The Last Princess of Lorrea Ch. 14

Elena picked at the loose bark of the tree, watching as the pieces flipped over in the air as they tumbled soundlessly to the floor below.

"Are you ready to come down now?" asked Henry, his hand gripping the tree limb she was perched on, his fingers mere inches from Elena's.

Elena sighed and rested her head against the tree trunk. "I don't know," she said through half-closed eyes.

"Please Princess? I've never told you this, or for that matter I've never told anyone this - but i'm not too fond of heights," he said, his ears turning just the slightest shade of pink.

Elena suppressed a laugh. Instead, she peered down at Henry with a frown. "It hasn't seemed to stop you from climbing up after me, has it?"

"It's not so much the climb Princess - it's the descent that, uh, well, gives me pause."

Elena sighed once more. As tempted as she was to stay up in the tree, it no longer provided her with the peace and quiet she had enjoyed just minutes before Henry's arrival.

"Fine," she said, lowering herself slowly onto the same branch as Henry.

A look of relief washed over Henry's face as he started to follow Elena's descent. Elena dropped easily from branch to branch, always a few ahead of Henry. Finally, she felt the cool, damp grass between her toes as she dropped lightly from the lowest branch. She looked up to see Henry's large muscular legs and arms straining against the forces of gravity. Once again, Elena suppressed a laugh, the absurdity of the situation not lost on her. Such a strong and powerful soldier battling with such an imposing enemy - a tree. Elena walked a few paces, putting a little distance between herself and the tree. She looked up at the moon, it's glow illuminating the castle grounds. Henry dropped heavily to the ground, having chosen to forgo the last branch altogether in order to feel the firm ground beneath his feet.

Henry followed Elena, stopping a few feet behind her.

"What now?" Elena asked, wrapping her slender arms around herself.

"I suggest that we both get some sleep, seeing how late it is."

"That's not what I meant," Elena said, shaking her head. "What I meant is, where do we go from here?"

"Well, in my eyes our arrangement still stands, so next week is a good a time as any - "

Elena frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Things have changed since we made that arrangement," she said flatly.

"No they haven't - I see no reason for us to postpone anything," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You don't see any reason?" Elena repeated incredulously, turning around to face Henry.

"No," Henry said firmly, taking a step towards Elena. "I don't really see any difference in our situation to that of a few weeks ago," he said, shrugging his shoulders again.

Elena took a step back in turn, shaking her head. She wasn't sure that Henry grasped the situation in it's entirety. "You don't really mean that, you're just being... oh, I don't know what you're thinking, but this will never work Henry. Too much has happened."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care about what happened, it doesn't matter!" he said, taking another step forward and clutching Elena's arms in his hands.

"It matters to me," Elena said scathingly, wriggling free from his grasp.

Henry, realising his callousness, blushed deeply. "That's not what I meant Princess."

Elena turned her back on Henry, her previous misgivings surfacing once more. Clearly Henry couldn't understand or handle the complexities of their situation.

Henry watched Elena's back, contemplating silently the best way to handle the delicate nature of the conversation.

"I was planning on giving you this as a wedding present," he said slowly, pausing for a moment before continuing. "But seeing how you - well... I guess I may as well give it to you now," he said, pulling a small silk pouch from his pocket, loosening the drawstring around it's opening.

Despite her current state of mind, Elena's curiosity was piqued. She turned slightly towards Henry and watched as he tipped the contents of the small bag onto his large palm. Even in the moonlight, the contents sparkled. Henry lifted the chain, the small golden medallion swinging back and forth as he extended his hand towards Elena.

Elena's eyes followed the swinging of the medallion as though hypnotised. "How - Where did you find it?" she asked weakly as she reached out and accepted the necklace from him. Elena turned the necklace over in her fingers, the medallion unblemished and just as she remembered it.

"I think you were a little, um... overwhelmed, to see that I had picked it up that day. My goldsmith had to replace the chain, but other than that and perhaps a light cleaning, it is still the same."

"I don't... how..." Elena mumbled incoherently as she looked down at the medallion, a single tear leaked from her eye, she sniffed loudly.

"May I?" Henry asked, gently taking the necklace from Elena, stepping behind her. He undid the new clasp and placed it around her neck, his fingers touching her soft skin.

Elena shivered slightly at his touch, her trembling fingers touching the necklace that lay against her chest. Henry's hands moved from her neck in a sweeping movement down to her shoulders.

He gently pulled her back against his chest, whispering in her ear: "I want you Elena. I always have... always will."

Elena shivered in his arms. "I'm not the same girl that you caught in the forest Henry, not so long ago," she said softly.

"That skinny little trembling creature? No, you definitely are not- also, you smell nicer than she ever did," he said, inhaling the intoxicating smell of her hair.

Elena turned around to face Henry. She looked up at him, her face marked once more by tear tracks. "You know what I mean," she said.

Henry wiped away the remnants of her tears. "Yes, I do," he said, with a small, sad smile. "But that doesn't matter to me - I love you for who you are now too."

Elena blushed furiously at his words. Never in her life had anyone told her that they loved her and she couldn't deny how thrilling it felt - it was as if all the blood in her body had suddenly rushed to her head.

"Henry, I -" she started to say before Henry pressed his lips firmly against hers, cutting short her response. Elena broke the long kiss by pushing Henry gently away from her. "Henry, please wait - think for a moment - you are confused," she said, arching her back to prevent Henry from his renewed attempt of kissing her.

"I am not confused Elena," he murmured, tracing her bottom lip with his fingers.

"Of course you are! Henry, how can you claim to love me? You don't even know me!"

