When The Heart Falls

The Sugar and Salt of Love

Above them thousands of stars burned, leaving behind blazing rods of light. And as the stars flew across the open night sky, Tedros and Agatha wished for the other. Thin gusts of winds blew past them, and in the air Tedros saw Agatha's hair sway. He felt his hand rise and suddenly it reached for her silky black tufts, as if even with no mind to command it, his body surrendered to his love as if reduced to a thing that only wanted her.

Agatha looked back at him, her own hands reaching for him until they were flung around his neck. In the moon's light Agatha was a mirror, reflecting both the love and the absolute terror he felt. Terror because even after all this time, and what had happened between them she would never be unloved, that without her his heart would be a gaping space forever yearning to be full.

Love because despite themselves, despite how desperately they tried, their feelings would never be erased, as if long before Tedros of Camelot or Agatha of Woods Beyond had ever been, their love for one another had always existed. Tedros brought his lips, pink, full and soft, down to hers, and gently took her into his kiss, his palms pressing into the small of her back, her hands brushing further into his hair.

Agatha felt herself melt into their kiss, her heart fluttering to their sound, as if before her heart was a half, and now in her prince's arms it was complete. Then, she felt his grip on her tighten as he drew her closer into his embrace, his kiss the same, only now it was harder, longer, and more desperate as if he'd sooner run out of air than let her go.

Agatha pulled away, her lips raw and fraught, her lungs heaving and empty, pushing for air.
"It's cold out here," whispered Tedros, running his hands over her arms again and again to keep her warm. Agatha closed her eyes, listening to her heart gain its rhythm but opened them again when she felt herself lifted higher from the ground and into brawny, virile arms.

"You don't have to carry me, you know," said Agatha.

"I do," Tedros replied. "I want to hold you forever and never let go,"

She gazed at him and he shot her a serious look.

Agatha threw her head back and laughed.

Tedros couldn't help but smile.

As Tedros made for the granary, Agatha saw his face grow brighter beneath the lanterns and he was less of a shadow. His eyes sparked up like a blue flame, and his cheeks were pink like a rose in full bloom. His golden hair hung in fluffy ringlets like copper coils. She touched her hand to his cheek.

"You can put me down now," she said.

Tedros shook his head with a dimpled grin.

Agatha rolled her eyes, but in her feigned annoyance there was a smile.

"It's not like I'm going to run away," said Agatha, arms crossed.

Tedros kicked the door to the granary open and was met with a sift of dust. Tedros closed his eyes and Agatha shielded hers with her arms. As they coughed, the fog cleared, revealing an empty room, gargantuan with high vaulted ceilings and wooden beams. Over sacks of hay and grains, two windows stood across from each other caked with maize powder and grist.

He looked down and brushed the tip of his finger to Agatha's lips. "Last I heard, you're weak-kneed, my love,"

Agatha hit his chest softly.

"I am not,"

Tedros stared at her.

"I really am not," protested Agatha.

She hit him harder.

Tedros held her closer in retaliation.

"Do you really want to be my queen?"

"I love you Tedros, you know that–"

"I do, yes,"

He looked at her with those sparkling eyes, blue as a sapphire mine growing long and deep with no end. Tedros knew she loved him and that she always will. In some ways that could've been her downfall. Before her, girls swooned to their feet when they saw him. He was King Arthur's son, the future king of Camelot. Before Agatha, he knew why girls liked him and resented them for it. But now as he held her in his arms he struggled with these thoughts.

Agatha didn't love him because he was wealthy, she thought him as any other everboy.

Agatha didn't love him because his legacy long preceded him.

She didn't love him because he'd be king.

"I'd give anything to be with you,"

Tedros was snatched from his thoughts.

"Even if it meant being queen?"

Agatha smiled.

"Even if it meant I had to be queen,"

Tedros felt his heart jump.

"There'd hardly be any freedom for–"

"Consider me imprisoned,"

Before Tedros could kiss her, she caught his lips in hers and Tedros finally put her back to her feet, his hands straying to her waist, then her thighs. She could feel him caressing her skin softly, his breath balmy and sweet against her cheek. She looked into his blue eyes and watched them glow like a pool of water slowly bubbling over, seeping into her.

Tedros loosened the threads of his doublet and yanked off him, his smooth, tanned skin glimmering over taut muscles and a slender waist. Agatha took this in with a mouth suddenly parched and dry. He mantled his shirt over a high mound of hay and pulled his princess to his chest. Quick breath parted her lips and suddenly all she could think of was him.

Tedros kissed her with real affection, as if she was everything and the only thing he'd ever wanted. His hands hiked up the back of her leg. He felt her shudder under his touch. "I love you," he said almost sadly and kissed her again, long and hard as though he were getting to know her all over again.

There was something in the black of her hair, the fairness of her skin, and the tremble in her lips that made his heart crumple. Agatha would've never imagined herself like this, red with love and lust yearning for a man's touch.

And yet, she felt the winds of passion take her somewhere and she pressed her lips to his. "I love you too, I was a fool to give you up," said Agatha quietly.

"It's all behind us now,"

It seemed that they had been born condemned to forever tolerate the volatile currents of love. Tedros sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. Slowly, his love unraveled and put her head to his chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heart.

As he circled the back of her neck, Agatha settled into a quiet.

Then, as if curiously, she peered at him.

"It's like I've loved you all my life," her eyes were wide and in them all the lights in the room sparkled. "I spent one half of it waiting for you," she kissed his jaw. "And I'll spend the other holding on,"

i honestly think i just come on here just to slander wattpad and leave. like genuinely why do people use this when they have ao3? proving my point by saying this was actually posted yesterday and i totally forgot i had an account on here and never posted until now. i hope as time goes by i'll remember wattpad less often.

lmk what you thought of it. 

or dont. 

we've established that doesn't bother me :I