Rise- Norta United

Twenty-three

A/N: Back again 

Caleb 

I smile as I enter Eadlyn's room. "Kamberly caught a virus." 

Eadlyn laughs as she places down her book. "Really? How? With a lasso?" 

I chortle. "If she heard you right now, she'd singe off your eyebrows." 

Eadlyn looks at the door and I laugh as I sit next to her. 

"Eadlyn, we really need to talk." 

She looks down, frowning. 

"I know we do, Caleb. But we both know that I was never supposed to be yours, and you were never supposed to be mine. And you would become king." 

"King-consort." I correct, and take her hand. 

"Eadlyn, I love you. That's not going to change, and my feelings for you will probably grow as we get older. I don't want to be 80 when we finally decide on our emotions. I want us to decide while we're young, and watch as our love over time grows more frequent. You can't pretend that you don't feel the same way as me and that you haven't noticed the changes or the blossoming romance of our relationship." 

She sighs, looking away. "Caleb, I do love you. But we don't get to be together because we want to. What would people in Illéa or even Norta think if I married you? Mom had a heart attack when my brother left for France. What would happen if we told our families that we were in love and that we wanted to, worst case scenario, get married?" 

"Eadlyn, I believe that they would support us. I feel like our relationship is obvious to our families to see that we are in love. Look, you don't need to give me an answer right now, because I don't require an answer. I don't care if you give me an answer in 40 years, all I care is that you are as happy as possible, whether that's with me or with someone." 

She looked at me with a sad smile and I rubbed my thumb over her hands. "Are you sure Caleb? I'm told I can be quite a lot to handle sometimes." 

I laugh and nod. "Quite sure, Eadlyn. Besides, you'd have a husband who's a literal firecracker, so in comparison I think you should be sure." 

She laughs and nods. "Then my answer will be yes. But I need you to give me time." 

I nod and kiss her forehead. "Don't feel like I'm tying you down, that's not what I want. What I want is for this relationship to work out on both sides, and not feel like we are only sinking a boat trying to make this work. If if doesn't work out, we won't continue." 

She cups my cheek and kisses me abruptly and my eyes widen as her lips brush against mine and I return the kiss, brushing away the hair from her cheek so that I can cup it and as she leans away, she lets out a breathless giggle. 

"Did you just.. kiss me?" I ask, shocked and she nods, laughing. 

"I did! I can't believe I just did that- I.. didn't expect to do that." 

I burst into laughter and she joins me. 

Kamberly 

Dad was right. 

The next day, I feel nearly better and I'm sitting up in bed when a knock sounds at the door to my bedroom. 

I look up from the official documents positioned around the duvet of my bed and call, "come in!" 

Skaran enters and my blood momentarily freezes. 

Anger boils in my gut but I push it down and stick a smile on my face.