Neriah’s body shook with sudden fear. The man she was married to... She already knew that dragon-bloods were barbarians who were wicked beyond reason. But still, hearing that her husband was this sort of person made her tremble with fear.
"They call him the hound of the devil, Neriah. Do you know why?" Lyle asked her.
"W_why?"
"Because he chases his enemies no matter how far and long it takes. He chases them till he has his teeth buried deeply in them, ripping them to shreds till finally they meet their death."
Barak... The man she married— the more his words sank deep into her head, the more she realized that it was absolutely plausible and possible. He had married her out of spite, she was certain.
Their marriage was a way to punish her, to keep her away from her loved one... He had said so himself. If he could go to such lengths by getting married to a woman who had previously asked for his head, just so he could get revenge on her, what could he not do? Really.
"Neriah, what do you think such a man would do if he finds out that his wife has escaped with her lover... My love, I fear for your life. I cannot afford to lose you. I fear that he will chase you, hunt you down til he finds you and only the goddess knows what he will do if he does find you again."
He was right. He was so, so right. The more he spoke the more right his words seemed to her. So what was this turmoil in her chest? This confusion...
"So you see, there is only one way to break away from that man for all eternity. Only one way we can both be free and live together happily—" He suddenly paused and his hands that held her face slowly dropped to his side and she lifted her eyes to stare at him.
"O_or do you no longer wish to live happily with me?" She could hear his choking voice. Her hands instantly reached for his own and she pulled him closer to her body and hugged him.
"Never. Never will I not want a lifetime of happiness with you. I want nothing but you. Heavens be my witness, I only want you, my love." She pressed her head upon his chest and his arms wrapped around her body too.
"Thank you. Thank you for loving a worthless prince like me." He kissed the center off her head again and again as he spoke. "Then Neriah, he has to die for us to be together."
The room had gotten darker and a little colder too. A cool wind blew in through the window and Neriah blankly stared at the fluttering curtains as she recalled her meeting with her lover.
It was supposed to leave her ecstatic. She was supposed to be overflowing with joy and happiness because she was reunited with her lover after so long but... all she felt was tiredness. And adding to that tiredness, she felt a bitter taste on the tip of her tongue. It was like she had previously swallowed something infinitely butter and the taste was suddenly crawling up her throat and coming back to her mouth.
She felt weak... Why did she feel that way?
"Think about it, Neriah. Let us meet again next week. I shall be in touch with you to notify you of our next meeting spot. If you have decided by then, I will let you in on the entire plan and how we are going to kill that bastard."
"Next week?" She had asked. "But the Avelah ships you came with will be departing tomorrow."
"Aye, but I shall go nowhere without you in my arms."
Next week, the words resonated in her head. She had to make her decision by then. Truth be told there was not much of a decision to be made. Daily, her prayer was that Barak Der Drache met an unfortunate death. She cared not for his life, she never had and she never will.
So the decision was simple... but again, why was she feeling nauseous?
The wind picked up the curtains again but this time it brought a pleasant scent into the atmosphere, and she suddenly realized she had actually been smelling it for quite some time now but only just noticed it.
What was that fine scent? She wondered to herself. It seemed to be coming from somewhere behind her, so she turned her head to see if there was some sort of incense burning in the room that she had not noticed.
Her eyes scanned the shelves and tables but she saw nothing. Neriah was about to turn her head back toward the window when her eyes caught something on the bed, placed close to her spine.
With a gradual shift, she turned her entire body to face the thing that was on the bed. Slowly, she lifted herself into a sitting position and dragged her hips closer to the headboard of the bed, resting her back there.
For moments, all she did was stare at the strange thing on the bed, she did not need special powers to tell that the scent that filled the room was coming from that thing.
Finally, but still hesitating, she reached for it and when she held it in her hands, his voice seemed to echo inside the room, "I_I have something for..." His voice had trailed off at that time as if he was considering swallowing them or letting them out. "Rest." He had finally said. He decided to swallow his words, Neriah realized.
"Flowers?" She muttered as her fingers stroked the petals and the beautiful fragrance circulated even more. "Was this what you were trying to say?" She asked no one in particular. Just a whisper into the air.
"Flowers from a barbarian whom I wish death upon." She muttered and chuckled as though her words were indeed funny, but then the laugh quickly died as she brought the bunch closer to her nose, her eyes closed and she breathed in. It was soothing.
Her eyes opened and she held her bottom lip between her teeth, her brows furrowed and the corners of her lips dropped, "Fool."