Separate Crowns of One Heart

Sıx

I get to our tree stump a couple of hours before our actual meeting time. I tried to wait longer but I've never been too good at waiting. I stand up, sit down, stand up, then sit down again. Where is he? Does he always take this long? Sighing to myself, I smooth my hands over the cloak I've worn tonight. Relax. He'll be here--

My head turns at the sound of a twig snapping a few yards away. "Micah?" I quickly stand to greet him just to find a small rabbit scurrying from under a bush. I groan with frustration and plop back onto the tree stump.

"What's wrong? I thought you loved rabbits?" Micah! I turn just as he comes strolling from between the trees. I jump up into his arms and relish in his embrace. "Mmh," he moans, burying his face into the crook of my neck. "You seem happier than usual."

I pull him down towards me and into a kiss. He begins to pull away but I hold him tighter, prolonging our kiss. I'm not ready to let him go. That's why I'm here.

Once our kiss comes to an end, he straightens and studies me. Reaching up slowly, he takes my face in his hands and caresses my cheek with his thumb. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," I answer by reflex. "No."

"Come here." He takes my hand and leads me to the stump. He pulls me into his lap as he sits and tightly wraps his arms around me. The pressure from his hug alleviates some of my stress and I relax a little. "I'm ready to listen."

I open my mouth to begin talking but nothing comes out. What exactly do I want to tell him? I look into his earnest eyes and I just know I can't tell him about the Prince. It would break his heart and I can't stomach being the cause of his pain.

I drop my gaze to the leaf-littered ground. "It's nothing. I've just had a crazy couple of days and I missed you a little more than usual."

"I missed you too." He plants a kiss on my cheek and turns my head, forcing me to look into those beautiful brown eyes of his. "When I said I was here for you, I did not just mean physically. You can talk to me."

My heart swells inside my chest at his words, threatening to burst and possibly kill me from happiness. I snuggle closer against his body, savoring the warmth he radiates. Now, where do I start? "If you had to make a decision that could either help or hurt your family would you do whatever it took to keep them safe?"

"Without a doubt."

"Even if it meant that you might not be happy? Or if it meant losing someone you care a lot about?" I take his arm and play with his fingers to avoid eye contact. It would be much too hard to hide my thoughts from him if he was staring at me.

"It depends." He shifts his weight and loosens his hold on me, letting cold air slip into my cloak. I tighten the cloak tighter around my body. "Cyrah, what's going on?"

The Prophecy claimed me as the Prince's fated mate and I have no desire to be with him but if I turn him down he will retaliate by locking me away and ruining my family's reputation and I'll probably never see you again. But I can't tell him that. "We should get married."

He literally freezes where he sits blinking rapidly. "W-what?"

"Is that an excited "what" or an angry "what"?"

"It's a confused "what"." He moves me off his lap and stands up as if he needs to get a better look at me in order to understand what I'm saying. "Where is this coming from?"

This is not how I imagined he'd react. "You said you were one of the last few Warriors in the Dynasty who are yet to be mated and--"

"I know what I said. I just..." He pushes air out of his nose and runs a hand over his curls. "You told me you weren't ready to be mated so... Why now?"