Shackles of Cenversation
She sat on the cherry tree, leaning her back against a thick sturdy branch. Bored, she watched lazily as a little blue bird flittered amongst the small fruits of the cherry tree, unripe and green.
She could scarcely wait for the fruits to ripen into the delicious dark shades of red and purple, tantalizing and sweet. She imagined the sweet taste of the juice caressing her lips when she first bit into the cherry, then the heavenly experience that would follow, the sweet morsel resting in her mouth before sliding down her throat, leaving a fiery trail of exquisite goodness.
Nobody but one individual knew her secret fondness for cherries. During the hot summers when everyone else was frolicking in the seas and rivers, trying to cool themselves down, she would be sitting on the branches of the cherry tree occupying herself with eating the cherries, a smile of pure enjoyment and bliss dancing on her face.
He would be sitting on the grass, leaning against the trunk of the cherry tree, a book in one hand, a flask of cooling lemonade in the other. He did not have her acute fondness for cherries, but neither did he have an aversion for them. Sometimes, when he was tired from reading, he would climb up with her and help her pick those fruits that dangled beyond her reach, and he would always give her the biggest, the darkest and the sweetest.
Now that she thought about it, it had gone on for the past ten years. Ten years of summers spent together in the cherry tree! It had never struck her before, but it seemed that she had spent much more time together with Saleh than she thought she had.
"Hey!" Someone was shouting up the cherry tree.
She caught the glimpse of the long red hair and the gleam of his royal sword. Joshua. It was time to pretend that nobody was home.
"Hey! Marisa!" He called gleefully. "I know you're up there, no need to hide. Come down!"
Silently, she tucked her legs underneath her and slowed down her breathing. Why couldn't he go and bother his lover or something? Did Natasha chase him out of the infirmary, and that was why he decided to come annoy her out of sheer boredom?
She continued staying as still as a statue. Maybe if she pretended well, he would think he was mistaken and he would go away and leave her alone. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine herself as a branch, a lone stationary branch that camouflaged with the surroundings and nobody could tell that she was there…
"Ah hah!" The leaves parted before her and she opened her eyes to see Joshua climbing up deftly and sitting himself beside her. "There you are! I knew you were up here, so since you didn't want to come down, I came up here."
Doesn't the thought ever occur to him that maybe, just a minute slim tiny chance, I don't want him here? She thought sarcastically. Ever since the spy had wounded her the other day during horse riding, he had consistently tailed her around the palace, cornering her every now and then to check whether she was still alive and well.
If he recalled, she was the one who killed that spy posing as a dance instructor, and she was the one who had wounded the other spy that day at the clearing! She was perfectly equipped (her shamshir never left her side) and perfectly skilled (she would have bested him that day if not for his cheating ways) to defend herself from an onslaught of spies and assassins and whatnots. She did not need him to follow her around and fawn over her as though she was a cute little helpless Chihuahua on a golden pillow.
"What?" She asked coldly. The memory of the junior clerics' words were still fresh in her memory, and every time she saw his face, their conversation would resurface again in her mind. She pictured him kissing Natasha on the lips in the empty infirmary, while she was waiting outside patiently like the dutiful fool of a wife she always had been.
"I think that we need to talk." He said casually, as though it was the most normal thing to do. "You know, have a heart-to-heart talk as husband and wife."
She looked at him in the eye. "I don't have anything to talk about with you." She shifted away from him coldly.
"Exactly!" He sounded frustrated. "You never talk to me, and we scarcely even know each other, and yet we are husband and wife! I know, I know it's just a marriage in name, but don't you think it's bizarre if someone asks me what my father-in-law works as and I cannot answer?"
She turned her head away. "You already know that, don't you?" she spat bitterly. A gambler who gave his daughter away to save his own hide.
There was a tense moment between the two of them. She turned her face away and watched as a squirrel clambered up the wall, while he sat staring at his hands, eyes downcast, knowing that he had touched a raw nerve.
"Ahh…why don't we play spin the bottle? I've got a handy bottle of wine in my room, we could use it!" Joshua said with a sudden cheerfulness, breaking the awkward silence.
"What the heck is that?" she asked. It sounded stupid, and if he was playing it, yeah, it probably was stupid. But there was no harm in learning a new game, especially if it had the potential to take away the boredom of being stuck in a palace.
"You don't know?" A look of genuine surprise crossed his features. "My darling wife, you had such a poor deprived miserable childhood…" He cupped his hands over his heart and displayed a pained expression in an attempt to show mock pity and sympathy.
She growled dangerously. "Shut up about my childhood and get on with it."
He grinned, but chose wisely not to continue on the subject of her childhood. "Well, you spin the bottle, and whoever's side the bottle lands on will have to answer a question the other person gives, then drink up. So since we can't play that here and the bottle of wine is not here either…my room?"
"I'll play that in your room the day the Sun shines pink in a yellow sky," she retorted, rolling her eyes at the wounded expression he immediately put on at her words.
"Your room then?"
"When the moon shines pink in a yellow sky."
