I sensed a change in Tatiana, she had a faraway look in her eyes.
"Talk to me Tatiana, tell me what happened, did the King hurt you?" I asked with concern.
"When he caught me spying on you in the looking glass, he punished me." she said, and looked away.
"What did he do to you?" I asked, ready to kill him if he so much as laid a finger on her.
"He locked me up in the crystal cage for a few days and stripped me of my powers!" she said, but I did not detect anger in her voice.
"And how did that make you feel?" I asked her, curious to know more.
"Well at first I was furious, but after a few hours, having much time to myself, many feelings surfaced that I did not know I carried." she said.
"And what may those feelings be?" I asked, hoping she would be willing to share them with me.
"A long time ago, Kheelan was very drunk and slept with another woman, and that killed me inside. The pain was unbearable, and I went on a rampage to get revenge." she said sadly.
"And you used me to get even with your husband?" I asked, trying to ignore the rising anger in my voice.
"At first yes, but as the years went by, I developed deep feelings for you." she said softly.
"How deep?" I asked her, eagerly waiting for her response.
"I thought I was in love with you Alexander, but while I sat in the cage, I realized that it was all an illusion. I was angry and dissapointed in my husband, and wanted to hurt him as he had hurt me." she said, and my ego was hurt by her admission.
"So you are saying that you no longer care for me?" I asked her with a sinking heart.
"I will always love you in my own way, Alexander, but my husband is the one I truly love. I never stopped loving him. I allowed the anger to control me, and I created a bubble around me so I wouldn't get hurt again, but in my heart I know that he is the one, he has always been the one, but I was too stubburn to admit it." she said, and I looked at her speechless.
A part of me felt used and abused, my ego part of me, but the other part of me felt relief that she will no longer come between me and my wife.
I took her hands in mine and said softly,"You will always hold a special place in my heart Tatiana. I have been around you for the past five hundred years, you are a part of my past, and now being Christophers God mother, you will be a part of my future. I am happy to know that you and Kheelan still love each other, in fact, I think you are exactly where you were meant to be." I told her and I raised her hands to my lips and kissed them.
""Thank you for understanding Alexander." she said with tears in her eyes.
"I understand fully." I told her, suddenly missing my wife with a passion.
"Will you still come and visit me?" she asked hopeful.
"Of course I will, did you think to be rid of me that easy?" I laughed, and pulled her in my arms and hugged her tight.
We held each other for a while, knowing that one chapter of our live's closed and another was about to open.
I pulled away first and asked, "You will still honor your word and fight next to us when the walls drop right?"
"There is no place I'd rather be when those walls drop than fighting by your side my friend." she said.
"Thank you Tatiana." I said, and reached out and caressed her cheek.
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