Velaine stirred in his sleep. The feel of the body against his, the slight tickle of strands of her hair against his chin as they were blown around by the cool night breeze making him smile a bit.
He tightened this hold around her waist as he listened to her quiet breath.
Making most of the night is not a crime.
It was his gift after all.
The quiet noise from squashing of dry leaves alerted him yet, he did not want to move in fear of waking her up.
As he tried to strain from the position they were in without disturbing her sleep. He felt her move away giving him enough space.
Sparing him having to fathom if she was awake or asleep, he heard her whisper.
"It is approaching."
He knew what he had to do so he smiled and nodded even though she could not see him.
As the sound got closer, they both pretended to be asleep and once the person was within Velaine's grasp, he put a knife to her throat making her jump in surprise.
"Your highness!" She almost yelled.
"Irina, Why are you sneaking around?" He asked, running his eyes over her .
"Your highness, I apologize. I could not find you nor your tent." She simply said even though her tone sounded like she was accusing him, he ignored her.
"You look well." He remarked, which was his way of asking her if anything had gone wrong.
She glanced at Aveedah who was quietly watching their exchange before she smiled and replied.
"I am well your highness, there is no cause for alarm."
Aveedah only smiled at the woman's antics but said nothing. There really was nothing for her to say. She was not competing with her for the man and was most definitely not jealous of thier relationship or more accurately her unrequited love.
"What have you gotten?" He asked.
"Your highness, I heard from Kebarah and Lewis after what I assume to be a lengthy meeting in Lewis's chamber and they were finally bidding farewell to each other that they would become in-laws in two day. The engagement of Yvonne and Noelle is scheduled in two day."
"Do you have any idea as to why they are delaying it?" Velaine asked.
The weapon they have will kill the monster swiftly and if he had indeed struck a deal with Kebarah, he would not have to throw in a scape goat to the man to seduce him before she poisons him, it would simply be part of his dinner, in his meat so why were they taking the effort to even conduct an engagement?
"I have a proposition as to why?" Aveedah started quietly. She brought her other leg over so she would be facing Irina completely before she continued.
"Lewis seems to be a very wise man from your tale. Wise and conniving, yet the only way he had thought of killing his brother is by getting him seduced then murdered by women he is bedding?" She stopped to take in their faces, then continued.
"I believe he specifically wants his brother dead while he is in bed with a woman or atleast that is the end he wants the world to witness of his brother. The presence of the woman is not what he wants because there would have been even simpler ways with a lot of maids in the palace. He would just have to Poison his food, his maid in attendance will bring him and since he knows not how to use it , she will end up dead. However, he had chosen the same method over and over again even after series of failure, I believe there is something in their past that we are yet to find out."
"If your proposition is right, He will be dead in two days and Yvonne will be the killer." Velaine stated.
She nodded in response but was actually lost in her thoughts.
To figure out a solution,one has to know the reason or the cause. Now that they have figured out the cause, the solution is all she is able to think about. Two days is a lot of time to stay off the ground yet it is too short a time to save a life.
"To have him successfully take in the poison, he must be unable to detect it, and the only way to do that is to hide it in something with greater stench than the venom, something natural. From history, the most successful camouflage is the stench of blood, so the meat the target is to consume is soaked in the venom and cooked together." Velaine said, his gaze faraway.
"The first thing we should do is make sure he avoids anything with blood throughout the engagement. Then we would have to stop Yvonne from visiting him or better still, take him out of the palace before she arrives."
"That is simple yet with a lot of risks." Aveedah started.
"To successfully sneak out a prince from his palace and to prevent him from having any meat during this own engagement ceremony where he would be the man of the day and quite away from us? It is almost impossible."
"We can make him have diarrhea." Irina suggested.
"He may or may not care about his health so much to abandon meat for diarrhea and that would not stop Yvonne from going to him, remember she is going in as an assassin not a lover." Aveedah countered.
Velaine looked at her pointedly,his eyes questioning if she has something worth hearing.
"I was thinking to destroy the engagement all together but that also is not a foolproof plan."
The trio went quiet for a while before Velaine said.
"I suppose we will come up with something better when we actually see the palace. We are simply making assumptions here since we are have the disadvantage of being far from the stage, let us focus on arriving first. We may even be able to convince Lewis to turn against Kebarah and work with us. We have the same thing Kebarah has to entice him."
Aveedah nodded at that agreeing with the man by her side.
"I suggest we should get some rest before dawn. It would be a crazy ride once again." She said making him smile while Irina only rolled her eyes.
'Did she have to point that out?'
Velaine nodded and said to Irina.
