Potions, Power and Pain

Chapter 25

Rowan needed to see Reena. He did not care what his family thought. He needed her more than he needed them.

Two days had passed since their date at the restaurant, and he had not seen her since. Was it even a date? He felt like it was, but maybe she didn't. His chest tightened at the thought. He had a great time, but did she?

Rowan was not used to feeling this way. He had never been insecure or filled with doubts.

It had only taken him less than a day to find a new practical secret passageway. It was not as close to his tower as the old one had been, but it was still very convenient for him and allowed him to sneak in and out of the palace without being detected by any of the staff or his family.

It did not take him long to walk to Reena's house. He could have ordered a carriage, or used one of the royal ones, but it would not be worth the extra hassle.

He climbed over the high fences around Reena's aunt's estate and made his way onto Reena's balcony. She was sitting at her desk working, most likely completing an assignment for the Academy.

He gently knocked on the large windows, which caused Reena to jump and turn towards him, startled. He watched as she rose from her chair, walked over to the windows and slid them open.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked gently.

"I just wanted to see you." Lie. He needed to see her.

"Oh, yeah come in," Reena said as she stepped to the side, allowing him to enter her room. He had never actually been in it, only ever on her balcony.

Rowan had to admit that Reena had fantastic taste in interior decoration. The colour scheme was gold and light pink with touch of white. A huge double poster bed, with curtains billowing around it, and framing it. The floors were covered in soft plush rugs, and rows of bookshelves lined the walls, all filled with hundreds of books.

"I was wondering if you wanted to do something," Rowan asked tentatively.

"Now?"

"Uhm, yeah."

"Okay sure, what do you have in mind?"

"It is a surprise," Rowan answered with a grin.

*

Half an hour later, they found themselves sitting on a bench on top of a cliff staring out at the huge expanse of sea in front of them.

"Remember when I said that the place in the park with the waterfall was my spot?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah?" Reena answered slightly confused.

"Well I lied, this is actually my favourite spot."

"Why?"

"Honestly I don't really know, I started coming here because it was better than being at home, and I could be alone here, and I just never stopped coming."

"It is really beautiful," Reena commented as she gazed out at the Aquatic Kingdom before them.

There was a beat of silence until Rowan suddenly asked "Tell me something about yourself that no one else knows."

Reena turned to look at him. "That's a difficult question, I have to think about it for a second. What about you, tell me something about yourself that no one else knows."

"If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?" Rowan requested, with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Yeah, of course, I'll never tell anyone," Reena replied sincerely.

"I don't have a power yet." For a second Reena did not say anything.

"Powers take time to appear. I am sure it will manifest itself soon enough," she said earnestly.

"Everyone else I know already has theirs, and my brother got his when he was much younger than I am. I am already a disappointment to my family, and this just adds to it."

"I don't have one either, and I never will."

"Oh, I am sorry, I forgot, I should not have brought it up."

"No, it's okay. It used to bother me that I would never have one, but I have come to terms with it now."

There was another beat of silence before Reena suddenly spoke again, "I think that my biggest secret is that sometimes I am glad that my parents died.

"I know that sounds bad, but everything I have heard about them is horrible. I mean my dad used to abuse my mum, and that is exactly what he did when he found out that I was not his. And my mother cheated on her husband and then killed him when she got caught. But I think that my biggest secret is that I am scared that I might be just like them. Because what if all of that got passed down to me? What if I am going to turn out to be a murderer or an abuser, or anything like that, like them?"

"Trust me I know a lot about fucked up families, I have one of my own. So I know that you won't turn out like them. You never even met them. And you are intelligent and kind. Everyone has their reasons for the things they do, often they are not good reasons, and it is not good to try and justify bad actions, but it can be good to try and understand why people do the things they do."

Reena didn't know what to say, so they just sat there in silence. Rowan put his arms around her and she leaned into his touch, inhaling his sent, and enjoying his company.

*

Hand in hand, once the sun had set and a light night chill had set in, Rowan and Reena began making their way home. They walked through neighbourhoods, and the main shopping district, which even at night bustled with activity. Reena enjoyed watching people go about with their lives. Some people were in a hurry, while others were in no rush at all. She enjoyed seeing how different people's lives were. She enjoyed seeing how different people's hair colours were, some had blond hair like her, or pink, or green, or blue, or black, she even caught a glimpse of a girl with long gorgeous auburn hair, but she quickly disappeared behind another faery the second Reena spotted her.

Once again, Rowan walked Reena all the way home. But this time just as she was prepared to walk inside, he pulled her against him, bent his head down, and kissed her. At first the kiss was soft, gentle and hesitant, Reena felt the warmth of his skin radiating off him, and his thundering heartbeat against her chest. The world seemed to disappear around them as Rowan deepened the kiss, his hands cupping her face, and her hands combing through his soft hair.

The moment felt timeless, yet all too fleeting, like a beautiful dream Reena never wanted to awake from. As their lips detached from one another, their eyes met, conveying unspoken emotion, a world of unspoken words and hidden emotions lingered between them.

"Good night," Rowan whispered.

"Good night," Reena answered. As she turned towards her house, a huge grin broke out on her face, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach.