Chương 12: Chapter 11 - Complications
Diamant woke up with a start. She had it again, the nightmare, her Grandpa's talking head. She was sweating profusely and her sight was blurry.
Someone rushed to her, trying to comfort her so she could stop her violent jerking . She saw the fireplace burn brightly then she felt the strong arms around her and large bare chest pressed against her face.
Her heartbeat raced with fear and she started struggling. She felt it all like that night, the face of the Major General flashing before her eyes.
She could hear his voice and he was saying something but whatever it was, she couldn't hear. Her heart was pounding in her ears.
He soothed her hair in a bid to calm her down.
"It is I, Aaron." He murmured repeatedly against her hair and she slowly stopped fighting him. Her eyes misted with tears and her shoulders shook violently as she fell into an uncontrollable sob, her walls cracking with every heartbeat.
He didn't say anything but he made sure not to let her go and Diamant appreciated his silence. She didn't need anyone muttering to her sweet impossible words of her escaping her present predicament or even an "it will be okay", she didn't need anyone to tell her that lie.
They stayed that way for a while till her eyes no longer spilled tears and all that could be heard was her quiet appreciation that was interrupted by an occasional sniffle.
Realizing that she had slept the day off, she wanted to go back to Sunain but Aaron insisted that she stayed. It was dangerous, dark, raining heavily , and she wasn't in the best state to wander into the forest.
It wasn't until that moment that she heard the aggressive lashes of the rain against the roof and the howling of the strong breeze that bashed against the window. Seeing that there wasn't anyother wiser decision, she closed her eyes and agreed to go back in the morning, but it had to be really early.
"So you've always lived alone?" Diamant asked finishing her bowl of food. Her face beamed with a warm smile.
"No." He replied, he guiding her to bed.
He smiled at her and although the fireplace was already slowly burning out, Aaron's smile seemed lit up the room. The way his eye twinkled whenever he smiled made her feel...at peace?
"I used to live here with my father. We own this hunting ground. I come from a long lineage of hunters, so hunting is what we do." He narrated.
"And your mother?"
"She is dead, she died a long time ago." The light in his eyes slowly died, seeing that, Diamant felt cold creeped into her body.
He turned away from her.
He must love his mum so much.
He went to sit at the other side of the bed and looked ahead blankly. Diamant could still hear the rain beating against the roof. The aroma of the meal still lingered in the room.
Without thinking, she sat up to hug his back but hesitated. When the silence lingered, she did.
He was shocked and he turned his head to look at her but her face was pressed against his back, so he looked away.
"I am here for you." Diamant wasn't sure if that helped or if that was what she was even meant to say. She didn't even have a future but at least for now, she was here for him.
Her words filled his heart with warmth and a little smile appeared on his lips.
"Thank you." He got up, allowing her hands to fall from him.
"You need to get some sleep." He said, tucking her into bed.
Diamant eyed the other side of the bed and looked up at him, "where will you sleep?"
"Another room." He replied dismissively, leaving her side.
Her hand caught his large and rough palm. When she realized what she was doing, she trembled. She almost took it back but he held her before she could.
Tension clouded the air, her gaze still focused on their intertwined hands.
"I will stay." He said
She looked up at him, blinking while she nodded.
He settled beside her on the bed and time seemed to drag slowly by, the sound of the rain hitting violently against the roof still continued, harmonizing itself with their tensed and rapsy breathing.
She trembled from the cold and he drew her into a warm embrace. His breath fanned her face. The smell of the woods, roasted meat and sharp mint rushed down her lungs.
Her breath paused in shook, she grew more aware of herself and she ticked her tongue against the roof of her mouth silently. She loved the warmth but weren't they too close? Yet didn't this happen in some of the books she read? But had they ever ended well? Maybe...maybe not.
Still, the peace she felt made her not fight it. Her eyes were shut tight. The more she felt the warmth his arms provided, the more her breath grew steady, sleep slowly stealing her away.
Aaron listened to her steady breathing and smiled. Her hair smelt like the rain...like home.
"I love you."
Diamant's heart beat wildly. So that is what this was? Love? Was that how it happened in the books? Was this it?
Confusion filled her mind. She had only a handful of encouters with guys because of their constant running. All her ideas on actual love were those read out from lines of different books! She didn't know if she loved him, she didn't even know if she should. Could she define what she felt for him as love, or was it just because he was who she had right now?
She wanted to say something back to him but her lips pressed tightly together. There was nothing to say.
She felt peace around him, that was it, at least for now. Or maybe feeling peace around someone was love.
Maybe not.
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Sunain had stayed up the whole night waiting for Diamant, worried sick about her but something told her she was okay.
