She had found herself falling in love with a male from a magical realm of peace that was being ravaged by war. Words she hadn’t dared to voice to him yet, or even to herself.
She had found herself bonded to him, body and soul.
She had found her connection. She had found the thing that mattered.
Alianna realised that she was not ready to let him go.
Alianna slowly sat up in bed, pushing the covers off of her and standing, moving as quietly as she could. She crept to her wardrobe, sliding open the door and pulling out a small floral rucksack. She pulled a dress off a coat hanger, a top, and picked up a pair of shorts. As silently as she could muster, she stuffed them into her bag.
“Sneaking off somewhere?” came a voice from behind her, cutting through the silence of the night.
Alianna turned around, and Rionan’s head was propped on his hand as he looked at her, his question written on his face.
“No, I’m not. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Alianna sat back down on the bed, placing her bag on the floor by her feet. She pulled her knees up to her chest, angling her body so that she could see him.
“Then why are you packing a bag in the middle of the night?” Rionan crooned, pushing himself up into a sittingposition. His voice was light and cheerful, but behind this, Alianna could hear the notes of concern that laced his words.
Alianna braced herself for the conversation they were about to have. She turned fully now, facing him, sitting cross-legged on her bed. She scanned his face, his chest, the tattoos that glazed his body. The way the light fell on him made those tattoos look like smoke curling across his skin.
“I want to come with you,” she blurted out, heart in her throat.
“What?” Rionan asked, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Alianna wondered if she thought he meant to go to the museum. But he was no fool. He was the Lord of Western Xanthia and could easily see what she was implying.
“Tomorrow. When you have the stone, and it is time for you to return to Xanthia. I want to come with you. Please.”
Rionan just stared at her, his eyes filled with emotions she would find it hard to place, if not for the bond between them. She felt it in her chest – sadness, worry, anger, happiness, love – so many emotions hit her all at once, that she almost felt the need to put a hand to her heart to ensure it was beating as it should be. But still, Rionan’s face did not change. His eyes were wide, expression drawn. Slowly, his lips, which had been parted, sealed together and pulled into a thin line.
“Why would you want to come with me?” he asked. Alianna saw this for what it was: Rionan needed to hear her say the words that she had not yet voiced.
Alianna stared at him in silence, mouth ajar, wondering how she could put into words the request she was making of him. She knew that she was asking him to take her to a realm full of magic wielders, in the throes of civil war. She knew how dangerous this situation was likely to be for her. But she still found herself struggling to care about the risks. She would be with him; he would be with her.
She was his. He was hers.
Connection.
Mattering.
She knew now that she needed to be with Rionan, like the sun needed the moon.
In a harsh movement, Rionan swung his legs to the side and stood up. He began to pace back and forth, his face contorted into a look of what bordered on rage.
“Rionan?” Alianna asked tentatively.
He paused his pacing, fixing his stare on her. “I ask again, Ali. Why would you want to come with me? You know what awaits me in Xanthia.Why would you want to come with me?”
“Because I love you!” she shouted, throwing her arms out on either side of her. She realised that he was panting now, wrestling with himself, like he was working to try and control the tidal wave of emotion that she knew rose to the surface with every word they spoke.
Rionan spun around and slammed his palm into the wall, cursing as he did so. The plaster splintered around his hand, cracking and spreading in different directions. He rested his forehead against the wall, breathing in deeply, slowly, calming himself. His head was lowered, as if he were a defeated male.
Alianna considered whether it was wise to continue speaking now, when this was the first time she had seen any sort of outburst from him. But now she had opened the flood gates on how she was feeling…it was difficult not to.
“I love you, Rionan. I don’t know when this happened. This was supposed to be a fling. A summer fling with a hot guy on a business trip. I suppose you never really lied about the business trip, if we look at the technicalities. This was just going to be fun, with no strings,” Alianna sucked in a breath, ignoring the fact that Rionan still rested his forehead against the wall, breathing heavily, and continued. “But it became more than that, didn’t it? I don’t know when. It might have been in the gardens that night. It might have been at dinner. Itmight have been on the balcony that night we were interrupted by that god damn waiter.”
Alianna stood from the bed. “Or maybe it was when I realised what you truly were. And when I realised that a male from a magical realm, who is so different to me, is actually not that different at all. I should have been terrified of you, Rionan.Terrified. And I guess for a fewhours, I was. But then I realised you’d bought a phone – a mobile phone that you probably had no idea how to use, just to talk to me. I realised that I felt so at ease in your company. I realised that you and I both want the same things. Those things don’t have to be here, Rionan. They can be in Xanthia.”
