7
BLOSSOM
Rea
It’d been a week since their kiss and Rea was quite certain that the general didn’t intend to visit her again. Perhaps he was ashamed, or he was too happy in the arms of his new wife, or too busy with his duties. Or perhaps he’d realized she was unimportant and didn’t warrant any more of his attention.
They said time healed all wounds, but hers were only festering. She couldn’t bear to go through the motions anymore. Every object in her vicinity was a trigger, a memory she needed to bury, a link to him she needed to destroy. She barely got through a single day without giving up.
The final moments of their togetherness haunted her, playing in an infinite loop, trapping her in a spiral of longing. No matter how much she told herself it’d been enough, there were always more tears to shed, more kisses to give, more unsaid words that sprung up in her mind.
Had she ever told him that his eyes were the color of spring rain? Had she said what had passed through her head when she first met him? Had she expressed her love to him properly? Had she told him…? Her mind swarmed with questions that only the general could answer.
In winter, she used to pray she could forget. On one of her desperate days, she started searching for tattoos that could erase memories, but she couldn’t go through with it. She’d already lost him; she couldn’t afford to memories of him, too.
She felt so alone. Day by day, the solitude was suffocating her. Had she imagined everything? Sometimes, she was scared that’s all it’d been was a dream. And she pathetically clung to it. That’s why, even when the clopping of hooves shot through her ears, she paid no mind to it, convinced it was yet another dream.
Sebestyén
Pain slipped under his skin like shards of glass at the sight of her. Though it had only been a week since their parting, it felt like two lifetimes. Every day he spent longing to see her face, every night he spent yearning to hold her in his arms. Ache echoed through his chest mercilessly during all that time, with not even a moment’s respite.
Her heart, he understood, was writhing.
“Why is it so quiet?” he asked.
Lost in deep sadness, Rea only coughed out a bitter laugh. “Am I going mad now?”
“Why would you say that?” Kneeling before her, Sebestyén patted her head. There was a great deal more he wanted to do to her, but he didn’t trust his self-control.
Her shock was palpable. “You’re really here.”
She grabbed a fistful of his clothing accelerating his heartbeat. Her lips caught his attention. So lush. He wanted to bruise them with kisses again and again until she couldn’t take it anymore.
“I remembered something,” Sebestyén said pushing the more carnal impulses to the back of his mind. “Once, you said you wanted to see the glowing blossoms of Mesinia. I happen to be traveling to Mesinia today. Will you come with me?”
“Right now?”
“If possible.” He shook his head. “I’ll rephrase that. Please come with me.”
“Why not take your wife instead?” Her eyes narrowed.
Sharp pain pricked his chest. She was angry. She had every reason to be. Sebestyén was angry at himself, too, angry at how he’d wasted an entire week wondering whether to explore the true depth of their attraction, to find out if beyond the passion ignited by that kiss, there lay something more valuable. Something valuable enough to cherish for a lifetime. One time, just once, he wanted to be true to his heart instead of settling for the straight-and-narrow route of foregoing adventure and settling down with Zsófia.
His mind and heart battled bitterly for six days, but he ultimately decided that he still owed Rea a wish and though that may not be what she’d asked for, it was what he could give.
“Well, the problem with that suggestion is that I don’t have a wife yet,” he said.
Rea’s eyes ballooned like two expanding moons. “You didn’t marry?”
“Not yet. The wedding has been postponed.” He collected his breaths pausing to refine the jumbled thoughts in his head. “I asked for it to be pushed back because I wanted to show you the glowing blossoms in Mesinia before I became tied down with…more important matters.”
“I see. How kind of you to consider my interests. But all you owe me is a single wish.”
“Tell me what you wish for.”
“I wish for…” She hesitated. Moisture swam in her eyes, like she was about to cry. Tense moments rolled by until he lost track of time. Her voice, when she spoke again, shivered. “I can’t decide. Perhaps I’ll come to Mesinia with you after all. It’ll give me more time to mull over my wish.”
“I’m glad we’re in agreement. Shall I give you a few moments to pack what you need for the trip?”
Before he even completed his sentence, Rea was already flying through her cottage, collecting dyes and implements into a satchel. He wondered why she needed her tattooing equipment on a trip, but it was possible that she needed them to harvest dyes from the glowing blossoms. She had mentioned that they were used in special tattoos.
“Can I ask you something, general?” she said without losing concentration on her tasks. “After we kissed, did you even once…feel like you wanted to do it again?”
The question took Sebestyén aback. Heat, regret, and confusion mingled in his body. If he told her he wanted her…would she refuse to come? After all, she’d made it amply clear that she wanted him to forget about that kiss. When he refused, she asked him to never mention it again. Even if he was feeling tender toward her, it could be one-sided. Though he intended to change that during their trip to Mesinia.
“I need an answer, general,” Rea prompted an instant later.
“No. I didn’t,” he replied. “Can we go now?”
Rea’s eyes dropped to her work, and Sebestyén tried to reassure himself that the pain he felt slashing through his heart was his alone.
8
PASSION
Rea
Three days passed since she and the general had left the capital and embarked on their journey to Mesinia.
The gods of weather had been kind to them making for a smooth, effortless ride from the capital all the way to the north where they’d taken shelter in nondescript inns along the Frek road. Travelers and merchants plied the route regularly, and inns were known to be overcrowded. Rea hoped on each of the three occasions that they stopped for rest that the innkeeper would tell the general there was only one room left and he’d be forced to share it with her. In a tiny, closed space, trapped together, free from any horses and coachmen, perhaps she would finally summon the courage to express her true feelings, and to learn of his true emotions.
But while the gods of weather were being kind to her, the gods of romance were being decidedly cruel. Wherever they went, there was always an overabundance of available rooms, and they always slept in separate accommodations.
That morning, the general gave her a sidelong glance filled with tension. And for a moment, it’d become impossible to move, to take another step away from him. But she dragged her body to the exit. There was no other option for her, no magic spell she could cast to grant her wishes.