Riaz’s Point Of View
“So you mean our king is actually the villain?” Dandelion asked.
“If your king, King Khan, is the same person Riaz’s mum talked about then yes, he’s the one.” Akira said.
“I can’t believe this. He took the throne and spread lies about your family. Do you know what he calls you? White witches. He says you’re evil and tried to take over the land forcefully.” Clover said and I shook my head.
“He’s just the worst.” Ace said. “We have to make him pay for what he did. He has been on the throne for decades now and everyone sees him as a good person.”
“That’s the hardest part. Changing the view of the people. It would be hard to make them see how twisted he is since he’s painted such pure picture for himself.” Devan said and I nodded.
“Then we’ll just reveal it to everyone.” Alexa said.
“But how?”
“What do you mean how? With our mouths.” Xena replied.
“Ah!” Clover said in realization. “It’s lantern celebration in two days time.”
I tilted my head. “Lantern what?”
“It’s the day the souls of the lost warriors are remembered. Lanterns are lit in the sky to honour their passing.” Dandelion explained.
“What lost warriors?”
“The lost warriors in the great war with tye white witches.” Clover said sarcastically and I scoffed. Lost warriors indeed. Are they even worthy of being celebrated? Those murderers.
“It’s a grand day for our king. Embarrassing and showing everyone his true colour would be such a huge blow to his guts.” Devan said and I nodded.
“To do that, Queen Venusa has to show up, right?” Xena said and I smiled. I loved that she addressed my mother as Queen.
“Yeah.” Akira said as he turned to Alexa. “She’s welcome to use me. I’d like to see that loser go down too.” Alexa said and I smiled at her appreciatively.
“Will you be okay?” Xena asked me and I nodded.
“Yeah. I should help my mother with this.”
I turned to Ace and he smiled at me. I smiled back and sighed. I should be able to do this, right?
Alexa’s Point Of View
“Here you are,”
I turned at the sound of Akira’s voice. “I’ve been searching for you.”
“Sorry. I just… came here to clear my head.”
He hummed as he hugged me from behind. “You need it. What’s going on in your mind?”
“A lot.” I sighed and turned to face him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me closer by my waist. “Do you think we’d be successful?”
He thinned his lips. “Well, we’ll never know unless we try.” He said and I huffed. “And besides, Queen Venusa is quite powerful. No man can win against a powerful woman, not to talk of two.”
I smiled and pinched his nose. “You just know the right words to say.”
He nodded. “To stop you from worrying, I’ll keep saying the right words.”
“Gosh, whose cheesy man is this?”
He grinned. “Yours, of course. Don’t you like it when I say cheesy things?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes.” I giggled and he pecked my cheek. He caressed my cheek and said, “remember that time at mystic falls?”
I tilted my head.
“I said I had something to tell you.”
“Oh! Yeah! You said you’d tell me on the night of our wedding… which never happened.” I said grudgingly and he smirked.
“You’re still mad at me?”
“Who wouldn’t be? The wedding night I looked forward to was crashed by some woman. Why wouldn’t I still be mad?”
“And I’ll keep apologizing. I promise you, after all these, I’ll make things right. I’ll propose to you again, have a proper wedding and tell you what I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
I eyed him teasingly and he raised his hand. “I swear,”
“Fine fine, I believe you. You don’t need to swear. I just hope what you’re gonna tell me isn’t what would give me a heart attack.”
He hummed. “It probably will.”
“Wow, now I wanna hear it.”
He shook my head. “No.”
“Aw, come on. Tell me and I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. Hm? Huh?”
He shook his head. “On our wedding night, I’ll tell you. I promise.”
“Tch! Whatever. I just hope it’s worth all the suspense.”
“Oh, trust, it will be.”
I grinned and held his hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“I could really use one.”
Ace’s Point Of View
“You don’t have to pressurize yourself too much.” I said to Riaz. He has been staring into space since we dispersed.
“I’m trying not to but I just can’t help but think about ‘what ifs’
“What ifs?”
He nodded. “What if this backfires? What if this was all a bad idea? What if I.. what if I lose you guys and-”
“Shh, shh,” I embraced him and patted his hair. “Don’t be pessimistic. We’re going to win.”
“But… but my mum, she-” I withdrew and cupped his face.
“Are you thinking you won’t be able to do it because your mother couldn’t?”
“It.. it cost the life of my father and my whole family. I’m just scared that the people I see as my family now will be-”
“Nothing will happen to us. We will fight alongside you. We will win and… wait, since your mum is the queen, you’re the next in line. You might as well become king, hm? King Riaz, how does that sound?”
He giggled bashfully. “Stop it,”
“No really. King Riaz. You’d have warriors and people bowing at your feet, saying, ‘your highness. What do you want for dinner, your highness? Your bath is ready, your highness’. Gosh, just thinking about it -”
“That’s a stretch, Ace. We don’t even know if it’ll all work out.”
I smiled and kissed his pouty lips. “it will. I believe in you.”
He eyes sparkled adoringly as he held my gaze. “What?” I asked when I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ace…”
“Hm?”
“You know, we still haven’t had a serious conversation.”
“About?”
“This. Us.”
I heaved a heavy sigh. “You’re right.”
“Why did you suddenly change your mind? I thought you saw me as a little brother.”
“Yh… yeah. Stupid, right?”
He looked at me expectantly and I smiled lightly. He pulled him to sit on a bench and I sat beside him.
“That was what I first thought. You know, I practically raised you and at first, I genuinely saw you as my brother. Along the line, I wouldn’t deny I didn’t feel more than brotherly love toward you. And honestly, my feelings scared me. I was confused. Why would I suddenly have feelings for you? And then, you confessed your feelings to me. One part of me was delighted but on the other side, I was skeptical.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want to lose you. I feared that once we crossed the line, there was no going back and if broke up, to pick up the pieces would be hard. We probably wouldn’t be able to be as we’ve always have been before we got into a relationship. This was what made me reject you at first. I thought of telling you this but you left the next day before I could say anything.”
“Oh,” he pursed his lips. “Honestly, I… would it be bad if I said I’ve never seen you as a brother?”
“Really?”
He smiled, “yeah. I didn’t realize it when I was young but as I grew up, I knew it. I wanted nothing more than for you to know my true feelings. I literally lived my life for you. When you told me you liked short hair on women, I cut my hair, thinking you’d see me more than a little brother.”
“That was… that was why you cut your hair?”
He nodded bashfully. “Now that I’m telling you, I feel embarrassed.”
“You look beautiful either way but I particularly adored your long hair. I loved running my fingers through it.”
His cheeks grew red and he laughed shyly. “Really?”
I nodded.
“I’m sorry for making you feel like you had to change yourself for me to like you.” I took his hand and kissed its back. “You are perfect the way you are and I love you in whatever form you take.”
He chuckled and shook his head, “I’d never imagined you’d say something like this to me one day.”
“Well, brace yourself because I’ll not stop saying it.”
“Saying what?”
“That I love you.” I said, leaning in. “I love you, Riaz.”
He took in a sharp breath. “I… I love you too, Ace.”
I grinned and claimed his lips softly. He reciprocated and pushed his fingers in my hair.
I can’t wait till all these are over.
So I can propose to him properly.