The Numbers That Brought Our Fates Together - 345 The Price of Time Part 1 .

Amelia looked in confusion at the retreating figure of the man, Marcus walked only a few steps, but from his tense back, she understood that this stubborn person was not going to stop. He decided to run away from her again.

“Hey you, stop! We haven’t finished our conversation yet!” the girl followed him with a quick step, but the man was taller, his one step was like two of hers. Amelia could easily run and catch up with him, but like a true lady with a wounded feeling of pride, she followed a leisurely gait, not forgetting to shout out everything she thought of him at that moment.

“And someone considers himself a gentleman? Did what he wanted and decided to run away?! Stubborn mule!” To hell with the failed lady’s habits, Amelia thought as she bent down and picked up a piece of dried ground the size of a weighty stone, “I’ll get you even from a distance! I can even get you from another continent, whether you like it or not!”

She swung and threw it, the man turned around, and Amelia only had time to gasp, as her shell hit Marcus’s chest, scattered on his shirt, leaving traces of dirt on the fabric and face.

“M-Marcus, I didn’t do it on purpose, it was by accident…,” the girl put out her hands in a protective position as if it would somehow save her.

Marcus silently brushed the dirt off his shirt, wiped his chin with his sleeve and walked slowly towards the girl. She swallowed and backed away.

Well, Amelia, before you provoke a wild animal, think if you can run fast. Unfortunately, she realized this too late.

The girl turned around and started running away as fast as she could. She understood the absurdity of the situation and the senselessness of this decision but acted on instincts. As if she was a naughty kitten, which was caught by its owner doing damage to his favorite shoes. And she wouldn’t get away from the situation with just one slap. Considering the man’s gaze a second before her retreat, the girl was in for a long and intense educational spanking. Or not educational. She did not have time to understand this detail.

Her escape did not last long.

Amelia screamed, Marcus grabbed her by the elbow, lifted her by the waist, threw her over his shoulder, and walked quickly towards the narrow alley between the two nearest houses.

“Taubert, fool, what are you doing?! People are watching!” She had never experienced such embarrassment in her life as if all the attention of the festival guests was focused on this crazy couple, but the man did not care.

Marcus grinned as he saw Amelia’s dumbfounded face, “What is it, girl? Was it too shocking? Well, I’m sorry if the image of the Prince Charming that you drew in your head does not coincide with reality,” he said with bitterness in his voice.

Marcus put his palms on the wall, trapping the girl, and put his head on her shoulder, “I’m a man, Amelia. Every cell in my body wants to have you, you know? If you understood this, you would not torment me like that. Can’t you see that I’m holding on with my last bit of strength? I want you, I want you every second I see you. Hell, even when I can’t see you, I want you like crazy!

I want to make love to you, I want to hear you scream my name as I drive you to ecstasy. I want children from you so that they have your eyes. I want to change them those damn smelly diapers, stay awake at night and thank God that our blood is flowing in them. I want to be by your side until your face is covered with wrinkles, to hold your hand when you go to a better world, and to follow you the next second so that you are not lonely there. Although I’m lying, it’s me who will feel lonely without you here…”

Amelia didn’t notice tears running down her cheeks, she reached for Marcus and hugged him as tightly as she could. The man’s shoulders trembled and he pulled her close to him, “I sometimes hate people. I hate them so much, Amelia,”

Marcus wheezed, Amelia felt her shoulder wet, “I’m afraid of these thoughts because deep down I myself long to get rid of some of them and I think they deserve what has to happen… Why are they letting their lives down on all sorts of shit, and I can’t be with my beloved woman, because this damn world will end?”

He released her and took a step back, turned away so that she would not see him wiping his face. “I understand what you want. Trust me, I want it just as much. But I cannot do this, knowing that my child or my child’s child must become a vessel for some ancient monster. You see what my own father did to me and to my brother. Who will I be if I do the same with my own blood, knowing in advance about the consequences? Are you suggesting that I kill with my own hands a child who has not even been born yet? How will I look him in the eyes, knowing what fate I have doomed him to?”

Amelia leaned against Marcus’s back and wrapped her arms around the man, “But I love you.”

“I know, my girl.” He tried to disengage her hands, which were tightly fastened on his stomach, but Amelia only twisted her fingers tighter and pressed against him, fearing that he might disappear at any moment, “No, you don’t understand. I love you and I want to be with you. And this is my choice.”

“Somehow I don’t remember that you burned with the same desire when we met,” a painful laugh flew from Marcus’s lips, he put his palms on the girl’s hands, no longer making attempts to push her away.

