The Tale of a Princess and Her Journey to Love

Chapter Five

"Oh Theo... I am going to miss you so much." Aurora sighed miserably as the fresh sea air whipped her long loose locks around her face.

The sun had barely risen and she was not even dressed yet, instead wearing a long dark robe to conceal her nightgown. She felt truly exhausted and could count on one hand how long she had slept for the previous night, but she was determined to wave Theo and Ana off. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying her heart when she should have slept, but Aurora did not care about her appearance.

"I am going to miss you too my darling." Theo murmured as he pulled her into a warm embrace. "Go back and rest now, you look tired."

"So do you." Aurora replied sadly, raising one hand to caress his smooth jaw. "Send your mother my love, ok?"

"Of course. Well... I better say goodbye to your parents now." Theo mumbled, although he did not make an effort to let her go.

It was only Theo, Annalise, the King and Queen, Aurora and a couple of guards (preventing any of the early risers from interfering with the parting) at the docks. King Markus and Queen Genevieve were currently saying goodbye to Ana, although they had noticed that Aurora and Theodosius were embracing for an unusually long time. As Theo pulled back from her with a watery smile, Aurora choked back a sob and turned to face the unsettled dark seas causing Theo's grand ship to bob up and down. She desperately tried to hold back tears, but as she contemplated how many weeks and possibly months she would be apart from Theo, a couple drops of sadness escaped the hold.

"Oh Ro I am going to miss you so much." Annalise exclaimed behind her.

Ro quickly turned to bring her into a hug, hating that she was losing two of her closest friends in one day.

"I am going to miss you too! You are like a s-sister to me." Aurora revealed through her tears.

"And you are the sister I have never had! We can write to each other though Aurora and I will see you soon." Annalise insisted as her chocolate eyes swum with tears.

"Of course we will. Thank you for everything you have done for me Ana, we will certainly keep in touch." Aurora promised as they pulled back from the hug and smiled at each other affectionately one last time.

With a march of heavy-booted steps came the announcement that the ship was ready to sail, which sliced daggers through Aurora's heart one more time. She was desperate for this all to be a dream and wake up to another day full of adventures with her love, but the beginning of an ice-cold drizzle dampening her wild hair and the pain in her heart let her know this was all very much her reality. She turned to look at Theo who was once again being thanked by her parents for returning their lost daughter to them. As Ana gave her hand one last squeeze Theo turned to look at her, the dark circles and troubled expression not hindering his handsomeness at all.

They had agreed to keep their relationship secret for now, but when Theo saw how broken yet beautiful Aurora looked, he could not help striding forward and kissing her for the whole world to see. The start of the soft touch sent a strong feeling of warmth spiralling through Aurora's system. Her eyes closed fearlessly, but the closure did not let her see darkness, it instead created colours of fondness. Her tense nerves soon began to relax, her troubles and her pain began to melt away and their surroundings begun to disappear leaving only her and Theo. This felt true. This felt right. Theo's lips were so gentle and warm, and she felt her hands begin to slide up his chest and encircle his neck as the kiss began to grow heavy, as both were desperate not to let this moment end.

Sadly a few moments later they had to pull away and face the reality of the situation, Aurora's cheeks staining red when she noticed her mother looking like she was going to faint and father looking highly displeased.