My heart sinks with anxiety and guilt. I just denied a walk with Orien, the one girl I have not been able to get off of my mind. The more I steps I away from Orien, the more my heart is trying to pull me towards her.

  “Fellas, fair warning, I will be running, but not from you guys. I need to do something so please don’t kill me,” I say to the guards who are currently leading me back to my room.

  “What are you-”

  I start to run off before one of the guards finishes his question.

  “Hey, get back here!”

  Both of the guards run after me, but somehow I am faster than them. Must be all the armor they have on.

  “I gave you a warning,” I yell behind me as they repeatedly demand for me to stop and come back to them.

  I don’t stop running until I meet up with Orien in the hallway. She is just about to go the doors that lead to the royal gardens. I have always seen her go out that door when she wants to take walk. It seems to be the place that she loves most.

  “Orien,” I shout.

  Orien turns around and sees me running. I hear an audible gasp before she brings her hand to the sheath on her ribs and grabs a knife before she points it at me. “Don’t come any closer. Do you hear me?”

  My feet slide as I immidiately stop in my tracks. I lift my hands in the air, showing that I mean no harm to her or anyone else.

  “Apologies, Your Highness. He just ran away from us and we couldn’t catch up with him. We won’t let it-”

  “I decided I want to go on a walk with you after all,” I interrupt the guard.

  Orien looks between me and the guards behind me who are starting to put me in handcuffs. I learned my lesson from last time and decided not to give up too much of a fight. My wrists are still a little bruised from the last time I got arrested. I give Orien a pleading look, begging her to let me go on the walk with her and not to be put in those cold jail cells again.

  Orien holds up one of her hands. “Hold on,” she demands. “He can come with me. You two get back to the room where the other boy is kept.”

  They both solute her before marching off to the room where Pierce is kept. Orien motions me to follow her and I do. The first couple of minute are silent, just like how our other walk was but this time it feels less awkward. I feel a sense of comfort when I am by her side, maybe even a sense of security. I know that she will protect me if anything happens to me or my friends.

  “Can I ask you a question?” she says.

  “Sure.”

  “Why did you say no to me at first?”

  “I- I- uh” How do I tell her that June doesn’t want me to see her ever again. She doesn’t want me to spend time with Orien and that I respected that but saying no to her killed me on the inside.

  “Is there something I did?” she asks with a crack in her voice.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Not exactly? So, there is something I did.”

  She looks away, hurt expressed all over her face. All I want to do is grab her shoulders and pull her into a hug, but if I did that I might have a knife in my stomach. And right now, I don’t feel like getting stabbed.

  “So, what are you angry at me for then?” she asks.

  “Angry at you?”

  She stops in her tracks, stopping right in front of the tree where we had our first kiss. Eyebrows furrowed and cheeks red, she begins to breath unevenly.

  “If I did something, you must be angry with me. I want to know what I did to make you angry with me.”

  “I’m not angry with you.”

  “Don’t lie to me Xavier!’ she yells. Her pupils grow bigger and bigger with every word. She lungs inflate and deflate so fast that she sounds like she just came back from a long run.

  “I’m not lying to you!” I yell back.

  Orien takes a step back, clearly surprised that I yelled at her the way I did. I take a step closer to her but she tehn takes another step back, trying to keep distance between us.

  “I’m not supposed to see you,” I blurt out.

  “Not supposed to see me? And who gave you those orders?”

  “June.”

  “June? Why would she demand you not to see me?”

  “Why do you think?”

  Orien furrows her eyebrows, showing she is confused and can’t seem to figure out why June doesn’t want me to see her. Her eyebrows furrow more and more until they can’t possibly furrow anymore and then they are suddenly released.

  “Because she thinks I killed her father,” she whispers.

  I nod but say nothing.

  “Did she order for you not to see the other two men who are always with me?”

  I shake my head.

  “Why not?”

  I open my mouth to answer but then I shut it again. I actually don’t know the reason that June would tell me not to see only Orien. The other two men, Theon and the other one, were also there but June didn’t make a big deal out of them.

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  “I don’t know,” I say while bringing my head down to the ground.

  “Does she know that I am not the one that actually killed him? One of the other men killed him because he was trying to kill me.” Orien brings both of her hands up to her chest, pointing at herself. The crazed look in her eyes show me that she is desperate for me to believe her.

  “It doesn’t matter to her. You were part of the story. Plus, you were the person to tell her that her father died. You were the one that brought the bad news to her. She may just need someone to take the blame for a little while. She will be okay, though. She is a strong woman.”

  “Okay, so, you told me no when asked you to go on a walk with me.”

  I don’t respond.

  “But then you came running back to me, literally, telling me that you made a mistake and do want to go on a walk. And here you are, disrespecting your friend’s wish.”

  She falls silent and we just stare into each other eyes for a few moments. A tear falls down one of her cheeks and her breath is shuttering again.

  “Why?” she asks.

  I take no time in deciding that what I am about to say is something I want her to know. “Because I haven’t been able to get my mind off of you. You are the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of before my eyes rest. I think of you before saying good morning to the sun and before I even have time to realize that I get to spend another day in a world where you exist. I take comfort in knowing that I get to breath the same air as you. I was born in the perfect moment where you get to be in my life and I wouldn’t change it for anything else.”

  Orien’s eyes widen and more tears fall down her cheeks. I take a step closer to her but before I can even put my foot down she lunges at me. Her arms glide around my neck and her lips meet mine. My hands instinctively wrap around her waist and squeeze her closer to me. Our breaths form into one and my tongue sweeps across her mouth. I can feel the warmth of her getting hotter and hotter. It feels like she is burning up.

  She slightly moans into my mouth as I angle her into a deeper kiss. Her head tilts up as I bring myself closer to her, not getting enough of her. I feel like I haven’t breathed ever and she is the oxygen I needed. I can breath all because she is giving me life. She is now a part of me and I have finally come alive. Not one, but many sparks light up in my chest and where my body meets with hers tingles. I have felt nothing like this before and I never want to stop feeling it.

  I want to pull Orien closer, if it is even possible, and kiss her until our last breaths. I want her for myself and myself only. There is nothing like her and there never will be again.

  She slides her tongue into my mouth again and our tongues dance with each other. The warmth of her breath melts my insides and suddenly my fingers feel cold. I need warmth.

  I need her warmth.

  I need her.

  She pulls away from me, both of us out of breath. I clear my throat and brush my clothes back into shape. She untangles her hair while not making any contact with me.

  “Don’t do this to me again,” I beg.

  “Don’t do what?” she asks. Her brows knit together, truly not knowing what I am talking about.

  “You did this last time we kissed.”

  “Did what?” I can hear frustration come out of her voice telling me to get to the point.

  “You kissed me and then ran away. We didn’t speak and we barely made eye contact. Don’t do this to me again, Orien. I don’t know if my heart can take it. Seeing you is the highlight of my day and knowing you didn’t want anything to do with me, broke my heart into pieces. I was so confused and hurt. Please, please don’t do this again.”

  She stops mid-brush, making direct eye contact with me. Her hands slowly slide down her body and her eyes turn soft. A sweet smile shows on her face as she says, “I won’t. I will never leave you again. I have you and you have me. We are one now. You and me.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.” She lets out her pinky, urging me to connect mine to hers. I smile back at her as out pinkies hook around each other. Then I grab her wrist before she pulls her hand away and bring her closer to me.

  I kiss her one more time before saying, “Shall we continue this walk?”

  “We shall.”

  Do I hear… giddy in her voice? I never knew the queen had this side to her, and I am not complaining at all.

  She is mine and I am for hers. We are one until the end.