"Of course I know you- you are a beautiful, smart, passionate and kind woman. A courageous and loyal princess," Henry said as he cupped Elena's face in his hands. "I adore all of these things - even your stubbornness I find oddly endearing Elena," he said with a laugh. "And it's because I know all these things that I love you Princess," he said, kissing her passionately on the lips.

Elena stood thunderstruck, not only from the shock and intensity of his kiss - Elena had never experienced such a kiss before, but she was shocked to the core from his words. Elena broke the staggering kiss by twisting her head to the side, causing Henry to groan softly in her ear.

"You really love me?" she asked slowly, looking into Henry's eyes once more, which were ablaze with passion.

"YES," he replied emphatically, wrapping his strong arms around her waist and pulling her against him, hugging her tightly.

Elena's heart pounded in her chest, at first from the nature of his words, but the cause for the erratic beating of her heart was soon replaced by her understanding of what was coming next.

"And do you love me?" asked Henry.

"I - I... Henry, I -" she stammered before he tilted her head up, placing a finger on her lips.

"Shhh," he said, "you don't have to answer straight away, when you feel ready to, then you should tell me."

"Alright," Elena said in a small voice, grateful for the small reprieve.

Henry kissed the top of her head before wrapping his arm around her waist and steering her back towards the castle.

"Hold on just one moment Elena," Henry said, coming to a halt before the castle steps. He reached down and held her hand in his. Elena looked at Henry in confusion, for he seemed so serious. "I thought," he continued, "when I retrieved your necklace, of adding a second medallion to it -the medallion of my household. However, I find it more prudent to give you this ring," he said, pulling the golden ring, bearing the Kravaolian coat of arms and the sign of the king, off his finger. "This way, when you look down, resting above your heart- and connected to it - is your past, but when you do something productive with your hands, you will be mindful of the future, your Kravaolian future."

Elena was silent for a few moments, digesting the meaning behind his words. "I didn't know you were such a poet Henry," Elena said softly, unable to stop a smile playing around her lips.

"My mother believed in a well-rounded education, despite my father's objections," he said with a small laugh as he lifted her hand. Henry placed the ring on her finger, but it almost slipped off when Elena turned her hand. "A little too big," he said, moving the ring onto her thumb instead. "Better, but i'll get the goldsmith to change the size tomorrow, alright?"

Elena nodded silently, staring down at the heavy golden ring.

"Good, come now, let's return to bed - I have a few early morning council meetings," he said, linking his arm in hers.

***

They stood outside the bedroom.

"Goodnight Elena, sleep well," Henry said, bringing her hand to his lips, kissing it lightly.

Henry's farewell of 'Sleep well', echoed in her head. She doesn't sleep well. "Wait," she called, as Henry turned to go to his current bedroom.

"Yes?" he asked, turning back to face her.

"Where are you going?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

"To retire, i'm quite tired princess," he replied.

"I thought this was your bedroom," Elena said, nervously twisting a lock of golden hair between her fingers.

"Well, yes... I mean, it was," he stammered, looking at Elena in discomfort.

"Then where are you going?" she asked, her eyebrow raised in question.

"I only thought... I mean, I don't want to impose," he said, peering curiously at Elena's face.

"You're not imposing," Elena said as she pushed the doors open and walked in. Henry stood, confusion clouding his mind.

"Henry?" Elena called from somewhere within.

Henry swallowed the large lump in his throat and walked into the room, a smile spreading across his face.

"You know," Henry said to Elena as she neared the foot of the bed, "this will soon be OUR room, not my room - that is, after we are married, of course."

Elena looked around the room. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she said in a faraway voice, as she sat down on the bed. She shook her head clear of the thoughts of their future - those thoughts could wait for tomorrow she decided, right now she just wanted to sleep.

Henry walked quickly to the other side of the bed and sat down, taking his boots off as quickly as he could. His shirt promptly followed, tossing it to the ground before his trembling, excited fingers started to untie the laces of his pants.

"Henry," she said soothingly, placing her hand over his hands, stopping the unlacing. "I'm sorry, I should have made myself clear. I'd like the pleasure of your company... any other, er - pleasure- you had in mind will have to wait until after we are married," Elena said, her cheeks glowing pink in embarrassment.

Henry grumbled and fell back heavily against the mattress. "Elena," he groaned in exasperation.

"Sorry," she whispered as she lay back against the pillows, turning her back on Henry. She could feel him twisting this way and that, grumbling to himself as he tried to get comfortable.

After a few minutes of silence, Elena spoke. "Henry?"

A grunt in response.

"Henry?"

"Yes?" came a sleepy reply behind her.

"Can you hold me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Honestly, the reason Elena had asked Henry to sleep next to her was that she was scared. She knew that when she closed her eyes, even though Caspian was dead, he was well and truly alive in her dreams - she thought that maybe, sleeping in the arms of the one who had rescued her from him, would somehow dispel the terror she felt, the terror that caused her to wake up in a cold sweat every night, her heart racing.

Henry didn't answer, he didn't need to. Elena felt the mattress dip as he moved behind her, his strong arm cradling her waist as his other hand touched her head lightly, running his long fingers through her hair, over and over again.

As her eyes drooped, she felt the light touch of Henry's lips against the back of her neck. She squirmed in his arms. "Henry..." she said warningly.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist Princess," he murmured from behind.

"Try to," Elena said, pulling his arm tighter around her waist as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

"This is going to be a really long night" he mumbled to himself.

Elena didn't hear him, for she was deeply asleep - and for the first time in weeks, she slept and dreamt soundly -no scary, looming figure in sight.