"Aren't you angry?" He sounds so dumbfounded. It's the first time he's reacted without any passive aggression or indifference since meeting him in this present life. With slightly widen eyes, it's obvious that his tone is genuine.
I stand in front of him feeling bare in my white dress in comparison to the layers of flowing clothes that adorn his slender form. I shake my head. "Not that I can tell. It's possible that she might be but I am not."
I pause a moment, watching his dark sapphire eyes register what I was saying. "To be honest, I got advice from Winter on what I should do. But you knew that, you over heard me mentioning it on the phone earlier." His tiny nod only confirms what I said. "And I am glad that he gave me advice I wasn't expecting. It's been thousands and hundreds of years since the incident. People change, especially after that amount of time. I would like to believe that you feel guilt for what happened."
Reaching out, I take one of his hands. His fingers are long and thin, similar to my own but slightly larger. I lift his hand and press a light kiss on his knuckles before pressing my the side of my check against the back of his hand. "I wish to rebuild our friendship. Winter explained to me fae hold grudges and honestly, I wasn't expecting to have this conversation with you so soon. I was suggested to take it slow, have you trust me as I want to trust you." Lifting my head to meet his gaze, I notice that they have soften. Something I feel like I haven't seen in a long time, a very long time.
"Let me ask you this, do you regret what you did?"
Kuval replies softly after a moment, "Yes." I stare up at him, feeling in my gut that there was something more to his answer.
"You don't fully regret telling him where I was."
"I do not." He readjusts his hand; removing it from my grasp and holds onto my hand instead. His fingers lightly play with mine as he stares down at them refusing to meet my gaze. "I did not want to see you get married. He said he only wanted to persuade you into helping him. If you got hurt, I didn't mind. I wanted you to hurt the same way I was hurting."
"But you didn't know he was going to hurt me the way he did though, did you?" I vaguely could recall an image of my batter body long ago, how Taran saw me when he discovered my prison. Kuval pauses his motions as if he was recalling the past himself.
"No." There was a brief silence before his thumb start rubbing the back of my hand gently. "When they brought you back in after missing for a week, I thought you were dead. I was horrified but also slightly satisfied. The satisfaction of if I couldn't have you no one would. But...more horrified. In your condition, I was surprised that you were still some how alive."
Slowly, I lower myself pulling Kuval down with me. Ripples of water spread out from around us as we sat down in the inch leveled water. The water didn't feel cool or hot, just there along with our presence. I pull my hand from his grasp and lightly place my hand on the surface of the water letting ripples spread away from my hand. I like how it feels; not breaking the surface of the water but still feel the molecules pressing against my skin.
"And then you died soon after..."
"I suppose," I reply casually. The death of my first life was still very much a mystery to me. I can not recall any details of the time, eventually I know I will learn the truth but for now I have to focus on other things. Court things, building connections, training my body and mind, and my list goes on.
I sit there for a moment, staring at my hand. The words then came tumbling out of my mouth before even considering them. As if they had to be said. "You know, despite being in this life I... I still love Taran. He's the only one that I've been with in all my lives. Even now, I still do." I glance up to meet his gaze and surprised to see the expression on his face that couldn't be properly described in words. A complex mixture of hurt and anger.
In an instant, I saw a flash of light being reflected from the corner of my eye. My mind screamed knife and I jerked my hand back. Where my hand was previously resting, a silver dagger stood up from the ground, the tip of the blade buried into the ground.
Not knowing when and how he got there, Taran was in a protective crouch. An arm was wrapped securely around my whole waist that had pulled me back as I cradled both of my hands to my chest. His whole form seem to encase my own, my back against his torso, leaning over my head and one of his hands held out stiffly mimicking a claw, revealing his sharp, long nails in a threatening way. His chest rumbled with a low growl as her snarled at Kuval,"You dare harm your queen!?"
Kuval's dark sapphire eyes narrow, expressing his obvious disgust and dislike for Taran. He merely shrug his shoulders lightly as if Taran's words just rolled off of him. With a single graceful, flowing movement he stood and turned away from the both of us to walk away.
"Wait!" Taran's arm tightens around my waist as I reach out a hand towards Kuval as if compelling him to stop. To my surprise, Kuval did pause, peering over his shoulder. "Is there any hope at all? To fix our friendship?" I had to know so I didn't waste my efforts. I want to fix this but this is going to be a two way street, I can not do this alone.
Kuval remained silent for a few moments as if considering his options. "Maybe."
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