CHAPTER 15 (Part two)
Mahnu faintly felt warmth, unconsciously she leaned towards it, so to have it somehow transfer her coldness. Something very nice went down her throat and she drank it hungrily, and now, feeling more comfortable, she drifted back into a deep sleep.
He is clean, Your Majesty. He didn"t..."
King Richard close his eyes tightly and interrupted the knight, "I get it!"
"What do you want to do with the Leader"s body, Your Majesty?"
The King hugged Mahnu tighter in his arms. He didn"t know what he was feeling right now. So many mixed emotions and questions made it hard for him to think of how to answer the question...
"Don"t...Don"t hurt him...Keep...His body safe." Those words were so hard to say.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Jaclyn finally finished examining Mahnu, after she had been placed onto a bed, and gave the King a grave look. "She needs to wake up and eat."
Getting the food that was on the floor, Jaclyn looked at it and tasted it.
To make something specifically would take some time, instead Jaclyn took out the big pieces of food from the bowl, to make it more like a soup, and gave it to the King, with some fresh water. "I will make her something but this should be okay for now. You must make her eat or defects could happen to your unborn child."
King Richard nodded and worried over what she had just said. Both Mahnu and this child was already extremely precious to him, how could he wait one second later to do as the doctor asks! It was also a welcomed job for him to help him not think of Marcus and of what had happened here before he arrived.
The King tried talking and moving Mahnu but she didn"t wake. Lightly, he taped her cheeks and she still didn"t wake. King Richard started to worry and become impatient. "Mahnu! Wake up!"
He pinched her belly in hope to fully awaken her.
Finally, her eyes flattered opened but she didn"t say anything.
King Richard wasn"t going to take no as an answer and already went to give her a spoonful of food.
Now, looking at her face, he stopped, heartbroken.
Tears were forming at her eyes and then she covered her face with her hands. The King pulled at her hands but she was stubborn.
Sighing, King Richard asked, "Tell me about King Jeffery."
Mahnu was silent...
He attempted to take away her hands, as he continued, "My grandfather...Was he a good King?"
Finally, her hands were by her side and King Richard put the spoon in front of her face.
"He wasn"t the oldest...Right?"
She took the food and stared at him, still not speaking but opening her mouth.
King Richard silently cheered to himself for getting her to eat. Filling the spoon again, he spoke again, "His elder brother was the King but didn"t have any children, so my grandfather became the next King."
Even though King Richard had initially wanted Mahnu to talk, King Richard rambled on as he fed her more food.
Feeling lucky, the King realizes that she had eaten all the food and he chuckled, "Do you remember?"
Picking up the water, he drank some and then took her head in his hands and kissed her. He hadn"t expected her to not just take the water but then to continue to kiss him back afterwards. But as she deepened the kiss, he returned it.
Her hand went to his head and her fingers went through his hair. King Richard moved one of his hands down to her waist and cuddled her. Bringing her up to a better upright sitting position, he pulled her closer to him.
When their lips parted, both were breathing heavily but stayed very close. He kissed her softly and she continued to kiss him back while moving a hand inside his robe.
He knew now was not the time to become so intimate but he couldn"t stop her, or himself. Her desire and his desire had already connected and he felt like she needed to be close to him. That he would be some kind of medicine for her. The King could just happily oblige her.
People left the room, quite confused, but when that door was shut, King Richard pulled the desire, hungry Mahnu to be on top of his lap.
When she finally spoke, it was soft and sweet and...It was his name.
He said her name back to her and put his hands inside her clothes, kissing her body. Kissing the light redness around her wrists and where the dagger her drawn blood, Mahnu felt like she was becoming new again, as though he was purifying her. She wished for Richard to continue, to make her forget, to make her think of only one thing and not of anything else besides him. She didn"t want to think about how sad she was about Marcus"s death. She didn"t want to think that she had been forcibly taken away. She didn"t want to think about the last week of being lonely. She wanted to be filled again, filled so much so that her eyes could take what they see again. So that her heart can handle more. To continue to live here with her beloved man, she wanted to be stronger. She never wanted something like this to happen again, so she will just have to be stronger!
Making love to Mahnu throughout the next day had made a change to her eyes. Since then, King Richard became very attentive and patient and made it his number one priority to try and make her smile. By the time they made it back to Betty and Donald, Mahnu had only spoken two things. One was, "I"m sorry." In which was breaking the King"s heart and the other was his name.
Luckily, and surprising King Richard, Mahnu started to smile naturally again when she saw Betty and Donald.
Staying with them for a day, the King was happy to see her start to be herself once again.
He wished he could ask her what happened but the risks seemed to be too great. She was just starting to smile again, how could he attempt to ruin that?
For now, what happened with Marcus has been left in the air but the King will change it as he pleases when he knows what Mahnu wants. In the meantime, the leader of the Loyal Royal Knight’s body was being kept in secret, and intact.
