''Flying''

Can We Talk?

The following morning, Bella makes her weekly visit to Jensen's tomb. It's always bittersweet for her, talking to him about all the things happening in Court and with her and Alexis, knowing that he isn't here to see them or experiencing them.

She walks out of the Crypt and sees Henry waiting outside.

-"What are you doing here, Your Majesty?" - Anger from the night before makes an appearance.

-"I wanted to speak with you in private."

-"Couldn't it wait until I was back at the Castle?"

-"The Castle's walls have ears and I also wanted to pay my respects to Commander Jensen."

Bella hesitates for a second, but signals him to enter the Crypt, before following him inside. Henry walks past her and enters the Crypt, stopping before Jensen's tomb and takes a knee, while saying a silent prayer. It surprises Bella, as she watches him closely, that a King would willingly kneel before another King's Military Commander's tomb.

-"Do you think this will make up for what you said last night, Your Majesty?" - She asks, after he stands up and turns to look at her.

-"No, I don't. But that's not why I'm here. I genuinely wished to pay my respects, since I hadn't had the opportunity to do so before. Josh confided in me the truth behind Commander Jensen's sacrifice and to be honest, if I was in his position, I would've done the same."

"I wished I had known him better but I believe he was a good man, who loved you and Alexis very much. He didn't deserve to die, specially not the way he did. I respect the man that he was."

-"Thank you. You're right. Jensen didn't deserve to die the way he did and I appreciate that you respect what Jensen did."

-"I wonder if we might talk. I wish to explain what I meant by what I said last night."

-"Go ahead." - Bella sees him taking a deep breath.

-"I never meant for you to believe that I thought you are as evil as I am. We both suffered the same kind of loss. You with Commander Jensen, and I with my wife, Sloane, and our unborn child."

"I admire the way you were able to push your grief aside and not let it consume you the way I did. When Sloane died, I allowed the grief and the pain to completely take over, turning me into the man that everyone now believes to be the Devil incarnated."

"You, however, didn't and somehow managed to push your grief and pain aside and come out of it stronger and a much better person than me. That is what I meant when I said we are two sides of the same coin."

"We both went through the same loss and the pain and grief that came with it, but you've become the light side to my dark side of this coin."

-"I had no choice but to push my grief and pain aside. I had Alexis to think about and I needed to be strong for her. That doesn't mean that, if I could, I wouldn't have gone after my father for what he did."

-"Even so, you didn't and that makes you better than me, because you realized that you couldn't let the grief, the pain and the anger take over. I could've focused on my Kingdom and let my Military Commander to lead the hunt for the Rogues. Instead, I allowed the anger and the grief to take over and I followed it wherever it took me, at the expense of my own soul."

"I know everyone believes I am pure evil, specially after all I have done, and that I have allowed them to continue to believe it, even if that's not who I truly am, not anymore at least."

-"You can still change what people think about you, if you're willing to do so." - Bella can see he is being honest and thinks that maybe she has been wrong about him all this time.

-"I'm past changing and people will always see me as the Devil. The only people that I care about not seeing me like that, at the moment, is you and Alexis."

-"As far as Alexis goes, you have nothing to worry about. She never really cared about your reputation and she believes you to be a good man, specially after you saved her and spared the man's life when she asked you to." - She smiles softly at him.

-"Alexis has your heart, which made it hard for me not to accept her request. And you?"

-"I admit. I was like everyone else. I believed your reputation, but that is slowly changing. I've already caught small glimpses of the man you truly are behind that mask you wear, so... I do have a question, though."

-"You can ask anything you want. I will always tell you the truth."

-"Why do you wish to court me?" - She sees him smiling softly before answering.

-"At first, it was because I believed you would bring a good balance to my Kingdom, that you could be the light my Kingdom so desperately needs."

-"You said 'At first.'. And now?"

-"I admit that, after seeing how you are and spending some time with you, even if we spent most of that time at odds, I began to realize that you have become important to me, in a way I didn't believe was still possible."

-"As hard as it is to admit, I have to say that you have become important to me as well." - She blushes at the admission.

-"Arabella, I don't want you to feel pressured into accepting my request to court you just because I saved Alexis or because of my developing feelings for you. I understand that you are still mourning Jensen's death, the same way I am still mourning my wife's death."

"All I ask is that you are open to, at least, become my friend, even if you decide against being courted by me." - Henry watches as she looks between him and Jensen's tomb.

-"I can do that."

-"Thank you." - He smiles and takes hold of her hand, kissing it. -"I have to go and meet Josh, but I'm looking forward to see how our friendship will develop."

Henry heads for the door, before he is stopped by Bella calling him.

-"Your Majesty."

-"Yes."

-"Just because we're going to try and be friends, don't expect me to stop calling you out." - She smiles at him, and hears a laugh in return.

-"I expect nothing less, My Lady."

Bella chuckles and looks back at Jensen's tomb, walking up to it. She places a hand on it and tells him that he will always have her heart, but that maybe it's time she lets someone else in. She places a kiss on the tomb, before telling him she will always love him and leaving.