Destinare: A Destined Tale Of Time

V A Hopeful Forsaken Prince.

Julianus could still feel the throbbing of his heart as it clenched painfully inside his chest, pulling at some distant memory from long ago to reopen the wounds again. He has lost his senses the minute Azmeralda was out of his sight, he is always reminded of the loss of her mother, fear eats at his insides with the thought that he might lose her too. The only thing that’s left of Cleopatra, the one and only love of his life.

He felt his world crumbling around him, both then and now.

Even when Azmeralda was sitting right before his eyes, it was still hard to recover from the shock. Azmeralda knew that herself, however, she didn’t know the extent of the disturbance it has caused her father’s heart. The lump stuck in her throat made it difficult to give even words of consult or comfort, she felt too awkward in her father’s presence.

Julianus has been standing for a good 5 minutes in place after he took off his cape, even after the heavyweight of the fabric was gone, he could still feel the pressure on his shoulders and it hung low on his frame.

From the distant look in the color of his eyes, Azmeralda noted that he has disconnected his soul from the real world and relived the past way before her memory started. The silence was eating at her inside as the urge to apologize clouded her vision.

Azmeralda finally dared to hold her eyes up to stare at her father who stood before the table in front of the window. The moonlight was brighter than ever, causing the dark locks of his curled hair to shimmer and illuminate the sadness plastered on the sharp features of his face. For a moment, she thought she saw a hint of a smile on his face, apparently, the trip back to the past had some good memories as well, something Azmeralda was thankful for.

“Daddy…” her lips barely moved.

Julianus turned sideways to look at his daughter, his eyes still filled to the brim with different sensations. The warmth of Azmeralda’s voice was like herbs soothing his throbbing chest.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, knowing that she caught enough of her father’s attention to deliver the apology.

Julianus might have been caught in his own dwelling in his mind but, the apology rang loud in his head rattling his thoughts away and dragging him back to reality. He felt regret the moment he saw the look on his daughter’s face. The sadness that was loaming in her eyes throbbed his heart.

He closed his eyes and reopened them again, gaining the composure he lost for a while. Once that was done, he turned on his heels to approach his daughter. Azmeralda’s eyes were lingering on his every move till he got to her.

“I never meant to cause you to worry,” Azmeralda added, fumbling with her fingers on her lap. “I got separated from…”

Julianus broke her off by wrapping his arms around her fragile figure as he got to his knees. Pulling her in closer to him to feel the beating of her heart over his, reminding him of the sole reason for his existence.

“It’s alright,” he whispered soothingly, stroking her hair in between his fingers. “You don’t have to say anything. As long as you are safe, that’s all I care about.”

Azmeralda felt a tear escape her eyes to fall down her face and onto the fabric of Julianus’s clothes. Agonized that her father still fears the repetition of history, the wound in his heart caused by her mother was still fresh even after all this time. The very thought that he could lose Azmeralda as well, was worse than the thought of losing his own life.

But now that he was feeling the tiny tempo of her beating heart, he realized the sweetness of the moment that he had. *Every tragic ending has a sweet beginning.* a poisons voice rattled in his chest, Julianus ignored the call from within and tightened his arms around the frail body of Azmeralda.

Azmeralda sniffed her tears away as she held on to her father as much as her arms allowed, letting his soothing whispers wash over her with warmth. Being in his arms like this reminded her of her younger days where she would sneak inside her father’s chambers at night when she couldn’t sleep.

“Another nightmare, Pumpkin?” Julianus would ask, abandoning whatever work he has to join her under the blanket. Covering her warmth that reached all the way to her heart.

“Can I sleep here tonight?” she said, pulling back to look at her father’s figure.

Julianus pulled back to stare at her in surprise before he c***k a grin, nodding his head eagerly.

