Dakelo. (Book 2 of the White Lily Trilogy)

chapter 42- It all goes wrong

She slowly opened her eyes.  It took her moments to realise she was no longer stuck in the reel of memories, even though some of the images still flashed by like lightning. She had no idea how long she had been reliving the lost memories, whether the whole process took hours, or even minutes.  But she realised it was still dark in the room, that was for certain. There was no sign of morning being underway either. She was sitting propped up against something, or someone. A warm breath bushed her hair and she could feel his heart thumping against her cheek.  She went to say something, or show indication she was awake, when she realised Valin was singing. She pretended to still be asleep when she listened. She smiled to herself as she listened to the soft melody, a song about the pure joy he was feeling at that exact moment.

    "Valin?" she whispered, pretending to stir.  His voice cut off and under her cheek she heard his heart do a few flutter-beats. He kissed the top of her head.

    "I'm here," he replied just as quietly. "How do you feel?" he asked, showing concern as he took her hand. She pushed herself upright and rubbed at her head with her free hand. She wondered what he possibly saw during the whole experience, or was it just her?  She didn't remember too much of the physical side of it, though she was embarrassed to say she wish she did.

     "I don't know. I can't work it out; it was all so much..."   

    "Don't worry, it will pass," he laughed softly. '"While you slept I dressed you. I had to close the curtains; else I wouldn't get past the wings.' She looked down and saw that she was wearing her night-dress. Valin too was dressed once again. "For a moment I thought you had passed out on me, was I that bad?' She laughed.

    "No," she simply replied. "You were perfect." He kissed her on the forehead. "We finally got there in the end."

   "We did indeed." He frowned when he saw her expression. "What's with that look? There's no need to cry. If I wasn't good enough then I apologise." Isildilia touched her cheeks and realised she was silently crying again. Her mind was so caught up in her overbearing thoughts she didn't realise the tears warming her cheeks.

    "It's not you, you idiot," she laughed. He raised his eyebrow.

    "I guess there are still one or two human behaviours I don't understand." She crouched up on his lap and looked him square in the eye. "What are you doing?" he asked.

   She lent in closer so her lips were right next to his ear. "I remember you," she whispered. His body jolted, and his body went unnaturally tense, like he was ready to bolt forward to fight.

    "What was that?" he asked, his voice so low she almost had problems hearing him.

    "I remember you," she repeated, this time biting him lightly on his ear, just like she saw in the memories. Valin's breath shuddered as he suddenly reached around her. He squeezed her rather tightly, clamping her arms against her sides. But considering the situation, she didn't say anything about it, even though it was uncomfortable.

    "For years," he sobbed. "I had longed for you to remember me."

    "I'm sorry. Valin I understand if you never forgive me for what I did, I didn't intend for it to turn out this way." That wasn't true, that was how Lily wanted it to turn out. He pulled her back and she saw that he was crying quite profusely.

   "All that doesn't matter, it was in the past. What matters now is that you are here with me. If I knew that was what it took I might have come here sooner. How much do you remember?"

   "Just bits and pieces, everything hasn't come back," she admitted.

    "Maybe it will take several tries," he joked. Isildilia rolled her eyes at him, now that sounded more like him.