The Exiled Gem

Mabel Leaves for Good

'Controlling,' he agreed. 'To the last degree. And turns out, anybody who knew her, swears I am a replica. If that should mean...'

'Oh well, you are controlling.' Alexandra assured. 'But with the job you have, if you weren't a little wicked - that is, witty and crafty - such a huge kingdom like Vedessa wouldn't have stayed together for long.'

'It was already breaking apart,' he informed, shaking his head. 'Oh yes it was, especially from the west - because that was where Cartania is, and they act all friendly, but they do not hesitate a second before backstabbing. Vellesmere? All their doing - but not theirs alone, not as much as Ethan's.'

He never called his father, "father". With unassumed impoliteness, when Liam was the most civil of men she knew, he called his own, late father by the name. Why did that make Alexandra appreciate him all the more? Perhaps because she could not stand a simpleton, a shallow man with rigid notions. Wit allured to her much more, and upon that, witty humor - which Liam possessed abundantly - was "perfection" to her. The world knew, one loved only such people who could effortlessly replace one's frowns with smiles.

'I've been meaning to tell you something.' He said, closing the topic of the past with a single sentence. As much of the history was enough for the day, and Alexandra was all ears.

'Come on, tell me.'

'I was a so overwhelmed that night ...' Liam began, 'and so indignant at your recklessness,' he added, exhaling, 'that I completely forgot to say it.' He stopped to take another breath, 'And after that, we were constantly in company. Not that it was impossible to say it then, but the lonelier it is, the better. Because ... the more personal it is, the truer it will be.' Another small pause, but not a long one.

'I love you, Alexandra.' Liam whispered, it came naturally as that - anything louder would have seemed fake. 'I loved you when I saw you for the first time. I loved you when I saw you again in those crowds, though there were a thousand others present. I loved you all the more when I visited you in the infirmary, because you were so true - and so brave - and so beautiful. I loved you the most when you were unwilling to go to Doveland, and I came so close, then, to confessing my love, that not doing so made me feel like the stupidest man on earth. Oh, but I was scared - both of losing you, as well as of discouraging you from going back there. And when you announced of the impending war - my love was tipping over to a slight madness. There were a hundred times I should have done it, I should have said it and confessed it - but perhaps it had to be this way. And - trust me - this way is beautiful.'

Warm satisfaction reigned in her heart, simple delight, and a thumping love. She shook her head and rode on for a while, with no reply, enjoying the pleasant silence around them.  

'I know.' Alexandra replied, finally. 'How can I not, when I've reciprocated it all along? And by the virtue of that, I become the stupidest woman on earth.' She stopped for a small grin. 'Some people make a pretty pair together, others make the perfect pair and some make the closest pair.' She told him, then patted Mercury to slow down, so that she look at Liam, instead of looking ahead. 'You and me, King Liam,' Alexandra continued, 'let's make the stupidest pair on the planet, together.'

And when they had stopped laughing, when they had decided to look at the serious part of it, she remembered of another ordeal. A more serious, in fact the most distressing of things: that she no longer possessed the Emerald ring. But when she voiced it out, she was told that in order to be a queen, she would have to stop worrying about such small things and instead, focus on the bigger picture.

To which, naturally, she questioned what the "bigger picture" was. And apparently, the bigger picture was that they could hunt (shop, that is, but Liam's vocabulary had always been vibrant) for another one.