The War of Ares (manxman) (boxyboy)

Chapter Thirteen - Just like you love the prince?

I looked deep into his eyes and saw something close to pain pooled in them. I was rendered speechless by the openness of it all. So he would have to be the one to speak if he wanted this to go anywhere, I realized. I wouldn’t be able to say anything until he broke away from me, and his pain stopped seeping into me

He didn’t look away, though. I didn’t understand why, but to me, it looked like he was searching for something. And I wondered if he could see my soul, like I saw his. I also wondered if he knew about the one he had. I wanted to call it beautiful. But I knew he’d tried to hide it for a long time, burying it behind all the pain. His soul was there, and while it was dusty and damaged, it wasn’t broken like the rest of him. Someone was obviously looking out for him because it had lasted there. Or maybe he hadn’t realized he was protecting it. By pushing it aside and burying it, maybe he had been protecting the one thing that could make him good again.

 “Get down,” he snapped, his voice like ice.

“Huh? Ari, could you be any more confusing? I was trying to get down and you stopped me.” I sighed. I couldn’t make my voice angry if I tried, so I tried to tease him instead. Hoping it would do something to lighten the mood.

 “No, you were running away. There’s a difference,” he said. “If you’re just going to leave like that, then I’ll train with you. If there won’t be time for it after today, I might as well use you while I have you.”

I was too tired, too confused to argue with him, so I complied. I landed on the hard ground with a thud and he followed suit.

“We need to work on your defense. You’re still only average when it comes to defending yourself. And that could be the one thing that saves your life,” I muttered as I picked up two fallen branches and threw one to him. He caught it without effort, a major improvement from where he’d started.

“I can defend myself,” he argued.

I raised an eyebrow and he scowled. The expression was more indignant than anything. Did he really believe that? I found it hard to believe he did. And why he seemed so upset now was even more confusing.

“You can?” I wasn’t even teasing him. I was trying to gage if he believed that or not.

“You don’t believe me? Have I not proven it to you over the last few weeks? Did saving your life not prove I can protect myself?”

“Saving my life?” He’d lost me now.

His scowl deepened. “From Noel! Do you not understand that he would have killed you earlier? How could you not understand that?”

I didn’t know whether I should be touched that he had done it to save me or not. But I was. I couldn’t stop the warmth that settled in the pit of my stomach at his words. It was possibly the nicest thing he had ever said to anyone in his life. And I was touched and honored that it was me he was saying them to. Not that I believed he actually cared about me or anything. I was never going to fool myself into that. But I was willing to accept that maybe he sort of liked me. Maybe.

It was possible.

Right?

Okay, so maybe I was just the slightest bit stupid. Coming back from the dead can do that to a person.

“I understand that perfectly,” I replied tensely. When I finally snapped back into the moment, he was watching me, a concerned frown marring his face. He titled his head to the side and brushed his finger along my jaw, soothingly, in a slow stroke. “Are you okay?” The words were barely a whisper and I would have struggled to hear them had I not been standing almost on him. It was hard to ignore the extra fast thumping of my heart when he spoke with concern.