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In the previous chapter...
He said, "Wake up, Raven."
No. she didn't want to leave the dream. Deep down inside, she knew that she was not going to see him again, except in dreams.
"Raven, wake up."
She tried to say no, but nothing came out.
She opened her eyes to darkness. A hand covered her mouth. It wasn't her hand. It was strong, and... familiar.
There was it. Ocean blue eyes. His.
A deep voice growled, "Don't be afraid."
She choked out the four words on a sob, as her arms went around his neck: "I. Don't. Do. Fear."
Chapter 36
"Shh..." he soothed, his hand wrapped around her and the other caressing her hair. He burried his face between her neck and her shoulders, taking in her goddess scent. Oh, how he missed her.
"Robin..." Rachel clung to him.
"Miss you..."
Rachel hesitantly broke the contact to meet his eyes. She began quietly, "You say you miss me..."
"Why don't you appear earlier? You say you miss me, then why didn't you came to me?" He voice got louder. "You make me believe that you were dead. Do you know how it feel? Everyone was crying and grieving for you!"
She pounded on his chest hard, "Everyone, not only me, we have to believe that you're dead. You didn't even care about anything, you didn't care about me! And here you are, appearing out of nowhere, saying you miss me. I hate you. I hate you!"A tear threatened to fall from her eye. She wiped it off with the back of her hand before Richard could see it. A bitter laugh escaped her lips as she set her eyes downcast, "And what is this? I'm probably sitting here talking to my imagination. How pathetic of me."
Richard grabbed her hands. "This is real. I'm real. You didn't imagine it. And I really do care about you!"
"Why didn't you come earlier?" she whispered and looked at him. "You make me believe that you're dead. Let me be. Why come back now? You could live a better, happier and peaceful life out there."
"How can I be happy without you? How can I have a better life knowing that you'll suffer and cry because of me?"
"Where were you all long?" Her voice came out thin, and broken wit uneven breath.
He looked out of the grimy window of the boat at the velvet sky peppered with stars and the laps of water against the stones. His lips parted slightly. "I... I was hiding, waiting for the right time to strike."
His blue eyes flickered to hers. "When Slade pulled me down the cliff halfway, he managed to grab hold of a protruding tree branch. He saw that it was Malchior who'd shot him. He threatened me to help him, or he'll let go of me. I promised him and he swung me off to the side to catch hold of the cliff ledges. So, we make it alive to the nearest village. There, Slade and I began to plot our plans. The natives agreed to help us. Slade said we couldn't afford to make any appearances lest Malchior put his guards."
He chose his words carefully, as if once spoken he might not get them back. "I haven't forgotten you, Rachel. I just..."
He pursed his lips. Rachel focused her gaze on him, challenging him to continue his story. "Believe me..."
His lips parted and loooked so long and so steadily at her mouth, her cheeks flared and her heart pounded. She could as though felt his eyes making her lips soft, feeling as if they were kissing her.
She looked away. "So, I expect you to leave again and disappear until the right time of yours."
Her voice was flat and emotionless, but her eyes were dark with hurt, which made his stomach clench. "No. I... I understand... If you do not wish to see me now, then I'll leave." He added quietly, "I thought you'll be happy to see me."
Richard approached the wooden window. "So... I shall see you after the war's over?" He propelled himself on the window with one foot, preparing to jump in to the cool water.
Someone gripped him tight. He turned around, alarmed. Rachel hugged him tight, refusing to let go, "No."
"I want you now." Tears spilled uncontrollably down her flustered cheeks. "Don't go."
Richard wrapped his strong arms around her waist. He pressed a gentle kiss on her head and sighed. Both of them stayed like that for what it seemed an eternity. Richard wiped her tears away with his thumb. He leaned in.
Rachel felt his breath ghosting across her face. She closed her eyes.
Something soft brushed his lips, his skin was tingling, his heart thumping.
She was intensely and painfully aroused. She knew that she would regret even more later. She knew that he would leave again. But she did not care.
"What the!" A guard stomped in and looked as if he had just gotten the shock of his life.
Richard and Rachel broke apart. The guard was about to call for his peers, but Richard was too quick for him. He clasped the guard's mouth tight and dragged him to the window. The guard struggled, but failed to break free.
"I'm sorry." Richard whispered in her ear and leaped off the window.
