Wildfire

Twenty Four

"Careful, Darling..." Emrys is gentle as he eases me into the steaming water of one of the more secluded pools of the spring, his body acting as my anchor as I follow him into the hot water. My prince leads us to the opposite end of the pool where it is deepest, a small waterfall pouring in next to us from one of the rock formations that separates it from one of the main pools. 

Emrys himself sits and allows himself to rest against one of the geothermally heated boulders that are lined up next to it, a small chuckle sounding when I hesitate to follow the hand that wants to pull me to him, my own fingers refusing to let him go so that I might ease myself onto my knees and let the hot water pour over my shoulders for a moment before letting myself be drawn to my sweet fiance so that I might rest in his lap while we soak together for the first time. 

Emrys is not what I expected him to be... I had expected someone that I would need to fear... Someone cruel and unkind... The type of man you would expect to have been raised by King Xiang* as sour and broken as he is... 

But instead... My fiance is the kind of man who takes the time to wash my feet with his own hands instead of ordering a maid to do it... The kind of man who instead of asking me if I am sure it would not be easier on us both to just cut my hair, the length of it having never been touched by shears... Washed it for me and patiently untangled it with his fingers... I may not be able to see his face at the moment... But I know my Emrys is a beautiful man, inside and out. 

The more time I spend with him the more time I think that maybe he is not the one responsible for shutting me out of the palace and making me feel so displaced in my family... Maybe that was not his decision at all... He simply hadn't been aware of me or my longing to feel like a true member of my family... For if he had I know he would not have denied such a simple request... He had been the one who had said I could stay and be presented after all... 

...

Emrys

...

I do not think I shall ever tire of how right my little Moon Beam feels in my arms... The way his weight settles itself so delicately in my lap as we cuddle and take in the beauty that resides in the nature around us, Rayne's eyes flutter closed as he settles into me with a fondness that makes me feel so warm with joy that the water around us starts to fizzle as it laps against my skin.

The increase in temperature brings forth a soft sigh and a nuzzle that of contentment that causes me to need the taste of him on my lips so greatly that I have no other choice but to fish him out of my shoulder by the chin so that I might kiss him, slowly and softly until I myself feel the need to sigh with just how perfect he is. 

It takes no effort at all to cuddle my little snowflake close to me, my own eyes closing when his do so that we both might relax and listen to the birds as they call to each other in the trees... Our nature bathing interrupted when the clearing of a throat sounds, my eyes snapping open as I pull Rayne off my lap and place him as gently and swiftly as I can behind me so that my Father's eye might not roam my fiancee's body freely. 

My love whimpers and sinks himself until the water is just under his chin, his body turned away from us just as he should in front of any man who is not myself or Kanaye just as I turn back to my Father and demand of him, "What do you want?"

This is not just inappropriate, it is cruel. To think not of Rayne's modesty or how he might feel still being so vulnerable after last night, Father's unexpected entry is rude and worthy of the anger that rises up in my chest as he sneers at me. 

"Relax yourself. I was just coming to discover for myself why you've chosen to laze about all morning instead of joining the rest of us for breakfast. We still have guests you know...The Cloud family still has yet to take their leave and I had to sit and suffer Akeno and his wife all by myself!" The miserable excuse of a man that my father has become talks down his nose at me while picking at his nails, this moment not the first time that I've wished to strike him as of late... It seems as though with every day that goes by he becomes more and more twisted.

"I have not lazed about. I shall be resting with Rayne until he is well again, and you will be leaving right now!" Even if Rayne hadn't been hurt last night, it is not irregular for a Prince who has just found his bride to keep himself and his new treasure locked away for the first few days of their courtship so that they may get to know each other without the prying eyes of other's looking on, "You truly have lost all shame, Father."

To bother us in such a delicate time over having to entertain what is now the other half of our family is exactly the kind of pettiness that I have come to expect from him, though I have to admit that his intrusion on our bath fall things is in fact lower than my original expectations.

"Oh don't be so dramatic. A few broken ribs here or there only builds character in people of his station. Isn't that right, Mutt?"

...

*- In chapter five there was a typo where King Xiang was written as King Indra. It was due to some unfortunate brain fog that day and has been corrected.