The Warlord's Prize

Chapter 20 - United

"I was hoping you might come," Shan Yu said, his tone was welcoming and kind.

My heart was still racing and waiting for him to say or do something but he did not,

"Shan Yu, I overheard you talking with Yong Ro earlier today and I was deeply worried about you ever since this morning. You seemed hurt, I shouldn't have waited, sometimes I wish that my feelings would have blossomed right from there but all that time my heart was confused until now," I said,

He looked at me smiling and deep with emotion, there was love in his eyes rather than lust; it was something I never thought would appear before me.

"All this time I lived in fear when you saved me from certain death but deep down you wanted to be kind to me and eventually you were able to. I think we both wish that it happened before you pushed me to the breaking point but even after all that has happened, you didn't fail to show me that you learned your lesson,"

He nodded in agreement as I continued,

"You've been so good to me ever since that night, it touched me more than you know. All those times I would look up at the mountains back in that village; I would think about what would await me in there and turns out it was the man I'd fall in love with; you."

I smiled upon finishing my sentence, finally admitting it. I stood on my toes reaching up and caressed his face once again on the cheek. This time his left hand touched my own to almost secure where I had placed it. He shut his eyes beaming and all I could do was look at how beautiful it was to see him like that. I do love him, he was what I was looking for in the mountains all along, even if it didn't seem like it at first.

He then turned his head slightly and planted his lips onto my palm. A warm feeling rose up my arm, reached my lips, and I blushed more than I did the other times I looked into his eyes with gratefulness and blooming passion.

"Sweet little Emily, I wish I could go back in time and undo what I have done to you, but I can't. Tonight however, I want to put it all behind me because all that matters is you and I in the present," He said, opening his eyes and releasing my hand from where I laid it.

Then he took both my hands in to his; they were warm and soon the heat spread to the rest of my body.

"I want to show you something that I have never seen before. When I returned to this spot afraid I would never have your love, I discovered it and hoped that if you would ever come, I would be able to share it with you,"

"Now you can," I whispered and winked at him,

He grinned, pulled me against him and wrapped his arm around my waist. We walked up to waterfall's pool. The sun had set beyond the mountains now and the sky had gone from pink to a deep dark purple, I looked up and saw a single star twinkle at the top of the waterfall as we walked closer.

Star light star bright

First star I see tonight

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight

Oh I wish......I wish that will be happy together from now on, and whatever happens tonight will be a sign that my wish has been granted.

That was the nursery rhyme that my mother used to tell me when I was a little girl and to this day I still believed it whenever I saw the first star in the sky.

Shan Yu led me towards the side of the waterfall at the foot of the stairs where had sat before. He pointed to the gap behind the waterfall. There was a small narrow path that let to a dark opening directly behind the waterfall; it looked like a cave but there was no way to tell for sure from where we stood.