Chapter 11

Arline met Merrick on the stables right before the sun started coming out, and headed to the woods in silence after learning she was going to spend the entire day entirely alone with the King.

Apparently, “

” meant he let Lara know she wasn’t going to be around the kingdom all day. Not that she was going to join them both on a hunting trip.

The hunting went great for the first few hours, but then they turned it into a funny implicit competition to see who got to kill more animals. For the entire time, they didn’t talk and Arline took advantage of the hood over her head, allowing her to avoid any kind of visual contact she could have with Merrick.

As they got carried away by the wind and the pace of their horses, they went too far inside the forest. There was absolute peace in the silence of that part of the hills. The chirping of birds played a melodic music to enjoy and the mount was high enough for them to appreciate the colors of the sky that became brighter by each minute that passed.

They chose to take a break and sat one in front of the other. Arline looking at the sky and Merrick looking at her. Both of them were admiring the beauty of what they believed to be perfect.

His heart was jumping on his chest, with growing nerves. Merrick needed to tell her, to let her know how he felt. It didn’t matter if she hated him afterwards.

“Arline,” he called for her, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. “Please tell me what happened in the mountains.” Merrick requested to her, coming by her side to be near her. He made the mistake of not taking care of her one time, and the Dark Prince was not going to allow himself to do that twice.

Only then, Arline looked at him and her eyes were covered in forming tears which she tried to push back. She told him everything. Even what Pelagius had said to her in the lake, especially that. She felt how her lungs expanded in her chest, allowing her to take a deep breath. Her chest stopped weighting her down.

“Please say something.” She said without looking at him, feeling embarrassed.

Merrick made her eyes meet his and pulled her cloak down to finally admire the Heir’s beauty again. Beauty that always managed to make him gasp.“I have always trusted you.” He said to her and removed the golden necklace with a light touch and tossed it on his pocket. “I just needed to be sure you wouldn’t leave me again.” His eyes, as well as his voice, were filled with love. Merrick wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore.

“I am sorry.” Arline said in a whisper, knowing how he didn’t like when she apologized.

“I do not want you to be sorry, Arline.” He said and made her stay by his side when she was about to leave him. “The only thing I want is for you to look at me the way you used to, to trust me the way you used to.” Arline stayed silent and came to the realization of what he was about to do, she saw it in his eyes and heard it on his tone. “I didn’t realize how strong my love for you was until you left, and I will never forgive myself for not telling you in time. I didn’t know how.”

The King searched for her cheek, caressing her like he would have done every time they were alone. And the Heir looked at him with those round and dark eyes that calmed his anger and yet made him want to begin wars if anyone dared to touch her.

Arline didn’t move a muscle, she was in shock by his confession. But she had been secretly desiring for him to say every single one of those words, because it didn’t matter how much she claimed to not having a feeling of sympathy towards him, Arline loved Merrick unconditionally.

He stared at her rose lips and rubbed them with his thumb. Merrick craved their taste and Arline knew. “Do it.” She invited him in a whisper to his surprise. The King gently tilted her chin and made his lips meet hers.

As Arline expected, he was gentle, soft and protective as his hands slowly travelled all the way down to her waist, pulling her closer to him. The longer the kiss got, the more she realized how much she hated being away from him. Away from his care, their talks, even his challenges for her to get better.

The kiss only broke for the mundane necessity of air. Their foreheads were pressed together as their breaths synchronized but he never let go of her waist.

Arline rubbed her small nose against his, almost imperceptibly. “Back in Pozarite you asked me if I have ever been in love… and I completely lied to you. I said I wasn’t, when the reality was that since that voyage of yours, I have been blindly in love with you, Merrick. It has always been you.”

He pulled her closer again at her confession. “Please never leave me again.” Merrick almost begged her.

“How could I leave you when my heart ached everyday I was away? You are my peace, Merrick and I hate it took me this long to figure it out. I curse myself everyday for choosing to be away from you.” She eased his thoughts. “Kiss me again, your Majesty.”

