Chapter 44

In the days after that conversation, Capricorn could feel his sister's eyes on him, and he knew what she was watching for. She was waiting for him to take the potion, so he could see Meggie one last time before this all was over, but he hadn't yet. He hadn't even written her in the days since, maybe because of his reluctance to say goodbye to her again or maybe because she might ask him to take the potion, and he wouldn't be able to say no. Capricorn found himself wanting to be alone more then ever and before he realized it he was wondering into the woods by himself. Basta was the first to notice and the first to make him see the same. When he followed him one night, Capricorn was secretly glad, but he didn't admit it until the man was walking beside him. The truth was he didn't want to wait on the Adderhead anymore. He wanted to be the great conqueror and be able to bring his bride here instead of being so far away from her. Their separation seemed to be drawn out more and more and Capricorn felt as a fear began to build within him. Because he had promised Meggie that she would see him again and that he would make his way back to her, now though, he worried that that would be a promise he couldn't keep. Basta seemed to sense that fear as he walked with him that night and when he gave him some much needed advice, Capricorn didn't want to hear it, but he knew he needed to, nonetheless.

"We all made sacrifices…coming here, but also going to the other land. Perhaps this is the sacrifice you must make" said Basta walking beside him out of the dark forest.

Capricorn looked at him, he hadn't told him anything about the conversation between Gemini and himself. Basta somehow knew though and Capricorn watched him walk away with a sense of brotherhood staying between them. Basta walked across the camp leaving Capricorn to mull over his words and as he did, he caught Gemini watching him then his mother too, and he felt a weight upon him. They were all waiting on him to severe ties with his queen as if he was holding up some grand plan, as if it were simply that easy, but it wasn't. It could never be that easy considering the love that they shared and with that settling within him, Capricorn opened his journal for the first time in days and prepared himself for something that could never be truly prepared for.

"This is our sacrifice, my queen" whispered Capricorn staring down at the journal fearing that this might be what needed to be done for him to rise in his native world. That night he opened his journal and wrote his wife's name on the page. Meggie was laying on her side on their bed with her journal open beside her.

When she saw her name appear, it lessoned the low feeling in her heart, and as she prepared to answer him, for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

"Hello, love. How are you? I hope all is well" the words flowed quickly from her mind onto the page. Meggie found it to be the only answer she could provide as she stared at the page awaiting his answer. As she did, she could feel the anticipation rising from within her blood, because she missed him, and these moments had become her world.

"I must speak with you. I need to see you, take the potion, but take more then one" Capricorn didn't know why he asked that at first, but the answer came. The answer was that fear that had been building from within him. The fear that they would never see each other again. That he couldn't keep his promise to her. It might just be that this moment with her would be his last and if that were true, he wanted to take his time with her, and taking two potions was the only way he knew to get that. The truth was, despite what he had told her, he didn't know how this was going to end, and if he died, he wanted her to know where his heart lie. This may be his last chance to do that face to face. He could die here and as much as he continued to tell her that he would be fine, Capricorn knew he couldn't deny the truth.

This may be the last time he saw his wife. Because he had come here so sure that he could just return to this world and make a king of himself. He was coming to realize that it wasn't that easy. The Inkworld was far more dangerous then the world where Meggie was now and despite whatever assurances he gave his wife, he could die, and she could be left waiting for him. He might never return to her and if this would be their last time together, he wanted to cherish this moment. Though as he asked her to take the potion, he still didn't know how he was going to tell her any of this, but he knew he must as he awaited her response. Capricorn found he wanted to savor the moment.

"You know I would never question you, my king, but I must ask if that is safe. Neither of us have ever done this. We never asked your mother about taking more then one potion at a time" Meggie asked the question even as she was setting two vials of potion from her hiding place. Capricorn smiled at the words as they appeared. They warmed something in his heart because he never would have considered such a thing if she was the one asking, but Meggie, she always considered all the facts. She was truly the great woman standing beside him as the cliché said and he loved her so much in that moment.

"Yes, my love, I don't think there will be any harm. I must see you. My need is great" Meggie didn't ask anymore questions after that. She merely took the potions, one after the other, laying down on her bed after that. As she waited for the potion to take affect though, Meggie felt torn. She didn't know if she was ready to let him see her this way, but at the same time, she would never deny him this if he needed it. Because while she felt lower than she'd ever felt as the potion washed over her, Meggie found she needed to see him too. She could feel it as it washed over her, her journal still just beside her on the bed, and then she closed her eyes. There was nothing they couldn't work out together and maybe, she thought, this would be just the same.

She couldn't deny him, so she took two vials of the potion, and when her eyes closed, they didn't open again even as she felt it take effect.

