The Princess of Krystallos

The Change in Feelings

Alba tossed and turned in her bed, feeling restless. Every bone of her body was rebelling against her. She decided to have some warm milk. The helpers had dozed off while sitting on the chair. Tip toeing across them, in order to not disturb them, she went to check on the kids first. They were sleeping with Crimson, who slightly opened her eyes and smiled at Alba before dozing off again. She then walked to the kitchen where she saw Blaze, below the chopping platform, crouching inside it.

Alba went close to check and saw his eyes were moist, as if he was holding a lot in. At the sight of Alba, he jumped up, knocking his head by the platform. Rubbing his head, she asked;

“Are you okay?” jerking back at the sudden realization of their closeness.

“Yes, how can I be defeated by a head bump!” he smiled.

“I am not talking about that!”

“Oh that! That was nothing”

“Okay! Sit down then I will get you some milk. But you need to put on fire, there are no matchsticks.”

“What are machticks?”

“It’s called matchsticks. They are used to generate fire.”

“Like the rock spark other kingdoms use?”

“Yes, kind of, just that they are like this long and very easily ignitable.” She showed the size estimation by her hand.

“Your world is interesting!” Alba nodded her head in reply.

Once the milk was warmed, they sat on the platform, taking sips from it. The heat of the milk and his company seemed exactly what she needed.

“How was your day?” Blaze said, breaking the silence.

Without a pause, Alba told every detail of the day without a pause. Blaze kept nodding and laughing, feeling way better than before. Alba seemed exactly what he needed after a bad day.

“How was yours?” Alba asked at the end of her narration.

“It was normal, I guess!”

“Okay, as you say.” Alba jumped of the platform, ready to go back to her room, when Blaze held her wrist. Alba turned to see Blaze’s pleading eyes, but he seemed unable to say anything.

“Not my place to say but help comes to those who ask for it. Being tough is a necessity but not all the time. Once in a while, it’s okay to be vulnerable.” she said, sitting on the platform again. Blaze suddenly placed his head on her shoulder, making her heart go lob-dob. Alba was about to remove her shoulder when he spoke;

“My mom’s brother seems to be the traitor of our nation. If the allegations are proved correct, I have to give him a death sentence. For the past 20 years, he has been taking care of me; I really don’t want to hurt him. What should I do?”

“Well, I can’t give you a solution but if your heart doesn’t believe the judgement you must make, try to find proof for the sake of your heart. But if it becomes impossible, follow your brain.”

“I wish my mother stayed around longer!”

Alba felt a drop of warm water on her shoulder and rubbed her hand softly on his head. The strong king seemed just like any other normal boy in his 20’s. A while later, he got up, wiping his eyes, seemingly hoping to hide his tears from Alba, when she held his hand and squeezing it, she said;

“Having a son like you, your mom must be incredibly proud!” and she walked back to her room. She stayed up, thinking about Blaze before sleep took over, and she drifted off.

The breakfast felt different, as if something had changed a bit last night. Except that everything was almost the same, with the horse still rejecting her though she dodged two of her kicks but got hurt in the third. The flame lion was used in the endurance training, making her run for her life even harder. There was at least a little progress in shooting stance. At the end, she sat with Sir Raymond and Kevin, tired to even breathe.

“Even though you are stupid, at least there is hope in arrow shooting!”

Alba made a face at the comment, before limping back to the castle. She sat on the bed, feeling the happiness of making it back to her room, alive when the knock forced her to get up again. It was Blaze. Alba opened the door wider, for him to enter.

“The meeting just ended.” He sat on her bed.

“Oh, my training also ended now.” Alba said, trying to overcome the awkwardness, but not knowing how to do it.

“Well, I am sorry about yesterday!” he stood up suddenly and bowed down.

“Why? Yesterday was good.”

“Well, things seem really weird between us since then.”

“It’s not your fault. I also don’t know what is going on.”

“We can know what’s wrong, that is, if you are comfortable with it!” his eyes suddenly shining.

“Alright, but what are we going to do?”

“Well, know your heart!” he said, in a very low voice.

Before she could react, he pulled her closer, looking directly into her eyes. His eyes felt like, it pierced right through hers, making her body feel like its melting in his embrace. If it was a game, he seemed to be really good at it. Every inch of her skin could feel the tension between them as he inched his face closer to her, making her unable to even breathe. The time seemed to have stopped. Without thinking, she ended the distance between then, it was too difficult to control. The feeling of his lips connected to her own made her heart go crazy, making her want stay in the moment forever, when his hand moved at around her waist. The sudden realization hit, and she pulled back.