Heart's Desire

Chapter 12

I'd never see her again. Never see Odessa again? I can barely stop myself from seeing her now let alone for the rest of my life. She has been coming over more and more to train as the days are dwindling down to when the challenge is coming. She has about a month and a half left and I can tell she is getting nervous. She trained harder, went longer to the point where I found her resting against the wall of where she was training. One of the guards almost threw her out, but I intervened.

"Odessa," I said as I walked towards her.

"Yeah?" she asked, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

"You need to rest. To relax. To slow down."

"I can't afford that," she said.

"Why not?"

"I need to win this."

"What do you think the champion is doing?"

"Sitting on his ass, drinking the finest wine and eating nothing but the best."

"Exactly. He's not training because he is expecting no one to challenge him."

"He's in for a rude awakening when he finds me stepping out to greet him."

"Which is exactly why you need to slow down. You need to get your rest. If you don't, he will kill you."

"Why did you become so concerned for me all of a sudden?"

"I-I just," I sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that."

"You're under a lot of pressure."

"We both are. How did the talk with Aetius go?"

I didn't even tell her anything other than I talked to him.

"I-It didn't go as well as I expected it to."

"Meaning?"

"I offered to just marry him in name, produce an heir, and then we can see whoever we want to see."

"And his response?"

"He noticed some things and threatened to tell my father."

"That bastard."

"I also asked if I did what he wanted, to marry him and produce an heir," I said.

"What was his response to that?"

"That I don't see anyone else. Simple as that."

"Where's the fun in that?" she asked.

"There is no fun in that. I don't know what to do, Odessa," I said, leaning against the wall.

"I know you don't want to marry anyone unless that is what you want."

"Yep."

"And I can tell you don't swing that way."

"What?"

My eyes widened and I slowly turned towards her, a smirk crawling on her face.

"You like women," she whispered.

"And if I do?"

She chuckled, "There's only one woman you have your eyes for."

"And?"

"Well, consider her lucky," she said, her smile fading.

Why did her smile fade? If she knows I like her, why become sad by that fact. Or maybe she is playing with me. Trying to get me to confess to her. While she was training here, I always check in on her, make sure she has everything she needs, and basically be around her almost every second. It was pretty obvious at this point that I like her and want to be around her. I couldn't help myself. How strong she had recently gotten. She added probably ten pounds of just muscle and it's all in her upper body with some of it in her legs. But I can't really tell since all I really see is her biceps.

"Are you bothered by that fact?" I asked.

"Bothered by what fact?"

"That I like a certain woman."

"It's not my life. It's yours. You should live it the way you want to."

"And so should you."

"I am."

"And I would if I could, Odessa. You know I am just here to produce an heir for the empire."

"Which is really shitty."

"Tell me about it."

"Are you able to massage my shoulders today? They're really stiff."

"Yeah. I can do that once you rest in the bathing area."

"I was just about to make my way there."

"No you weren't," a smile crept along my face.

"I was," she laughed.

"You were going to train more until that sun went down and well into the night."

"I was not."

"I know you, Odessa. I know how you operate."

"Do you now?"

"Yes. I do."

I followed her towards the bathing area. This is the first time I had ever been in the bathing area with her. Every other time she was either there and I was about to go see her, but my father needed me for something. Or I would think she's there and she is either just leaving or not there.

"Hey, can you go grab my towel? I left it in the other area."

"Yeah," I said and turned around, returning to where we just were.

When I reached the bathing area, she was already in the water. I wasn't even gone for that long and she already was in. Since she was facing me, my eyes immediately shot down towards her chest. Blush crawled onto my cheeks as I adverted my eyes, trying to find her abs. Since they were too far into the water and the lighting wasn't the best in here, I couldn't see them. I finally got next to her and placed her towel by her toga. The red one she always wears.

"I should get you a new toga."

"You don't have to, Y/N," she said.

"I want to. As a way to get you ready for the challenge."

"That's very thoughtful of you."

I stepped behind her and she moved forward a bit. I slipped my sandals off and raised my toga up. Slowly lowering myself, I dipped my feet into the water and sat down on the ledge. I was at perfect height for Odessa's shoulders.

"Lean back," I said.

As she did that, her head fell back into my lap and I started to massage her shoulders. Her eyes fluttered closed and small sighs of content escaped from her lips. They were plump and full. They looked soft. Her lips were probably the only soft thing about her. Aside from her cheeks and her chest. Along with her heart. Her heart. I longed to be with her, but I know if I even have a chance of staying in the city, I have to do as my father tells me. And if he does find out about me liking Odessa, who knows what he might do to her. He might hurt her or worse: kill her. He might even go after her family. Tears filled my eyes and dripped onto her cheeks. Her eyes squeezed shut before they opened up, a look of concern flooding her eyes as her face blurred as more tears appeared.

"Y/N?" she reached up, placing her hand against my cheek. "I-Is everything ok?"

"I-I--"

I got up and ran out of the bathing area.

"Y/N!"