That was what he wanted. Her voice daring him and her eyes only directed to him. “Whatever my Huntress desires.” The Dark Prince granted the wishes of the Heir of Depths. And hours passed swiftly with them laughing and sneaking kisses as they watched the sky change its colors and the sun began hiding, letting the shadows grow from the trees.

They had to return despite their wishes to stay hidden in the dark, so they took anything along the way back as an excuse to waste time and spend more time together. Merrick’s desire to have Arline spend the night with him was powerful, but recovered some sense once in the stables.

Shadows covered them across the street as he walked her back to the House of the Order, holding onto her hand. Before he left, Merrick pulled her closer to him and kissed her one last time and headed to the castle with an overjoyed and light walk.

Arline entered the darkened hall and put her thoughts in order, making sure that what just happened was real and not a product of her unreliable imagination. She sat by the fire and couldn’t stop herself from blushing and smiling silently, when Michaela surprised her from behind.

“It is late, owl.”

“Yes, sorry.” Arline tried make the pink of her cheeks to fade.

“How did it go?” Her friend inquired.

“Great.” Arline simply responded with a smile. “I should bath.” She made up her mind quickly before Michaela could continue asking.

But her friend knew Arline well enough to understand she was hiding something and stopped her, grabbing her arm. If something had happened in between the King and her, Arline would be cursing him back and forth.

“Wait.” Michaela took a quick look at her and by just seeing the blush on her cheeks, the braids slightly undone and the clearly swollen lips, she put the strings together and widened her eyes in shock. “Finally.” She squeaked a little too loudly for the time of night it was.

Arline tried calming her down but Michaela Alpik, the fiercest Huntress of the Order began stomping the floor with a smile like a little child. “I am really happy.” She repeated herself in a rhythmic tone as she hugged her friend and lightly stomped the floor.

“Michaela you will wake everyone up.” Arline reminded her in a whisper and with a smile she couldn’t hide.

“Well…” Michaela was waiting for more information, and Arline only rolled her eyes and sat down to tell her friend everything about her day.

“Not a word, promise me.” Arline begged once she finished the story.

“My lips are sealed.” Her friend swore with a hand on her chest.

On the castle, the King headed to his Council Room after finding himself restless and reminiscing on the beautiful Heir of Depths. When he entered, Merrick was surprised by the unexpected presence of Aidan, who apparently had been there all day.

“I can tell being King is a stressful position to fill but where the hell have you been?” His friend questioned him with a tone of disapproval on his voice and both hands resting on his hips.

“Out.” Merrick simply responded with an innocent smile on his face as he looked down at a letter to try and hide a growing blush that didn’t belong in the cheeks of the Dark Prince.

“You seem happy.” Aidan softened at the sight of his friend acting like a child.

“I am.” Merrick agreed. “All because of her.”

“Does that mean you confessed?” The Frontlord sounded proud of his friend and felt satisfied with himself for being the one who pushed him to do that.

“She reciprocated.” At that, Aidan was in awe and stood up quickly with a smile on his face.

“You two will look wonderful together.” He began rambling nonsense in front of Merrick, who only looked at him with a smile.

“You want to betroth her to me already?” Merrick laughed and sat on his chair. “I barely kissed her, I can’t imagine proposing to her.” He admitted slightly blushing.

“The Heir of Depths and the Lord of Shadows.” Aidan absolutely ignored his friend and was getting ready to prepare an inexistent wedding. “The power you two will hold-”

“Aidan, come back.” Merrick calmed him down, snapping his fingers in front of his face. “You know the dangers of it, I can’t do that to her.” It was one of Merrick’s nightmares, threatening her safety knowing he had done it before.

“Arline and you are meant for each other. She would die for you, the same way that you would die for her.” Aidan sighed in relief and was eager to know more. “Either way, how was it?”

“I am not telling you a thing.”

“That means it was perfect.”