Rachel looked helplessly at the scene before him, Richard and the guard, struggling violently in the water. The guard was merely fighting for his life, but Richard was determined to live, for Rachel and himself. Rachel bit her lips, and let out a silent cry. She watched them, until they faded out from her view.
She believe, she knew her Robin was going to come back again. She knew that he will survive. And she will wait.
RxR
"Cyborg, or rather, Victor Stone, traitor, the law decrees that you shall here and now be decapitated, and thereafter be left hanging here as a warning to all men who dared to defy the great king Malchior," the herald announced.
Victor just knelt down dejectedly, praying to god that the evil king would die in the hands of Bruce.
"Mal Duncun, traitor, the law decrees that you shall here and now be whipped 100 strokes and be incised in the tongue and all four limbs, and thereafter be sold to the slave-house," the herald read.
Duncun glared at Malchior who was sitting on his throne. He spat on the ground, shouting expletives at the king. The crowd gasped. Malchior whispered to a page by his side. He passed the message to the herald and then the herald announced, "Well then, Mal Duncun, rejecting your majesty's mercy, shall be burned on a pyre."
The execution began. A bald hefty beheader came up to the scaffold with a sleek blade. He raised it midair and plunged—
An arrow pierced him in the chest. He fell backwards with a roar.
Victor looked up, "Bruce!"
The crowd became a piece of chaos and the knights looked for the intruder. Just then, five men in black swooped down and freed Victor and Duncun.
"Seize them!" Malchior cried.
The guards rushed to the scaffold, aiming pointing their swords at them.
"Where are my archers!" the king yelled.
Another fifteen intruder appeared on the portcullis. They aimed their arrows at the knights and released it. It turned out that when the herald was reading the ordinance, the men were already attacking the archers on the portcullis. Fortunately for the Victor and Duncun, they escaped with the intruders into the dense thickets, approaching Bruce's territory.
Unbeknownst to them, a figure was amongst the crowd, watching them silently.
RxR
"Rachel, you should really consider this King Malchior—"
"Mother, how can you say such thing!" Rachel threw her arms up, her brows knitted and her mouth opened. "After all these things that he's done..."
"Oh Rachel, Please! For the sake of you future!"
Rachel paced the deck of the boat, clearly annoyed. Arella followed behind her.
"Darling, please, marry him. Richard," Arella pronounced the name with abhorrence, "Has nothing, he is useless. I don't know what you see in him!" Arella remarked and Rachel stopped.
She turned around swiftly. "Mother, Malchior is an evil man. He is heartless, he is a hypocrite, he is despicable. Richard is nothing of that sort. He is kind, he is gentle, and he loves me!"
"What if Malchior wins the war? Get over it! Richard is dead!"
"Then I shall not marry," Rachel stated firmly. "He is not dead yet!"
"Must you see his corpse to believe that he is dead?" Arella asked incredulously.
"He is not dead!"
RxR
Bruce paced around his camp, growing impatient with each ticking second. It was approaching dusk already, still no signs of his returning men. A cry of victory sounded, Bruce smirked.
After a meal, Victor and Duncun went to Bruce to thank him. Bruce nodded. Rudolph and Wally were there too. Together, they discussed about their plans on the war.
"Bruce." A masculine voice called.
The five mens turned their attention to the slit of the tent. Bruce squinted his eyes through the slit, Rudolph pursed his lips, Wally looked hopeful. It sounded familiar, the way the word was pronounced in his tongue. It sounded like...
Richard.
"Richard?" Bruce stood up and walked towards the exit and hesitated, "Dick Grayson?"
The boy greeted him outside, "How have you been, sir?"
Bruce, impulsively, went forward and gave him a tight hug. Rudolph and the others joined them chuckled and Bruce coughed and retreated with a flushed face.
"Dude! Where have you been!"
Richard flashed him a smirk. "Heaven. Although I quite regret coming down to see you guys."
"Richard!" Wally shook his head and punched him slightly in the chest.
"Seriously, son, where were you?" Rudolph asked.
Richard recounted everything in the tent. Bruce clenched his jaw and eyed him.
"Slade helped you? Man, that's... unbelievable!" Victor remarked.
"I agree. And you trusted him?" Bruce frowned. "All these years of personal trainings from me..."
