Duty and Destiny

Dear World,

I’ve lost her.

Actually, I haven’t. She wasn’t mine in the first place.

When I saw her creep out of her room, I thought it was a good opportunity for us to talk again. Our last conversation was short but filled with laughter.

But no, I found her with Xander. They looked happy. She sounded happy.

When I heard him make his vows to her, I wished I was in his place. And when she said yes to his marriage proposal, my heart sank.

For the first time in my life, I the future king of the North wanted to be a knight. I wanted to be Xander, touching her skin and feeling her lips on mine. I envy him and because of that part of me despises him.

I don’t know what I feel for Adalia, and I don’t understand it.

I just don’t.

Archer

A

dalia got up at the crack of dawn. Quickly she got dressed and hurried to the balcony she was on the previous night. She was expecting Xander to be there, training and warming up before the voyage. She stopped when she was met by tense back muscles, rippling and flexing with each movement he made, then a low grunt. It wasn’t Xander but the other one, Archer.

She had guessed right about the arrow. Archer had a silver bow in his hand. It was magnificent. There was a carving on it and at both tips a jewel. She saw his muscles flex as he raised the bow, leading her to believe it was heavy. Her eyes were stuck on the muscles between his shoulder blades as his arm pulled back and released, sending a white arrow into a ball that had been catapulted into the air.

***

Archer saw her from the corner of his eye as he reached into his trouser leg pocket for another arrow. He winced in pain when his fingers wrapped around the slender arrow. He swore under his breath, cursing the fact that he had injured his arrow and sword hand for a girl who didn’t even care. The proposal had played in his mind the entire night and when he woke up in the morning the first thing, he did was to get a healer and his trainer. He was going to force his hand to heal, and his heart would soon follow.

Adalia saw the anger in his eyes, as she followed his arm down to the wrapped fingers. He was injured. She stood beside him, examining his fingers just as he did.

“What happened?” She took his hand, but he immediately pulled it back.

“Nothing,” he growled. He sent another arrow soaring into the sky and into a red ball. Archer gave his bow to his assistant and picked up his sword. “Keep your distance!” He ordered and began flexing his sword in his injured hand. It hurt but the pain was something he could handle, Adalia on the other hand wasn’t.

Adalia took his trainer’s sword out of his hand and stopped Archer. “You are only aggravating the wound. She could see he was in pain, but she could also see his pride wouldn’t let him admit it. I can see you are in pain. But I can also see your pride won’t let you admit it.”

“Pride?” He stopped, turned around and moved away from her without a word.

But Adalia didn’t give up. She followed him. Every inch he moved away, she took two towards him. “You need to stop this before it gets worse. What happens if you can’t use that hand anymore?”

“I’ll get rid of it. I have two remember,” he moaned and went on with his practice.

Adalia brought her sword in the way of his once more. But this time there was a large clung when the two metals met.

“What are you doing? Do you want to get killed?” He exclaimed the silver lightning in his eyes piercing through hers.

“You want a fight then let’s fight,” she took her stance just like her father taught her and charge at him.

Archer blocked each charge she made but he never charged at her. He couldn’t understand why she was bothering with him, when he had heard very clearly it was Xander she wanted to be with. But he had to acknowledge how good she was. He thought of letting her win, letting her scrape his skin with her sword. But the throbbing pain in his fingers convinced him otherwise. He knocked her sword out of her hand and forced her against the wall. All he wanted to do was kiss her. He watched as her chest rose and fell and felt her tiny body shudder against his. The desire to lower his lips to hers was overwhelming.

***

There was no space between their bodies. Archer’s towering sweaty body pressed her against the wall, her hands held firmly above her head. She saw his eyes roam around her bare skin as her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breathe. Adalia was sure he was about to kiss her. She thought that she would want to pull back, but she didn’t. She waited for it. She wanted to feel the touch of his lips against hers, to feel more than just his brute force on her body.

She closed her eyes, parted her lips and waited. But instead of a kiss, she felt the weight of his body leave her. When she opened her eyes, she saw a dark rage stare back at her.

“Are you really going to let another man kiss you?” He snickered. “I’m not surprised,” he took a step back, paced around but rushed back to her. “Promised to one but loving the other. Adalia, princess of the South is you getting married to your mercenary or to me?”

Her lower lip trembled. His gaze weakened her. She put her hands against his chest, but instead of pushing him away, they just rested there, feeling him. Adalia was taking in the softness of his skin, while his heart beat hard and fast against his chest. By touching him she could feel his anger. Anger, so why did she feel seduced by him.

She didn’t want to push him away and part of her wanted to tell him that it was all a lie. But it wasn’t. Adalia couldn’t bare the way he looked at her, out of anger and spite. His unblinking stare made her feel weak and she looked away and immediately she saw Xander. His face seamed with lines and his fingers gently wrapped around the hilt of his sword.