A Warrior's Dance

XXI – Gems of the Past

PART III

Once, there was a young love,

So pure like a dove.

Her wings ready to fly,

But arrows shot her, denying her of the sky.

 ***

“The sea makes you sick?”

The thick accent was beginning to register in Rainlee’s ears. The deep voice came from the foreign lad, the young master of the ship where she was at the moment. She just turned sixteen and her father, King Jarius, already sought out the valkans to offer allegiance through her. Her youthful look rendered countless of men speechless. One of her friends dubbed her as a woman worthy of war, that her beauty could cause such chaos.

Rainlee would just laugh it out, knowing that she wasn’t worthy of it. All she wanted was to take after her father, rule a kingdom with peace and stable civilization, walls strong enough for women and children to grow and follow their dreams. But her father did not share the same sentiments.

Raq, son of Captain Rakin, looked greater than most of the valkans. Maybe it was because of his mother, a half-blood Light Keeper, one of the very last of their race, that made him stand out of the rest. The very first day their tribe stepped foot in the palace, maidens and ladies of the court instantly batted their eyes for their attention.

Rainlee gently shook her head, gripping the railings tightly. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of him.

“Why are we here again?” she asked instead, trying to find comfort in the middle of the sea. The clouds were graying, the surrounding too gloomy and isolated for her taste. A huge wave hit their sails, making the princess lose her balance.

“Careful.” Raq caught her in his strong arms, her slim body fitting him. “Ta zugeer?”

Rainlee had to admit the young valkan sure made her stomach flutter, with his deep eyes with the color of sea and straight nose and square jawline, Raq looked like a warrior than a seventeen-year-old boy. There was something beastly in him, a danger she was afraid to venture. After all, she already had eyes on someone.

“I know not of what that means, Prince Raq,” she said, facing the sea again.

“Aav wants to show you our city,” Raq replied to her question. He kept his place behind her, his arms caging her, helping her with her balance. “You will like it.”

Aav. Father. It was one of the first few words she had learned from their language.

“My father will like it, for sure,” she muttered, bitterness resurfacing in her chest. “He like cities and seas these days than his children.”

Another force of waves crashed their ship, splashing some waters into them. Rainlee felt her back against Raq, her hands finding his arm to balance herself. He carefully held her, holding them both still. His proximity sent sensation down her neck and the princess knew it was wrong to be too close to him.

“Both our fathers wanted our union, princess,” he muttered in a low tone, his eyes focused on hers.

She averted her gaze, feeling his muscle against her palm. “Both our fathers do not know what we want.”

“Sei tu, Io bishrekh,” Raq said in his common tongue. It is you that I adore. It sounded tough in her ears, yet the way he looked at her make it felt like a poetry. She shook her head, eyes narrowing, unfamiliarity in her face. “I know what I want. I will fight for you, my princess.”

Shiver ran down her arms and she sure it wasn’t because of the cool wind. “I’m not worth it.”

“You do,” he said, his voice getting intense. “Your eyes seek someone else, I know.”

“I- I want to get into my chambers, if you’ll excuse me,” she said, creating a distance between them.

Raq just nodded his head and watched her navigate the deck and went down the cabin. He was not a fool. The princess was desperately running away from him and he knew why. His father told him women were a bunch of complicated creatures. Rainlee wasn’t any different.

He had never competed with attention before. He was the sea king’s son, putting him on a spot where people naturally looked up to him. Yet in her eyes, he was just another suitor, just a guest passing by. Her eyes only see a distant lad. A warrior.

And Raq knew who he was.

***

Rainlee frowned at the memory trip she had in her mind. The almost faded moments with Raq when they were nothing but careless fools confused her. Why did she think of him? Was it because her brother had grand plans on conquering and destroying the valkans with force? Another war. Another chaos. Hadn’t they learned nothing from the great war?

She tossed and turned, unable to find sleep. Lighting the lamp on her bedside table, she froze seeing a lone flower.

Arum-lily.

It had been years since she received that kind of elegant flower and she couldn’t ignore the small voice whispering in her head as to whom it came from.

She took it, almost scared to touch it, as if afraid it was just her imagination. But as soon as she felt the smooth and soft heart-shaped white petal, tears filled her eyes, her body tensing. Rainlee looked around her room, seeing the curtains swayed as she realized her window was open.