Maybe Diamant was okay, probably with this hunter she had mentioned a couple of times but she wasn't.
She had twirled her necklace, holding the pendent shaped like a wave, in her hand while the cold morning breeze seeped into her, her butt had ached from sitting on the flat stone for too long. Her toes had dug into the sand wet from dew and rain while she had battled with the memories of her family and her stuffed nose.
"The dead are gone and they are happy..." She had muttered to herself repeatedly as tears wet her face and drops of rain ran through her black curly hair.
She had waited in hope that Diamant would come and comfort her but then the rain must have held her. Diamant hated staying out at night.
Added to her problems now was her sense of taste that had taken a painful break. To clear her stuffed nose, she had taken a wrong medicine that worsened her situation. She cursed herself for refusing to label the bottles, she had always made it all based on her sense of smell and now she was in trouble.
She felt miserable when the Gimbai assigned her to the new Minister that just arrived few days ago.
This minister was different, he must be the one everyone was talking about. The one they all called the Master of the Ships.
The drawings on the wall were different.
Sunain doubted if she had ever been to this room before.
Guards were scattered outside the room. Coming in, Sunain had been inspected but then there were places not to be touched.
Sunain lightly pressed her soft hands against the Minister's flabby back.
"Hmmm, isn't that so sweet. It must come from you." He said, his voice hoarse.
Sunain felt sorry for herself, she couldn't really tell the fragrance she used.
She fooled him into taking his bath while she pulled off her robes. He listened and Sunain used that opportunity to pour in his drink her portion, paying attention to his loud disturbing whistling to be able to predict his movement.
When he came out, he smiled broadly seeing her skimpy dressed. He had only one braid through his almost bald head, the tail which stopped at his neck. His face was round and almost looked flat. His teeth were short and had numerous brown spots, his thick black lips made them almost look like they didn't exist.
She handed him his goblet and he pulled her to himself, teasingly asking for a toast and so they drank.
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"What are you doing here?" Clara asked angrily as she quickly locked the door. Her hands smoothened her long white dress, her oblong face creased in a frown.
"You are not happy to see me, my Star?" Lewis asked, confused, brushing back a strand of his black hair into its gelled position.
"I don't know? I don't know if your presence is torture to me? I can't have you, I can't be with you." Clara said pacing around the room.
"What are you saying? I will come up with a plan, I told you that I am not going to give up on us." He said as he walked to her.
He hugged her but she pushed him away. His heart broke, he felt so confused. Had he done something wrong?
"You don't understand, you just don't understand!" She said walking to the bed. She sat on it and started crying, bringing up the long sleeves of her dress to hide away her tears. He wanted to comfort her but he couldn't. He was so confused.
"My marriage is in two weeks, Nana told me. The Dragon Lord has being planning it for sometime now, they need an heir." She laughed humourlessly.
"No!" Lewis muttered, falling to his knees while his world crashed against him.
"Do you have a plan, a plan that would need less than a week?" She asked, daring to hope.
"I would just tell him." He stood up and walked to her, he held her hand.
"Clara, we would just tell him. Tell him that we love each other, maybe he would stop all these." He ranted on.
"Have you gone mad, Lewis. You speck absolute nonsense, I dare to say. He would kill us. Kill me for cheating, cheating with my heart, kill you for daring to love me. You think he cares about what we feel? To him, I am just a step to getting what he wants." Clara said and she paused. Her words weighed heavily in her heart and different thoughts ran through her mind.
She walked away from him and headed to the door, she unlocked it.
"I must let you leave. It hurts me but I have to let you go." She said, her lips trembling slightly.
His eyes clouded with sadness and he shook his head.
"No! Clara, you can't be giving up on us."
"This is my life now, Lewis. I can not selfishly hold you back." She replied with determination.
"We still have two weeks, we can still do something." He pressured.
"And kill everyone? Cause the death of everyone in the Star Tribe?" Clara questioned with tears in her eyes.
Then she adjusted her poise and looked blankly ahead.
"As your future queen, I command you to leave." An underlying coldness stole away all the tenderness in her voice.
Lewis heart shattered, there was no way she could give up. It was Clara, His Star! And she loved him, he was certain about how madly in love they were. There was no way this could be happening.
"Oh, you will be Queen of course and the only Kingdom you will be ruling is my heart and not Alusa." Lewis replied back harshly and left.
Clara locked the door firmly and slowly fell to the ground, her silky elaborate gown spreading across the floor while her back rested against the door. Her shoulders trembled lightly before her whole body wreaked in a quiet sob.