 “How could I say no?” he uttered.

~~~~

Tiberius was back to his room after the commotion was broken as the leads retired to their own rooms. For the first time in forever, Tiberius wasn’t thankful to the gods that he finally got to his room.

In fact, he wanted the moments to last longer. The minutes he shared with Azmeralda were still vivid in his mind – even though he was quiet most of the time, the very thought that she was talking to him with no restrictions made his heartthrob with happiness.

He could feel the heat traveling to his cheeks. He allowed his knees to buckle under his lightweight as he scotched on himself tightly, gathering his body in the wrap of his arms. The memory of Azmeralda’s smile flashed through his mind.

*No one has ever smiled at me like that* he thought, another smile finding its way to his pale face.

Amid the silence of the room and the happiness in his head, rose the loud footsteps coming from outside. The scaringly familiar clattering of hells on the marble tiles rattled through his chest. Just in time, Tiberius was able to get up just in time to turn the lock on his door that was thankfully right over his head.

Loud banging came on next, shocking his whole world. Even though he saw it all coming, he couldn’t help but flinch to the back at the first round of door-rattling bangs. There was no room to wonder who the unwanted visitor was. The Queen.

Tiberius stumbled to the back as he saw the doorknob shaking as it was held from the other side. He moved a safe distance from the door, the Queen was yet to say anything but her aura traveled much faster, unfortunately.

“You open this door this instant!” her voice was a lashing whisper, still worrying about her image despite the un-lady-like knocks she delivered. “I know you are in there. Open the door!”

Tiberius didn’t budge as he held back his breath, part of him was searching for a reason why the Queen was angry at him, all he wanted was one explainable reason but, he knew that there was no such thing. Queen Blandia loathed him, and the exact extent of that loathe was not known, but at the very least, he knew that she wanted him erased off the records.

The only thing that was blocking her path was Emperor Petrus, his father. He might not be the best caring father but at the very least he acknowledged him as his firstborn son, though he had no power or alley to match the title. The Queen made sure that this title remains nothing but a title.

Nothing but a forsaken prince that no one cares to know.

Tiberius, felt his legs retreat to his bedside, the yells coming from the other side of the door were only getting more violent, as the Queen soon disregarded her image while being blinded by vexation.

Tiberius sat down next to his bed, resting his back against the harshly ornamented bed poking on his back. The sensation was appreciated as it took his mind off the deafening bangs. He wrapped his arms around his legs, hugging his knees close to his chest as he closed his eyes, hoping that all of this would just be gone by the time he opened his eyes.

Oh, but this time, instead of being hunted by nightmares behind those shut eyelids, he sees the calming smile from Azmeralda once again.

Never before did he wish to keep his eyes closed forever, so he could sit and admire the first warm gesture he felt was truly his own.

~~~~

Azmeralda’s eyes fluttered as the first rays of the sun tickled her lashes, she blinked twice before her eyes finally opened to be greeted with the ornament light-blue ceiling. She sighed in relief already feeling that this was going to be a good day.

It took her exactly half a minute to remember where she was at *I slept in Papa's room* she reminded herself, lazily sitting straight as she saw the empty spot next to her on the bed. She let her fingers run over the soft fabric of the bedsheets that was cold to the touch.

“You are up, Princess?”

Azmeralda turned in the direction of the door separating the bed from the rest of the room, Canaria was standing amid its open doors while carrying her the outfit for the day’s schedule.

“Is Papa awake?” Azmeralda said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“I believe he is with Emperor Petrus,” Canaria said, approaching the bed with a glass of water. “Shall we get you dressed?”

Azmeralda nodded, wondering what would happen if she refused to get up – not that she wanted to stay in bed. However, she could feel how light she was after a good night’s sleep after the long journey.

As she went through the memories of the previous day, the ones that were made in the evening were by far the best. A smile cracked her half-asleep face, the image of the quiet Tiberius spread across her mind. She couldn’t help but wonder if she’ll be able to bump into him again today.

“I don’t want anything fancy tonight,” Azmeralda commented. “Something to allow me to walk more freely.”

Canaria nodded before she disappeared to get the job done, leaving Azmeralda alone with her thumping heart at the excitement of yet another day at the Makidian palace.

And most of all, the three princes.