Heart Over Sword - Chapter 109

For four days, Evanna lay in bed in her feverish state. Arawn was there, only leaving her chambers when it was essential. He never told Rina or Haryk that Evanna’s state was linked to her being a half-breed. However, he suspected Rina was quite aware of her condition, there were no other explanations for her illness, and he refused a physician to come see her. He explained that rest was all she needed.

Arawn watched over Evanna a lot over the four days. He did not interfere with Rina, who would help wash her and change her clothes. The prince would leave and see to himself in that time and making an appearance briefly to have breakfast with his father. But as soon as he finished his meal, he left instantly, leaving the king to stare after him perplexed.

The prince worked from Evanna’s bed-chamber, and by the fourth morning, he was accustomed to it, leaning against the headboard of her bed looking through some scrolls. Evanna was curled into his side, tugging at his shirt with a creased forehead and muttering in Muranthian. Over the past few days, he comforted her when she had nightmares, cooled her down when she was overheated and tried to speak softly to her when she was half-conscious. She was going through a mixture of sweats, chills, nightmares and bizarre dreams.

Arawn speculated about the bizarre dreams. He gazed down at her, dropped the scrolls on the sheets and caressed the top of her head, her forehead relaxed, and as he stared at her beauty, he was reminded of the time he went through the ‘change’. Although it was over two hundred years ago now, he still remembered it well. How would he forget?

Unlike Evanna, his gifts erupted through him aggressively and in the middle of training. He was sparring with Garrett at the age of 9; though they were nothing like the warriors yet, they were still prodigy’s in fighting for children of their age. Arawn barely blocked Garrett’s training stick when an intense fire rippled from the bottom of his spine and to his skull. He screamed and backed away from Garrett.

Guards jumped forwards, initially thinking Garrett had done something to the crown prince, but when they looked at Arawn, they knew instantly what was wrong. He gripped his head, his fingers going through his hair as tears came to the child’s eyes. Behind his back was a dark mist escaping Arawn’s being and forming into the shape of an adult man. He screamed out, and the black smoke was sucked back into him before he collapsed.

It took him two weeks to get out of his comatose state. The ‘change’ was different in every elf, but the more powerful their gifts are, and how many they have, depended on how painful and how long the elf would be going through the pain of awakening their gifts. Arawn did not get feverish but became chilled, something he did not mind, and it was soon apparent that another gift of his was the elemental use of ice. Before the prince was taught how to use his powers, he was already unknowingly using his icy gift to keep himself from burning up.

While Arawn was reminiscing about his time as a child. Evanna was lost in the depths of a bizarre dream. One seemed to speak to her in a foreign language, but she understood it clearly, yet it was not making any sense. It was as though the words were jumbled up floating across her mind. She was standing in Arawn’s bath again, but it was dark with no lights or starlight; instead, the tree she saw before was glowing.

Like the princess did before, she walked towards it. This time the water weighed heavily on her legs, making it hard to get closer to the tree. But the harder it was, the more panicked she was in trying to touch the tree. Evanna looked down and realised the warm bath water had turned to a black sticky substance, one that kept her from moving much further. When she glanced up again, the glowing tree had darkened, the leaves had died and fallen on the sticky liquid, and it began to shrivel up, a crack forming in the middle of it.

Tears came to her eyes at the sight of the tree dying, and she rushed forwards, this time taking control of the dream. The liquid became water once more on her command, and she reached out to root and instantly felt a rush of power. She gasped, and her eyes widened at the blissful feeling of life flowing through her. The warm energy from her hand radiated up the tree, and she watched in awe as the bark in the tree knitted together the crack, and it grew taller with leaves growing on it.

She felt warm and happy at saving the tree, and her lips curled up into a breathtaking smile. Evanna opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep and drowsiness. It seemed her smile broke through from her dream onto her face in reality. She felt well-rested and snuggled into her pillow once more, only to still when she realised her pillow didn’t really have a soft surface.

Her eyes trailed up the body she was clinging onto, her head tilting back as she did so, to see prince Arawn staring down at her. Evanna blinked a few times, wondering if she was still hallucinating. Yet the princess knew she wasn’t; her heated skin had all but cleared up along with her hazy mind.

Her heart almost stilled along with her breathing as she stared back at the prince. His sharp jawline, straight nose, lips that seemed to scream at her to kiss, and his eyes, those startling blue eyes that seemed to pierce through her. She sighed, taking full advantage of just gazing at such a masterpiece of a man. Even if he was her enemy, she would not deny how handsome he was.

“How are you feeling, Evanna?” Arawn asked with so much sincerity that Evanna’s chest warmed, and her heart began to pound.

“Much-” *cough* *cough* Arawn lifted up and grabbed a glass of water that was placed on the side. He carefully lifted Evanna’s head up from where she was lying down and brought the glass to her lips. The cool water flowed down her throat and awakening her much more and making her realised how parched she felt. The princess finished the glass and looked up at Arawn.

“Do you want anymore?” He asked with a slight smile on his lips. Evanna nodded, forgetting their differences momentarily while she watched as he took care of her. She was in awe at how gentle he was. She even watched as he cooled the bottom of the glass slightly, chilling the water for her.

After finishing her drink, she looked at him, pushing down her rising anxiety and fear of why the prince was in her bed. “Thin-era,” She whispered. Any other words were lost on her as she continued to stare at him.

Arawn cleared his throat and shifted slightly on the bed, pulling her up gently, so she was in a seated position against the headboard next to him. He placed his hand against her forehead while she gazed upon his features and gobsmacked still by his actions. His eyes crinkled up, and she could see for the first time an elf that did not seem ultimately perfect. Arawn’s lids and under his eyes were slightly red; he looked.. tired.

But Evanna knew that anyone else would not see these minor changes in him even at a small distance away. It was only because she had seen him up close. She looked away at that thought, and a slight blush crept up her face. She raised her hand to touch his cheek, but the surprise that flickered across his features for a single second was enough to snap her out of his alluring spell.