72.

elai's pov

I open my mouth, but before a word can come out, there’s a loud knock on the door. I snap out of my thoughts, out of my doubts, and watch Eritha get up in a hurry. She hasn’t said a word, neither has she shown any reaction to the words me and her wife shared.
That is the loyalty I expect from Arlon, too.
“O-Oh- pardon me, king Arlon, we did not expect you to come here-“
King Arlon?
I shoot up, chair falling behind me.
He’s here?
My heart skips a beat when I watch him duck down to avoid bumping his head against the top of the door frame.
“Good afternoon, queen Amias.” He puts on that damned cheeky smile of his as he says those words, eyes looking right into mine.
“King Ruaidhri. I’d rather not have you call me by that name.” Nerys says everything with a small smile on her face, although I can feel a little bit of disappointment surrounding her. She shouldn’t be surprised that I told him who she was, though. I had just told her how loyal I am starting to become.
They’re both polite enough to bow down, Arlon’s eyes not leaving mine for even a second. I feel my cheeks turning red. The most simplest things he does make me weak. I can’t help it.
“I should be busying myself with paperwork and all that, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to escort Prince Elai back home.”
Home.
Why does he suddenly want me to come home?
“It is early, why don’t you join us? Elai has just told me about his-“
“We will be going.” Arlon sticks his hand out, the tight glove hiding his perfect fingers. Ah. I want to kiss his skin. I walk over to him so that I can grab his hand, the small smile on Eritha not going unnoticed. She looks very soft, and such looks usually make me want to get to know them more. But I’m not sure if it is a good idea to get more involved than I already am. Especially because Arlon has refused her offer, and she could turn her back on us any time.
Not that I think she will; she hates Lyle. She might hate that place more than me, even.
“But of course.” Nerys lets it go, head nodding only once.
She grabs my free hand, my other one quickly letting go of Arlon. She looks at me with such genuine eyes. I can’t help but smile at her.
“Please, visit me whenever you’d like. It is nice to have family around.”
“How long will you be staying?” My question makes her eyes swift towards Arlon, the quick squint of her eyes making me want to sigh. I wish they could trust each other. I wish it was that easy.
“I wish I could say that it depends on how things.. go, but I can’t let my regent stay alone for too long. She is quite the chaotic type.” Nerys uses her fingers to put a few strands of my hair behind my ear, her smile slowly crawling back up on her face. “Let’s say.. at least another week.” Her eyes shift back to Arlon again.
“I’d appreciate it if you updated me before that.”
She’s talking about my father. I pull my hands back and look at the, for a short moment. I am going to kill him. “I don’t know if- if by that time I’ve already- a week is- so soon..” Ah. I am panicking.
“We will see how it develops, queen Nerys. I am not going to force Elai into something he isn’t ready for yet.” Arlon’s voice pulls me out, my heartbeat steadying when I look up at him. thank you, I think. He gives me a small smile. You’re welcome, it says.
“That is kind.” Nerys steps away from me, allowing me to walk after the king. We don’t say a word until we step out of the house, my hand quickly flying up to wave at her. Arlon mutters his goodbye, feet already walking away from their house.
“Thank you, Nerys! I will try to visit you before you leave!” Arlon has a quick pace, my legs trying to catch up with him the moment I turn my head. I don’t check if she watches me go, or if she’s smiling at me. I can’t, because the second I realize I will be alone with Arlon, my stomach seems to be set aflame. It makes me nervous and excited.
“Where’s your horse?”
“I left her with yours.” Arlon stretches out his arm, hand gesturing for me to- grab it? Really? My cheeks heat up as I take a few, quick steps to be able to throw my hand into his. He grabs a good hold of it, fingers intertwining with mine. A soft chuckle leaves my lips; I am holding Arlon’s hand. We are holding each other’s hands. It is ridiculous how exhilarated that makes me feel. “I have thought of something.” Arlon continues, his hand slightly heating up. He’s doing it on purpose; he chuckles right after the action. He looks at me when he chuckles. He looks at me. I look back, heart beating in every fucking part of my body. “It’s like- woah!” The king is lucky I am holding his hand; his foot gets stuck behind one of the tiles, my arm suddenly tensed up as I try to keep him on his feet. “Ha! Thank you!” Arlon steadies himself in front of me and lowers his head to kiss me on the forehead. “What? Thought I’d let you fall?” I grin at him, his eyes unable to leave mine. Is this how we’re always going to be? Cheesy, teasing and so fucking obvious?
I sure hope so.
“Maybe a little.” Arlon winks at me before he pulls me with him, the forest getting closer.
“Excuse me?!”
“If there’s something I’ve learned about you, it’s that you are kind of a looky-loo..” He teases, his tone of voice making my eyes roll.
“What? Gonna tell me I’m wrong?”
“What did you think of, Arlon?” I avoid the question by coming back on what he was going to tell me. It makes him laugh; we both know he might just be correct.
“Something exciting! I wouldn’t call it a date, but I couldn’t get my head to focus, so I decided that I wanted to do something fun!”
A date. A date? He basically called it a date, did he not? I feel my soul leave my body. He wants to do something. Something fun. Just the two of us.
“Plus, I know it is pretty crowded around me all the time. Now we don’t have a wild Connie that randomly decides to show up..” He nudges me when he says those words. He knew I was going to laugh about it, because he knows that I squint my eyes at Connie every time he decides to barge in.
“I can’t believe you came all the way out here to be able to hang out with me.”
“Wouldn’t call it hanging out but, yeah. I did.”
He’s still so.. honest. It doesn’t shame him when I point these things out. He wears it like he wears his crown, pride spread all over his face.
“Then what would you call it?”
He squeezes my hand.
“You’ll see.”