Sundown

metal

The meadow behind the Tower never seemed like a naturally grown field of sunflowers. It was continuous but near its peripheries, it had a few clear patches. The entire place was so surreal that Timothee felt it belonged more in heaven than in the back of some old marble building.

He had planned a little something for Saoirse and hoped they would not be interrupted here in the wilderness. The consequences were too bloody to imagine.

When Saoirse saw the sword Pauline had gifted her lying in the grass, alongside some armour and darts, her eyes watered.

"I... Thankyou." She almost whispered and pulled him into a fierce hug before she could overthink it.

Timothee wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling her familiar shape fit into his own, like water droplets cohesively merging. She smelled of rosemary and incense and herself, as though while helping the priests bathe the gods in those holy things, she got blessed too.

It was only when they parted that Timothee got a clearer look at her face and noticed the lines of red flaking her eyes, their usual icy fire dulled down.

"Did you cry yourself to sleep last night?" He asked, wrapping a loose strand of her hair around his finger.

"I just miss being in the castle. I even thought I heard Pauline call for me a few times but then I remembered things are not the same anymore. Will they go back to being the way they used to be?" She asked with such profound longing in her eyes that Timothee found it hard to not sneak her away from here and into the castle.

He inhaled deeply, not knowing what to say. He sure was one of the most powerful people in the kingdom but there was little that he really had control over. Titles and birth just gave you the illusion of power, to really wield it was something supernatural.

"I know it will get better and hopefully someday I'll take you back there." Timothee spoke, more reassuring himself than her. There were still so many intricate complexities to make sense of that it overwhelmed him to no end but he tried not to let Saoirse see that.

She nodded and leaned up to meet his lips, her fingers finding their familiar place in his curls, as he kissed her back firmly, giving her the hope she seemed to have lost. In that moment, Timothee realised that no matter how layered and sophisticated matters were, one thing was simple- he could not stand her grief or pain and whenever she needed a shoulder, he always wanted to be there, every single time.

"But thankyou for bringing these here." She said as soon as they disentangled from each other, the taste of his lips still lingering on hers.

They were still just a breath apart and it was too hard not to lean in and kiss him again.

"I could not have let them take away from you the one thing you so desperately love. Of course, I had to bring it here." He said, smiling sweetly down at her before kissing her a last time and drawing out his sword.

"Disarm me." He commanded and the simple statement hung in the air. He knew that she had already disarmed him in ways nobody ever could, the sword was just a fabric of the whole thing and that scared him. But for once, he let himself be carried away by what came at him. The castle and the people and the royalty could fuck themselves. He was done being merely a political tool in the hands of people who never saw him as anything more.

He watched her slip on the armor, envying the metal that got to touch her when he couldn't.

They clashed and sparred till they were both sweaty and too tired to lift a limb, but none had ever felt more alive as they watched the sun go down. They had moved to sit amid the flowers, the grass tickling their ankles.

"It means a lot. You coming here." She confessed.

"I don't just come here for you."

"Oh," Saoirse whispered, her heart sinking and mentally scolding herself for thinking that she could ever be the only reason the prince of a kingdom would do something.

"How can you even assume that I would be fine without seeing you too?" He spoke and before she knew it, his lips were blissfully pressed against hers again.

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a/n

contrary to the views of a lot of writers, filler chapters in my opinion have their own precious importance. I don't know if it is a thing with others but I mainly build up the emotion I want to highlight in the story through these very chapters.

With that being said, this is the last filler chapter for a bit. Expect a storm soon :P

Smriti.