Above the Clouds (On Hold Indefinitely)

9. Falling

I stand up as he walks around the table, meeting me by my side. He offers his hand which I take skeptically. I look up at him, eyebrows raised. "Again with the surprises?" I sigh. "I thought we've already been over how much I despise those."

He smirks at me. It's quite a pleasing sight, might I add. His dimple is showing. "Believe me, Sage. I have more surprises than you could ever hope to imagine."

I feign a smile at that. Why did my stomach just do a flip? "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," I manage.

In response, he only chuckles with a shrug.

He leads me from the dining room down yet another cold hallway. I swear that they all look the same. Even after living here for a few weeks, I still find myself second guessing where exactly I am in this maze of an estate. For being such a big house, though, it doesn't feel like a home. Not enough people. Not enough warmth. Not enough of a special touch that I can't even describe.

"Where is it that you're taking me today?" I ask. Maybe he really is going to take me outside even if it's for only a moment I can't help but hope. I know he just said mere minutes ago that he didn't want me leaving these walls, but perhaps he had a change of heart?

He walks on ahead, his grip tight on mine but not crushing; it's more possessive, protective. "During our second encounter," he explains, "You and I took a walk through your family's garden. It seemed as if you were in your element to me. A goddess of the garden. The look of serenity and belonging you had on your face is one I could only hope to have. When I told you that I lived so high in the mountains that I couldn't have a garden, I couldn't help but notice how your demeanor dropped just at those words. Trying to cheer you up, I told you of the clouds that surround us here though I knew it wasn't a close second even then."

"So you're taking me... where?" I ask. If he doesn't have a garden yet he's telling me of my own, where is he leading me? He does enjoy to beat around the bush, I've noticed. Sometimes it's nice and other times it's not so much.

He stops at the end of a long hall right before a door. I don't recall ever seeing this door before let alone this hall. There's a strange twinge going through my body. It makes me feel weak yet somehow invigorated at the same time. I don't know what this feeling is, but I do know that there is something special about the room before me.

"It made me feel almost guilty," he continues, ignoring my question. Absentmindedly, he guides his index finger along the sapphire on my ring finger. Most the time I forget I'm wearing such an exquisite piece of jewelry. "Although we didn't really see eye to eye at that time, seeing your face drop at my news made me wish that I could give you what you wanted. You already started to have this strange effect on me, making me feel a way that I've never felt before. To be frank, you surprised me and made me question myself. Though I fought and fought against it, I lost the battle. I had this place constructed for you as both an apology for my rudeness at the beginning of our relationship and as a gift for you as my wife. I just nearly forgot about it until you asked if you could go outside."

That is when he opens the door, taking the first step in. Immediately, there is a difference in the air. A warm dampness compared to the cold dryness that I'm used to. Breathing it in feels cool on my lungs. It seems to pull me into the room, and then it takes my breath away completely.

The room is completely different from all the others of the castle. It's bright, the walls made entirely of glass that has a fogged coat of condensation covering them. The room is full of deep green foliage, appearing almost jungle-like. Mist is rising from a tall waterfall that seems almost impossible. It stands in the center of the room, water falling from it in all directions into a circular moat beneath it. The air is thick with humidity and the sweet scent of the colorful exotic flowers. The floor is a carved sandstone, small paths sneaking their way into the thick greenery.