“It’s because then I didn’t know what I could lose. I was guided only by the arguments of reason, ignoring my heart from the very beginning. I wanted to do good, right, thinking about the interests of the majority. I knew all the possible outcomes of events, even the fact that my attempt to escape would be 99.999 percent in vain-”

“God, I’m getting scared of the accuracy of your predictions, Miss Clairvoyant.”

“This is what I’m telling you, Marcus! You, it was you who cast a long shadow on all my predictions. Of all the options for events, there was not one where you would voluntarily let me go, you know? You made a choice that was not predetermined! You yourself decided what your future should be!” Marcus froze as he listened to the girl’s words. His mind began to understand the logic of Amelia’s thoughts, but his heart still refused to believe it. It was too tempting and too good to be true.

He turned to face her and looked into her eyes. The honey fires burned with confidence and determination. Who would have thought that after decades of life, he would be lectured by an eighteen-year-old girl?

“Are you saying there’s a chance the prediction won’t come true?” he asked with hope, and Amelia would very much like to give this hope to him, but the girl shook her head.

“No, it’s unlikely. More precisely, at the moment, I cannot say that this will not happen. But I also do not exclude that some action, decision of some person can grant us an opportunity to avoid it.”

She did not take her eyes off his eyes, ready to look at them even for a moment, even for eternity, depending on how generous fate was, but Amelia knew for sure that for the sake of him, for his freedom, she was ready to do anything, whatever the cost might be.

“A friend of mine comes from an influential Chinese family. When her parents announced that they were going to marry her off, she asked me to see her future. With the person her parents chose for her, she could live a long and calm life filled with respect and friendship. But she chose something else. She traded her whole life for seven years of happiness and love with a man whom she must leave. She knows she only has seven years. And she decided to spend them with him.”

Amelia raised her hand and gently stroked Marcus’s cheek, “I don’t know how long we can be together, and what is awaiting us now. I cannot see the future next to you, and I am glad about it. Because this way I can see what is important to me. I can make a decision as a silly girl in love, not as a descendant of an ancient family with strange powers.

The whole life away from you cannot be compared with one day spent together. Even if we only have a few hours, even if a meteorite falls tomorrow and Armageddon happens ahead of time, as long as you are happy, I want to be next to you,” the girl’s lips trembled, as did her fingers, she sobbed, and said in a choking voice,

“You have been waiting for me for so many years, and I came to this world to be by your side. Don’t push me away, please. There is no point in my life if you are not around… What is the point in saving the world if I cannot make the person I love happy? If this is the price for the time spent together, I am willing to pay it.”

She was so small, so fragile and innocent, but how much strength was inside her. Her love, feelings and emotions were too desirable and Marcus could not say no. From the very beginning, he knew that no matter how much he resisted, how many times he tried to run away from her, letting Amelia go was beyond his capabilities.

For him, she was like air, without which his body would be just a rational, but dead shell.

He squeezed her in his arms and dug his lips into hers. He also made a decision.

Festival guests laughed joyfully and celebrated the long-awaited arrival of warmth. Children ran between the tents, trying to steal the sweets that the vendors put on the shelves. Young men tied colorful ribbons on the girls’ wrists, and the latter ones were filled with an embarrassed blush.

Only the two people stood aside from the general fun, dissolving in the presence of each other, in the opportunity to be near and feel the warmth of the body, inhaling the smell and feeling emotions and feelings that became one, and it was not clear to whom these emotions and feelings belonged since they were mutual…

“Will you marry me?” Marcus breathed out his question, breaking the kiss.

“What?” Amelia opened her eyes. She heard what he said, but it came as a complete surprise to the girl.

“So, first we will choose a dress, then we will go for the rings. Until the evening we have enough time to do everything,” the man grabbed her hand and dragged her into the thick of the crowd, voicing their grandiose plan for this day on the way, “Damn, the church is not holding a service today and all the administrative buildings are closed!” He stopped abruptly as Amelia slammed into his back, “Well, okay! Simon will be our minister and conduct the ceremony for us. We’ll settle the paperwork next week.”

“Um, Marcus, I can wait until the weekend is over.”

“But I can’t wait any longer.” The girl did not understand his answer, to which Marcus leaned down and whispered in Amelia’s ear, “Your ancient fiance has a slightly different upbringing, my little girl. Everything should be according to the rules.”

“What rules?” she asked, barely audibly, but the man heard her.

“Wedding night, my silly little girl. Your first night.”

“Oh,” the most she could say.

The former bravado disappeared the next second, Amelia blushed crimson red and silently followed the man while he was on the move to solve all organizational matters.

She looked at her feet or at the back of Marcus and bit her lower lip, but it did little to help contain a happy smile. She wanted to laugh and shout to the whole square so that everyone could see that he was hers. The most amazing man on earth was hers.