ATHENA

TWENTY

Losing someone beloved could deeply wound a person. Could change a person completely. Sometimes, it takes forever to heal from that loss.

Have you ever lost a loved one? And how long did it take you to grieve😥?

~🌹~

Who knew marriage could get so bland?

Athena definitely didn't.

It had been a week since they tied the knot. A week since both kingdoms went into war with Rhesia. A week since Jason had been witnessed to be shot in the head. A week since Leonard's heart turned bitterly wounded.

She watched him bleed emotionally and it anguished her that she could do very little about it.

She didn't know which hurt her more. His obvious weight loss, or the dullness and dark circles his blue eyes had eventually earned.

At five in the morning, as usual, she was rounding up her cooking. Wiping her hands, she sat on the wooden floor of the small kitchen and got back to sewing herself dresses from extra sheets she had found, since she had moved in with none to begin with.

Humming, she was lost in her own thoughts. She thought of her home. Her mother. Her father. Eunice. She even thought of Jordan. What would have happened if she had not come to Thestoria in the first place? What would have happened if Rhesia had not attacked? What would have happened if she had ended up as Jordan's wife? While her thoughts would have been on another man. On the man who had given her her first kiss right in this cottage.

A man whose supposed love for you is turning sour.

No. She denied that.

Deny it all you want, Athena. Leonard does not love you. You two were bound by attraction. Attraction fades more quickly than you would expect it to. He is the enemy. He has always been the enemy. You know in your gut that Eunice was right!

"No." She said to herself in a painful whimper. She had been so lost in her thoughts, she had no idea she had buried her face in her palm.

"Athena?"

Her head snapped up immediately at the sound of his voice. Leonard had been standing at the doorway of the small corridor. And for the first time since their marriage, she saw emotion sway across his face.

Worry.

She fumbled with the sheets, a little uneasy.

He just looked at her for a while saying nothing. Now she began to feel very agitated under the piercing gaze of his blue eyes. Shoulders falling and sighing, she faked indifference. "Good morning."

"Morning."

Unable to hold his arcane gaze, she proceeded to sewing her dress. "It won't really hurt to add the 'good', you know."

"I'll be going to do some hunting now."

She scoffed. Of course, the usual. He didn't even feel the need to correct his lackadaisical greeting. So much for getting an emotion from him. She raised her head when she heard him head for the door. She scrambled to her feet. "Wait, seriously, you're just going to go out just like that?"

He stopped on his spot, but didn't turn to her.

"I made breakfast." She lowered her eyes, wounded by his unending reservedness. "If you would just sit, and let me serve you-"

"Athena..."

"Why do you choose to lock me out?!" Her throat felt hot. He still didn't look at her. "I am your wife, aren't I?"