The Girl of Prophecy

Chapter 11: Have Faith

Haley's POV

What kind of plan is that? The audacity of that student to say that no clear plan equals harder for the enemy to follow. I'm not taking any chances with this mission. Not when Ariel's life is on the line. As soon as I saw Ariel and her team leave the dining hall, I quickly followed, while the other royals were speaking over one another about this whole situation.

I saw Ariel and her friends heading up the stairs probably to brief in Ariel's room, I immediately called her name. She stopped in her tracks and said something to her team before turning to walk back down the stairs towards me. Upon reaching the last step, I immediately grabbed her arm and dragged her to the nearest room I could find, which looked to be the guest lounge.

"What the hell was that in there Riel? I thought you and your friends were the best of the best. What kind of team gives such a shitty plan without any specifics?" I angrily grabbed her shoulders as I said all this. She just looked down as she calmly said, "As J said, no clear plan, harder for the enemy". Her response just made me angrier, "Fuck that! I hated the fact that YOU are the one going on this retrieval mission when it poses the most threat to YOU, and now, with this no-plan thing, I am VERY close to knocking you out and locking you in my room. Screw everything if it means you won't be a part of this idiotic plan!" By the time I finished ranting, I was panting so hard. She just looked at me directly in my eyes, a hint of sadness in them but also determination.

"Hales, I know you're worried, but, I have to do this for the kingdom to have a future, for our realm to have a future, for us to have a future. If I don't, all that our parents, our grandparents, our greats, and our ancestors worked so hard to create will be gone and despite the bad memories I have of this place, of everyone, there were also good times and good memories, and I want to preserve these memories no matter what, and that means, going on this shitty plan to retrieve a stone that poses the most threat to myself. *Chuckle* If not myself and my team, then who else?"

I know deep down that what she says is true, but I can't just simply accept that. "I just got you back Riel, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness for what I've done, but please believe me that I am truly trying to earn your forgiveness. I'm trying to win you back, win your heart back, and I can't do that if something happens to you. I want a future with you, settle down, kids, our own kingdom, whatever you want I don't care, I just want you with me for me to give you all my love, but I can't do that if I lose you. That night you had that nightmare, you screamed for me to save you and not leave you, I have every intention to do just that, but you're tying my hands here by purposely going into danger yourself."

What she did next shocked me and it brought tears to my eyes. Ariel softly grabbed my face and gave me a soft kiss on my right cheek next to my lips. When she pulled away, I slowly grabbed her face and gazed into her eyes, and slowly leaned in to kiss her lips. Her lips were still as soft as I remember. When we pulled away, I didn't realise tears were running down both our faces. I softly stroked her tears away as she did the same with mine, and we put our foreheads together. She softly whispered near my lips, "Please have faith in me, my love, if we're meant to be, I'll come back to you, in that I trust. Besides, I always have you with me." After she said that, she took out her necklace that had the promise ring I gave to her for our anniversary. I grabbed her and hugged her so tight, and I didn't want to ever let her go.

"Let me go with you on this mission," I said. She only whispered "Not a chance". I don't know what else to say except, "Please come back safe, I love you." My heart swelled with joy and pain as she hugged me back and said "I love you too, please have faith and wait for me." With that we parted ways, left the room and with another kiss, I let her make her way to her room where her team is waiting, while I headed back to the dining hall to calm down the still loud conversations among the other royals.