"He didn't really helped me. You see, it's just a deal. I help him, he help me. After that, we'll go our own ways."
"What's his deal?" Rudolph asked, concern lingered in his tone.
"We deafeat Malchior."
"He wants the throne." Bruce stated.
"No, he just want to defeat him. We do the attack, the kill's his."
Bruce nodded, "Interesting, he wants nothing in return."
"But killing Malchior himself," Duncun pointed out. He was rather delighted that he could contribute something, even something as insignificant as a reminder.
"I thought he was Slade's son!" Victor exclaimed.
"I... I'm not quite sure." Richard admitted. "I'll ask him."
"You're going back?" Wally gaped at him.
"Well, I have a plan on my own. I have to perfect it."
Rudolph beckoned him to go on. "You see, since the fall, Slade and I have been hiding and crafting our plan in Albernsfield. The locatiion's great. There's a rich forest down the south. After it was the canyons. It's quite a few miles away from here."
"You're suggesting?"
"I've gained the native chief leader's permission to use the forest as a trap. He also volunteered his clan for the battle."
"You've already thought of using us to lure him there, that is why you chose this moment to appear from your hiding. You are ready to executed your plan." Bruce stated. "But how do you know your plan will work? How much manpower is at your hands? Is the forest suitable for a trap?"
"Currently, a hundred of men had been undergo intense training. The forest has a radius of fifteen miles. It seems shallow from the outside, but when you approach the center, it starts to get denser and denser. Malchior and his men would debound to be lost in there. It may take them at least a week to get out of the forest." Richard paused. "Once everyone of them entered the forest, my men would start attacking them from the back silently."
Bruce looked unconvinced. He slammed a fist on the table, demanded, "How?"
"Arrows. As natives, they are extremely good at archery. I will need your help then, I will give you the signal and you gather at the other side of the forest. I will show you the easiest way through, it may take up to three days. At the other end, you will start preparing for a war. I can guarantee that the number of men under Malchior will decrease significantly."
Rudolph pointed out, "Malchior is not a dumb man. Wouldn't he suspect an ambush? I mean, his men are decreasing in numbers!"
"No. You see, the forest itself is full of foreign berries and leaves. There is also many leeches and poisonous animals, especially snakes. Wolves are very, very common there."
"What do you suggest we do?" Wally inquired.
"Sent half of the soldiers for a faux battle. The main purpose in the battle is to blast their food source. Then, retreat. Malchior would be more alert, but suspicion would be poisoning his mind then, especially when he realized that he's lost. He will be too paranoid to think clearly. I need Bruce to be there to make the faux seem real."
"All these are just assumption. The risk is too high."
Richrad looked just about to explode when Rudolph lightened the mood, "Richard, you seemed lethargic, I suggest you to rest."
"Thank you, but I shall return to Albernsfield. After all, I don't want to be defeated again. I am independent enough, I can do everything on my own if no one wants to help."
"I shall see Prince Richard out, then," Duncun offered.
RxR
"Have you seen Princess Rachel? She misses you a lot. However, during the days when you were not with her, Malchior came and made her his queen by force."
"I've seen her. She's been crying, a lot lately."
"I am glad to know that you have not forgotten about Princess."
Richard turned to look at Mal Duncun, "I should go by myself from this point onwards, I don't want the soldiers to see me lest words leaked out to Malchior that I am still alive."
Duncun nodded and left quietly.
"Richard."
The prince was startled. "What is it, Bruce? I can assure you—"
"Richard, you have to understand. The plan is too risky."
"War is risky by nature. We have been risking thousands of lives all the time."
"I just don't want to lose you again."
Richard didn't know what to say. All he could think of was, "Believe me."
"Son, I have faith on you." He added quietly, "You shouldn't have return."
"Then you should know that I won''t diasppoint you again."
The dark knight considered for a long time, then gace in. "Fine, then promise me you'll return. We could rule Gotham together, like in the old times."
Richard closed his eyes, "Can you do me favor, Father? I... I don't want to be a prince anymore. It is better to be a normal civilian. No stress, no worries. I only want a peaceful life after the war, I don't want money or gold or fame..."
Bruce nodded and sighed, "You've all grown up, boy. I respect your decision. Just remember, I will always have faith in you."
"And Bruce, I need you to do something for me."
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