"You're so silly," I giggle.
"You should smile more. You have the cutest dimples," Ian says. Ian decided it was a good idea to climb a tree to get a flower for me. He slipped twice before handing me the flower and sitting down. He had taken me to a small garden in one of the villages since I had seen the garden at the palace in my dreams. Solarians have just ignored us so, it has been quiet.
"That was so unnecessary." I put the flower down and face him on the bench.
"Maybe. I've got something for you." He pulls out two necklaces. The smaller one is silver and the bigger one is gold. They both have an infinity pendant. "I think this will remind us that we are together forever." He puts the smaller one on my neck and puts the bigger one on his own.
"I got you a present too." I pull out a silver key and hand it to him. "This is a metaphorical key."
"To what?"
"To my mind. You want to know me better. This key will allow you to open up my mind and ask anything you want. Only you have this." I look down at and then twists it. "I don't have any questions for you now but, thank you."
The solar eclipse had ended and everything is back to normal in the sky. Luna must be sad to leave Sol so quickly. I wonder how I would feel if I could only see the love of my life for a few minutes every once in a while. I can't even imagine the emotions I would feel.
"What would you do if you could only see me for a few minutes every once in a while?" I ask Ian.
He looks at me with a questioning look and then looks at the sky. "I wouldn't know what to do. I don't know how Sol does it. How would you handle it."
"I think I would be like Luna. I would try to see you as long and as much as possible." It's hard to believe how I was ready to marry someone I didn't love. I would've been unhappy for the rest of my life. Then this quest came along and I get to know him. He ends up falling for me and me liking him. When I start having dreams, I start seeing I could lead my own path into a new vision. I guess my feelings escalated when I found out he was working for his father or maybe when we sat down and just talked to each other when I was in that cell. The thought of his betrayal hurt me more than what it should've if I didn't like him. We stay silent for a long time. We seem not to have anything to really say to each other after we got married.
"What are you thinking?" he asks.
"I'm thinking about how silent we always are now that we're married. I also believe that that line should be our line."
"I guess we have nothing to talk about and that can be our line."
"Why do think we don't have anything to say?"
"I guess because we talked about everything yesterday night. Can you think of anything we didn't talk about?"
"I didn't tell you about my recent dreams." I told him about his journal and the peace treaty.
"That sounds nice."
"Do you have a journal?"
"Yes, I do."
"Can I read it?" I ask with big eyes.
"Maybe." I then smile.
"Okay, yes," he says reluctantly. "Your dimples are too cute. I don't know how I'm going to win arguments with you."
I wrap my arm around his shoulders. "Your right. Just deal with it."
We head back to the palace when night falls. Even at this hour, the Solarians are out and about. Most don't notice us, busy with their work. Lights fill each house so, no one is walking in complete darkness.
We reach the center of the town when some people come up to us. All of them wore clean decent clothes that match the vibrant attitude of the Solar Kingdom. "Who do you think you are?" a tall muscular man in the group yells. Ian puts an arm in front of me, pushing me behind him.
"Is there a problem here?" Ian asks them in an almost threatening voice.
"Yes, there is a problem that you created. You married a Starling and then make her our queen," a small woman says.
"Why is this a problem?" Ian places a hand on his sword.
"She isn't a Solarian. She is one of those nightcrawlers," another man says. This one has a pitchfork in hand. "Only Solarians should be on the throne. We should continue our fight with her people. We don't feel safe."
"You are our king now. You need to fix it. It's bad enough the fight stopped because Aidan and William made an agreement to create peace with this marriage. We don't want you as our Queen," another woman says.
"We need to work with the Twilight Kingdom, not fight them. Now that Luna and I are married, we can rule the kingdoms together."
The crowd grows bigger and surrounds us. "We don't want you," a little kid screams.
"You are not one of us," another little kid screams. A lot of the kids carry stones in their hands.
"Luna is my wife and your queen. You will show her the same respect you show me and showed my father." They didn't listen to him. They surge forward and pull Ian away from me and out of sight.
I feel something hard hit my back. A little kid's hand is stretched out from throwing it. A man attempts to hit me a wooden stick. I push it away and punch him with the palm of my hand in his face. He falls and another replaces him. I grab his stick and pull it pass me as I headbutt him. A woman comes at me with a frying pan. She hits my shoulder. I easily grab her weapon and hit her with it. Two men grab both of my arms and hold me as another one comes forward. He has brown eyes that look into my eyes. He smiles before punching my stomach. The crowd cheers as he continues hitting me. I can hear Ian screaming at the top of his lungs while three big guys hold him down.