“No, it can’t be…” she whispered, eyes wide.

Grabbing her white cloak, she hurried to the door and walked left going to the library. Rainlee put on the cloak and tapped a switch in between the bookcases. As she heard a click, she pushed the bookcase door, opening the secret tunnel heading to the White Tower’s dungeon.

Rainlee closed the door behind her and navigated the narrow tunnel, not minding the darkness enveloping the place. She had ventured it many times she didn’t need light to reach the bottom part. She could feel her heart skipped a beat at the thought playing in her head.

A minute had passed. Then another one and two more, before she reached the end of the tunnel, finally seeing the dimmed dungeon. That part of the dungeon hadn’t been used in years, since the maidens believed that brutal ghosts inhabited the place after the Great War.

And maybe the maidens were right.

In the middle of the dungeon stood a man Rainlee knew had died long before. His face was the very dream she wanted to see again, even just for a moment. And there he was, gazing at her like she was a beautiful star twinkling in the night sky.

“Oh Heavens!” Rainlee blurted out, her breathing seemed to stop.

“My love,” he said, eyes softening at the sight of her.

The royal lady stepped back. “You are just a dream… This is a dream…” She blinked her eyes but his image didn’t go away. His usual braided red hair was freely lying at his back.

He smiled sadly at her. He had missed her warmth, her soft touch and her sweet lips. He missed everything in her. In one stride, he caught her, caging her in his strong arms, letting the ache in his heart to subside.

“Thaeros,” Rainlee whispered as she bit back her sob. His touch was the most familiar thing in her but their contact sent aches down her throat. “My love…”

Thaeros lifted her from the ground, leveling their eyes. He buried his head to her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. “This is not a dream, love. This is real. I am real.”

Rainlee wrapped her hand around his neck, unable to stop her shudder. Tears ran down her cheeks, her heart beating wildly. “I saw you die in that battle, Thaeros. How can I believe what you say?”

He slowly shook his head and put her down. “Raq avoided my heart when he pierced his sword in me. He didn’t kill me. Not really.”

“But my father announced your death!”

Thaeros stared at her for a moment. “Your late father asked me to leave the palace. He thought of me as just a warrior sent from the River Lights to help secure the walls and nothing more.”

“My father lied to me,” she shook her head, brows furrowing. “And all this time you made me believe you’re gone? That you are dead?” He was about to respond but Rainlee pushed him away. The joy in her chest was quickly replaced by betrayal, her breathing heavy. “Not even your level of intellect can understand how much pain you caused me!”

“Rainlee, love- “

She raised her pointer finger in the air. “Don’t.”

“Please.”

“Don’t.” Her kind eyes were now full of fire. “For nine months I suffered alone, hidden away in another tribe far from here. For nine months, Thaeros, I carried your child in me!” She held her stomach.

He hadn’t expected that to hear.

“Yes,” she confirmed the unspoken question in his eyes. “We have a child. But unlike you, my little angel is gone!” Her heartache and grief for her lost child exploded like lava.

“I didn’t know.” He tried to hold her but she moved away. “Rainlee, I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” she uttered in between her broken sobs.

Thaeros wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry in his chest. “I should have been there to protect the two of you. And I am sorry, love, for what I did.”

“As soon as father knew I was carrying your child, he ordered a secret assassination. He said it was an abomination.” Rainlee looked up to him, shaking her head, feeling drained. “How could he say that? Is it because you belonged in another world? And Darius told me that our father feared my unborn child, that my child will hold power like the Silver Neraides and throw him in his seat.”

“What? How can he say that?”

She shook her head. “My brother hid me to another tribe to protect me and the babe. And after the death of our father, he welcomed me home again.”

Thaeros wiped her tears with his hand. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, my princess, not even your love. And maybe I am too late now but I will make up for the sufferings you endured.”

His sincerity melted her fiery eyes. Her cries slowed down as she finally let go of the lingering grief she kept in her many years.

Eleven years now, to be exact.

“I have another confession to make,” Rainlee said after a while.

Thaeros just stared at her, waiting patiently. Surely, nothing could top the news of their unborn child.

“I have an adopted son named Raiden,” she continued. “And he is Raq’s child. A valkan.”