No Explanations - ONC24

Chapter 15 - Queen Of My Heart

"Is this the end of all the endings?" - King Of My Heart, Taylor Swift

I'm perfectly fine, I live on my own. I made up my mind, I'm better off being alone. If only I could tell my parents that. Because everything in my life fell right into place, Arora and I got our lives together in the City of Dreams.

We met a few months ago, and now she's trying on calling me 'baby' like trying on clothes. We had lived just a few weeks in our city and it had become time to take the next step. The citizens had gladly accepted Arora and I as their rulers, but we still needed to get our title as queens of the city.

Arora and I had invited Damian to the gardens of our new palace. Damian had made me the new ruler of the city, because he was most acquainted with me. So before Arora could also be crowned Queen of the City of Dreams, something needed to happen.

We wore fine clothes for the occasion, but it was still winter. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to do it in the gardens, but it was the place that Arora had come to love the most.

"I'm a little bit nervous," Arora whispered to me while we walked towards Damian.

"Me too," I whispered back. But there was no need. It was safe, Arora and I loved each other and that feeling wouldn't ever disappear.

"I'm so happy you invited me for this," Damian said when Arora and I reached the arch in the rose garden where we decided to meet. "I'm honored to witness this."

"You're the one that made this possible," I just said.

Next to me, Arora shrugged. "It's colder than it looks. Let's get this done," she said.

"I agree," I said with a smile on my face.

"Alright," Damian started. "There's no official text for this, right?"

I shook my head. "We'll just improvise."

"Well, I'll just listen to what you have to say," Damian answered.

I felt awkward and I saw in Arora's eyes that she did, too. I understood now why most people did this by surprise. I was the first to sink to my knees and pull out the ring I had bought for Arora.

"You know I've loved you since September. You know my heart never stopped beating for you. You know I gave up everything I had for you. We might be disowned by our own parents, but we built our own kingdom. Because you're the Queen of my heart, body and soul. All at once, you are the one I have been waiting for. You rule the kingdom inside my rooms," I said. "Arora Aurum, will you marry me?"

Then Arora sank to her knees and pulled out a little box with an even more stunning ring. "I still can't believe I fell in love with you in only a few days. People always talk about soulmates, and I was a fool to not believe them. You're my soulmate. Ebony, you are love in its truest form, you're like rain after a warm summer day, the smell of freshly cut grass, the sound of birds in spring. You're like snowflakes falling down in the winter, I fell for you like leaves in fall. I will always choose you, in dreams and nightmares," she said and tears began to wet my eyes. "Ebony Navalle Keeling, will you marry me?"

I wiped a tear from my cheek. This was the woman I loved, the only one that got my heart. The only one that knew me better than I did. "Yes, I want to marry you," I said.

She smiled at me and a tear ran down her cheek. "And I want to marry you, Ebony," She said.

We exchanged rings and I almost cried again at the sheer perfectness of the ring Arora chose for me. It was more beautiful than anything I could ever have picked out. Arora had an eye for that. After that, we got up on our feet and I hugged her tight, and kissed her, and hugged her again, and cried a bit.