The king grinned in response. “I’m sure he will be very pleased to hear.”
Her flight home had been a troubled one. Should she tell him straight away? Should she wait and do it in a pleasant setting? What if she just wrote him a note? So many thoughts plagued her mind as the cool afternoon air travelled over her lilac wings.
Landing in her courtyard a few minutes later, she glanced around the garden. Bones was fast asleep on the daybed, lifting his head as her boots hit the ground. He didn’t bother to get up from his comfy spot in the sunshine, but he wagged his tail in happy acknowledgement of her arrival.
Stepping inside, the melodic voice she longed to hear day and night floated through the air—the voice that invaded her dreams like a thief in the night, looking for treasures to steal. Adalia followed the sound until she came face to face with the bathroom door. Turning her back, she leant against it and slid silently to the floor, letting the sound of Matthias’s voice wash over her.
“I walk the halls of my mind and, like my heart, I find them empty.
I’m wide awake in a world built for sleep and my body is ready.
But I don’t dare close my eyes ‘cause that’s when the monsters prowl.
Will you save me? Or am I doomed to lay waste in this hole?”
“Nothing matters anymore. Take me away from here.
Show me the other side of life, the place that you hold dear.
I want to be happy. Promise us we can be.
I’ll take care of you, and you’ll take care of me.”
His words sang of sadness and sorrow. Adalia wanted to reach inside his chest, pull out his heart, and hold it in her delicate hands while she breathed life back into it.
His singing stopped, and Adalia opened her eyes and quietly sighed. The bath water sloshed, and she rose to her feet hurriedly. The last thing she wanted was to let him think she’d been spying on him. She also didn’t want to surprise him with her arrival, so she headed to the kitchen to get some ingredients, shutting cupboards loudly and bang items around a little. Once she felt he knew she was home, she headed to her room.
A hot, steaming Epsom salt filled bath with caramel candles burning called to her. It had been a long day.
Adalia allowed herself to soak in the tub for a good half an hour, minding her newly gained graze, only emerging when the water lost most of its warmth.
She changed into a black, thin strapped bias cut silk dress which finished just above her knees. The gold hoops she wore to lunch with the king were still sitting on the dresser, so she picked them up and secured them in her earlobes. After fixing her complexion with some cosmetics, she dabbed her wrists with her favourite oil mixture that she purchased from the beauticians in town.
Blueberries and vanilla.
Adalia never really dressed up for dinner, especially because it was usually only her and Nik, but after the day both she and Matthias had, maybe eating out was what they both needed and because conversations needed to be had.
Deciding to leave it out to dry, Adalia ran a brush through her slightly damp hair before she headed out to the living room.
Matthias was lounging on his makeshift bed with a glass of wine in hand. His eyes travelled over her body, and she blushed. He looked so good sitting there, all dressed in black. Her knees felt like they might give way at any moment. Adalia wished he would slowly stand and walk the length of the room and take her in his arms, push her up against a wall and touch every part of her body with his mouth.
Adalia could then forget about all of their problems…the king of Oscuro, Matthias’s mother…the magnetic pull towards his body.
Feeling warmth rush to her cheeks, Adalia cleared her throat and pointed towards the kitchen.
“I started getting things out for dinner and then decided I didn’t want to cook. So, I was thinking maybe we could go out instead?” Adalia quietly suggested.
“I’ve never been out to dinner.” Matthias answered.
Adalia blinked in shock. “You’ve never dined out?”
Matthias shook his head. “Have you seen where I live? Sure, there are places to eat, but it’s always so loud and the food is never really that good. So I tend to stay indoors,” he said.
“Well, we need to remedy that straight away. My favourite pasta place is open late tonight. My treat,” she called out as she headed for her room. “Let me just put my shoes on.”
Telling him about his mother at dinner was the right thing to do, she thought as she strapped her heels on. Grabbing her bag from her dresser, she headed back out to Matthias. “We can just walk. It isn’t far.”
“Will you be warm enough in that . . . dress.” Matthias hesitated.
