Duty and Destiny
Chapter 9

Adalia crept out of the room assigned to her and her sisters. She was looking for Xander and had no doubt she would replace him on one of the balconies. He loved to train in the cold night air. It kept him aware, he usually said. Just as she had expected the guards were roaming around the castle doing their rounds. They seemed to have doubled in number after the attack. She didn’t think that anyone of them would stop her, but if they did, she needed a cover story.

“It’s hot and I needed to cool down,” she mumbled to herself, holding her gown tight to her waist so that it wouldn’t make that annoying swishing sound. “I can’t sleep and it’s a beautiful night. It’s the perfect time to go star gazing?” She wasn’t too sure about her options, but she decided that if she had to, she would pull rank. With a condescending arrogant tone, she said. “Because I said so,”

***

“What do you say so?” Xander had been watching her ever since she left her room. He had been waiting in the dark in one of the corners trying to replace a way to talk to Adalia. When she walked out of her room, he decided to follow her to wherever she was going.

“It was hot. I couldn’t sleep and it’s a beautiful night for star gazing,” she rapped. Adalia froze on the spot. She didn’t even know who was standing behind her. The earlier fear and uncertainty were what drove her rumbling.

“Relax,” Xander said once he realized how much he had startled her.

Adalia’s shoulder’s shrugged as she relaxed. “It’s just you.”

“Who else did you think it would be?” He walked around her and stood in front of her, flashing a smile at her.

She had come to see him. He could feel his ego well up in pride. Adalia still had feeling for him, and maybe he could take advantage of them. He hated seeing how she moved along with Archer as if they were magnets, as if their lifelines were tied together. For a moment, he thought he had lost the fight. Lost to a child prince and disappointed his father by not enriching his legacy. There was a time he thought that love would give him what he wanted. But now he was wiser. And a wise man said to him, only force can win a war. And he was as sure as hell going to win this war.

***

“No one,” she mumbled. “What are you doing here?” She obviously expected to replace him outside. But Adalia didn’t want him to know that she was out looking for him. Princesses do not chase and are not chased after, she could hear her mother’s voice in her head, they are courted.

Courted, humph! There was no way her father would allow Xander to court her. She gazed into his sterling eyes and found the reason she had fell for him all those years ago. Sure, it was a teenage and some may consider it a childish kind of love, but it was love. Adalia wanted to stroke his soft cheek and let her finger’s go wild in his almost white hair. But she couldn’t. She was a princess.

“Would you like to go for a walk with me?” He gave her his arm and she gingerly took it, laying her head on his hand as they walked into the cooling twilight. “It’s beautiful out here.”

She looked up at his face, part of her wishing that he was looking down at her and saying those words. But he wasn’t. Adalia’s eyes went back to the night sky, littered with little stars all of them seemingly gathering around the silver moon. “That moon reminds me a lot of your eyes.”

***

“You think so?”

Xander’s eyes stayed glued to the moon. He was scared. Scared to feel everything he felt for Adalia before her father sent him away. He was scared that she was the one and only piece that could complete him. He was scared that he would lose her especially since she had been promised to another. He had watched in agony as their hands had been joined together before both kingdoms. But when they didn’t take their vows, he saw it as his chance. He had hope, room to etch himself back into Adalia’s life and her heart.

“You want to touch the moon with me?” Flying around would be a good distraction for him. He would fly ahead of her and that way he wouldn’t look at her.

Xander dropped Adalia’s arm and took a couple of steps behind until his back was up against the old stone walls. With the little space he had he ran as fast as he could to gain momentum. He leapt over Adalia’s head and into the night sky. Xander let himself drop a few feet before his wings sprang out. He listened to the gentle flap, feeling the wind that he was creating around him. After a couple of loops, he came back to the balcony where Adalia stood watching him.

***

Adalia hadn’t cared for theatrics. She found them silly and too corny at times. But when Xander did them, they were something short of magnificent to her. She watched in awe as his black wings blended with the dark sky behind him. It was glorious as she felt the breeze coming from them. She took a step back as he flew towards her, his hands reaching out to her.

“Fly with me,” Xander swallowed hard, the look of adoration in her eyes prickling his nerves.

“I can’t,” she smiled back.

“Why?” He moved an inch away, a hurt look coming to his eyes.

“My mother had me wear a corset,” she shook her head. “If I burst through it, she’ll know I was up to no good.”

“Oh?” Slowly, careful not to disturb the air around him more than he already had, Xander landed next to her, his wings still flapping. He stretched his arm out to her. “Then come with me.”

It was his gaze that pulled her forward. She felt like she was being charmed, hypnotized even by the sterling silver in Xander’s eyes. Her heart led and her feet followed. She was in his arms, in his tight embrace as she slowly felt her body leave the ground.

“You remember the last time we did this?” he whispered into her hair.

“It was before you left.”

Xander had gone to say goodbye. Adalia escaped her patron with her brother’s help. But then she flew on her own. They flew over their part of the kingdom and watched as the life beneath them went on. The soar part of the memory was when morning came and she had to get back to the palace, while Xander had to leave. It wasn’t a good morning after for her.

They didn’t fly that far. This was unfamiliar territory to hem and considering the attack Xander didn’t want to put Adalia in any danger. They flew above the castle and above a garden; Adalia could only assume was Ilana’s. Before long they were back on the balcony, staring at the stars above them.

He felt her fingers hold onto his arm tighter and he took it as his cue. Xander held both her hands in his and gazed at her longingly, his minds formulating the right words.

“What is it?” Just by the touch of their skin, Adalia could feel the need inside him. His eyes roamed around her face, as if he was looking for the perfect spot. “What is it?” she asked once more.

“I’m looking for the right words,” he whispered. “But I realize there aren’t any right words for what I feel,” he dropped to his knee.

“What are you doing?” Adalia felt a shiver ran up her spine. Her eyes darted around, looking if anyone could see them but there was no one.

“I love you,” he began. He drew out his sword from his scabbard. “My sword will always fight for you,” he pressed her hand into the steel plate on his chest. “My armor will always protect you,”

Adalia gasped when she realized what he was doing. He was making vows to her. She had the immediate instinct to pull her hands away; to tell him to stop but the sweet melody in his voice cemented her in place. She wanted to hear more, to feel something other than the great doubt and fear she was already feeling.

Xander put a kiss in her palms. “I will always love you, listen to you, be faithful to you and I will always be beside you. Please will you marry me?”

“Yes!” the word escaped her lips before she could even think about it.

Xander jumped to his feet and twirled her around, a hearty laugh escaping his chest.

Adalia could feel the vibration from his body as he laughed. When her feet finally touched the ground, a new kind of fear set in. She felt Xander’s thumb under her chin, guiding her face slowly towards his. She felt his lips gently crush into hers and he pulled her body against his. It felt right. When they finally pulled away, Adalia ran back to the room assigned to her, scared that her absence might be noticed by the younger ones. She couldn’t have them come looking for her. For now, she wanted to keep this night a secret.

She got into bed and her hands crossed over her chest. Between often pushing her sister’s leg from her face and the pulsating beat of her heart, it took a while for her to sleep. She wasn’t going to think of the consequences of her decisions until later. But for now, she was just going to be happy.

***

He leaned back on the wall, a single sigh easing him of all the tension he was feeling. It was over even before it began. Archer drove his fist into the wall, turned and walked away. He would have to speak to his father in the morning.