Hal as they crossed the wall. Her giggles and his chuckles made it even brighter than when the sun rose after a rainy night. 

She held onto his hand tight as they ran through the woods with Kaala following close behind them. It was their secret. Just theirs. They had found this part of the river many years ago and they would secretly find a way of sneaking out and have their rendezvous at their spot. Only Kaala was privy to their inside jokes, their laughs and secrets. 

Hal hated the Palace without Kal, it was only barely tolerable with Kal there. His siblings were vile and vicious and Hal did not care to spend time with them. He used every chance he got to escape and find his Lexie. 'One day I will marry you and we'll go live in Gaia by the ocean' he would promise her. She would laugh believing it in her dreams but knowing that may not be true. He would frown at her laugh when he spoke about their future together. 'You do not believe me' he would pout. 

'You're a Prince' she would smile 'I'm an orphan who was found at the Domus Dei. They'll never let you marry me'. 

'We'll run away then' he'd pull her into his arms. They had the same conversation repeatedly, that at some point Lexie almost believed it. 

Once they were at their spot, Hal pulled her into his arms. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and every moment with her was exhilarating to him. His dimples deepened as he smiled holding her close. It was the rain and her, it made him feel things. The dampness after it had just rained, made it clearer for him to hear, feel and even see. He felt her heart thud against her ribs. He felt his do the same thing. 

"Promise me something" he kisses her softly. 

"What?" she giggles against his lips as she feels the tingles travel through her body. Her body was very aware of his every touch. 

"Promise me you'll be mine forever" he says. 

"I promise" she meant every word. 

"I promise too" he replies. 

"What do you promise?" their kiss was more urgent now. 

"That I'm yours" he flips them, pinning her to the tree. 

"And what of your other wives?" she challenges. 

"They're all locked up in the dungeons below" he jokes making her pull away and look at him. 

"They'd die" she says. 

"They don't exist" he promises. "Never will" . She believed him again. It scared her. It scared her that she loved him so irrevocably, but it didn't scare him. For him it almost felt like a course of nature. For him, she was a part of him and he just knew it. He drew her lips to his and kissed her deep again. Her hands rested at his cummerbund as his held her face delicately in position. With every movement of his lips against hers, he was trying to convince her and tell her what he felt innately.