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“Better now that you’re here…” I reply, feeling as though I’m hypnotized by the way he gazes at me. I turn away in embarrassment and shame.
“Hey,” he whispers, bringing my gaze back to him. “What’s the problem?”
“I… I’m sorry,” I groan, feeling a sudden bout of shame.
“Sorry? What are you apologizing for?” he asks in surprise.
“For not coming home tonight. I know I must have frightened you a lot, and I… and I…”
“Hey now, come on,” he quips. “There’s absolutely no need at all for you to apologize. None of what happened is any fault of yours.”
“I… I suppose you’re right. Come closer to me Zy.”
I wrap my arms around him, slowly so as to not hurt myself. He then does the same, being mindful of my injuries as he hugs me gently.
“Oh Zy… I was so scared. There were moments I genuinely thought I wasn’t going to make it out of the tavern alive, let alone in one piece.”
“It’s alright Kyra, I’m here now,” he whispers in my ear. The warmth of his breath and the tone of his voice rids my body of its pains.
“I remember now what my last thoughts were before you showed up… It was you holding Traisius as you slept together.”
He chuckles and pulls back from me. A smile etches its way across his face, stretching from ear to ear as he looks into my eyes. There comes again that same expression of love as his gaze penetrates mine.
“If not for his cries waking me up, I would not have woken up in time to get you here. Now come back to me.”
He holds me a little tighter this time. I breathe in his familiar scent, thankful that I lived through tonight’s horrible events to see another day with Zy. Right now, more than ever, I wish to tell him of my true feelings.
22
ZY
Isit across from Kyra, my hands clasped around her shoulders as she glares at me with such strong conviction. A part of me is still wrapping my head around what went down tonight, leaving me internally shaken that I could have lost her forever. As a member of the city guard, I’d been witness to many crime scenes where the victims were subject to beatings. Not many made it out alive.
Through my hands, I can feel the tension in her body. I knew it was going to take some time before she ever felt safe roaming the streets again. It’s why I had a chat with a fellow member of the city guard, asking for more patrols around the Broken Horn Tavern. A light vibration runs through Kyra, shivering as though caught underdressed in a breeze.
My hand gravitates toward her face where I then stroke her cheek, running the backs of my fingers up from her chin to her ear. It’s at that moment she suddenly winces, her face contorting as though in pain. She cranes her neck, causing her long blonde hair to fall over her face. Sobs come from her as she buries her head in her hands, causing me to pull back.
“Kyra, what is it?” I ask her. “Did I do something wrong?”
She shakes her head, slightly peering up at me where I see a forlorn sadness in her eyes. Motioning for me to return closer, I do so as she nudges into my chest. Phemes waves to me from the door, holding Traisius in her arms.
The healer makes a gesture that she’ll leave us for the sake of privacy. I nod before she leaves. The door shuts quietly as I rub the back of Kyra’s head.
“Talk to me if you can Kyra, whenever you feel ready to do so.”
After a minute, she rears her head up.
“I never thought I would see you again, nor our child. It wasn’t even safety that I wanted when it was all happening, all I longed for was you. Whenever you’re around, that’s when I feel like I’m untouchable.”
She pauses, taking a moment to catch her breath before continuing.
“I’d never felt so close to death as I did when Mosar was beating me. All I could think was that life was so unfair to take me so soon after giving birth to Traisius, that I wouldn’t be able to see him again, nor you.”
Her voice becomes scratchy as if the air gets snatched from her lungs. More tears come, causing me to pull her back into me. Through the fabric of my clothing stained with her tears, I could feel the shallow huffing and puffing of her breaths as she tried so desperately hard to get them under control.
“Cry it all out if you need to,” I whisper in her ear. “I’ll stay as long as you need me.”
Instinctively, I begin rocking her back and forth gently, the same way I do with my son when he gets upset. I close my eyes and press the side of my face against hers, breathing in her scent. In that moment, I feel her sadness as though my body is absorbing it from hers, causing my chest to twitch in a light twinge of pain.
