Chapter 65: Chapter 65
Meeting the ruby eyes that held not just the unshed tears, but the undeniable missing, lodging, and joy, Henry forgot all about his royal status, years of etiquettes' lessons were long gone the moment he saw her face, with all the emotions he was feeling inside his own heart reflected on it.
He didn’t bow down courteously, nor did he take her hand to kiss the back of it, he didn’t give her the warm smile which used to be the way they greeted each other, nor did he bother with greeting words, there was no need for those, for their eyes said all that needed to be said and more.
A distant memory flashed in the human king’s mind, making him mentally laugh at himself, back when he was a child, he acted like the perfect young prince he was, sitting properly and focusing on the lesson without making any inappropriate comments nor gestures, even when he desperately wanted to roll his eyes at the insignificant things he was hearing.
To him, reading your surroundings’ body language was indeed an important skill for a ruler, for it helped one sort out the lies, empty flatteries, and hidden threats, however, what he and his brother were learning in that class was far from that, it was rather the art of flirtation a gentleman needed to learn in order to understand the opposite sex and properly behave in front of the upper-class ladies.
Henry didn’t understand why was he obliged to take such lessons, or what was the use of it, he hated them and wished he could be joining his friends on the training arena, where he could shoot some arrows or swing some blades, even a history lesson, which was the extract of boredom to him, was better than such useless class, nevertheless, the tutor’s words were the first thing he remembered at that moment, looking back at her.
The tutor said that a woman’s feelings are transparent in her eyes, that no matter how strong or deceiving she is, the eyes of a woman in love would shine with a special light, a warm light, that her feelings would be openly displayed, what he didn’t know is that it was not an exclusive rule for women, for even he, the composed and strict man, was unable to hide how much he missed her.
She lost weight, Henry thought, she had dark circles around her beautiful eyes, her lips were dry and almost cracked, she looked tired, her earlier neat braid was undone, her hair was messy and tangled, however, she still looked so damn beautiful, especially with the pink flush on her pale cheeks.
He didn’t want to bow down and greet her formally, he didn’t want to kiss the back of her hand only, instead he pulled her to him suddenly, taking her, and everyone else, by surprise, however, she didn’t resist, nor did she step away, on contrary, she stepped more into his embrace, burying herself in his warm chest, letting the safety and assurance he carried with him wash over her, clear her of all the fear, worry, and shards of desperation she was carrying.
While she buried her face in his chest, he buried his in her hair, inhaling the intoxicating scent of fog and morning snow, letting it refresh him, she was cold like usual, but he didn’t mind it, her cold touch against his warm skin brought wonderful sensations to both of them, as if they were opposites being pulled by each other to a neutral zone, away from the chaos, the pain, and the noise.
“You are finally here!!” Rima mumbled the words, barely able to hold back the tears, she didn’t want to cry, but at the same time, she felt so tired all at once, as if she, once he was there and she was able to let go of the weights she carried, finally sensed the soreness of her shoulders after carrying on with her quest despite all the hardships.
“I am here! I missed you!” Henry whispered back, hugging her tighter, a delicious whimper escaped her lips, mixing up with the sound of her labored breaths, pleasuring his ears, her voice was so hushed, so only he can hear it, for that moment of vulnerability was only his, same as his was only hers, they both believed that they deserved at least that much, after all the wait, and all the hardships they have been through, they needed and deserved each other’s safe embrace.
“Where is my lord?!” Rima sighed annoyingly, savoring the last second with her face pressed to the warm and hard chest, not missing the held growl that nearly escaped the human king’s lips, he was as annoyed as her and the thought warmed her heart, however, they both knew they could not ignore the shadow demoness, especially since Rima herself was also curious about the shadows lord’s whereabouts.
“He stayed back to fight the sea monsters!” Henry announced with a straight face, trying his hardest to not dramatize the matter, even though it was grave on its own, the shadows’ lord did not simply stay behind, he sacrificed himself so the fleet can escape the deathly circle, he knew such news was not going to be taken lightly, the proof was all the pair of eyes that looked at him with utter shock, Rima’s included!
However, the shadow demoness looked the worst, she looked as if her world was collapsing, her eyes flashed with so much pain that it made Henry’s fist tighten on Rima’s, guilt seeping into his heart for leaving the shadows’ lord behind, but again, what choice did he have?
Preparing himself for the demoness’s reaction, which he predicted to be an explosive one, Henry took a deep breath, but to his surprise, the demoness only gulped down her sorrow before hardening her gaze, nodding at the human king understandingly.
As if the the reaction of the demoness was the reminder the human king and the ice queen needed, the duo rectified their postures into a more serious one, none of them satisfied yet with the other, but there were more urgent matters to deal with.
For the first time since he arrived, Henry looked at the island, the unrealistic hopes of seeing his friends alive died once again, Rima caught that in his eyes and guilt filled her heart again, the guilt she planned to voice out but didn’t have the necessary time, let alone the fact that they still needed to deal with the invisible barrier.
While the troops arrived at the shores in the small boats, Henry and Rima stood in front of the large Rocks, staring at the familiar symbols, and while the ice queen was still confused about them, the human king was contemplating his next move.
“What do you think?!”
“I think these symbols hold more secrets than we thought!” meeting the ice queen’s curious eyes, Henry barely held back the proud smile as he explained things to her.
“You have told me before that you didn’t know the reason behind the humans’ betrayal, but I guess I might be having an idea! What time is it?!”
“Almost dusk, why?” Rima knew that the human king did not need her to answer him but she still answered anyway, her curiosity growing up with each passing second.
"Perfect " he mumbled before turning her way, "So we will have our first element in less than an hour, darkness. " Henry smiled at Rima's lost expression, she looked so adorable with that confused frown, as if she was trying to connect the dots even when she didn’t even know where they were just yet.
“The things you see here, these symbols, they are a blood seal.” Henry announced, not wanting to keep her in the blue any longer, however, she still couldn’t understand a single thing, it was perfectly understandable by Henry though, and therefore he proceeded with his explanations.
“Two hearts, one of unfading light, one of mortal flesh, bound by the blood of the dying lover, this is the first sentence.” Turning to Rima, his voice high enough to be heard by those standing near, “If my conclusions are right, Then the heart of light refers to one of them, a God, as it said unfading, which can either mean immortality or the creation energy, I strongly think that it refers to Historia, as she was the one who loved a human, while the other, The heart of mortal flesh, it must refer to a human, A Yoren!”