Nothing's Conventional About Us

XIX ~ Azure

Azure is not only the colour 
Of a sky staring down at you
With a smile on its face.
But also of a friend's glittering eyes
And an embrace that is capable 
Of washing away the darkest of times,
The bitterest of tears.

Azure

"Did you not have a meeting scheduled with the Grand Regent this morning?", she suddenly asked as he moved towards the door of the secret passage that connected her guest quarters with his residential quarters.

He gave no reaction - as if she had not just pointed out that he had deftly skipped a meeting with the Grand Regent of Hastinapura - and merely said, "Yes.", in an awfully quiet voice. 

She drew a sharp breath, understanding that he had certainly not forgotten it. As if he could ever forget anything. She sat upright from where she was beginning to sink back into her bed, on her elbows, mentally scoffing to herself, for even mistakenly thinking for one moment that it had slipped his mind. 

"You did not want him to be able to say to you whatever it is that he wants to say.", she stated, already having figured out how her husband's mind must have worked. 

He tilted his head backwards, and then further back down, and rolled his neck till it cracked. He sharply snapped it to another side and another low crack resounded. He proceeded to roll his shoulders, before finally answering, "Of course, Princess."

She sighed and slowly walked up to him, pressing her fingers against his shoulder blades, softly massaging them in an attempt to drain the tension out of his taut, heated muscles. 

"You need to stop pretending as if nothing worries you, nothing affects you. Because we both know that in a mate bond between a born immortal and a changed immortal, it is the one whose essence changes the other one, who feels the nuances far more strongly than their counter-part.", she spoke quietly, her voice lulling the tension out of him, just the way her fingers did. 

"Tell me.", she whispered, persuasive. 

He sighed, almost giving up, but then the fight within him somehow returned and shook his head in negation before turning around halfway, taking her hand, and kissing her palm. It almost sizzled beneath the touch of his lips. 

"See you whenever you wish to see me, Princess.",he said as form of farewell, and walked towards the secret door. She did not try to stop him. Her heart throbbed at the lack of her mate's - now her husband's - physical proximity. But she understood that they both had to get used to it if they had any hope of returning to daily life. 

She clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly to crack a few knuckles, and moved towards the bathing chamber. She needed a bath. A real,long, warm, amaranth-scented bath, and maybe some drink. 

A little jolt of almost-childish excitement went through her when she realized the truth of her own thoughts. She was craving an amaranth-scented bath and ambrosia, and she was now capable of summoning both at will. 

~~~

She entered the bath-chamber with nothing in hand. She had not even summoned a single maid. She wanted to experiment with her powers and push their boundaries. If their eternity was going to be one of war, she might as well learn how to keep safe. 

With a wave of her hand, the marble, gold-gilded bathtub filled with warm water. She could not help the grin that spread over her face. Now, she clenched both her fists, and decided to use nothing but the force of her will. She even closed her eyes, nothing but the knowledge of the presence of the water at the front of her mind, and willed it to be filled with amaranth-oil. She opened her eyes only once the sweet scent of the amaranth-oil permeated her senses like moisture in the monsoon air.