"Meggie" whispered Capricorn hearing her name as he spoke it before she opened her eyes yet at the sound, she didn't open them simply taking a breath as she waited. First, she felt his body next to hers. Her body was still on its side on their bed and after a moment, his body was spooned right behind hers. Next came his kiss, a soft lingering kiss, first on her neck, then on the shell of her ear, and then she felt his hand as it ran along the length of her arm. He touched her with such reverence that it shook her as she finally opened her eyes to see him beside her. At first, she didn't move, but when his hand touched her cheek, she turned her body to face his.

"Hi…I…I've really missed you" exclaimed Meggie, she didn't mean for her voice to crack when it did, but it did as she looked up to find him hovering just above her as her arms immediately wrapped around him.

Capricorn found he had mixed emotions as she did this, for though she had tried to hide it in her words before, he knew something was wrong. He knew by the crack of tears in her eyes and the desperate way in which her arms held him now. He knew that she needed him, and it made him more reluctant to leave her this way. To possibly never see her again. Because it wasn't just that he needed her, or she needed him. The fact was they needed each other, and this would very much be severing what little ties remained between them. He was afraid of that as he drew her closer into the circle of his arms. He knew that something had her shaken.

"Meggie, what is it? I've missed you deeply, but you must tell me what's happened. I know you didn't want to tell me before, but it has you shaken up. I can't ignore this anymore, I won't, you must tell me everything that's happened" exclaimed Capricorn his fingers were delicately soft as they moved across her skin. Meggie looked up at him in that moment and there was an immediate shine to her eyes. After a moment, her head buried itself in his chest, and she started to cry.

"I don't know what to do. I thought I had everything under control…especially after everything that happened with Dustfinger, but I don't. I am powerless…I'm weak…I…I turned the doctor…a gentle man who I trusted…I turned him into his worst self" exclaimed Meggie tears covering her as she cowered in his arms refusing to let him see her face. Capricorn held her as she cried listening to her words with a sense that something more lay behind them. She was shaking in a deep fear that enraged him even as he failed to show it. That was the least of his worries in that moment as he held his wife unsure how to reassure her of the strength he saw in her.

"What's happened?" whispered Capricorn simply holding her still even as he raised her face from his chest. She was looking at him now and tears covered her face in a heartbreaking way. After a moment, Capricorn held her by the shoulders, and when he repeated his question, Meggie met his eyes as she began to tell her story.

"The doctor didn't like what I did to Dustfinger. He came to me and wanted me to apologize to him for it. To explain my actions as if I had wronged him somehow. When I wouldn't…he suddenly became very angry…so angry that he changed. Turned into something else…someone else" whispered Meggie, suddenly wiping the tears from her eyes before looking at him again to recount exactly what had happened that day.

"Meggie…I'm so sorry. I didn't know who he was when Darius read him from the book. I didn't need him until you were shot, and he was useful. I had no idea who he was" exclaimed Capricorn, not completely sure who it was that exactly had been read from their book but knowing from the look on Meggie's face that that person was someone beyond evil. As he pictured everything in that moment, Capricorn found he needed to hold her. To touch her and know that she was there. He took her face in his hands and he just looked at her as if to really see that she was there.

"Just remember, my love, that the monster within that man was always there. He could have escaped the good doctor at any time, but what you did to Dustfinger has nothing to do with that. He got exactly what he deserved, remember that, and remember that that man was always a monster created at someone else's hand not your own" whispered Capricorn his words soothing as he looked into her eyes. He saw in her eyes just how much she was blaming herself, but as he spoke, he saw that blame lesson more and more. After a moment, it disappeared altogether, and she smiled at him as she seemed to lean in close to him. When that happened, he let himself indulge in having her there with him, and slowly her hands held his wrists as he held her face in his hands still.

"Do you understand what I'm telling you?" exclaimed Capricorn receiving only silence.

After a moment though, Meggie smiled as she leaned in close to kiss him.

"I love you" whispered Meggie laying close to him once more. She noticed then as he held her close his grip on her tighter than it had ever been before. She looked at him, seeing him there in her arms with a shine in his eyes.

"What is it? You are as good at hiding things from me as I am you" whispered Meggie receiving only a smile as she felt his hands at the small of her back.

"I am so in love with you" whispered Capricorn laying her down on the bed in that moment. He let his body cover hers as he kissed her as if it would be the last time he did so. For Capricorn, he found himself genuinely scared that it might be as he indulged in her kiss, and the enticing feel of her body against his. Meggie didn't question him in that moment as she held him to her. She knew there would be time for that later. Now, she just let them have this moment.