Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 173: Words from the Heart

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Three: Words from the Heart

Her heart soared.

Her ears rang.

Her pulse throbbed steady in her throat and wrists.

And she was sure her eyes must have shone as she walked through the city.

His hand in her own was pure warmth.

Her dream boat wish was going to come true.

She knew that it would because on the day of her fifteenth birthday, she'd wished for just one person to love her, for just one person acknowledge how hard she tried and make her feel safe... and that very same afternoon, she'd met Xaphile for the first time in her life.

It hadn't been under good circumstances, but even though she knew in her heart that it was foolish... well, she wanted to believe that it was her wish that had brought them together.

She wanted to, with everything inside her, because just a moment ago she'd made a wish that she prayed with all her might would come to pass. Her eyes ghosted along the ruins of Chisago as the guards clamored in every corner of it, gathering people up for the announcement.

She heard the din they were making as if from a distance.

It was muddled.

The only thing she could hear was her own footsteps.

The only thing she could feel was the heat of his body.

She looked around, as if time had slowed, seeing but not hearing.

Her country was going to survive, and she and Xaphile would live happily.

She could feel it deep down in her core.

Nimika was an ancient place, full of secrets and memories that Ella knew she would never understand or fully uncover. The clock tower alone was about as old as Aerika's sovereignty, and the date the foundations had been laid lost to the mists of time and the ravages of a dozen wars.

Chisago had once been the oldest city in the kingdom.

It had been around since before the Westlands had fallen to ruin, which was longer than the Votrin family's castle had been around... longer than the Votrin family as a whole, in fact.

It still bothered her that the royal family had so much power, and she knew that even with everything going on she would have to be careful. Any man that would boldly torture and kill innocent people, or attempt to assassinate a young ruler was someone to be feared.

But she would change that.

Her eyes remained locked on the post that Xaphile had once been tied to.

The post where she'd scarred him in so many ways and broke his already tormented heart... the post from when she'd been a terrible person, three months and a lifetime ago.

That post was a symbol.

A symbol of how far she'd come since then.

She slowly ascended the stairs leading to the stand in the center of the marketplace, realizing with muted surprise that everyone had already gathered. Her eyes looked out across the small ocean of people, all of them looking up at her with large eyes, shocked eyes, relieved eyes...