Chapter 154: Chapter 154

154 Chapter 154 : Second choice

Theodora put some rabbit stew in two bowls and walked over to the man who was leaning against a tree near the horses. They had been camping for two days by the river that flowed between the enchanted forest and Gavaria, waiting for Gareth and his men to pass by.

The woman was about to call out to Aiden when she noticed his chest rising and falling slowly, indicating he was asleep. Under normal circumstances even though he was fast asleep he would have woken up when she neared him, that’s how alert Aiden was. But this time he didn’t move, he must have been very tired.

Theodora moved to his front and sat down, her eyes moving from his gorgeous face down his perfectly sculpted body. She had long accepted that she was cursed to forever love a man she could never have, and over the years she had become content with just being near him and admiring him whenever she got the chance.

“Oh Estel you lucky woman,” Theodora whispered to herself. Her eyes settled on his face and she smiled, it was a rare site to see Aiden’s face so calm and vulnerable, he was always so intense and vigilant. She lifted her arm and began to reach for his cheek, but inches before her fingers touched his skin, Aiden’s eyes shot open and he grabbed Theodora’s hand.

“What are you doing?” He rasped in a sleepy voice.

“I.. I umm..” the woman pointed at the bow of rabbit stew on his side, “I brought you dinner.”

Aiden slowly released the woman and picked up the bow, “I didn’t hear you..”

“Yes, you were sleeping so peacefully-”

“That’s bad,” Aiden interrupted the woman as he ate the stew, “if you were an enemy I’d be dead by now.”

.....

There was the intense Aiden she had grown accustomed to. She sat across from him and watched him eat.

“What is it?” Aiden asked the woman when he noticed she was staring at him. Not that she hadn’t done that before a hundred times, but this time he could tell she had something on her mind.

“I’m just wondering,” Theodora spoke as she ate her own stew, “when you were with Estel, did you ever smile? I mean did you ever laugh, or show any emotion other than well.. that brooding look you always have on.”

“Where is all of this coming from?” The man asked. He ate the last of his stew and leaned back on the tree he had been sleeping on.

“I just think it would be nice to see you happy,” she responded.

Aiden looked at Theodora, wow, he hadn’t even noticed that he hadn’t smiled or laughed in years until she just now mentioned it. Had he drowned in pain and loss so much that those were the only emotions he could now recognize?

“I’m just saying that if Estel knew how gloomy you turned out,” Theodora commented, “she would probably think twice about getting back with you, then you’d have to settle for me.”

A silence fell over the pair, the crackling sound of the fire the only thing filling the air until an unfamiliar sound reached Theodora’s ears. She shot her eyes towards the blue eyed man and saw a small smile on his face that quickly faded away. She gasped, put her bowl aside and moved towards Aiden.

“Did you... did you just chuckle Aiden?” The woman questioned the man who had retained his brooding look.

“I just found what you said a little amusing is all,” Aiden responded making sure to avoid the woman’s eyes that were mere inches from his face.

Theodora beamed so much that Aiden was afraid she might try to kiss him or something. “You look so much more handsome when you smile,” Theodora gushed, “I think it’s better you carry on being gloomy because that smile seriously turns me on.”

Aiden rolled his eyes and turned away from the woman. “Just eat your food and go to sleep Theodora,” he spoke, “my brother in law will be coming this way soon.”

*

Elric halted in front of a large double doored room and faced Melissa. “Alright Lissa, I’ll have to blindfold you for a bit,” he explained.

“Wait what-”

The silver haired king pulled out his handkerchief and gently placed it over her blue eyes. “Don’t worry you’re going to love it.” He took her hand in his and gently led her through the doors.

Melissa steadily followed, what was this sly lycan up to this time? And why was he suddenly being nice to her? Elric halted and Melissa followed suit. She was genuinely curious about what this man wanted to show her. Coming to think of it, those doors they had walked through, she had never seen them before, was this a newly built place?

