Worlds Apart

Inheritors

The pelt hangs low around his waist as Eadric permits the servants entry to our room to provide us with our suppers. They in no way seem phased by our sweaty, unruly conditions, though I do notice they move with haste once they take notice of my position on the bed, pelts bundled around my otherwise bare body.

It is there we eat, alone once a strong fire is cultivated in the fireplace across the room. We share bites of each other's stew, feed one another pieces of the wide array of baked breads and decadent meats brought to us, and spend a fair share of time teasing one another with various sauces swiped over one another's faces that we are quick to lick off each other. And even in between fits of laughter or the comfortable silences that linger between us as we devour the first rich meal we have been afforded in months, there is talk.

Hours we spend chatting over tangential matters to deep, thought-provoking topics that require much more careful consideration, slowly building on the narrative of our lives spent apart as we fill in the dots not already shaded in by the Flame. It can be confirmed that sometime prior to the ceremony, Eadric took the Flame back, meaning the most impressionable moments of my life have now been downloaded into his string of consciousness. Even so, some element of his feelings remain undeciphered in my mind due to the sheer volume of information allotted to both of us.

Somehow, eventually, our conversation steers towards a much more intimate direction when I prompt, "How did you feel about being forced into a marriage with me?"

For some reason, the even expression that occupies Eadric's face makes me feel uneasy.

"I know it's abrupt," I relent when he remains silent for some time, "but I realized I never had the chance to ask you since your people were always concerned with my fidelity and you were always concerned about my feelings towards you."

"We've talked about this before, haven't we?" Eadric asks after a moment.

"Briefly, but even so, I want to hear your side of things."

He releases a weighted breath before leaning forward to take our plates and set them aside. "My people... we do believe in soulmates, or rather someone who completes us." Eadric explains, speaking slowly as though he were still organizing his thoughts. "Baako always told me that my soulmate would be born of tragedy, and ever since the moment I was sat on my thrown and informed of your plan that executed hundreds of my warriors, I suspected it was you."

"That early?" I ask, shocked at the thought.

"That was the first and only devastating loss I suffered during my reign." He adds, his jaw working.

"I-Is that why you didn't kill me when we first met?" I inquire, thinking back to that moment of our introduction. Were we really spared for more than reasons of militaristic caution?

He narrows his eyes before confirming, "That was a part of it."

"Okay." I mutter, watching him closely.

"In that moment, I was furious. For my failure, I thought I hated you. When I first saw you, a part of me did." He admits.

Taken aback by this confession, I ask, my tone low, "You did?"

"As much as you appeared to hate me." He replies. "I hated you because you made me realize that even with a crown on my head, I wasn't invincible. I was a man who could be wounded, broken, and suddenly I was faced with someone intelligent and strong enough to genuinely challenge me; a true enemy."

I scoff before declaring, "I was just a child, Eadric. I had no experience leading-"

"And yet you made me look like an absolute fool." He interrupts. "But the more I studied you, the more I discovered about you, about how scared you looked underneath all that defiance. You loathed me, and yet you were ready to give yourself to me for the sake of your people, just as I would die for mine."