AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 17 – Desert Queen
Luella
His kisses were just right, passionate but sweet. I held on to him more tightly, feeling his broad shoulders, sighing into his lips.
Wait, should the bed be moving too much like that? It was not like we had started making love. I did not even know what that would feel like, as Thomas did not get to finish what he started.
Then, there was that image of my almost lover bursting into flames. This time, the fire seemed brighter, and the flesh that peeled off the bones was even more vivid. It was like a reminder that I could never be happy, never be at peace, because of what I did to him.
I screamed, bolting up from the bed.
It was not my bed. It was a much smaller one, with plain bedsheets. My eyes frantically looked for Metheus, and there he was, sitting on a wooden stool, watching me in disbelief.
“I know it’s your first time to travel by sea, but I did not expect your reaction to being quite like that,” he mumbled.
Was he watching me while I was dreaming? I blushed at the possibility of me making a fool of myself in my sleep.
“Was I saying anything?”
“You were snoring,” he said with a crooked grin. He held a wooden bowl and was eating some sort of porridge. I hoped to all the gods and goddesses that all I did was snore or that my husband was too busy eating to make out what sort of dream I was having.
“Ha! I don’t think so,” I said, covering up my embarrassment with some haughtiness.
“Um, you were moaning. Then, of course, you know that you screamed. Are you okay?” he asked, concern on his face.
He thought I was having nothing else but a nightmare. Good.
“I was having a nightmare,” I managed to confess a part of it. “I always dream of that night I burned someone.’
His face darkened as I said that. He placed his empty bowl on the table right next to him, as if preparing himself for something – a long story? A war?
“How did it feel to lose someone you love violently like that?” he asked, looking serious. His muscular arms were now folded in front of his chest. Why were my thoughts hovering on his body?
Metheus could not possibly want to do that talk with me. Nobody even asked me about Thomas after what happened. My family wanted me to forget about him as soon as possible. They wanted to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
“W-who said anything about love, Metheus?” I asked. “I did not love Thomas. I only wanted to have a little bit of fun.”
As soon as I said that, I felt horrified how my uncontrollable feelings had ended someone so young. I might not have loved him, but Thomas was training to become a knight. I blinked fast to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. I took a deep breath, drawing into myself as much as I could before releasing.
My husband’s eyes narrowed at me, judging me and making me feel small. I physically backed away from him, sitting straight. I was a tall woman, but he towered over me. He stood up, making me see just how much I would not be able to fight him back if he hurt me.
Of course, a part of me knew and understood that Metheus was not that sort of man. However, he seemed to repress emotions, not quite like mine but also hidden. He was a quiet and secretive man, I had come to realize. He had a few friends. It was by choice, of course, because he had a commanding presence. His men respected and followed him even if he did not have to shout at them or insist on his supremacy. It was just natural.
Still, I felt I deserved a harsh word. I did not get it. Instead, he went up the wooden ladder for the main deck. Did he just leave me without any response? Then again, that was his response. He was displeased. Disappointed. I had felt that part of him that judged me, and it might just be why he was not willing to be intimate with me even though he seemed capable of calming my fire.
My chest tightened, raw emotion building up there. I was not the sort who cried. The women in my family fought, loved, and failed, without much of a sniffle. We took our pain and lived with it without shedding many tears. I rose from the bed, swaying a little from the ship’s motion. Then, I went after Metheus. I could not spend all the hours hiding below deck.
It was the right choice. On the main deck, I felt a balmy breeze blow. The sweet scent of various, strange, and undoubtedly beautiful flowers wafted towards us. We were only a few meters away from the shore, and I gasped.
Yes, I gasped.
Arrowspear was more beautiful than I had ever imagined. Rugged cliffs bordered the edges of the northern tip. Strange, large flowers adorned the coast. It was not how I imagined it. I thought it would be dry and sandy all throughout.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
I turned towards the sweet voice. Rowali was smiling at me, her curly hair framing her face.
“Yes, Rowali. I cannot believe that it will be my first time to set foot on Arrowspear,” I admitted.
