Time for the Truth: a story of a sleeping beauty

part 19: Stubborn

It was Camden. He put out a shaky hand to touch Tarana's face and a single tear tracked down into the scruff on his cheek. She stilled and breathed evenly under his hand. Camden gritted his teeth and let out a sigh.

I wordlessly handed him a damp cloth to clean off the dirt on his face and hands. He scrubbed until he was clean.

"I'm only staying until she wakes up. Then I will have to go." He says. I nod.

"Why return now then?" Rior asked, soup in hand. I motion for him to give it to Camden. Camden doesn't even look at it. Rior speaks gently to him, Camden screws up his face and accepts the soup, one knee bouncing up and down.

"I could hear her screaming, it was driving me mad." his breath came faster.

"How far away did you get?" I murmur. He shakes his head.

"To Spokesbury." He says, eyeing me. I look at him, impressed. That was far, there was no way he could have actually heard screaming.

"You could not have heard the screaming then.. There's no way." I say aloud and Rior stares at Camden. A test. 

"I do not know how to explain it, it hurt so much I fell off my horse and got this" He gestured at his head. I moved closer to check his head and he drank the soup quickly, pushing my hands away. He glared resentfully at me, so I rolled my eyes and turned to Tarana. Camden cupped her cheek and she sank into his hand, curling her body on her side.

Camden breathed out a shaky breath, pulling his hand away. This was strange to watch, and I felt as though I was intruding, yet it would be wrong for me to leave them alone.

Rior tugged on my hand and I followed him into the adjoining room of the suite. Camden was whispering something too quietly for me to hear. Rior blocked my view of them and I finally looked at him. He was trying not to laugh.

"He thought he could beat fate."

"He ought to have been able to, it wasn't fair of us to ask this much of him." I retort, guilty. Not guilty enough not to have asked, I mean, my sister was one of the most important things in the world to me. Rior shakes his head.

"If his feelings are like mine, it is no burden to bear, but rather the best gift one could be given. There are no longer any doubts, and your insecurities are pushed aside so that you can love wholeheartedly. Does that sound like a terrible fate?" I shake my head.

"When you put it that way." I grin cheekily up at him.

He leans down to kiss me, and I return his affection quickly. Camden calls out hoarsely.

"When will she wake up? What if she does not?" He stared Rior down. Rior licked his lips and spoke quietly,

"That cannot happen, not when you are so near." he said, a bit helplessly. Camden let out a low chuckle. He bent his head over Tarana's hand and with their hands conjoined, he began muttering something like a prayer

''''''''''''''''''''

it was three more days before she woke up. Camden had left to use the bathroom and we had brought a bed in beside her bed. My parents were amazingly understanding, but they also allowed no one besides our family to see it- and they kept Parisa from seeing it so she would not get any ideas.

When she woke, Camden called for us, and my father bellowed throughout the house for everyone to come.

Once we were all there before her, we were so rejoiced to find her awake that we did not notice Camden slipping out the door behind us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sie, won't you please read to me? I am dreadfully bored." Parisa said, we were sitting in Tarana's room, cuddled up around her in bed. Tarana laughed and pulled Parisa next to her.

"Sie would much rather sneak off and spend time with her fiancé before he leaves." She said, with a proper french accent. I blushed, biting my lip. "Go on." she said, and I kissed her cheek and left her with Parisa, who was on the hunt for a book of fairy tales.

I escaped from Tarana's room and left to go find Rior. Knocking on his door, I stepped to the side in case any one else poked their head out.

Luckily Rior stuck his head out, and the conversation of his men trickled into the darkened hallway. I pulled on his collar and he nearly fell on his face, but caught me around the waist instead.

"I thought you were spending time with your sister tonight?" He asked breathlessly as I played with his short hair. I bit my lip, and his eyes darkened even more in the dim hallway. He leaned forward to bite my lip gently, gently. I let him, let him mold his kisses over my lips as I breathed his sweet smell in my nose.

"She bid me to leave to spend time with you so she could read to Parisa." I announce.

"Ah. Remind me to thank that sweet girl." he kisses along my jaw and my heart stutters.

"We should go for a walk." I say.

"It is frozen outside, are you sure you will be warm enough?" he challenges. Fair point.

"Follow me." I say, an idea forming in my head. I lead him to the servants stairs, check that no one is coming up and sprint up them with him hot on my heels. I shush him every time I hear something coming from above. We have to move past the area where the servants sleep and then I can show him my favorite hiding spot when I was little.

I tell him about how I used to hide there to read, so that I wouldn't be disturbed when my brother was bored or if my mother wanted me to stitch something in front of her friends. I never stayed too long lest I caused panic, but it was a nice secret getaway.

Rior smiled to hear it, his hands tucked safely behind his back.

"Now that your sister is better, will you think about coming home?" he asks, and my desire to kiss him is momentarily sidetracked. I'm quiet, and he notices.

"I know your trip home has been dramatic, but the sooner we marry, the sooner our country is stable. We both know we have love for one another. We can start to plan the wedding..." he trails off and I pull his arms out from behind his back, placing them on my waist.

"Yes, we should." I say, and Rior beams.

"We should tell your parents then." he's excited, and releases me. I grab for his hand.

"In a little while." I purr. Rior's eyes darken once again as he pulls me close in the drafty attic. The place I had never thought to show anyone, and now shared willingly. ~~~~~~~~~

A/N how would you feel about a Camden and Tarana spin-off? While writing it I felt as though Tarana would need a worthy match, and Camden was only too easy to write after that. (I actually have a plan for them, although maybe only enough for a short story.) let me know what you think. Vote if you liked some of these words ;) *winks because there had to be some word you liked!*

xoxo