Droplets of rain started to invite themselves upon our faces, and though the drizzling seemed to be slightly harsh as it increased its pace, Zyanna's closed eyelids and calm smile as she looked up into the sky, claimed the straight opposite.

We were sitting in front of the river nearest to the palace, as a result of finding fatigue rather than success from searching for the royal messenger's horse.

"Don't take it too hard on yourself, Prince Elijah. If he's meant to find his way back, he will. No sane person would capture a royal horse with the wrong intention. He's most probably lost. Someone will find him and return him back to the kingdom."

"I do hope so, Zyanna," Horses from our kingdom wore a gold medallion around their necks, to ensure that people from outside the kingdom, especially the villagers, knew that they can't be used for any other purpose except for royal endeavours. "Thank you for helping me out today. I truly do appreciate it, and I promise I'll repay the favour back one day."

A light chortle filled the air, as she shook her head amusedly. "It's genuinely a wonder how you always seem to forget that you're a prince, who is soon to become the King of Yandestine. Isn't it supposed to be my duty to serve you?"

I cocked my head sideways. "It's also your duty to be respectful and humble. Did you know that following one rule but forgetting the rest of them is just as bad as going against all of them?"

"Oh? But, did you know that two people sitting in front of a river, surrounded by such beautiful delicacies of nature, could have much more interesting discussions than this?" She returned my smirk with her own, as she started to unfold her legs, weaving her bare feet through the waves of the water beneath us.

I raised one of my eyebrows, as I looked up, inspecting the appearance of the sky. "When the rain starts to pour more heavily than this drizzling, I'd surprised if we'd even be able to open our mouths, nonetheless exchange words."

"If that happens, we shall accompany the silence with our own." She replied, taking her concentration elsewhere, as she propped her head in her hands.

"I wouldn't rely upon such silence to act as protection, when we both get drenched," I got up, dusting the dirt off my clothes, and glanced over at my shoes resting behind the rocks. "The sun's beginning to set, we should begin to make our way back, Zyanna."

She sighed but showed no signs of getting up. She slowly looked back at me, in a tired manner. "Who am I to stop you when your mind's made up? In that case, feel free to go, Prince Elijah. I'll stay for a few more minutes and return home. Our destinations are in different directions, anyway."

I huffed, as I stepped forward, towards her.

"May I remind you that this is a forest? That means, it contains many dangerous animals that especially come out at night, including snakes that can rip off your life force, before you could even utter your last words?"

Her response was reined in by a sudden noise, very similar to the sound of something stepping on dry leaves.

Or someone.

I quickly turned my head in the direction I'd heard it, but the shade of darkness had reached the point, where shadows were covered too.

I stepped forward, away from Zyanna, to survey our surroundings but before I could realise what was happening, I lost the ground.

I wished I could have at least braced my fall because my whole body unceremoniously tumbled into the river behind me, all aggravatingly caused by large rocks and twigs.

The water engulfed me, and though I thought I would be resurfacing with the sounds of splashes, I was met with something much louder.

The sight of her eyebrows lifted in concern, and her mouth wide open in shock, was replaced by echoes of laughter, as she held her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, Prince Elijah, are you fine?"

"No, please do continue laughing. I feel honoured to be your source of entertainment." It may have been immature, but I frowned with insincere disappointment.

She folded her arms, as her laughter slowly stopped, and tilted her head at me. "For someone who was so worried about getting drenched, you don't look too downtrodden by it now," Her eyes twinkled with an apologetic smile, as she stretched one of her hands towards me. "Would you like to come out? Although, I won't lie, the Prince looks much better in water than he does on the ground."

A smile cracked onto my face, as I reached out to accept her help. "Thank you, Zyanna. But, can you accept my apology too?" Her confused glance didn't survive longer than her staggered gasp, before I immediately pulled her in with me.

I laughed at her mockingly, shamelessly flaunting my pride over how I had caught her unexpectedly. But, I didn't know who I was showing it towards, because she hadn't resurfaced.

"Zyanna?"

I took a deep breath, and dived under the water.

She was there. But, at the same time, she wasn't.

Her eyes were completely shut, her head tilted back, with no movement.

I drifted closer, and placed one of my hands around her waist, lifting her up, and the other around her neck. My heart started beating faster, followed by a collection of panicked and anxious thoughts starting to swarm through my head.

I was met with no movement at all.

Suddenly her eyes opened, so quickly, that I jumped back, emerging out of the water, panting with restless breaths.

She came out after me, her body shaking with laughter. "Before you s-say anything, it was entirely your fault, Prince Elijah."

I spun my head towards her, with an angry glare. "My fault? That was the most demented action I've ever seen a female of your age do! Do you realise how scared you made me?"

