Heart's Desire

Chapter 27

Jesse waited at the top of the hill for her to rise and chase him again. She did not. Time passed. The sun was setting behind him as he ventured closer to her. He had not been able to spare her. Every time he had allowed her to get closer to him, only to fail worked to encourage her more than to discourage her. Why hadn't she quit? Why had she died rather than give up the chase. He just could not understand it. Did he really mean that much to this unknown woman. Had he affected her life some much that she was willing to die rather than be without him.

"You did the same thing," the voice inside his head reminded him. He gave the voice a dirty look in return. He did not want to be reminded of that. He did not want to think about the pain and the suffering that he had just gone through to save Haven from Bel. Wasn't it enough that he had gone through it? Was not it enough that his life had ended once. That he had this black ring on his finger and the scars on his body to forever reminded him of what he gave up to save his home.

"What makes you think it wasn't the same for her?" his mind retorted. Jesse clasped his hands to his head in exasperation.

"You stupid figment of my imagination," he told it, "stop making me think and get out! I don't need you any more."

The voice sighed, "If you didn't need me I wouldn't be talking to you," it informed him, "you know as well as I do that I'm a part of you. I am your survival instinct. I am your conscious, and today I am your voice of reason."

Jesse could not deny it. He just did not want to have to admit it either. It was frustrating to know that a part of him liked to separate itself from him for his own good. Did this happen to normal people? If it didn't, did that make him abnormal? He had no answer for that. There just did not seem to be one. He did not want to dwell on it either. His mind was still on the dead woman at his feet. He was right on top of her now. He gave Lightning some head so he could lean down and sniffed the body. The horse did just that. Then he stuck out his tong and licked the woman face clearing away some of the dirt and the blood that had collected there. She did not move. Her eyes remained open but unseeing. Lightning took tow steps back. Jesse could feel the horse's need to run away from this place of death. There was too much blood spilt here. It gave the air a metallic sent.

The air. Jesse breathed it in. He suddenly had the urge to know what the last words of this dieing woman were. Jesse called the winds to him. They gathered around him shifting in and out of his cloths.

"What" said one.

"would," breathed another.

"you," said a third.

"have," said a fourth.

"of," said the first one again.

"us?" said a fifth one.

"Which ever of you has her last words tell them to me," said Jesse.

All the winds left him except one. It was the smallest of the winds. It hailed from the east and barely blew the prince's hair as it passed his ear.

"The words are..." it breezed, "you're worth it."

Tears pricked Jesse's eyes. He got down off of Lightning and went over to the still form. He lifted her into his arm and held her body close. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he climbed back into his saddle. How could he have been so blind as not to see the treasure he held in his arms from what she truly was? She was determination. She was resilience. Most importantly, she was personal choice. She had made the choice to chase after him come what may even unto death. There could be no greater sacrifice than to die for what one loved. Hadn't he done the same exact thing? Therefore, he did know exactly what this poor woman had gone through. The tears dripped down his chin in a flowing river. They fell onto her face. Each one wiping away a bit of dried blood and dirt from her face. One of the tears made it inside her lips. It skidded down her throne and into her heart.

Jesse felt something tug on the collar of his shirt. He opened his eyes in surprise. His vision was a little blurred around the edges but he could still see the blinking eyes of a living breathing woman beneath his hands.

"I got you," she breathed. Her voice was barely a whisper in the wind. "I got you," she repeated.

"You got me," he replied. The sun was rising as he road back towards the palace and their new life together.