Finding Contentus

Chapter 145: Harm and Heal

Today will be a good day. Roi Gabrielle recited his daily scripture, his routine that was more than second nature. It kept him alive.

His first act of duty was to relieve himself of the halo that stabbed his head like spikes. His crown.

Minaleese sat on Kakara's ice throne while he remained standing. His eyes were fixed on the mirror-like tiles that cloned his image, creating a band of unwilling Kings that twinkled like stars as the chandelier did. He wore something simpler today. A loose, long sleeve, lace-trimmed white tunic with white pants and caramel leather boots. His tunic and pants were fastened by a caramel belt.

"Lost in thought or lost in self?" Minaleese asked softly, resisting the urge to brush his long caramel blonde hair.

Gabrielle reflected for a long moment. "Self." He lifted his hands and squeezed as hard as he could as if he was choking the life out of some invisible foe. His face paled within seconds as though he himself was being throttled, like how Dominique used to throttle him. I cannot do it. He softened his grip at the end, limiting the pressure.

Minaleese monitored him attentively like a mother watching her child walking for the first time. Walking and stumbling that is.

"Self-imposed restriction," Minaleese said.

Gabrielle stiffened. "Pride. Is it my pride that holds me back?"

Minaleese thought of her husband then. "It is," she said honestly.

Gabrielle directed his gaze to his empty throne next to Minaleese's. His eyes swam to his mother and stayed there as if hoping the sight would comfort him.

Minaleese offered him a smile. "Hurt?"

Gabrielle nodded, touching his chest. "It hurts not being with her. It hurts not seeing her smile."

"What about her scowl and glare?"

"That hurts even more since she scowls and glares all the time."

Minaleese chuckled. "You really are head over heels for her."

Gabrielle smiled sheepishly. "Elle est charmante, n'est-ce pas?"

"Charming? How so?" Minaleese wanted to hear all of it.

"What can I say?" He moved his hands like he was sculpting his monumental wife from snow. "She's so big, and tall, and beautiful, and mean, and blunt, and rude, and—"

Gabrielle went on a dramatic spiel detailing all the things he loved about his wife. Some of Kakara's traits were outright ghastly, while others were commendable. Though it was impossible to tell which was which. Gabrielle was smitten with his star mate.

Minaleese grinned, overjoyed. There was a time when she wasn't sure if her daughter would ever find a spouse who could make her happy. She was glad that destiny deemed it fit for Kakara to find someone that genuinely made her smile.

In the same vein, it pained her to keep them both separated for the time being. Duty came first when distractions would prove to be too costly. If it was up to her, she would have locked them in their bedroom until she heard the good news that Kakara was pregnant.

Urielle would certainly want to hear the same even if she didn't say so verbally. Minaleese felt for her niece. If only she hadn't been stripped of her...

She sighed, opting to focus on her son's plight. He was no longer smiling. He looked gutted. Her eyes swept over to the side where she saw a stack of rejected proposals.

Just then, Peris and Francko walked in the vast vanquisher room. They took one look at their friend's moping state, sighed dramatically, told him to harden up before approaching Minaleese.