Chapter 9:

"We should be ok in here for a while." Alakiah closed the door behind them and began to scream out to see if anyone was there. Zan looked around the cabin and smiled. It was warm and bright and it smelled of flowers and perfumes.

"Mayala! Maya!" Alakiah looked around impatiently and heard the female voice yell back at him.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Alakiah, I can hear you! No need to scream...." Her annoyed face completely fell from shock. There was the King standing in front of her door. She quickly lowered herself to one knee and kept her head bowed.

"Your Highness." Zan smiled and shook his head.

"Mayala please. There in no one around. There really is no need for you to do that." He reached out his hand and helped her up. She kept her head lowered and listened to Alakiah's orders.

"Call Elena and have her fix King Zan a meal and a comfortable place to stay for a while. Then get yourself together, Rath is expecting you at the palace." He winked at his last comment, knowing she would enjoy the thought of Rath personally requesting her. But her eyes were worried and remained upset.

"Elena is ill. If it is necessary I will tend for his Highness... you would have to tell Rath I am unavailable." Both Alakiah and Zan quickly looked up at Mayala.

"Elena is ill?" Zan remembered the few times Elena had actually fallen ill. One time had been so bad, they all thought she would die.

"She is running a high fever and is very weak." Zan nodded and looked over at Alakiah.

"Alright, this is what we are going to do. Alakiah, you can go and do what is necessary for the rest of the evening. Mayala, go tend to Rath, I will stay here with Elena." Her head shot up at his comment and her eyes were inquiring his real purpose.

"Yes, your Highness." Alakiah quickly answered and grabbed Mayala's hand as he pulled her out the door. She turned to close the door behind her and saw something in Zan's eyes that made her heart ache. There was a longing... a sadness and loneliness she had never seen before in his eyes. She closed the door and prayed to the gods that all would turn out well.

Zan made his way down the hallway and found Elena in the last room. She was lying on a small bed, her eyes peacefully closed in sleep, her forehead glistening with sweat, her long brown hair loosely beside her on the pillow, some wet against her face. He watched her tenderly, his mind drifting. He had been in love with her for so long. She had been his best friend throughout his childhood. He thought back to the day his father died.

FLASHBACK~

"Zan, you are now the King of Antar." He heard the distant voice in his head. He knew what she was saying, but he couldn't belive it. It was impossible. His father could not be dead, there was still too much for him to learn to become King.

"Zan, honey. Are you listening to me?" He shook his head, refusing to listen to his mother's words. He got up and began to run out of the room.

"Zan! ZAN!" He could hear Vilandra's crying words screaming after him. But he couldn't stop. He needed to see her. He needed to touch her. He ran down the corridors and through the rooms out to the gardens. He stopped to catch his breath and looked over at the cabin. There was only one person he wanted to see. One person he wanted to talk to. Almost as if willed to appear, she stood, outside the cabin door, the saddest expression in her eyes as they met his own. He simply let himself enjoy the depth in her eyes for several seconds. He looked at her, the way she mourned for him and he felt his heart tug in his chest. It was at that moment that he knew he loved her. There she stood, her beautiful face simply looking back at him as Zan, the person he was inside, rather than the King he would now have to be. He began to walk over to the cabin and felt the thick drops of rain in his hair. It began to come down hard as he stood in front of her, silence embracing them.

"I'm sorry." It was all she said, but it was enough. It was always enough. Just her being there made him feel like it was real. Like it wasn't some sort of nightmare. He reached up and placed his hand on her cheek and his fingers in her hair. He felt his tears come down slowly, and soon he could not tell what was the rain and what were his tears. She went to say something else and he took his left hand and placed it on her lips to silence her.

"Don't. Please." She nodded softly, completely understanding, and he grabbed her in close to him as he hugged her for dear life. She was his salvation as they stood simply embracing each other out in the rain.

REALITY~

Zan stared at her as he shook out of his reverie. It was the last time they'd been together that way. His mother had been watching them and was completely determined to forbid it. He was thrown into the Kingship with work, treaties, events, parties, people, travels. It wasn't until he began to slow down that he'd realized that almost four years had passed and he had barely looked her way. Before he could think too much about it, Larek had introduced him to Ava. Now, here he stood, twenty one years old, and standing next to the woman he had loved as a boy. The woman who had made him feel... completely normal.

He reached out and placed his hands on the side of her face, softly caressing her cheeks. He sighed loudly and whispered.

"Elena. Elena you have to look at me." He heard her moan softly and her eyes slowly fluttered open. The instant their eyes met, he felt the energy leave his body and saw the flashes. The images ran through his head and he felt the familiar tingle in his blood. He concentrated on her eyes and saw the the gardens. It was dark and he realized it was because there was no moonlight. He felt excitement and then saw the kiss. The kiss that changed his life. She was wearing a burgundy dress and a golden mask but her eyes were unmistakable. He pulled away from Elena and she was now fully awake and simply staring at him with her huge brown eyes in complete awe.

"Your Majesty." It came out as a strangled whisper but he smiled and shook his head.

"Elena... please. Just call me Zan." He smiled at her and she tried to get up.

"No. You have to stay lying down. You won't completely recover for several hours, but you should be feeling better in no time."

"But I must tend to you, your Highne... Zan." He pushed her shoulders softly back down and shook his head.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine... it is my heart I'm worried about." Her eyes quickly looked up into his and she felt herself get dizzy. It was too much to be around him. To be alone with him.

"Noemi?" She looked away at the as he said it, suddenly feeling exposed and ridiculous for lying to him.

"Why didn't you just tell me it was you?"

"I was afraid. Had someone recognized us, we couldv'e been killed." He sat next to her on the bed and looked down into her eyes.

"My God... I hadn't looked into your eyes for so long I almost didn't recognize them. But I knew there was a reason that I was immediately attracted to you. Because the heart never lies Elena. It has brought us back together, just as I was losing myself. Because it is in the gods plans to keep us together somehow. You're my destiny Elena." He whispered into her ears and looked at her face, their noses close enough to touch.

"Zan... we can't."

"I know." He leaned in and kissed her, his lips enjoying the familiar feel of hers, his heart melting at her tenderness.

"Zan...."

"Elena. For all the times I never got to tell you... I love you." Her eyes widened at his comment and she knew then that she could not resist him.