Chapter 52
The second the words were out of his mouth, Capricorn knew that his sister didn't want him to see Meggie, but in that moment, what she wanted didn't matter. Everything about her calm demeanor seemed to sour, her back stiffening and he could imagine the frown on her face even as he couldn't see it. In that moment, Gemini couldn't help, but remind him of his mother. She seemed to already hate Meggie and she had yet to even meet her. Her back had been turned away from him the whole time. Since the moment he asked to use the potion until now, as she stood there in a silence that was hers to break, and he sensed the beginnings of a fight between them as the silence drew itself out. She turned so swiftly though that it almost startled him. Her eyes sought out his own, staring into his with a vision of something that was akin to defiance, but that was also something else as well. It was a stalemate, something they had used on each other as children when they wanted to control the other, and after so many years without seeing it, Capricorn found it stopped him. Yet only momentarily as he looked at her with a new determination coming over him that was pushed forward by the need to see his wife.
"We are about to enter the court of the Adderhead. We have him under our spell, and we can use it to topple him, do you really want to ruin that by going to see your little queen? Would you really risk it all just to see her?" exclaimed Gemini, it was the tone in her voice that angered him.
The words she said he found went through him easily, but that tone, it reminded him of Silvertongue and their mother. Of all the people who had already found a way to hurt him and hurt Meggie. As he saw his sister in this light, Capricorn had a dreadful thought; he didn't need to bring anyone else into their lives that would hurt them and for a moment, he feared what the future might hold. Yet he masked it well especially as he stood there staring her down with the eyes of a king. Capricorn found he didn't like her tone, so much so that as she stood to face him, Capricorn found himself stepping closer to her.
"This is all for her, sister, the mere idea itself would not have come without Meggie. You act as if she is some simple-minded woman, but she is far more then that…she is my wife…and she will be your queen. Her place by my side is paramount" exclaimed Capricorn, he held himself back then as he stepped all the closer to her.
He looked dangerous then as he gave her the hard eyed stare of a man turned into a lethal weapon, who was prepared to do anything to get what he wanted, and even as Gemini didn't back down in the face of his power, she didn't flinch away. She had to watch her next words, her very movements too, but she was not afraid of him as she stared him down.
The truth was that Gemini had never been afraid of her brother, not even as she saw him at his worst, but now, she recognized the difference in him as well. She recognized that he was no longer powerless. That in this other world where his queen now waited that he had gotten a taste of true power and would not easily give that up. She kept that in mind even as she refused to back down and as she prepared to keep him here.
"We are on the cusp of gaining entrance to the Adderheads world. We are, so close, all we have to do is get inside, and then we can topple him" said Gemini her voice rising, but Capricorn matched her tone.
"I need to see Meggie. I told her of the danger, but now, she is asking to see me. She wouldn't ask unless the reasoning were dire, she says there is something she must tell me face to face—" exclaimed Capricorn before Gemini's voice rose to eclipse his.
"Capricorn, in the name of the gods, would you stop acting, so irrational. You keep letting this silly little girl turn your head. You need to put your focus solely on the mission at hand" exclaimed Gemini standing toe to toe with him now.
"You will not speak of her this way" snapped Capricorn in that moment reaching out for her.
She wasn't expecting him to lift her up off her feet or for his hands to be around her throat. Yet then she was looking into his eyes, and she had never seen him look more dangerous.
"You will not speak of her in this way ever again. I will not have this disobedience towards her. You will serve her as you do me. You would be wise to remember that she is not the silly little girl you think she is, Meggie is far more brilliant than you know. She is my wife, my queen…your queen to serve and respect whether she is here or not. Otherwise, I will have no further use for you" snapped Capricorn, he didn't give her the opportunity to ingratiate herself or even set her back on her feet, but instead, Gemini found herself harshly flung away from him.
He expected her to land on her belly in the dirt, but Gemini didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing that. Instead, she landed on her feet, her body facing him, and with only a moment to compose herself, she stood ready to continue their fight. Yet, in the moments that followed, she didn't move to do so. Gemini only stood there waiting in silence to see what his next move would be. She folded her hands in front of her, her body straight, and at first, he didn't know what she was playing at.
She stared at him then, the seconds ticking away until suddenly her eyes fell away from him, and he found himself the victor. Her eyes only looked at his feet, her knees bending as she knelt in her loyalty, and yet as it all played out before him, Capricorn never let his guard down. He knew even as he looked at her on her own that she still had the capability to bring him to his knees.
"Please, forgive my insolence, my king. My anger caused me to speak out of turn…I only wish to serve our cause, as I hope you know" said Gemini, in that moment as he let her rise, Capricorn still didn't let his guard down, not even as he was leaving her tent.
Instead, he went to his own tent, and opening his journal he wrote a single sentence.
"Take the potion and I will be there with you soon" wrote Capricorn, the second the words appeared in her journal Meggie didn't need to wait.
