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‘Maybe I saved the world, maybe I paid my debts, maybe I gave it all, maybe I did my best, maybe I saved someone, maybe they saved me too. Maybe I just survived in my other lives.’
By the time, the song came to an end, we had both stopped dancing, now standing in the centre of the room, locked in each other’s embrace. Even more tears escaped my lashes and rolled freely down my cheeks, and for Lucius, he watched every single one before using his thumbs to swipe them gently away.
“Why do you cry, my Queen?” he asked me in a soft, tender voice. One that would have lulled me into telling him anything.
“The song… It was so… so beautiful, I can’t… can’t believe that’s how you feel,”I told him, trying to push past my emotions to do so.
“You’re in my arms, and with the knowledge of an eternity to finally have you in them each night, then how can I not feel like the luckiest man in the world?” I swallowed hard, trying to stop the tears but failing, causing him to simply take more of them away before my own words could follow.
“I can’t… can’t believe you did… did all this for me,” I told him, cupping his cheek and glancing around the magical room.
“I have something to confess, Amelia,” he told me, and I couldn’t help but tense, something that made him chuckle before assuring me,
“Don’t fret, it is not bad.”
“Then does it need to be given the title, confession?” I asked, making him tap me on the nose and say,
“It is merely a technicality.”
“A technicality?” I asked, making him sigh before telling me,
“The night you rang me, on the ship… the night you were…”
“Far too drunk and missing you?” I filled in, making him give me an affectionate smile in return.
“You made me promise that I would not look into your mind, do you remember?”
“I do,” I answered, quickly seeing where this was going.
“I may have promised not to do so after that night… but…”
“It’s okay, Lucius, this was so long ago, I don’t see…” He quickly cut me off.
“You saw a couple dancing, you told me that you miss dancing with me and well… I promised myself that if I ever got you back, that I would take every single opportunity to make up for the past… past mistakes,” he said, adding this last part as if pained by the past he spoke of.
“Lucius, I…”Once again, he didn’t let me finish as he continued on with what did now seem like a confession.
“I have made so many mistakes when it comes to loving you, Amelia, and now, I make you this vow, for I will atone for every single one of them. To atone for every opportunity I chose to ignore, those missed chances to ask you to dance with me. Every single ball, every event your father hosted, every one that pained me as I decided foolishly to hide in the shadows and simply watch you, knowing how you were just waiting for me to take your hand…” I gasped at this when he closed his eyes as if the memory truly did pain him.
“You… you were there?”I questioned quietly.
“At every one,” he answered, now opening his eyes as the music continued, only this time without the singer.
“I never saw you,” I told him, still stunned by this revelation.
“As I intended,” he said, making me swallow hard before asking the ultimate question.
“I don’t understand, what is it you’re getting at here, Lucius? Why bring all this up now?”
“Every single one, I would watch you from afar, hidden in the shadows feeling unworthy just being in your presence.” I started shaking my head at this, quickly telling him,
“Unworthy? No, Lucius…never.”
“At the time I was disgraced by what I had done to you, and I tried to keep my distance. I would watch you, that dreamy look on your face, as if you could imagine yourself there among the rest dancing. I know that if I had seen even one man approaching, I would’ve lost all control. So I forbid anybody from asking you to dance, and in doing so I deprived you of the memory,” he confessed, making me suck in a startled breath.
“What?”I whispered.
“I robbed you of the feeling of belonging. I was selfish, as I knew that if I could not have you, then no man ever would. The only person I allowed to dance with you was your father, and he believed that nobody approached you because of him. But then that is the advantage of being able to access any mind and manipulate it.”