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Natty rubbed her lips furiously. She hated the fact that she had to kiss the head guard and tell him some promises she had no plans of ever fulfilling and all of these just to spy on Sunain.
Now she just wished she could find that door first. She should have asked the head guard but she wanted to get away from him quickly so she forgot. Then she saw one door not fully ajar. The guards that had seen her have been instructed not to interrupt her as she was there to deliver a message and they obeyed.
"Should I announce your presence, my Lady." The guard stationed close to the door she had noticed requested.
"No, there will be no use for that." She replied quickly, smacking her rosy plump lips against each other while she fibbled with her gown anxiously.
She thought of several ways to make this guard go away. She caught him looking at her exposed cleavage and he quickly looked away. The idea of seducing him crossed her mind but she didn't feel like it at the moment and she discarded the thought.
She just had a great feeling that this was the room. She was glad to have taken care of the head, if not she wouldn't have been able to even get this far.
Like a wish come true, the guard was summoned. So he left, leaving Natty to push the door open quietly. She could see Sunain and she was glad.
But she saw something else. Sunain took a small bottle and poured some of the content of it in one drink.
She then saw her handing the drink over to the Minister, Minister Nein, The Master of Ships. She couldn't see clearly from where she was but she saw the minister gulp down the content of the goblet before shoving it in Sunain's face.
Natty bit her lips, disappointed. So they were just getting drunk before laying together? That was the secret?! She always did more than that. She had always danced for them and who could resist her when she moved her body seductively to the soft music. How disappointing. This was a waste of time.
She wanted to turn away when she saw the minister fall to floor, holding his stomach in pain.
She gasped and turned around to leave immediately, crashing into the guard who was just returning back to his position. He pressed to know if he should announce her presence but she ran off without giving him a reply.
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Diamant came back to an empty room. She had woken up late in the afternoon and was a little pissed that Aaron didn't wake her up earlier. He apologized but he wasn't sorry, he wanted her to stay and her departure met his reluctance.
Still the way out of the forest was still so confusing to Diamant so Aaron had to guide her.
Diamant hummed lightly as she changed her dress. Sunain must be away at the Pleasure House again. Many thoughts ran across her mind, her grandfather's secret and Aaron.
Aaron...
She still thought about his confession, she creased her eyebrows in confusion. Something just wasn't right. Wasn't it all too fast, too soon but love never obeyed the pace. It was like that sometimes in the books. Yet she was still finding it hard to different between peace and love. Why should she even worry? It wasn't like she had a future.
She remembered the first death she saw when she got to Alusa, the one with the spy and the warrior.
She smiled sadly to herself. If she allowed herself to love him that would be them.
She kept on thinking about this until she got distracted by something. Sunain's bottles were there on the table.
Diamant panicked. Without them, she would have to...do it! Diamant grabbed the bottles quickly and hurried out. She had to get to Sunain as soon as she could.
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Clara sat down as her measurements were taken. She looked uninterested in the whole process.
"Two weeks, two weeks." She thought in her head as her eyes misted with tears.
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Sunain was dragged away by some guards. Minister Nein had just drank from the cup and had fallen on the ground in pain. She had been confused and tried to do something but without her sense of taste and smell all her attempts were futile.
Then Gimbai and Natty had busted into the room. The bottle she had with her had dropped as her hands trembled in shock and fear. It all came back to her, the moment the bottle broke she could smell it, taste it.
Her heart raced madly, it was poison.
Poison...
Poison because it should only be applied to injuries and not taken it. Her eyes watered as she had tried to defend herself.
The Gimbai eyes had clouded with disappointment and she rushed to the Minister who at that time, already had blood running from his nose.
"I didn't want to poison him!" Sunain shouted as the guards dragged her away while she struggled against their hold, her long gown brushing against the sandy ground.
She had managed to slip it on before they all arrived.
"This is all wrong! Please Gimbai, you have to trust me."
The Gimbai did not say a word. Her wrinkly face was tightened in a frown, her broad shoulders were hard and her grey hair was packed in a bun. Her eyes held no sympathy as the guards dragged Sunain away. Then she saw Diamant who was holding some bottles. She struggled and broke lose then she ran to her.
"I have the antidote, it is in the box and the key..." Sunain couldn't complete it, she had been knocked out by an angry guard. Blood dripped from her nose and she fell to the ground.
He carried her over to the rest and they left.
The key... Where was the key?
Diamant knew that Sunain was in big trouble. If she needed an antidote then had she poisoned a minister?
"She took the wrong bottles!" Diamant eyes widened in realization.
She turned quickly to their room. She had to find that key. If the minister dies then that means death for Sunain too. She would be accused of murder.
Diamant's heart clenched in pain at that thought.
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