"Fine. Common room." He jumped off the tree and raced towards the building. "Last one there's a fat lumbering elephant!"
The last six rounds had all turned out, fatefully, as her turn to answer the questions and drink up. Fortunately, he had asked some extremely simple and rather standard questions, such as her favourite colour (magenta), her favourite hobby (swordplay), her favourite animal (falcon), her favourite season (autumn), her favourite part of the palace (her room) and her most wanted possession in life (a good sword).
"Wait!" she said, as he reached for the bottle. "I spin the bottle this time!" Gripping the bottle, she gave it a hearty spin. "Ha! It's yours!" She sank back into her seat, thinking of a question. "Well…what is your opinion of me?"
He was taken aback by the question, or at least she felt so. Turning the bottle cap slowly between his fingers, he gave her a really contradictory and really confusing reply. "You're clumsy but graceful, serious but cute, stupid but wise and fiery but cool. That's for character. Of course, there is still the physical appearance part, which I would say you deserve a 9.9 over 10." Upon completion of his profound analysis, he declined to elaborate further and drank a glassful of wine.
He spun, and the bottle landed on his side by a narrow margin.
"So what is your goal in life, being a prince?" she asked quickly.
He paused and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "My goal? I don't think I have one, being a prince and all. It's sort of a lifelong thing that comes with me ever since I was born."
"So you don't have a goal?" she asked skeptically. Most people had a goal. Some had huge goals, like the kid who had once been her neighbour. How many people actually grew up with the goal of being a superhero of the universe?
"Actually…come to think of it, I do," he replied, eyebrows knitted together. "I want to be a good king to my people, but at the same time…" He hesitated, as though that wish of his was a heavy burden to his heart.
"Go on," she encouraged softly.
"I want to live the life of a normal person," he said finally, with resignation and wistfulness. "I want to love, and be loved; I want to raise a family, and enjoy family life with my wife and children; I want to feel…what it would be like if I had been born a normal person, without the royal blood, without the scheming politics, without the heavy responsibilities. But…no one understands, they always expect me to be the perfect crown prince, fully able to take over Jehanna after my mother. The truth is, I never wanted to be king."
She was silent. She had just heard him spill his innermost feelings to her, and they surprised her. Now that she knew what he really wanted, she could not help but feel sorry for him…even feel as though she wanted to care for him and bring some relief to his life.
"I know how you feel," she sighed. "I was never free. My father's debts chained me down, and I worked everyday just to pay off the interests. I am his daughter, and that will never change. I will always have that burden on my shoulders."
"At least you'll have me around to lighten that burden a little," Joshua said, giving a small smile. "Being my wife, you'll never have to worry about money, and neither will your father."
"You'll have me around to lighten your burden," she retorted. "So it's fair."
He arched an eyebrow at her reply. "And how exactly do you intend to lighten my burden, my darling wife?" His crimson eyes flashed as he looked at her intently.
"I can – Oh." She understood the meaning of his words and blushed heavily. She had not expected him to bring up that point. After all, since day one, she had felt that since they were going to be married for a short period only, there was no point in them having any deeper interaction than being just acquaintances.
He smirked humourlessly, then grabbed the wine bottle and poured himself one drink after another, draining his glasses.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Stop," she demanded. "You're going to make yourself drunk."
He looked at her with glazed eyes, unfocused from the alcohol, and smirked. Lifting the bottle to his lips, he downed the whole bottle before slamming it down on the table..
"Drink with me, Marisa. All hail our lives!" He threw aside the empty bottle and dug another bottle out of apparently nowhere and poured both of them a glass each. "Cheers, my darling wife."
Reluctantly, she downed her wine. It scorched a trail down her throat, leaving a burning but sweet aftertaste that was not entirely unpleasant.
When at long last all the bottles were empty, he was out cold, sprawled on the floor in an undignified manner. She, on the other hand, was struggling to keep herself conscious with the influence of so much alcohol in her bloodstream.
Why did I drink so much? Darn, I'm seeing fifteen instead of five fingers on my hand.
Panting, she managed to drag him, who was much heavier and taller than she was, into his bedroom and laid him on the bed.
His bed was white and comfortable, decked high in soft downy quilts and blankets. Seeing him snuggle into his cave of blankets, she was seduced with the idea of lying down, just a little while, to see if his bed was as comfortable as it looked.
Head swimming from the abnormally high concentration of alcohol in her blood, she lay down beside Joshua on the bed, careful not to touch any part of him. The bed was indeed comfortable, much more comfortable than hers with the measly two pieces of silk brocade blankets that failed to keep her warm and cozy.
"Just a little while more…" She mumbled as the darkness swarmed above her and sleep enveloped her.
Author's Note:
Apologies for not updating regularly. Even though it's the hols here I haven't been writing much. Now that I have taken up my pen (or rather keyboard) again, let the sotry pour on, dralala.
And darkblaziken reflected to me one day that my chapters were relatively short, and I kind of agree. So I'm going to write longer chapters! This probably takes effect around chapter 10?
Hope you enjoyed this. Review please! Thanks.
Cheerios~ snowylavendermist