Separate Crowns of One Heart

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𝐂𝐲𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 (𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞). 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧. 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐳𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬.

𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧.

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I nervously tug at the sleeves of my cloak as I enter the woods. Before I left the Palace, I made sure to leave behind any evidence of my new status and my marriage to the Prince; that means the crown, the onyx ring, and any fancy clothing. The only thing I could not hide at such short notice was my mating markings on the inside of my wrist and the taeli that's only now beginning to fade. I did apply makeup to my arms and wrist in hopes to conceal them both and I hope it sustains throughout... whatever Micah and I may get into.

I venture further into the woods toward our tree stump. Seeing a figure sitting on the said tree stump, I pause until I realize it is Micah. I take a deep breath before approaching him. "Hey."

He stands and turns to face me. "Hello." He takes me into his arms and holds me for a few ticks. I wallow in his embrace while my heart thuds in my chest, emphasizing my worries. He releases me and gazes down at my face. "You are as beautiful as ever."

A smile materializes on my face. "Thank you. You are very handsome yourself."

He lets out a soft chuckle that I notice does not meet his eyes. "How have you been?"

"Good." For the first time in the two seasons we have known each other, I hide my genuine emotions from him. "How are you?"

He simply smooths his hand over my hair and then takes my face to caress my cheeks. Not knowing what else to do, I lean in and press my mouth to his in a kiss. He pulls away to look at my face before bringing his lips back to mine. He kisses me slowly and passionately, taking his time unlike last time and I melt into his embrace.

He shrugs his coat off and wraps an arm around my waist to lie me on a patch of green grass. I undo the clasp on my cloak to us as a makeshift blanket. It's not long before we are both naked beneath the moon. I arch my neck back as Micah plants kisses along the length of my neck, traveling towards the soft spot of my throat.

The only sound in the woods for the next hour is my and Micah's moans and the gentle breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees. When we have been driven to satisfaction, Micah sits up and stares into the woods with his back to me. After some ticks, I reach out and brush my hand across his back.