Chapter 34 Emotions Stirred Between Us

Chapter 34 Emotions Stirred Between Us
I was in charge of maneuvering through the desert on the skriff while Alaric managed the map. I think he was scared of coursing through the sand without looking at the map and getting lost again. 

Guiding the skriff through the sand was easy, so much so that my mind drifted to a more peaceful setting. 

I was running through a field of flowers with my sister alongside me. She had her pink dress on, and her long red hair flowing behind her. Spreading my wings out, I began soaring through the blue sky seeing the color array of flowers beneath me. 

From afar, I see two yellow red eyes with black hair waiting for me. He hold out his hand reaching for me as land next to him. I grab Alaric’s hand and he pulls me in closer to him. I’m standing there in his arms, waiting for his lips to touch mineq I hear from afar, “Lilith! Lilith, we’re about to crash!”. 

That jolted me back to reality and steered the skriff away from the rocks. 

“Where did you go Vi?”, he asked looking at me with a suspicious or concerned look in his eyes. 

“I was daydreaming about what it would be like to have a normal peaceful life, but in the current situation we are in, it’s not possible at this moment”.

“Was I in this little dream of yours?”, he asked slyly as he sat next to me. 

I smiled but still looked straight ahead, “Well there was someone, but im not sure if you were in it or not.” I paused and side eyed him, “Although this ‘someone’ did have black hair and yellow red eyes”. I said with a playful smile. 

Hearing this, he also gave a smile but still kept looking straight ahead into the great abyss of the desert. 

There seems to be a same storm coming our way. The cloud of sand seemed to reach the sky, and it seemed to be closer with each passing moment so we decided the safest choice was to stop until the storm passed.

The Mujaris  must have gone out in the desert many times while also going through some sandstorms in their journey, for there seemed to be a kit for a tent. It was packed with water and food that could last for days. 

It was easy to assemble which was fortunate for us; the storm was getting closer. We went inside hurriedly, more like greedily for I wanted to rest as much as I can. 

After endless tossing and turning on the thin cloth that acted as a bed, I huffed angrily as I sat up contemplating if I should peek outside or not. 

Alaric chuckled, “Can’t sleep either?”.

I shook my head. “Thought you would be asleep .” I lay back down looking up at the tent. We layed there in a comfortable silence for a while.

Rolling over, I saw Alaric side profile before he also rolled over to face me.

“Do you think we’ll get my sister back?”, I asked him. 

He caressed my face with his calloused hands, moving my hair away from my face. “I don’t want to make any promises to you Violet. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.
But what I can promise you is that I will die before anyone can lay a hand on you”.  I smiled as I nuzzled into his hand. 

The next question might be uncomfortable to ask but I had to get it out the way to remove any confusion from this mission. “Why do you care about me so much that you are willing to die for me. You haven’t known me for centurias, much less years; only for a few months”. He came all this way just for me, he said he would die for me, I even woke up in his arms after being stabbed during be wedding. 

Looking at me with such sincerity in eyes, he explained himself with a soft but sturdy voice, “You have something that I been searching for my whole life. Call it courage, or the need to keep moving forward even though there might be an end. You always see the brighter end of things”. 

He paused while he rubbed a finger down my cheek. “For all the darkness in my life, you seem to be the only speck of light that remind me that there is something better for me. Call me greedy, but I don’t want my only hope to fade away”.

Ironically, the feelings that Alaric just confessed to me were the same feelings stirring within me. I felt safe with him. 

Although there was his brother who I’m engaged to only to bring peace between our two kingdoms. A dispute that happened ages ago for reasons even I don’t know. All the historic conflicts were burned in that fire ordered by my mother. 

Right now, under this tent, safe from the sad storm outside, next to Alaric was all that mattered. 

“What will to happen to us in the future? What we are doing I won’t regret or forgot, but what happens when we get back?”. 

I remember how his brother reacted when he found out that we were training for weeks. Not that we shared a moment only a few months ago in a dark and isolated cave. 

“When that time comes, we will face it together. As for now, just let me enjoy your company”.  I needed to trust his word for what else can I do?