The prince moved behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, “are you ready?”

“I think so,” Melissa replied in a nervous tone.

Elric began to undo the blindfold. He too was a bit nervous, him and his beautiful wife had been falling out, and he could feel them drifting further apart. He hoped that this gesture would help them rekindle and bring back that spark they had lost.

When the blindfold was off, Melissa flattered her long lashes and adjusted her vision to the light. She looked up and was stunned at what she saw.

“Do you like it?” Elric asked the woman.

Melissa stood there frozen for a few seconds as she took everything in. She was standing in the center of a massive library with shelves and books as far as the eye could to see. The high seashell colored walls were adorned with lamps and there was a crystal chandelier situated right above her, giving the place an out of this world look.

“This is... is this?”

“Yes, it’s yours my queen,” Elric responded as he took her hands in his, “consider it a late wedding present.” He intertwined his fingers with hers and led her to one of the shelves, “these books where collected from all over the continent. Any kind of knowledge, any tale and any type of information you can think of, you can find it right here. And it’s all yours.”

Melissa clenched her chest as she slowly moved passed the many books. Good gods, she had never seen so many books before, this place was even more grand than the royal library. “It’s beautiful..” Melissa cooed in happiness. “Thank you so much.”

Elric inched closer to her and gently wrapped his arms around her slender waist. “Anything, and I mean absolutely anything for you my wife.”

This was it, this was a chance to try and rebuild their bond. Elric tilted Melissa’s face towards his and looked longingly into her beautiful blue eyes.

‘Don’t think about it Elric just kiss her,’ the man thought to himself. He closed his eyes and pulled Melissa in. ‘Don’t think about it, just kiss her!’

*

Clovis halted in his steps when he saw Julia standing frozen in front of the library doors. “Julia?” He called as he strode over to her, he noticed she had a look of shock and sadness on her face the closer he got, “hey what’s going on?”

The man followed her line of sight and saw Melissa and Elric within the library. Elric was holding the beautiful redhead possessively as usual, while gently stroking her cheek. While Melissa had an intense blush on her face. To an onlooker it would seem that they had just shared an intimate moment.

“Looks like he finally presented his little present to her,” Clovis commented as he slowly closed the doors to give the couple some privacy.

“Present?” Julia muttered, “you mean he had this whole place built for her?”

“Yes he did,” Clovis added on and turned to look at the woman. Julia was wearing a sad smile on her face and for some reason it broke Clovis’ heart to see her like that. “Is something wrong Julia?”

The woman shook her head, “no,” she responded in low tone, “it’s just..” the woman looked up at Clovis and he was stunned to see that she had tears threatening to pour out her beautiful emerald green eyes. “She’s so lucky,” Julia spoke through quivering lips, “everyone loves her and strives so hard to win her heart.”

‘Everyone I love always ends up loving her’ were the words she wanted to say but she stopped herself. It’s funny, she thought she was over this little jealousy thing she had towards Melissa, but seeing her in Elric’s arms like that was like a blow to the face. Every man she was interested in always sidelined her for Melissa, it’s just wasn’t fair.

Even thought Julia had not said what she was thinking out loud, Clovis didn’t need to be a mind reader to know. It hurt him that she thought so little of herself and always compared herself to Melissa. To Clovis, Julia was one of the most beautiful, most perfect woman he had ever laid eyes on, why couldn’t she see that? And on top of that, it infuriated him to think that Julia had the hearts for other men, especially his brother Elric. Why couldn’t she have the hearts for him?

Wait a second.. Clovis looked at the woman in front of him and felt his chest tighten. Could his annoying brother Jeffrey be right? Had Clovis fallen for Julia without realizing and that was why he was not himself around her? Gods, how had he not realized this before?

The man reached for Julia, he had the strong urge to pull her in his embrace and tell her she was enough, to tell her she was more than enough. But the woman turned and ran down the hallway leaving Clovis with a heavy heart. “Julia...”