Blood Lily

Chapter Six

He begins to walk away, his boots ringing out against the cobblestone and I sit there waiting. When I no longer hear his steps I stand, close the window, and undress. Lowering myself slowly into the warm water of the tub I think over the confrontation. While Ashton had sent Kira away it was clear that they had been meeting in secret for some time. I had only been alerted of their relationship about a year ago from Zillah and she had told me that she believed it was a recent development. I had never truly believed that Ashton taking a lover was a possibility when I tried to turn him against witches. Anger builds in me as I think of all the secret touches and loving whispers they had most likely exchanged over the years. The water around me began to boil as energy interspersed with the water particles.

Trying to calm myself I flout a cylinder of lavender bath salts over to the bath and slowly dump the contents into the steaming water. Closing my eyes I lean back against the lip of the bath and try to clear my mind. Before I can empty my mind and relax a light knock comes at the door. I sit up water sloshing over the edge of the tub. "Yes." I call in a controlled voice.

"Nisla, it's Ashton. I just returned from the trip with my father an hour ago." At this he pauses nervously and I can hear him shift on the other side of the door, " It's truly beautiful over there I hope to take you there someday, we visited these beautiful little villages and I couldn't help thinking about how you would love them." He rambled.

I grabbed a soap bar and scrubbed my body before dunking below the water. When my head pierces the surface I can still hear Ashton on the other side of the door. He doesn't say anything as though he is waiting for a response. Reaching for a large soft cloth sitting on a stool next to the bath I stand and call, "It sounds wonderful. Did they have a school for the children?"

Ashton answers quickly, "Yes they did, a charming little place quite nice quality for such a small village. They also had a library, it wasn't very big though."

I smile at the distaste in his voice as I dry my body and head over to the vanity. Slipping on a silky nightgown I use a short spike of energy to suppon a warm breeze and dry my hair before tying it up in a bun on the crown of my head with a cream ribbon. As I wrap myself in a soft comfortable cloak I hear a thump at the door like Ashton just laid his forehead against it. I walk over and can hear him sigh. That one breath was so full of regret, pain, confusion, and self hate I can't help but grimace. Walking over to the door I lean my own forehead against its cool wood, only the few inches of it separating us. "We need to talk, Ni." Ashton whispers.

"I know." I whisper and there I decide I'm going to tell him everything about the men and their threats about the encounter in the tavern and the threats I made.
I grimace again at how stupid I was for not telling Ashton everything the day he found me laying drained of energy in the field. I know that what we have is not perfect and we both made mistakes in the past few years of this crumbling marriage. Maybe the fact that he turned to other women when I tried to push a wedge between us should scare me but we are both young and we have so much life ahead of us to learn to make the right choices. Plus I have an army of shadows to spy on him, and he did say that he would follow me around like a sad mutt begging for forgiveness forever.

Love isn't perfect, that's what makes love; the imperfections. I'm not going to run straight back into Ashton's arms just because he realised what he did was wrong. We're going to talk through our problems and take steps towards improving ourselves in order to be better together because I know we both want this to work. Slowly I open the bathroom door and look at the broken prince standing in front of me. "Lets go talk in the parlor, I'll have Zillah bring us dinner."

He looks at me with hope and I smile, as I pass him and head to alert Zillah. He follows after me as I settle myself down on the chair I was sitting in before my bath. I notice the fire has burned out as Ashton sits across from me. We spend the rest of the night there talking and explaining and planning our next steps in the scary, wonderful thing we call life.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone for reading this short story of mine! I am challenging myself to work through a new story that I hope on posting soon, so stay tuned. This story was not one I was exceptionally proud of but I am glad that I posted it and that I can now say that it is complete! Please make sure to follow me and like the episodes! I hope to see you all again soon with a new story! Until then make sure your mind is adventurous and your eyes are sharp, keep believing - A.K. Coffman