"You have done well, you may take some rest now." She bowed, even though she did not want to leave them together but she knew it was not a suggestion, it was an order she must follow.
Irina's absence had brought with it an awkward silence between the two. The spell they both were under seemed to have broken as they began to shuffle uncomfortably, not knowing what was most appropriate to say.
Suddenly, she heard him say.
"Do you know the part of nature that does not absorb essence?"
She blinked, trying to understand what he was saying.
"No." She answered honestly, still not understanding the reason for the question.
"Stones, rocks." He replied looking at a large rock a reasonable distance from them.
His face held a mischievous smile as he watched her comprehend what he had said.
"You mean.." she started wide eyed, surprise, disbelief and a twinkle of humour in her eyes.
He laughed heartily and got off the horse.
"Majesty will not be able to travel tomorrow if it continues like this." He said giving her his hand.
"So you are finally telling me this to save the horse?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
He chuckled before he replied.
"That and I was in a bad mood earlier and I tend to be quite petty you see."
She nodded, trying to hide the smile threatening to display itself on her lips and said.
"I thought we had fixed that earlier, so why did I have to sleep on a horse?" She asked, good naturedly.
Something about his expression had changed. He did not look as cheerful as he had been but he was far from angry.
Why did she suddenly feel cornered?
He moved closer to the horse and whispered.
"Do you want to know the reason?" His hoarse voice was sending tingles down her spine and the look in his eyes was suddenly making her want to turn around.
Is she embarrassed?
But why did she have the strong urge to smile?
She swallowed too loud for a lady making her blush harder then she already was.
"If the horse does not collapse, I have an inkling it will discard me." She said before pushing herself onto the surprised man.
He caught her just in time before she passed his arm level. His arms almost giving away from the unexpected weight and he propped her in order to position her better and allow his arms adjust.
She laughed at his state making him smile too.
"I suppose I deserved that." He said as he tossed her yet again.
She nodded mischievously, her eyes bright with humour.
"I had thought you would be informed by either Eric or Keevah."
She shrugged and wound her hand around his neck, making him stiffen briefly.
She had either not noticed it or had simply ignored him for she replied nonchalantly.
"Eric never risks a situation. He would rather have me far away from danger than mind my comfort and as for Keevah, he is unaware."
He only smiled at that.
He could understand the reason she had not informed him. The man would have rushed over and caused the delay Kebarah had Intended. That is what love does to a man. Rationality becomes unattainable and simple situations turn complicated.
"How do you know so much about the monster?" She asked after a while.
They were almost at the rock so he did not answer till he had carefully dropped her.
He sat beside her then heaved a sigh and said.
"I was born on that same eclipse, I am the other one."
"The legend?" She asked, turning to face him.
He chuckled bitterly then replied.
"An ungifted legend."
She studied him to see if he was serious and when she saw no trace of humor in his eyes, she laughed throwing her head back.
"It is refreshing to know you are not always so wise."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
'Is she mocking him?'
"Does being an ungifted stop you from become a legend?"
It was not a question for him to answer so he did not.
"In a duel, the weapon that does the real damage is not the long sword held at the same level as the proud eyes, it is the short dagger that the eyes believe are too low to concern it."
"You do not need a gift to be a legend, All you need is the will and the wisdom and I can guarantee you have the wisdom. The will is what you should strive to acquire."
He stared at her before he turned away.
"You remind me too much of my father." He started.
"Do you know what my name means in the olden language?" He asked to which she shook her head.
"Weapon." He informed.
"Velaine" She said after a while.
He could tell she was not calling him nonetheless he turned to her. It was difficult not to after hearing her call his name like that.
"I asked why my name was so vague and his answer I never understood until I met you. Your name, Aveedah should be Aveeridah and even though it is been distorted, you chose to be what it means."
She refused to interrupt him despite how much she wanted to ask him what Aveeridah meant. He had called her that the night at his kingdom and though she had been initially bothered by it, she had later chose to believe it may have been a meaningless slip but it seems it is not so meaningless after all.
"World's shield. A person that embraces and protects all. That describes you perfectly though the name was distorted."
" He had said it is my choice if I want to be a weapon of liberation or destruction even if my name has neither of those. The choice still comes down to me."
"And what have you chosen Velaine?" She asked quietly, her eyes still on his.
He was quiet for a while before he swallowed and stood up briskly, he made to leave when her hand tenderly wrapped around his wrist shocking him.
He turned slowly, afraid he was just imagining it
She held on even after she saw him glance at where she was holding. Going further, she pulled him till he sat back and then leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You promised me a night, you can not take it back."