"But do you feel strongly that it is a curse?"
"Yes. I mean, why would he consistently stand in my way of getting a bride if that wasn't the solution?"
That made sense. There was also the possibility that he could be doin that to distract the King from the actual solution, but how long this had been going that. That would most likely not be it.
"If she is not convinced, why does she participate in the ....hmm..."
"Choosing Ritual and Ceremony."
"Yes. Thank you. I don't know why I keep forgetting things lately." She chuckled.
"You are overthinking." He said, sounding worried, as he leaned forward towards her, taking in the look on her face. "Stressed," he commented, leaning back, tapping his fingernails against his mask again.
She nodded. She could be.
"I worry about you."
He lips stretched into a smile that quickly fell. "I'm alright. So tell me, why?"
He caught on where they had left off quickly.
"Simple. Because I am the King and I commanded that it shall be."
That oddly filled her with a sense of pride.
"Kestra is my most trustworthy servant," his fingers came to an halt on his mask and he folded his hands across his chest instead, "...almost like a friend. She would never allow any harm to come upon me, so she goes out in constant search for a solution she believes is out there, while I search for two things in one, a Queen and a cure."
Belladonna shifted uncomfortably in her seat, letting out a light gasp.
Maybe it was his continual mention of a cure that made her feel more like an instrument. Her mind kept playing everything and she wondered if the only reason he ever tried to be with her was so that she would love him and be the cure he needed?
Had she been nothing to him but a means to an end?
The questions were unending, all leading to different directions. She would have to ask one at a time and get her answers.
"What do you think will happen when the curse is finally broken? Will the other brides return?"
"I believe so."
She blinked, her gaze fixed on the floor of the carriage.
"It is either we find the cure or find the Bride Thief himself to stop all this. If only we had anything of him," his voice started descending to a mumble as he spoke to himself, "we would have stopped him a long time ago."
Silence fell in between them.
The longer the moments passed, the more broken she felt that he kept this away from her.
"Why didn't you tell me all this before?"
When he spoke, his voice was look, his gaze fixed to the window that had short red curtain over it.
"I didn't know how you would take it. You would think that I love you because I believe you were my solution, you would believe my feelings for you, sprang out from a source of responsibility. Then you would force yourself to reciprocate, only because you find it as an act of service. You would give out your heart as a mere contribution. Charity." His mention of the last word was filled with distaste.
His hands cupped her face in between them and he leaned foward towards her. "Your love, for me, my Donna, it would not have been true as it is now."
Belladonna's frown deepened. She understood his fear but it still didn't sit right with her. That choice should have been hers to make, not his.
"And is your love for me true?"
"Yes." She felt rough leather graze upon her skin, as he moved one hand towards her hair, and the other lifted up her hand, making her hand pressed to a side if his chest, where his beating heart was resting beneath. Her gaze darted there immediately. The warmth made her want crawl into his arms and stay there forever. When she looked up at him again, she found herself trapped those ever bewitching brown eyes.
"As true as my racing heart for you.""
She felt a lump in her throat and she swallowed, suddenly overwhelmed with her feelings and Eli reassurance.
"My love for you is true, Eli. Things would have still been the same."
"Then, I am sorry for keeping it away from you."
She moved her hand upwards, her lips now stretched into a light smile as she traced the design around the neckline of his robe, feeling better already.
The fact that he always apologized as soon as he realized he was wrong and not try to play around with things made her feel safe with him, in addition, she loved how he played with her hair, like he was doing right now.
"What else do you believe the Bride has to do to break this curse?"
"Wait till the Blood Moon. By then it would be a year since the ritual.
"Why the Blood Moon?
A hand pulled her closer and she found herself resting her head his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heart and the vibration of his voice.
Once again in his arms.
She liked it here.
"That was the night my family was..." he pressed a kiss into her hair, his hand by her waist going up and down her back. Her hand that was still mindlessly tracing the design on his robe, halted and curled into a loose fist. "Since it is the night of the curse, I believe we must wait for that time of the night to come again."
His mindless brushing up and down of his hand on her back continued.
"I really wished we would have found the Bride Thief instead. But he is very hard to find, we have nothing of him. Name, face, nothing."
He sounded so depressed, she wished he would just look at the bright side.
"How then would we have met."
"Destiny always has a way. We are meant for each other, nothing would have been able to keep us apart."
She smiled, her heart racing.
She felt the same. Like he was a part of her life that had always been there and would always be.
But the King fell silent for too long and when he spoke again, he sounded in doubt.
"What if it doesn't work?
"I believe it will."
He rested his chin lightly against her head.
"Eli?"
"Yes?"
"I'll do everything and anything to make sure that we break your curse, and this time, you'll be free from it but I want you to promise me something."
His shoulders tensed up at that, his heart raced.
It was unexpected but whatever it was that she wanted, he was more than willing to give.
"Tell me what it is, my Donna, and let me grant it to you immediately."