A World Without Lillia

Part 6

They woke up with the morning sun and shared their first kiss under daylight before they rose from where they slept. Lillia smiled when Felix reached over and tapped the end of her nose with his finger.

"Good morning Lilli." He rasped, his morning voice deeper than normal.

"Good morning." She whispered back. They remained silent, basking in each other's admiration for as long as they could. It was Lillia that broke the silence first.

"Please do not try and force me to go home." She whispered, her happy smile vanishing from her face. Felix frowned and sat up on his elbow, looking down upon her in concern.

"Where are you planning on going?"

"Back to my sister. Perhaps she will allow me to stay with her until I have a plan." She sat up to mirror his position and bit her lip before continuing, "I- I want you to come with me. You make me feel strong and respected. I want you with me."

"You barely know me, Lilli."

She nodded, "You are correct, I barely know you, but I know the worst of your past and I am perfectly at peace with it." She eyes him skeptically, "Unless that was not the worst?"

Felix rolled his eyes, "It was."

"See? What else is there that can make me run?" She knew it was insane. She knew that he knew it was insane. But if he was who she needed by her side to feel strong enough to make her own life for herself, then so be it.

Felix sighed and lay on his back, hands behind his head as he thought, "You know they would layer kidnapping onto my charges. If they found me I would be hanged with no trial."

Lillia's face paled and she sat bolt upright, "Oh no, Felix, no!" She felt everything crumbling from beneath her. She would never allow him to put himself in that position for her, a woman he barely knew.

Felix sat up and placed a large leathery hand upon the side of the woman's face, "Lilli, I am willing to take any risk involved with saving you from whatever evils pursue you. I only want you to be as fully informed as I am."

Lillia's heart stopped. He was communicating with her. He was not keeping the hard truths from her, he trusted her to be able to handle the hard facts. It was enough to solidify her resolve to leave with him.

"Let's leave now. Right now." She leaned forward and took his shoulder in her hands urgently, "We can make a head start and never look back."

"What are you talking about, Lillia?"

Lillia jumped with a small scream and sat gaping at the mouth of the cave where Art stood glaring between she and her companion.

"Lillia, what foolishness has this criminal lodged into your head?"

"Art, please, it is not what you think. I cannot go home. I cannot live that lie anymore."

Art threw his arms out in exasperation, "What are you talking about? You were more than excited to go home before this scum came into the picture!"

"Art, you watch your mouth!" She shouted severely, pointing a finger at him as she rose to her feet, "This is not about him! He has nothing to do with it! This is about me and what I want for once, and I do not want to live in a household where I am someone's property anymore. I am going to my sister and reevaluating from there. There is nothing you can do about it. My mind is made up."

Art looked on the verge of pain as he listened to her speak. This woman had always been like a sister to him, and he had never heard her speak with this much resolve before. He respected her enough to take her words to heart, but he was not in accord with her opinions. She was being irrational.

"Lillia, I understand that you are upset, your heart was broken recently." His voice began to rise until her was bellowing at her from across the cave, "But that does not mean you should jump into the arms of whoever show interest in you next!"

Lillia's eyes bulged and her face flushed bright red as she screamed her response, "How dare you, Art! How dare you cast my feelings aside and accuse me as a whore in the same breath!"

"Lillia, no, I did not mea-"

"Yes you did." She interrupted, voice low and dangerous, "Yes you did. And you know it. Me finally gaining a voice does not make me a whore, and I will not let anyone shame me into becoming who I used to be. No matter who they are."

Art paled and shook his head, "Lillia, please just come home. Your parents are expecting you. They should be worried sick by now."

Lillia shook her head and looked away, "I will not be returning to them. I will not allow them to marry me off the ne next richest man for their own benefit."

"Your mother is pregnant." Art clipped, "You have a sibling on the way that will never know it's sisters if you leave."

For a moment Lillia felt light headed. She was close to giving in when she caught movement in her peripheral vision. She watched Felix as he stood and felt her heart soar. The thought that she had the chance to marry that man out of love instead of being married to a man for notoriety was what she held onto as she looked at Art with tearful eyes.

"Then I pray that the child is a boy, because if it is a girl I will personally make sure she has enough of a voice to protect herself from that world." She shook her head, "Art, I am not going home."

Art's enraged expression slowly faded into a dejected one. He looked at his boots on the stone floor of the cave and shook his head, "Alright Lillia. If this is what you need then I am not going to stop you. I just hope you know what you are doing."

Lillia laughed, tears of relief falling down her face, "Oh Art, I have no idea what I am doing. None at all. But what I do know is that I will learn." She hesitated before closing the space between them and flinging her arms around his neck, "Thank you for understanding."

"I do not understand, Lillia. But I do love you like you are my own sister and I want you to be happy." He cleared his voice, "Shall I escort you back to your sister?"

Lillia thought about it for a moment before shaking her head, "No. I need you to go home. I need you to take a message for me. Tell mother and father that I will always hold them to high esteem, and the I love them very much, but I cannot allow myself to ignore my ambitions anymore. It is time for me to move on."

Art laughed humorlessly, "There is no way they are going to take this news well."

Lillia shrugged, "They will be disappointed that they did not fully extract the will from me, but I assure you they will survive."

Art shook his head for the thousandth time, a deep frown etched into his face, "I am not looking forward to this."

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One or two more chapters after this. I am not sure yet. :) 

Thank you for reading, my loves!

Alexandra