Ch 63: The Proposal Of A King

It wasn’t long after Astasha had settled on the bed and meticulously checked every piece of meat and cheese for poison, that she heard voices outside the tent.

The conversation between Talib and Calder was short and tepid, very unlike the two. The enemy would have quick work in dividing and conquering them if they did most of it for them. The thought made Tasha sigh with resignation as she realized, this stubborn and haughty approach would do nothing to help her win this fight, with Cal or the dark mage.

It wasn’t that she was angry with her Prince for making the decision he did. It was that he felt he had to make it at all. She was heartbroken for him, for them. Her anger was designated for all those who had brought him to that conclusion; the High Council, those who had made the laws that governed their love and those who refused to see outside them, her grandmother, and father, the demon, and most of all, the dark figure in the tower, the one they sought to find and destroy who had orchestrated much of their pain and suffering. That was where her cold and calculated rage should be focused. Not the man she loved.

And so as he entered the tent, she tried to emanate all the things she wanted him to feel from her; love, admiration, compassion, hope.

He stopped just inside, his eyes finding her, and she could see his face soften.

He sighed and walked over to her, leaning down to capture her mouth with his own in a deep kiss.

When he finally broke away, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I learned something today.” His voice was almost a whisper. “I utterly fucking loath fighting with you.”

She couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “The lesson is mutual.” She responded.

They stayed like that a moment longer before he pulled away and sat next to her on the bed.

“I’m sorry the meal isn’t more.” He said noticing the barely touched food.

Astasha shook her head. “No, it’s fine, I just, wanted to be careful. I can officially say there are no spies trying to poison me tonight.”

Calder’s face grew somber. “You shouldn’t have to live like this, in constant fear.”

She took his hand. “If I do, it isn’t your doing Cal. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice everything for me not to.”

“Giving up a burden isn’t a sacrifice.”

Tasha paused for a moment to process his words. “Is that how you view your birthright? A burden?” She wasn’t judging him, she could understand how the weight of controlling an entire kingdom could feel heavier than the world itself. She just needed to make sure.

He looked down, unable to meet her eye, and at last, she truly saw the toll everything had taken on him. Calder was always the one to hold his head high, to never show weakness, or to let on if he was struggling. But in that moment, he looked weary, and worn.

Gently, her fingers lifted his chin so he could see her, before cupping his cheek.

“Cal, there is nothing wrong with feeling like this is all too much. It is.”

He shook his head slightly. “I’m so tired of this fucking battle, between my heart and my duty. I’ve been training for war my whole life. This…” He gestured outward. “I’m used to this. I’ve faced pain and death and it doesn’t scare me. But this…” He took her hands and held them to his chest, over the scar he bore. “Loving someone so much it’s consuming, I don’t know how to navigate that when I’m not even allowed to show it.”

Astasha tried to think of something to say, anything to comfort him, but how could she when she felt the same way?

“I don’t know what’s worse,” he continued. “The heartbreak of missing you when you aren’t near, or the heartbreak of not being allowed to love you when you are.”

“I think the greatest heartbreak is having to wonder that at all.” She said quietly.

They truly were destined for tragedy, doomed to sorrow no matter the choice.

“Then why are you so against the idea of not having to anymore?” He wasn’t angry this time, or frustrated. He genuinely didn’t understand.

“I would love nothing more than to go live a simple life with you Cal. To just, be in love. To forget all of this and just be together, without worry or war. But you don’t see what I do in you, you don’t hear what others say about the kind of King you will be. If I willingly supported you turning your back on that, I would never forgive myself.”

“The thing is, I do. I do know. It isn’t lost on me that most of the people here, came simply because I asked. But Tasha, the ones who aren’t…” His face grew even more serious as whatever it was in his head played out. “I would be doing just as much disservice to the loyal ones if I hadn’t made the bargains I did.”

She cocked her head. “How is that possible?”

“It wasn’t you they took issue with, it was me. I told you, some are truly terrified of a ruler with too much power, so much so, that they aren’t afraid to die in order to stop it.”

Were there truly those so against any kind of change that they would risk their lives to stop it? She already knew the answer to that question. One of them was hunting for her at that very moment.

She knew they weren’t alone in this though. She had seen it in the camp, in the men from Dorthshire. “Cal, clearly those who support you are willing to fight for you. Don’t you think they would defend you against a handful of extremists?”

“There is a difference between asking my people to fight an evil that threatens their very lives, and asking them to fight each other because I refuse to bow to the very laws I’m meant to uphold.”

She raised an eyebrow. “The laws you swore you would change in order to make me your Queen?”

Calder rose from the bed and paced away from her. “Yes, but now I am the one the laws forbid.”

Astasha stood as well. “Then change those too! Or find another way.”

She didn’t want to be frustrated with him. She didn’t want raised voices and arguments like before.

Taking a few steps toward him, she reached out and gently touched his arm, keeping her voice calm as she continued. “The man I know, the man I love, has never been one to give up. You are more than that Cal.” She slid her arms around him and rested her head on the back of his shoulder. “You are the heir to the throne of Trenue. You are the Ruler of Hope. You are my King, every bit as much as I am your Queen. Haven’t we had enough taken from us? Don’t let them take that too.”

He didn’t move. They just stood like that for a moment before she heard him speak. “Say it again.”

She knew which part he meant. It had been brought up over and over that day. But she knew now why he needed to say it, to hear it. It was comfort.

“I am your Queen.”

Calder turned quickly, his hands finding her shoulders, his eyes burning, not with the usual flames of their power, but with something else, something she couldn’t quite place.

“Swear it.” He said.

What was he doing? He had to know she wasn’t about to swear to something that might not be possible. “Cal—“

He pulled her against him. “No, Tasha. I’m not stupid. I know what it is you think will have to happen, what you think you’ll have to do. You keep telling me there’s always another way, yet you won’t even consider it yourself.”

There was something intense about him, something she had never experienced in him before. He leaned down so his lips were by her ear. “I don’t need to have this connection with you to know… I’ve been trained my whole life to see the moves long before they occur and how to counter them. So this is mine…” He pulled back just enough to look her dead in the eyes, his face so close his breath touched her lips. “Promise me, you will be my Queen, and I swear to you, I will be King.”

Could this actually be what she thought? Was he truly asking her what she thought he was?

“I…” She couldn’t seem to find her voice. The feelings that cascaded through her could only mean one thing…

Cal touched his nose to hers as the words came out in a soft plead. “Marry me, Astasha. Promise you will spend the rest of your life with me as my wife, and I will change the very laws that wrote the stars.”

Through everything they had been through, all that had happened, the fire sorceress had never truly believed she would ever hear those words uttered from the Prince she loved. It seemed impossible, and so she never dared to dream. But as they hung in the air, all of the struggles they had faced, all of the fear, and doubt, and darkness that had consumed them for as long as she could remember, were overwhelmed by the warmest and brightest of lights.

And in that moment, she truly believed… no… she knew, their love could conquer anything.

“Yes.” She whispered.

Nothing else could describe the feeling, but an explosion of joy that surged through the very fiber of each of their beings. And as their lips met in the most passionate of kisses, the love they felt for one another erupted and flowed out, like a tidal wave of emotion, washing over the camp and all those who dared to feel it.


**Author’s Note:** *Hello Lovelies! Is everyone else as excited about this chapter as I am? I knew this was eventually going to happen, but wasn’t sure where until I started writing this scene and it just came to it naturally. I love when the story and characters take over like that! So what do you think? Will our lovebirds make it to the alter? Love & Light Everyone!*