She took the potion without a second thought, she had prepared everything, she had been waiting for him to tell her that he would be there, and now as she closed her eyes to be with him, her stomach fluttered. She didn't know if it was nerves as she looked at the page where he had scrawled his message, but none of that mattered as she knew in that moment that there was no going back. She had to tell him of their future that was in that moment being written. Before drifting off, she kissed the page in her journal where his words were written knowing that he would see it. It made what she had to tell him easier as she drifted off to where the potion would take them that night.
As she did, Meggie found that her nerves wouldn't stop swirling around inside of her. She kept telling herself that she had prepared for this moment. That she had thought it out and that she knew her husband well enough to know what to expect yet those nerves only continued to build doubts in her mind. Yet as she drifted into the darkness as the potion took full effect, she knew that there was no turning back especially now that their child was already growing inside of her, and with that she opened her eyes. It took Capricorn a moment longer to get everything he needed, but Meggie was prepared to wait on him. As much as she had wanted to see his face when her eyes opened, when she did, he wasn't with her yet. Meggie could feel him coming though, she could feel the potion bringing him to her, and the nerves in her just made her wait all the worse. Meggie didn't dwell on where she was. She couldn't think about anything else as she waited for Capricorn to come. Her eyes closed in her wait, the last moment of solitude fading until she opened, they again, and looking at the roses that made the air sweet, Meggie still couldn't shake the foreboding that was settling in within her. Even as she sat there in the rose garden nothing made it any better. This had always been the place where she felt the most loved.
Meggie knew that hadn't changed. That in this place where Capricorn and she had sat and shared so many wonderful moments that nothing could make Capricorn cease to love her, but she knew a child was not the thing they needed now. It was what kept her anxious as she sat on their bench waiting for him to come to her and she didn't know what he would say. The last thing she wanted was for this to ruin everything he had achieved. She let her eyes settle on the roses as they stood out in bloom inches away from her fingertips. On instinct, she reached for them, taking a single rose in her hand to bring it to her nose, and for a moment that helped her nerves. She let herself become lost in the soft sweetness of the pedals and that was when Capricorn arrived. When Meggie was lost to her nerves and the wavering presence of him, her flowers seeming to wrap around her in protection, and though Capricorn saw her immediately, she never saw him. So much so that when he finally joined her, she didn't feel him until his hands touched her shoulders, and when she looked up there, he was.
"Capricorn, my king…I've been waiting" whispered Meggie, all her emotions seeming to overcome her as she looked at him after having not seen him for so long.
Her first instinct was to kiss him. Yet with the knowledge she had their child growing within her, Meggie felt the overwhelming urge to wrap her arms around him, and not let him leave again. She just wanted him to stay with her for as long as he could and at the feel of his hands on her skin, she felt everything inside her give a jolt. It was as if some electric force had taken hold of her.
"I know, my queen, I've missed you. Stay right where you are. I want to look at you" said Capricorn looking at her with that look of longing as she tried to stand, but he kept her seated as his hands ran over her shoulders.
Leaving a hand to caress her neck, Capricorn brought the other to touch her cheek, and when he leaned in close, Meggie knew what he was going to do. She expected his kiss. She accepted it easily, her lips instantly captured by his as they moved together in a flurry of passion that electric feeling shocking them both in the aftermath. It reminded Meggie of just how much she had missed him as he moved his hand to grip her breast as her own hands gripped his forearms.
"I've missed you, Capricorn" whispered Meggie in that moment letting herself fall into him as he deepened their kiss.
They seemed to melt into each other, their long separation seeming to bring them together, but as tempted as she was to let it turn to passion, she knew the news she had to impart was too important now. So, when his other hand stroked her collarbone on its way to her chest, Meggie reveled in his touch for only a moment before breaking away.
When she did, Capricorn seemed to look at her, and she found herself taking his hands.
"Sit down, my love" whispered Meggie trying to guide her to his place beside her.
Meggie had always had trouble denying her husband when he looked at her that way. As if he couldn't live without her and as he drew her close as they sat side by side, Meggie found she couldn't deny him when he moved to kiss her again. She accepted it just as she always had, her hands touching his face, and when she did, she couldn't help the sigh that left her when she found him there with her after so long. It felt just like before he had went away, when they would sit together this way, and share in one another's touch. Yet, Meggie knew she couldn't let things move the way they might have then, but instead, she drew away once more as she tried to find the words to tell him.
"My love, I've brought you here because I need to tell you something very important. It couldn't wait, you needed to know immediately. Please, I need you to sit here and let me tell you what I have to tell you or else I fear I won't have the nerve" exclaimed Meggie, her voice shaking as she forced out the words, their lips parting as the words stumbled out.
He seemed calmer now, his eyes always on her, but their hands always joined.
"I have something very important to tell you. Something that will change everything…I only hope you will be happy" whispered Meggie feeling as her emotions overwhelmed her.
Capricorn touched her cheek then and even as she had been about to look away, she couldn't.
"What is it, my love, is everything alright? What's happened?" whispered Capricorn their eyes meeting as she prepared to tell him this news which would change everything.
