Allegiance

Chapter 26

All the guards in the floating castle portal room had their eyes curiously glued on Arthur and Tessia as they stepped into the room through the portal. However, Arthur and Tessia paid the guards no mind as they were on cloud nine, happy to be with each other again.

Tessia hooked her arm around Arthur's, leaned her head on his shoulder, and held him close. Many of the elven guards went wide-eyed in surprise, seeing their elven princess being all warm and cuddly with a human they had never seen before. The elven guards shared glances in confusion with one another, with neither one of them about to speak up.

Arthur and Tessia casually left the room together, and the elven guards stood there in confusion, totally caught off guard by what they had just seen. However, there was one human guard who watched Arthur and Tessia intently from the moment they arrived to the moment they left. Once they were out of eyesight, he immediately left the room with a destination in mind.

***

Walking through the halls of the floating castle, Tessia hummed happily as she nuzzled her head against Arthur. Arthur smiled warmly at Tessia, thinking how cute she was and how much he loved her.

Tessia's gaze flicked up, and she returned Arthur's smile, noticing him looking at her, "Watcha looking at?"

"Something beautiful," Arthur said affectionately.

Tessia giggled in delight, and she raised her head. Deciding to tease Arthur a little, she looked at him curiously, "Beautiful, huh? Are you saying I look more beautiful now than I did on Earth?"

Catching onto Tessia's tease, he smiled lovingly and didn't get flustered, "It doesn't matter what you look like." Tessia looked at Arthur curiously, wondering what he meant exactly. "Brown hair, silver hair, it doesn't matter to me." Arthur stopped walking and turned to face Tessia, gingerly taking both of her hands into his. Tessia's cheeks turned slightly red as she blushed, seeing Arthur's affectionate gaze as he stared into her eyes. "I didn't fall in love with your looks, Tessia. Here or on Earth. I fell in love with who you are, a beautiful and kind person."

Tessia stood there, her lips partially agape, staring into Arthur's deep azure eyes, totally caught off by his answer. She had expected Arthur to become a little flustered from her tease, totally not expecting the deep and affectionate answer he had just given her. With her heart beating in her chest at her unwavering love for Arthur, she stepped up and firmly placed her lips against Arthur's in a deep kiss.

They slowly broke the kiss, and Tessia looked at Arthur with a loving smile, "I love you."

Arthur returned her smile, gently rubbing the palms of Tessia's hands with his thumbs, "I love you too."

'Awe,' Sylvie teased, which slightly startled Arthur since he forgot she was sitting on his shoulder.

'Shut it,' Arthur snapped, earning a snicker from Sylvie.

Ignoring Sylvie, Arthur chuckled warmly and gestured down the hallway with his head, "Come on, I should walk you back to your room." He smiled teasingly as he added, "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't walk you back on our first date."

'About time he calls it a date,' Sylvie said, mentally rolling her eyes.

Tessia smiled at the idea of Arthur walking her to her family suite and him calling this their first date. However, her smile soon faded, her gaze fell, and she got a curious look from Arthur.

"You okay?" Arthur asked, feeling a little concerned at Tessia's change of demeanor.

"Uh, yeah," Tessia's eyes flicked back to Arthur. "It's just, maybe you shouldn't walk me to my room since I share a suite with my family."