Before Marcus"s case started to become big news, the King used that time to behead Sedric and his followers.
Mahnu attended the beheading of Sedric, it wasn’t because she contained endless hatred for him…It was for two other reasons.
One reason was that she wanted to be able to be stronger, that the scene of his last breath would be forever remembered by her. She will remember how that man had tried to kill her, twice, and that if he hadn’t been involved because of the tablet, Marcus may still have been by Richard’s side.
Mahnu knew she had to accept this, this present day, for it was what she didn’t want. She made herself stand there, seeing the lifeless head on the ground, and she, finally, remembered Marcus.
She had not thought about him since that day. That day, she had tried not to think of anything...
But now…It all streamed into her, tears started to fall down her cheeks and she closed her eyes.
Marcus being angry and attacking her, bowing, being excited when he found out who she was. He protected her, he wanted her to stay alive before Eliza and Thelmos were gone. He had slowly warmed up to her again after the two years she had gone missing. He listened to her, protected her, again, acknowledged her ideas…
She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. She was thankful that she was alone, to the side and behind a curtain.
Trying to calm herself, she tried to smile. “Thank you, Marcus.”
Mahnu bowed to nothing and no one. She was thankful to have had him as a friend and that he hadn"t killed her and the child within her.
Standing up again, she put her hand to her womb. She would never forget him. They were here today because of his mercy.
“Mahnu?”
Mahnu looked around, the sun had moved across the sky, making her gasp. Her thoughts had made time slip away.
King Richard moved to his beloved’s back, placing his arms around her.
Mahnu closed her eyes, feeling his warmth flow into her. “Will it be ok…To use Marcus as a boy’s name?”
He smiled and turned her around to face him, “Yes! Our first son will have the name of Marcus!”
It was so easily done that Mahnu was shocked and didn’t know how to respond.
King Richard smiled at her lovingly, “I would have expected that you hated Marcus but…I’m very glad that you don’t.”
“…No. I don’t hate him. I didn’t want him to…” Mahnu looked away. Her feelings were still raw, still new.
“I didn’t hate why he came after me either. In a sense, maybe he was right. But, the person who took me away, it wasn’t the Marcus we all knew…It took so much to get him back. Only for him to…”
Hearing some of Mahnu’s details, King Richard started to understand and he closed his eyes tight for a moment. There were still so many questions he wanted to ask but he continued to hold back.
They were both silent for a time, till Mahnu spoke, very quietly, “What was done? With his…”
“Nothing, I wanted to leave it to you to decide.” The King hugged her tighter.
“He’s a hero that saved lives, let him rest in peace.” Her voice shook a little but her determination made King Richard sigh in relief. Mahnu was coming back to normal, talking again and showing emotions. Already he felt like he was getting too much, “Are you sure?”
Mahnu pulled away to look at him and nodded, “He deserves that, he did save our lives too….And I want he, who helped me finish my task on saving the humans from the G.o.d’s, to be a hero.”
This was Mahnu’s second reason to watch the end of Sedric. It was the completion of her task. The box had been reported as hidden deep underground under constant watch of the Loyal Royal Knights, the tablet was smashed and unreadable and Sedric, who knew of The Chest of the G.o.d’s, was now gone. Her task of over a thousand years, was now complete.
“I will leave the guarding of both the box and The Chest of the G.o.d’s in your hands, my King.”
King Richard chuckled at her bow. Pulling her back into his arms, he said, “I will look after them, and now, you can just live normally. As my woman and mother of my children.”
Mahnu sighed. Can letting such a task be removed from one self, make you feel this way?
For no reason, she found herself smiling, very easily. It felt so good to be alive. Suddenly, she felt the most freedom she had ever felt before. That some invisible shackles that had been tying her down all this time had just disappeared!
To a strange extend, she even felt a loss. Losing such a reason of living for so long, Mahnu suddenly felt worried. What am I to do now?
It was that moment that the King got on his knees before her and he touched her growing tummy. He kissed it and smiled, “Little one…You have the most remarkable mother!”
Mahnu stared at the King. Right…How could I forget that we wanted to have a happy family!? Of course…I haven’t lost anything! I’ve gained so much, how could I think like I had no reason!?
“Richard?”
“Mmm?” His ear was against her tummy now.
“Let’s be a happy family…I want that!”
He laughed and looked up at her, “Of course! Actually, aren’t we already a happy family?”
The King stood up and gathered her into his arms and kissed her.
Moving her hands around his neck, she returned his tender kiss.
“It may not be easy, Mahnu, but I love you and our child. I will do my best to make sure we are happy!”
He kissed her again and Mahnu sighed to his words, as well as his touch. He was right, living isn’t easy. But she knew that she wanted to be by his side forever. I will overcome the hardships, I will be strong! She didn’t feel like an unfinished puzzle anymore…Now, at this moment, her puzzle was finished. She felt like she was finally where she was supposed to be, that she was exactly where she belonged!
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