//Chapter 53//
1036 Words
Darav bought us five hirutas. There were no carriages this time. We were to ride them directly, since it was faster than carriages.
Resh was strapping his hiruta with stone sacks. Mine was already strapped by Savin. After he was done, I pulled him to a side.
"What?" He asked, winking. "Is this where you say that you are going to miss me?"
I rolled my eyes. "Sure, Prince Savin. I shall miss you dearly. Please come back safely or you shall be cooked as my dinner tomorrow."
"I am very much afraid, Princess Nasha." He laughed. "I certainly don't want to be your dinner. Unless you are thinking about eating that does not involve cooking, I won't be part of your meal."
"Without cooking? What? oh!" I punched him lightly on the stomach. "You-"
He laughed, his green eyes sparkling. "Okay okay!" He held up his hands. "Tell me. What is wrong?"
"Well," I said, stepping back a little. "First, I am sorry for leaving you behind that day. I had this dream where you were killed by me during the supposedly upcoming outburst. Before, you were the one to save me, but seeing you died, I got really scared. I am still scared. But I will make sure nothing happens to you. I want to stay with you, because I..."
He waited, eyes soft and patient. I gulped. My palms were suddenly sweaty. I wanted to rub them on my cloak and get rid of them, ignoring the lady like behavior, but I couldn't. I was rooted on the same place, my heart beating rapidly inside my chest.
I swallowed again. "I... I think I like you." I said.
Suddenly, I was afraid of rejection. This whole time, his words and actions showed his interest on me. What if it was just my wistful thinking? What if-
He pulled me into a tight hug before I could think furthur than that. I could feel his body against mine. He was trembling softly as he held me. I hesitated only for a second before putting my arms around him.
His hands were entangled in my hair. I drew him closer and closer yet still, snuggling my face on his chest. "Thank you," He said finally, whispering in my ear. "For liking me back."
I felt like something inside me shattering at his words. I held him harder. I wanted to protect him, to be with him as the life went on and on.
Protect him.
I pulled away from him and stared at his eyes, smiling. "I really don't want to spoil the mood." I said. "But I have to tell you something else."
He was still holding me from my waist. "I'm always listening to you."
I tried not to think about the electricity I felt from his fingers. I stopped smiling as I recalled the previous events today. We all had cleaned ourselves just now, and I was wearing some new clothes with a new cape as well. Still, I felt like all the exhaustion was still wearing me down. And among that, there was the boy I met earlier.
"Today, at the mine, I saw a boy." I said. "Either I was inside an illusion, or my eyes were playing tricks on me because I am sure that the boy I saw was Matthew."
"Matthew?" Savin asked.
"Yeah. Maybe that was a sibling. I don't know anymore. I saw his execution with my own eyes."
Savin looked at me for a while. "You are going back to that mine."
It was not a question, but a statement. I nodded. His hands on my waist tightened. "As soon as I can, I am going back there." I said. "And this time, I would like if only you came with me."
His smile was relieved. "For a moment, I thought you would insist on going alone. Of course I would come with you. Last time I let you go alone, I lost you for two years."
"I wasn't alone back then." I said. "Daniel and Resh was with me."
"But I wasn't there." Savin said. "I was the reason you had to go. I would never forgive myself for that."
I touched his arm. I didn't know what to say at this moment to make him feel better. So I touched him, letting him know that I was here with him.
I did not know how may minutes we stood like that on silence, holding each other. If it wasn't for Resh who loudly cleared his throat after walking towards us, we would have stayed some more like that.
"Seriously," He said. "Keep your hands off my sister before I chop them off."
Savin smiled. "I'd like to see you try."
"Eager to lose your hands?" Resh asked, his eyes blazing. I dragged him away before they got into a friendly fight. Once they got into a friendly fight in the training grounds and half the ground was destroyed. I didn't want the same happening to Darav's garden.
"Let's get going." I said. "There are lives at sake. No time for you to do practice matches."
"Who said anything about practice matches?" Resh asked. "I could have definitely chopped his hands off."
"Yes, you would have and no, it will not help with the situation at all. Just keep your hands to yourself and let him keep his."
"If you say so." He climbed on to his hiruta. I was breifly lectured on how to ride them. I figured it would not be very different from riding horses. It turned out I was right, to my relief. Even though it was worse than riding the carriage, I managed to stay on the saddle and not to fall off.
Darav was still fixing other's animals. I waved at Kylan, who had come to see us off. He nodded back, some of his usual smile returning.
Since Yorosso was the city with biggest threat right now, Resh and I could not waste anymore time. I cast a last look in Savin's direction. He was also looking at me with a smile.
I smiled back and pulled the rains with a kick, starting our journey to Yorosso.
- Writer
