INSEPARABLE II

XLII

Somewhere between listening to the peaceful beat of his heart, Noor shifted her face above his chest and angled it upwards so her nose was snuggled against his neck. "Prem..." she said.

It was late afternoon and they laid in his luxurious bed stealing some moments away from his busy schedule. Her maids drew the thick velvet curtains over the windows to shield from the bright afternoon sun. The cool chambers offered a soothing escape from the mid-day heat.

"Hmm..." Prem's distracted response vibrated through his chest. He was intoxicated. Completely overtaken by the feeling of Noor in his hold in the middle of the day, in his palace, in his chambers. For the first time in their lives, everyone around them was aware of their proximity and there wasn't a hint of opposition. The usual fear of being caught that lingered in the background every time they came together in the past had dispelled into thin air today and they laid like they belonged together. Two days ago, he was depressed thinking of her inevitable departure and today, he was playing her husband, with whom she has lived for five years. Two months ago, he had nothing, not even hope. Today he had both the love his life and the child he had created with her. He was utterly blown away by the games of destiny. There was still much he needed to figure out but in that moment, laying beneath the woman of his soul, he let all of his worries escape him for a while.

"The war...it was a bad one this time, wasn't it?" Noor spoke, drawing small circles on his chest with the fingers of the hand that laid on top of him. She felt Prem heave a sigh. His attention was hers again.

"It was...a war like any other. Why do you ask?" He began caressing the back of her head.

"Dara showed up to capital after all, huh? And I faced him..." She posed another question completely ignoring his.

Shifting to get a hold of her face, Prem gently raised her head and looked at her through inquisitive eyes.

Noor smiled at him. "I...saw some pretty gruesome scars this morning. Couldn't think of any other source of origin for them..."

Laying her face back down at once, Prem proceeded to circle both of his arms around her as tightly as he could and cuddled her into himself. He couldn't come up with a single word to say in that moment.

Noor laid into him in complete stillness. He eventually raised his face and planted a kiss on her head.

"Prem..." Noor called out to him yet again.

"Hmm..." He responded the same way, his arms not moving an inch from around her.

"Did you cry when you first saw them?" She asked. "My scars."

Prem thought back to the moment of revelation several nights ago. He cleared his throat to distract from the fresh tears building up in his eyes. "Yeah." He whispered at last.

Noor took in a long inhale, "so I'm not weak if I felt like crying this morning?"

A tear escaped Prem's right eye and an ache became alive in his heart. He somehow managed to further tighten his hold around her. "No..." he was barely able to say, "not at all."

Sensing the tears from his voice, Noor instantly lifted her face to get a look at him.

He sniffled, stealing his gaze away from her.

Working her hands up, Noor cupped his face. "Are those tears of pity, Chief?"

"Fuck no!" Prem said racing his eyes back to her. "One does not pity their god. Only the moments in which they faltered in worship."

Noor's eyebrows furrowed.

Prem's nostrils flared as he sighed one more time to drink back his tears. "I...messed up." He confessed.