From the Depths

Chapter 31 -Bonding Session.

Henry gently closed the door to Kirea's room behind him as he exited to the hallway.

Outside the room, Ren was still attempting to dress himself.

He sighed shaking his head at the siren, he very much reminded the Knight of a child. Thankfully the sun had not risen yet and the halls were quiet enough that no one was wandering around at this time of day. That would be one hell of a thing he would need to explain away. A naked man leaving his bride-to-be's room, rumours were not what he needed right now.

"Why didn't you tell her!?" He hissed in a hushed tone not wanting to alert Kirea on the other side of the door.

"I tried! But honestly, she wasn't having it. She barely let me speak." Ren protested.

"Ahuh." Henry raised a brow at him. "I would be mad at you if she didn't look healthier than I've ever seen her."

He watched as the siren appeared to sadden. He finally slipped on the shirt and managed to fasten the trousers around his waist. "It sadly won't last long, could be months, days or hours. Her body is very badly damaged."

"That bad already?" Henry's brows furrowed. "I had expected as much with her age."

"How long has she been ill?" Ren asked.

"I would say well before her teenage years, so around 8 to 10 years now." Henry couldn't help but cringe. This illness was meant to be a thing of the past, it was a miracle she had survived this long. He surmised it was probably due to her medical training, and the fact that her mother would have helped by putting in measures to lessen the exposure to the child.

"The inside of her body looks much older and worn than what a being of her age should be..." Ren appeared to be finding it hard to express the words he wanted to say.

"It's okay, I get it. I knew someone who went through the same thing... She's at least more conformable, for now." He started moving, walking in front of Ren so the siren could follow after him.

"Hey, Henry?" Ren asked from behind him.

"Mmm?" He responded with a quick glance over his shoulder.

"I- Thanks for caring about her... and I'm sorry I was so hostile toward you before." Ren appeared to be fiddling with his fingers as he spoke. Was he embarrassed?

"I'm also sorry for a lot of things in my life, but that girl deserves a heck of a lot better than this place." He remarked truthfully. "You had every right to be hostile with me, I had hurt her. Unintentionally or not it was still wrong." He admitted truthfully.

"You've grown." Ren smiled brightly.

Henry made a disgusted sound. "Don't tell my knights, they'll think I've gone soft."

"I don't think it's a bad thing." Ren pointed out.

Henry huffed a laugh. "It wouldn't be a problem anywhere else, but here in this castle under this King. My reputation is all I have keeping me alive." The siren was considerably easy to talk to he realized, odd. Was this how Kirea felt around him? He could understand why Kirea was so at ease around him now.

"Why stay if the living conditions aren't to your liking? You can just leave, yes?" Ren was asking the hard questions now.

Henry smirked shaking his head. "Says the one that can walk out of his captive habitat at any moment."

"There is a good reason I chose to stay within those walls," Ren concluded his gaze showing a fearful expression for a moment.

"As is there a reason I chose to say within these." Henry gestured to the stone around them. "But, It won't always be like this... At least that is the hope." He added. "There has to be something better at the end of all this... or it's all been for nothing." He muttered.