Her narrowed eyebrows, as she appeared taken aback with a sense of shock and surprise, didn't stray for too long before it disappeared into thin air.

There was no apparent guilt, as her lips morphed into a smirk, lifting themselves up, in a way that was so aggravatingly slow, the amount of time behind every lift could have matched every breath coming out of me, and every beat that was trying to make its way out of my heart.

Her hands fluttered out from underneath the water, and she languidly touched her hair, undoing her plait by grazing her hands through the wetness of it.

Without a word, she turned away from me, the waves of her hair cascading down her back, as she swam towards the centre of the river.

"Where, in the lands of Yandestine, do you think you're going?" I questioned, my voice slightly raised, as she moved further away from me.

She halted at the centre and gently turned around. "The drizzling stopped a while ago, but we're both completely drenched. Forget the rules for once, and allow me to do what I desire!" I looked at her, utterly stunned, because she was screaming.

I was shocked, because there was genuine happiness within that scream, something I hadn't actually seen in her before.

I carefully swam towards her, watching the enigmatic quirks of her lips, while her hands rested around her neck, rubbing her fingers across it.

I settled beside her, and removed the cloak that hung around my neck, as it was starting to feel uncomfortable after wearing it for longer for than usual.

"That's the same cloak you were wearing that night."

My mind, the thoughts circling within, the feeling of the coldness encasing me, all crashed into each other, and the result should have been damaged from the collision.

I didn't know what the result was, or whether there was supposed to be one.

"What did you just say?"

"I was right here. You were standing beside the rocks. Do you not remember?" I was caught in a sudden daze, and I didn't know whether I should try to escape and respond to her tranquil gaze.

I let out a deep breath, and let go of my cloak, causing it to float away. I moved my hands towards her, settling my fingers on either side of her waist. I didn't realise the entrance of her quickened breath, but I did see her eyes becoming wide, as she pulled her lips into a firm line.

I gently turned her body around, making her back face me. Moving closer, I brushed her hair aside, shifting it to one side of her shoulder.

Her fingers came up from the water, trembling, and before she stopped me, I let go of her.

I moved backwards, looking at the back of her body, and remembered the female, from that night, in this forest.

It was the same woman.

"You are the same female. What were you even doing there? Why didn't you tell me before? " I was bewildered, my focused gaze refusing to leave its host.

"There was no reason or need to bring it up. It was also embarrassing, to say the least. Would you have spoken about it, if I had caught you in your private moment, bathing?" I could tell she was slightly humoured, from her tone, even though she claimed to be embarrassed about it.

Though I was slightly irritated she hadn't told me earlier, I chose to let it go, as she did have a valid point. "I don't know. Would I? It depends on why you would choose to invade my 'private moment', doesn't it?"

"Are you insinuating that you had a certain reason to watch me from behind those rocks, without my permission?"

I smiled, as I shifted closer to her again, our bodies slightly flouncing around each other in the water.

"If I did have a reason, what would you want it to be?"

The ghost of a smile on her face delicately flew into a doubtful but teasing stare. "I would want it to be as innocent and pure as possible."

My smile, on the other hand, extended into a one-sided smirk. "Is that so? Then why does my mind tell me to doubt your honesty?"

Our eyes never abandoned their contact, and her lips struggled to remain still, as they slowly started to quiver in the cold. "Then, maybe you should trust your mind more than you trust me."

Without realising my actions, I slid my fingers around her waist, resting both my hands on either side of her body.

I shouldn't have touched her again. Not with different intentions, that were far from pure. I shouldn't have allowed myself to do that.

Her eyes cast itself downwards and I knew from her discomforted expressions, that she was planning to back away. I blinked rapidly, trying to throw myself out of the dangerous trance, and started to remove my hands from her body.

But she stopped me.

She took a hold of my hands, that was in the midst of returning next to my own body, and brought it back to her, causing me to gently cup her face. The softness of her skin splashed onto my palm, resembling the warm droplets of rain making their way down from the skies once again.

Her eyes sparkled with an emotion I hadn't seen before, something I couldn't have given a name to, because it felt like she was grasping the meaning of it within her, not allowing it to exit.

Although, she couldn't withhold everything. I could tell she was trying to control the shivering of her lips, as she looked right into my eyes, almost touching something within me.

There were only droplets of rain hitting us, but at that moment, it felt like I was being struck by thunder.

There was a secret.

I absolutely, without a doubt, volunteered to be struck by it.

When she spoke her next words, the pain being triggered by the thunder, exploded into euphoric rays of lightning.

"Elijah, can I kiss you?"

***

Okay. I usually don't ask this, lol, but what did you guys think? Go on, unleash the truth. Are you thinking yes or why on Earth did I put myself through that?

Stay beautiful (BECAUSE YOU ARE) and blessed (because you are),

OceanaCamerons 🌹🌹🌹