This guy finally moves to my face. I don't feel a single punch. I will not let these people see me as defeated. My father told me to never satisfy my attacker. Let them get tired and then attack. I can feel his punches get slower. He is getting worn out. I take this as an opportunity to attack. I step on the guy's foot to my right. He lets me go as he holds his foot like a baby. I jab my elbow into the left guy's ribs. He doubles over in pain. The guy who was punching me steps back in shock.
The cheering stops. I put up my fists. Three men stand next to him. They all come at me. One tries to punch me in the face. Instead, I dodge it and smack him down. The next one puts his arm around my neck. I bite it and he lets go. Another comes and I simply hit him in the throat with a flat hand. While he chokes, another one throws me to the ground. I start feeling kicks and stones. I cover my head but, not before a stone hits me. My vision starts turning blurry. I can still hear Ian's screaming. This time I hear how much pain is in his voice.
As the kicking and the stones continue, I think about my dream of peace. There is no way that will happen. Then everything stops. They were debating who should go check to see if I'm dead. A woman does. I see an old metal piece on the ground. When the woman gets closer, I sit up quickly, grab the metal piece and then stab her in the leg. She falls holding her leg. More people rush towards me. Everyone who comes too close to me I stab. I really didn't care if I killed anyone. They started it.
I had just made a long gash on the side of a man's face when only kids stand around me. They look at each other and run. Some of the adults had run and others lay on the floor. The three men who held Ian, let him go to attack me but, Ian kicks one in the back, hits one in the forehead with his sword hilt, and slashes the last one's stomach.
"Are you hurt?" Ian asks me as he puts his hand on my shoulder. Now that he asked, I feel a slight pain in my stomach. I have scratches on my arm. Some were bleeding.
"Yeah but, I feel fine." The pain grew and I grab my stomach. My head starts to spin.
Ian grabs my arm to keep me from falling. I fall into him and my headache gets worse. "You're not okay. You need medical attention." That's when I black out.
*
"Hey, Beautiful."
Ian is standing over me with my hand in his. I look around and see I'm in our room. My arms don't have one scratch on them. My stomach feels better and my headache went down a little bit.
"Did I kill anyone?"
"Yes but only a few." Ian looks a little disappointed. He can't be too mad at me because it was self-defense. They were going to kill me. He must've read my face because then he says,"I know they were going to kill you. You had every right."
"You still look disappointed in me."
"I just don't like resorting to violence. Are you feeling any better?"
"A little bit, I still have a headache and my stomach hurts a little."
"They broke your ribs and luckily they didn't cause any permanent damage to your head." He says this with a touch of anger.
"Don't be mad at them. People fear what they don't understand."
" I am angry with myself. I should have known the people weren't going to be friendly so soon."
"You can't blame yourself for what your people believe. You can only tell them and hope they listen to it." He sighed. "I wish I can do more."
"We can later. Right now we can just earn their trust and then we can try and change things." Ian agrees with a nod.
I push the nearest covers from him away. I see I have on a long white nightgown. I wonder who put this on me. I push the covers even farther. Ian finally gets the invitation. He climbs into bed. He has on a tan shirt and pants. He pulls the covers to him and I sink into his chest. I try to fall asleep but can't. I look up at Ian and his eyes are wide open. "Can't sleep?" he asks.
I shake my head. "Want me to tell you a story?"
I nod yes this time. His blue eyes lit up. "Once upon a time, a young prince laid eyes on the most beautiful woman in the land. The prince instantly fell in love with this woman. He immediately asks her many questions. When his finished, he leaves her to go plan a romantic evening. He sets a table that has her favorite flower, food, and colors. Once they sit down at the table, he has her talk about herself almost all evening. By the end of the night, the woman is completely attracted to the prince. He then pulls out an engagement ring and proposes to her. She says yes almost with no hesitation. Later that week, they get married and live happily ever after.
"Why did the prince only love her for her beauty?" I ask sleepily.
"I don't think it always was about the beauty. Remember he found out everything about her," he points out.
"Did you only like me for my looks?"
He starts to stroke my head before answering. "Of course not. To be honest, I only really fell for you until that kiss on the road. I think you started liking me then too."
I smirk. "If you don't like me for my looks, then why do you call me beautiful?"
"I refer to your looks and your personality." He kisses me on top of my head. I snuggle even closer to him and decide to welcome my sleep.