“You could be. Just because something seems unbelievable doesn’t mean that it isn’t true.”
“Do you believe it’s true?”
“I want to.”
“That’s kind of you to say.” She was silent for a moment, then, “You are the only man who has ever been complimentary. The only one who has ever allowed me to be myself without judgment.”
“How could I judge you without looking into the mirror myself? I’m no more a proper king than you are a proper lady. But who makes the rules for what is proper anyway? I, for one, don’t want to be ordinary.”
She smiled despite herself.
He continued, “You’re still very much a mystery to me, but from what I have been given the chance to see so far, I don’t see you as odd at all, but rather special.
She laughed at that, not of happiness but of amusement. “I have tried my entire life to do what is expected of me. To be what people wanted me to be, but in return I was looked upon with disdain. Now you’re asking me to fight to protect the very people who have made me feel odd, the people who have shunned me.”
He sat down beside her on the bench now; she looked at him, her reflection dancing in the dazzling blue pools of his eyes.
“I’m asking you to do what’s right for the people in this kingdom that you love, those that see in you what I see: grace, beauty and compassion.”
She felt her ears flush.
“The people whom you love are what matter. And I’m here to make you a promise. You will not go into this alone. I will stand beside you, as will Alek and your brother. This is not your fight alone.”
“I will not be responsible for getting the king, or the future one, killed.”
“Your brother and I know the risks of battle, Melenthia, and we choose to fight when the cause is right.”
“But maybe I don’t.”
“You must decide what’s right for you. No one will ask you to do anything they don’t think you can handle. We have faith in you; you have only to have faith in yourself.”
She sighed and kicked the water with her feet, leaving a trail of droplets that slowly faded away as they dried.
He put his finger under her chin and moved it so she faced him. “Just know that whatever you decide, I’ll stand beside you and protect you, or die trying. I would be honored to fight with you. You have my word and my allegiance.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then stood and left her with the garden silence. She knew he was with her, but what she didn’t realize was that he had just declared his undying love for her.
CHAPTER 27
She tossed and turned, the covers a sweaty tangled mess. She kicked them off and, frustrated, lay on her back and stared at the ceiling. The lone candle that burned on her side table had dwindled to almost wick, but the dancing light still cast shadows on the walls and ceiling of her large room. It was comfortable. She had taken to living here, but she missed her home; she missed Kevaan.
She gave up trying to sleep and sat up. She flung her legs over the side of the bed and put on her slippers and threw on a robe. She went to the side table, picked up the candle and walked quietly out of her room. She tip-toed down the hallway, not wanting to disturb anyone else, especially a servant who would insist on getting her whatever she required. What she needed was not material, but emotional. She needed someone to understand her, to understand the decision she was asked to make. She didn’t want to live under Fallon’s evil rule, but going into battle with his army of giants and whatever dark forces he had at his beck and call frightened her beyond belief.
She didn’t get any false pretenses from the elf, or from the old sorcerer, but she still didn’t know if she wanted to believe them. She laughed to herself. A hero, a Chosen One born into this life to thwart evil and rid the world of a dark being. What did they know?
The dark shadows on the walls danced as she passed, the sconces in the corridor casting more light on her petite form. She went down the stairs and out the side door to the garden beyond. The sounds of crickets and frogs reached her ears almost immediately, and the smell of soil and moist earth wafted on the chilly night breeze. She pulled her robe tighter around herself. The moon was large tonight and shone down from the starry sky and lit the rest of the path for her. She blew out her candle and placed it on the garden bench just past the archway.
She walked quietly to the edge of the pond and looked up at the stars. They twinkled at her as if saying hello, and she waved at them.
How she got herself into this predicament she’d never know. She knew that defying her fathers wishes to marry got her to this point, and being someone’s wife would have saved her from this agonizing decision. Or would it have? Would Fallon have tried to have her anyway? If she was truly the Chosen One and he knew it, he would have tried to get her no matter who she was married to. Marriage would not have saved her from him and what he meant to do. She remembered back to that night, what seemed like so long ago. She shuddered at the memory of his vile smile and threat of what he’d do to her.