White Quartz | Xaden Riorson | S/H

I

・・・　・・・　・・・

     "You're awake." I blink slowly, trying to force open my absurdly dry eyes. My head rolls to the side and electricity races into the hollow insides of my bones.
     The bed dips, igniting a flash of static across my skin that tingles so much, it almost hurts. My vision starts to clear and the blurry lines begin to focus. Xaden's face shapes itself from above me and a smile pulls at my cheeks on its own.
     "Can I check your side?" My arm raises above my head as I stretch underneath his hand resting on my thigh. My skin burns with a delicious soreness and the static settles into it with a hum.

     My hands fumble to find the edge of the blanket as I nod, and he pulls it away. His hands twiddle along my sides until the cool air reaches my bare skin. Everything in my head is swirling like I've just smoked churam for the first time and I drag my bare hand down his bicep as he leans over me.
     Xaden Riorson. My Xaden Riorson. The prince of Tyrrendor who loves me of all people, and I get to keep him.

     A gentle sigh leaves his lips and tinkles my side. "Miraculous." I almost giggle, rolling just slightly so my hip rests against his.
     "What's miraculous?" My smile dampers out when I see the horror on his face, and I move to prop myself up on my elbow. Just underneath my ribs, a long scar glistens silver, and my brows furrow.
     "Water," he chokes out. He leans forward but I can't stop myself from fixating on the glittering line. It's huge and perfectly straight, and I try to rack my mind for the memory of what caused it. "You must be parched."

     I don't have the time to ask him how he knew that scar was there before a glass of water is in my face. The sight alone makes my throat burn and I take it greedily.
     "Thanks." I hadn't realized how much my voice croaked until that moment. The water nearly sizzles when I drink it and I hold a gulp in my mouth for a moment.
     "You are," he tells me, and my brows furrow. He watches me so intensely, his eyes red-rimmed and frantic. "You are miraculous." I smile just a bit at his whisper before reaching out toward the pitcher on the nightstand.
     He quickly pulls the glass from my hand and I use the freedom to sit myself up properly against the headrest as he pours me another.

     "I was fucking terrified, (N/N). There aren't adequate words." I cock my head at his statement before chugging down the second cup. Finally, my sore throat starts to feel a bit better.
     "I'm okay," I assure him quietly. He stares at me for another moment and the watery look in his eyes makes my empty mind spiral in the abyss.
     "I thought I was going to lose you." I give him a soft smile and my fingers raise to press into the skin just over his heart. It's so steady, even when it beats quicker than usual like it does now, and I'm so envious.

     He leans forward, pressing a kiss to my forehead before sliding his cheek down my head. His lips shift sideways so the corner kisses my temple.
     "You won't lose me. It's not that serious." I couldn't imagine the panic I'd feel if he fainted suddenly, but he's seen me do it enough by now. It's not uncommon for me to not remember the moments leading up to a blackout, only the feeling of my heart thumping wildly in my chest.
     I can't imagine what has him so worried. Maybe I fell from Tairn's back on the way to Athebyne.

     My arms slide over his shoulders so he can't move away. I just want to stare at him. This beautiful man I've adored for years, and every moment only makes my love for him that much stronger.
     "You're beautiful," I whisper, almost unwillingly. It's a special kind of word, a rarely used one in our shared native tongue. I've always thought Tyrrish to be one of the most beautiful spoken languages, but nothing can contend with that. Beautiful, the kind of word that will get statues made of you as an offer to the gods, because you're just that.
     My left hand pulls closer to rest on his jaw, my thumb pressing into his cheek. I would love to chisel his likeness into stone, center-front in my mind.

     "I'll make it up to you," he tells me quickly as his hand rests on top of mine. He's so much warmer than me, engulfing my cold fingers. His tawny skin is a stark contrast to the striking paleness of my wrist where my skin has lost all color. "I'm not saying we won't fight or you won't want to throw those daggers at me when I'm inevitably an ass, but I swear I will always strive to do better."
     The light smile on my face struggles to hold as he keeps talking. I try to search my mind but it's just a blank slate, but I'm not surprised. I'm often a bit weary and confused when I wake up from an episode, and if this was bad enough that I fell asleep for a bit—judging by the mid-morning sun outside the window to my back—then there's nothing to be shocked about.
     "Make what up to me?"

     He blinks slowly and his head pulls back just slightly like I've said something he wasn't expecting. Then his brows furrow and he leans forward again as his hand pulls my arm still slung over his shoulder to rest between us.
     "How much do you remember? By the time we got here, the poison spread to your brain and..."
     The world grows slow. I suddenly can't hear the last of his sentence as my mind is suddenly overwhelmed. They come in flashes that make my breath hitch. The ominous lake, and the gryphon fliers, and...
     He betrayed me.

     My hands tug back from him and I gasp. I can't bear to look at him anymore as the memories keep flooding in. His lies, his secrets, his exclusion. The battle at Resson, and the venin. The wyvern and Deigh and Liam.
     "Tairn?" My voice tremors in my mind as I throw the thought out into the abyss, but the channels suddenly present themselves to me, tugging my body in every direction.
     "Much has happened, but you are all right."
     "Don't panic," Xaden coos, bringing my mind back to him with ease. There's a connection pulling me to him but I finally have the mind to remember it's only our dragons' bond. "Everything is fine. The healer told me he isn't sure what lasting effects the poison might have, because it was something he's never seen before, and no one really knows how long it will take to get your memories back if there's any lasting damage, but I'll tell you—"

     He stops short as I throw up a palm in his face, immediately silencing him. There's too many thoughts in my head already. He's going to give me a headache rambling on and I don't know if I'm in the mood to try to handle it.
     My hands press into the mattress to scoot me away from him and the warmth of the fire along the wall lights across my bare skin. That makes me throw myself backward until I'm tumbling off the other side of the bed.
     My back slams into the wall and I roll along it until I'm turned away, my hands frantically reaching to pull the robe closed around me.

     The pain of his distrust sears through my spine and my fingers burn as I curl them into the unforgiving fabric. I'm supposed to be his confidant and he didn't even tell me he was supplying weapons to the gryphon fliers. He didn't even give me the option to hear him out, like he thought I wouldn't have followed his lead even if I disagreed.
     I turn back to lean against the window as my eyes dart around. I can see his silhouette moving around the bed toward me, faintly hear him mispronounce my name like he always does. The room is huge and I should've known it wasn't a guest room in a standard Navarrian keep.

     What catches my eye is the bright red talisman hanging limply over the giant double doors. The Old Lucerish symbols on them are smooth, spelling out 'Safeguard for our King'. My mother wrote those letters, and I sewed on those dainty red ribbons it hangs from. It's stuffed to its seams with Tyrrish knots my father expertly wove, all to protect the man who was our leader.
     Fen Riorson, the man who led that rebellion that stole my father and killed my mother. The rebellion that scarred 109 children of its leaders with marks up their left arms. The rebellion that would've made me a king alongside his son.
     "So you took your father's room."