Warrior's Heart

Reunion

-Merun-

James nearly crushed me with the force of his hug. I laughed, extricating myself from his grasp.

"How are you here?" I questioned, noticing his hair, "And what happened to your hair?"

He grumbled in annoyance, rolling his eyes, "Some idiots decided to come try to enslave my people. They cut off my hair, but don't worry. It was avenged."

Giggles bubbled up in my chest when he said that. His hair, avenged?

"And my people are safe too, so don't worry," he smiled, wrapping his arms around me again.

Justin cleared his throat behind me, looking between the two of us, "Prince Merun, won't you explain to me who this... um... gentleman is?"

"Oh, sorry, this is James. James, this is the ever-annoying Justin Roanek." I introduced them, beaming.

Justin rolled his eyes, annoyed at being called annoying.

"Good to meet you," James said amicably.

Justin nodded, but didn't acknowledge him any further. Instead, he turned to me, his eyes narrowed, "Now that you've seen your friend, isn't it time to get going?"

The two ships had pulled alongside one another, putting a plank across so that we could cross to James's ship. Even so, we would need to leave soon.

"Are you coming with us?" I asked James.

He smiled and nodded, turning to the crew members on deck, "Hey!"

They all looked at him with wide eyes. I stifled a laugh.

"Take the people you captured back to Estraleon and set them free," he instructed, "And if I ever catch any of you enslaving people again, I'll cut your balls off and make you eat them for breakfast."

Scared out of their wits, they all nodded in understanding.

James smiled at turned back to me, "Okay, we can go."

Justin had his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide as he stared James up and down.

James took my hand and we crossed the plank back onto the ship I had been travelling on. Soon we were on our way again, and James shared with me the next clue in our search.

"One of the slavers sold your brother to a slave auction on the coast of Illeium. He gave me the name of the guy running the auction," James explained.

I smiled, "Thank you. Now we can go find him."

***

That evening, James and I caught up over dinner. We took turns recounting our adventures since our parting, eating on the deck near the bow of the ship. I was leaned up against him, laughing as he explained what had happened when he was captured by the slavers. He really was ridiculous, but it scared me a little too. He could have gotten seriously injured.

Justin stomped up to us, looking grumpy as ever, "Merun, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, go ahead. Want to join us?" I offered, motioning for him to sit.

His frown deepened, and he looked between the two of us, "No, actually I just need to talk to you. Not him."

"That's alright, I'll go find us some water, okay?" James got to his feet, smiling gently at me.

"Oh, okay," I muttered. Once James had left, I glared at Justin, "What's your problem?"

"My problem! What's your problem?" Justin retorted, crossing his arms, "How do you know you can trust him?"

"Well I've certainly known him longer than I've known you," I snapped in response.

Justin snorted, "As if that matters. You could have known someone your entire life and that wouldn't make them trustworthy."

"What did you want to talk about?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow. I didn't want to argue, especially not now that I had James near me again. It put me in a good mood and I didn't want to spoil it.

"Him," Justin growled, "I don't trust him. He could just be using you to get closer to the crown."

Laughter bubbled up inside of me at the idea of James cozying up to me to get the crown. Yeah, right. "James didn't even know what a crown was until he met me."

"I still don't," James interjected, coming up behind Justin.

The palace guard nearly jumped three feet into the air in surprise. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Just a moment." He handed Justin one of the three glasses of water balanced in his arms, then gave one to me, "I understand why you don't trust me, but you trust Merun, don't you?"

Justin sighed and nodded, already seeing where this was going.

"Well, Merun hasn't told me to go away yet, so I assume he trusts me," James wiggled his eyebrows at me, causing me to laugh. "Besides, when all this is over, I will most likely return home anyway. Then you won't have to worry about me trying to get close to this 'crown'."

"You're still going back?" I asked him, sadness clawing at my heart.

His brown eyes found mine, "Unless you wish for me to stay?"

I opened my mouth to respond, "I--"

"Your Highness, surely this man has a life of his own wherever he is from," Justin interrupted, "Duties to attend to, as you do."

"At the very least, I need to make sure they're okay and let them know I'm okay," James explained, "But after that, my life is mine to decide. I am no longer the Chief of my tribe and therefore am free to choose my own path."

I couldn't keep the smile off of my face. Would he consider returning to Estraleon with me? Perhaps he would even consider accepting a courtship with me. I blushed when I realized how strongly I wanted that. A relationship with him was something I longed for more strongly than I had ever imagined.

Justin looked between the two of us, looking about ready to puke. But honestly, he'd done so so many times since boarding the ship that it wouldn't be all that far-fetched. "Fine, I'll leave you two alone. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," James and I both chorused at once.

Alone once more, we looked up at the stars. I snuggled up at his side, his arm around my shoulders.

"James?" I hazarded, looking at him through lowered lashes.

His gorgeous eyes found mine, gentle and kind, "Yes, Merun?"

"Would you ever consider coming to live with me in Estraleon? Once all of this is settled and your people are taken care of?" I looked away, unable to meet his gaze as I asked this.

He thought for a long moment, his grip tightening on me, "Yes, but only if I know my people are protected and cared for."

I smiled. I wouldn't have it any other way.

We stayed cradled in each other's arms beneath the stars, the wind on our faces and the moon shining down on us. To me, the time we spent together was perfect. I only hoped that we could continue like this forever.