Eadlyn Selects

I'll Show You Alright

"How long was I out?" I ask with a fuzzy tongue and a pounding head.

"Not too long," Kile answers. "An hour, maybe two."

"Did they get the shot?" I ask.

He frowns, "Yeah, I guess." He rubs his forehead.

"What's wrong? Did I ruin it?" I ask.

In a strained voice, he says, "Next time let's decide together if it's worth it. It was awful seeing you go through that. No more of letting other people say we need to do something. Deal?"

I beam. "Deal." I dwell in the security of his sentiment. My whole life has been about other people saying I need to do something. His too, I guess. "I can't believe you carried me. You kinda got buff, you know that? Chest like iron and all that."

Kile scoffs out a surprised laugh. "Building houses will do that to a guy. I can't believe you are commenting on my pecs."

I let my head drop back on my pillows. "I'm changed. I only want to remember the light stuff. About the picnic? Your warm chest and strong arms are what I want to stay with me. The rest can auto-delete."

"I noticed the change. I like it."

I say in a deep, announcer-Gavril type voice, "A newfound appreciation for the lighter side of life."

"It's weird because you had a very dark time, but you've come back laughing more than before."

"My future is wide open now. I have no throne tied to my back. I can go with you and build houses. You might like me with a bit of muscle."

He waggles his eyebrows.

"I feel bad." I pick at my sheets. "I'm keeping you from the houses right now."

"Don't. I wouldn't be anywhere else," he says, grabbing my hand to hold. "The crown really weighed so heavily on you?"

I tilt my head. "More than I realized. Now I see everything that I can have without heading the monarchy. I can have you, a life of my own, maybe a business."

"Eady, the business woman. Yes, I can picture that. What would you do? Restructure and run one of the factories you saw?"

I like how he listens to me.

"Maybe I'd go into custom textiles. Or make eco responsible curtains for your houses, or maybe...if I get back to it...fashion. But like what you're doing. I could make stylish fashion functional for real people. The people of Illea deserve comfortable style no matter their jobs. I even think uniforms, coveralls, and scrubs could be tweaked to be more fashionable and efficient."

Kile mulls this over.

"I don't know what will happen with the throne," he finally says. "Honesty? It scares me. The coup is getting a lot of media coverage around the world. I don't know what I wish for Illea, but I want you to be happy. And even with the pain, you are happier now than I have ever known you."

"I guess it took being shackled for me to learn how to be free." I sigh. "The coup is serious. I can see Dad stressing overtime."

"He's right not to bother you with it," Kile assures. "Leave it to him."

I nod. "I have other things to deal with. Speaking of which. I'm dressed and awake. Want to go find Eikko with me? He isn't doing so well. I asked Heath about him and I have a feeling he wasn't telling me how badly off Eric is."

Kile frowns. "I haven't seen him at all."

"Want to come with me to say hi?"