Chapter 91: Chapter 91

Running his hand over his face, Henry sighed tiredly, trying to get rid of the tiredness he was feeling, or at least forget it for extra few hours, but it was of no use, his eyelids were heavy, begging for some rest.

After the talk with his sister, Henry had to meet with the Dukes and Counts of his kingdom, including Eren’s eldest brother, the meeting with them turned out to be a total waste of time as the men attending it had nothing to say but to subliminally blame him for the current state of the kingdom, without giving any valuable solutions, some even suggested to give up the usurped lands, which only gained them a sharp glare from him.

After the meeting, Henry had to have dinner with his sisters and the nobles who came to greet him, and when it was finally time for him to go to sleep, his eyes remained opened, looking at the ceiling, his mind working on all the half-thoughts and solutions, he felt drained, and in a desperate need for a long rest, he tried to sleep, telling himself he needed his full strength to meet his people the next day, but he couldn’t for each time he tried to close his eyes, he was met with thousands of eyes staring at him with disappointment, accusations, blame, loath, and betrayal, the worst part was, he knew it was all true.

Once his tiredness managed to drag his mind to sleep, the nightmares replaced the dark thoughts, nightmares of all the people who were enslaved, tortured, abused, raped, and killed, he felt their eyes scorching him alive, he felt their pain, weighting on his and throat, suffocating him.

And besides these nightmares, Henry remembered another one, even though it looked so real, as if he was awake but couldn’t move, in the darkness of his chamber, he saw her, standing at the foot of the bed, staring down at him with her cold eyes, silent and blurry, her face expressionless as usual, and, nothing, she just stood there and stared at him, but he felt paralyzed under her gaze, it lasted for almost a minute, and in a blink of an eye, she was gone, and darkness took over once more.

Henry wasn’t sure that what he saw was a dream, but the first thing he did in the morning was checking the door, and it was locked, his room was too high which meant there wasn’t a possibility that she climbed to his patio, which was also closed, settling with the assumption that it was just the effect of their earlier encounter.

"Come in" Henry answered the knock without turning back to see who is it, he was still standing at the window of one of the salons that had a direct view of the common courtyard, one which was designed for such occasions, the black-haired girl, unlike the useless nobles, had done a great job in a matter of few hours, spreading the word about the king's victorious return and his desire to speak to his people, he doubted that this many would show up if it was one of his generals or councilors who talked to them, not with how frail the people's faith in the crown was at that moment, but the black-haired girl was one of them, of the people, she starved with them, suffered with them, and survived with them, the commoners knew and trusted her, something he wished for and needed.

He didn’t know if his words would be heard and believed, which only made him more anxious and restless, It was then when he recalled what his mother used to tell him before taking over the throne, that maintaining peace was much harder than making it, She always told him that any skilled warrior with enough men can win battles and end wars but not all warriors were fit to be kings, and only a true king can put up with what comes after victory without letting his kingdom fall into chaos and self-destruction.

"How many gathered?" Henry didn't look back as he asked the question, but judging by how silent the footsteps were, he presumed it was Dahlia, but then, a pain or arms emerged from each side of him and encaged his torso in their hold, hugging him from behind, causing his entire body to shiver as he recognized the familiar touch, the one he needed the most.

"I was hoping that you would tell me that!” Hearing the soft and amused voice, Henry couldn’t help but grab it owner’s wrist and unwrap them just so he can turn around to her the one standing behind him properly, tightly, as if she was his lifeline, her body was pressed to his and her face was buried on his chest, giving him the comfort he needed, and once she looked up at him, her rubies meeting his sapphires, he couldn’t help but kiss her, his lips landing on hers like a frightened child falling into his mother’s safe embrace.

"I've missed you." Henry whispered between the kisses, taking few seconds to speculate her beautiful red eyes and flushed cheeks before kissing her again, losing track of time while she was between his arms “My Queen, I…”

"Seventy thousand" Both Henry and Rima nearly jumped in surprise upon hearing the third person's voice, None of them even realized she was with them in the room, or when did she walk in, Rima looked at the girl with a mix of embarrassment and slight anger, while Henry sighed tiredly not knowing if he should be angry at the weird girl or just overlook her intrusion, the black-haired girl didn't even give him the chance to acknowledge her presence and went on with her words "All the capital residents and representatives from every free town in the kingdom, Princess Nara, the major generals, and some of the nobles are there too, I don't think there will be more, It is time, Your Grace."

"We will be there shortly, you are dismissed" Henry tried to remain as polite as he could, reminding himself of the girl's contribution and wisdom and how foolish and unjust it would be to punish her right then, even if it was for interrupting his heavenly moments with his beloved Rima.

The girl nodded her head and left the room as quietly as she walked in, but before she did Rima's demonic eyes caught something in the girl's eyes, it was so weak, an infinitesimal change in her eyes color while her face remained expressionless, Rima would have dismissed it but being the cautious woman she was, she thought better than that, especially with the clear message in those breathtaking eyes: Threat.

"Who was that?!"

"That...Well to be honest I am not sure myself." Henry shook his head, not knowing what to answer his beloved when he himself knew nothing about the girl, except for what his sister told, not that he wasn’t trying to know, for he had assigned some of his best men to dig in the girl’s past, even when she did nothing but offer the much-needed help, he didn’t like the fact that he didn’t know her, aside from her cleverness and competence, and her weird self, all he knew about her was what his sister told him which was told by Dahlia herself.

"I'll tell you all about her later, but now I want to hear about you, How have you been Love?" Henry's thumb was gently caressing Rima's cheek, she didn't have to say anything though for him to know that she had been restless, she had lost some weight, and there were dark circles under her clouded eyes, he figured it was probably as messed up in the frozen edge as it was in Taghit.

"I will tell you all about it later, Let's go before that girl comes back and drag us both by our feet, I have a feeling that she would" Rima joked, a soft smiled on her lips, but Henry didn't miss the sadness in her eyes.

"Is Eren coming?" Rima asked to receive a no for an answer, Henry wondered how the shadows’ lord was doing, and whether he found his girl or not, he didn't see him since that day on the ship, when Henry sent him a letter asking him to attend his speech he declined and told that he would rather supervise their upcoming plans.

"Something is wrong with him."

"And here we thought the Gods were our biggest problem" Rima mused again to receive a chuckle from Henry, as they both knew it was the truth.