22. Aurelio
Iwish I could say I’m a brave, valiant knight in shining armor that stands in Daelia’s way to defend Alessia from her wrath.
Instead, I step aside faster than I can blink the moment I hear her shout. Mina and Gemma do the same. Apparently, they value their lives, too.
“Did no one brief you before the address?” Alessia questions.
“No, of course not! Why would they?” Dealia fumes, hitting the bottom stair. “You and the royal advisors are the only ones that knew! How hard is it to send a messenger across the street?”
“My apologies. I wasn’t trying to blindside you,” Alessia says.
Damn, she’s good. If I hadn’t had the conversations with her and Mina prior to this, I wouldn’t know that she’s lying right now. She’s cool as a cucumber, standing there with a straight face like the lie falling from her lips is a divine truth.
“I don’t care what you were trying to pull, but I’m not having it!”
Daelia finally enters the entrance hall of the Church, the click of her boots on the floor echoing unnaturally loud in the space. The church knights that were guarding the doors quickly scramble for cover in a nearby room. I wish I could join them. I’ve seen what that glittering sword at her side can do, and I wouldn’t like to know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of her mind-bogglingly strong strikes.
“You think you can just waltz in here, tell me to take part in your imaginary tournament, and walk away like nothing happened?” Daelia thunders, her eyes crackling with lightning. “I don’t think so, sister!”
“Daelia, you’re not understanding the importance of this decision,” Alessia says coolly, her eye contact with her sister unwavering. “You’ll remind everyone in the kingdom just how strong you are, and by facing off against the strongest knights, you’ll give them confidence that they can fight any foe, even great heroes of nations.”
“This is bullshit!” Daelia snaps. She pokes her sister in the sternum, hard. I wince just watching. “You’re playing some tricky mind game, and I know it! I’ll get to the bottom of this and shut it down before you use me like a toy doll!”
“Please, Daelia, I’m not using you. You said you were bored, after all,” Alessia says, smiling innocently. “I just want to spice up your life a bit and reinvigorate our armed forces, that’s all.”
“You lying little snake!” Daelia roars. “You’re keeping me from serving the Church, and I know it! You’re keeping me from helping the citizens of Krasta! What is wrong with you?”
“There’s nothing wrong with prioritizing my own people over the needs of another nation, especially when we’re already planning to help that nation,” Alessia says.
Just then, Daelia does the unthinkable: she slaps Alessia hard, right across the face. Alessia winces, her face turning to the side. A large, red welt appears almost instantly.
“You aren’t fit to be queen of Celestia!” Daelia shrieks.
My terror contorts into unbridled rage. I don’t think about the fact that Daelia could snap my neck with a single swing of her arm. My body moving of its own accord, I pull out the knife I hide in my boot, step in front of Alessia, and brandish it at Daelia, my lip curling into a snarl.
“Don’t touch her!” I growl.
Dealia’s eyes fly wide. She looks at me, looks at Alessia, and then looks at her hand, which is already red from the impact with her sister’s face. Just as quickly as she grew angry, her face contorts with horror, and tears pour down her face.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Alessia.”
“It’s fine. Aurelio, stand down,” Alessia commands.
My whole body jolts with surprise. I glance over my shoulder at her, about to protest, but my hand drops to my side when I see her steely eyes focused on her sister. She’s not fazed by the outburst, let alone hurt. She shows no sign of pain as she stares Daelia down. Bowing my head slightly to acknowledge her, I step aside, putting my knife back into my boot.
“Daelia,” Alessia says, “I understand you may be upset with this decision. But you will have to take your complaints to the holy mother; the decision has already been made, and the event set in stone. It is of the utmost importance that you be there for your people. They’re all waiting for your big finale, counting on your impressive display of power and agility.
“The Hero of Celestia is not a mere title, but the living embodiment of the strength of this nation. You live that title every day. You were born for justice, and you excel at protecting others. It’s important to remind the citizens that they’re in your very capable hands.”
“I know. That doesn’t make it hurt less. You’re making decisions without my input, Alessia,” Daelia says, another tear running down her face. “That’s so not like you. This isn’t the loving, caring sister I know.”
With that, Daelia turns on her heel and storms away, the click of her boots against the floor fading as she disappears deeper into the church. I look at Alessia, but she shakes her head at me.
“Don’t worry about me, Aurelio.”
“I didn’t—”
“I know you didn’t say anything. You don’t have to. It’s written all over your face.”
I eye the hand-shaped angry red mark on her face. “But—”
“It doesn’t hurt. Don’t worry. Let’s just get back to the palace, alright?”
I concede. If this is what she wants, then I’m in no place to deny her. I nod to Mina and Gemma, and they fetch the church knights, who open the doors once more and check that the coast is clear before we step out onto the busy main street. We make a beeline for the palace, trying our best to stay out of view of the throngs of people, and head straight back to the room once we arrive. I turn to Alessia once Mina and Gemma leave, but she holds up a hand to stop me.
“Give me some time to decompress, Aurelio. I’ll see you in a bit.”
She heads upstairs for the bathroom and shuts the door behind her, a clear signal to “leave me the hells alone.”
The problem? I can’t leave her alone. Not when I heard the tremble in her voice just now, and especially not when I saw the makings of tears welling up in her eyes.
I pace on the bottom floor, walking from bookshelf to bookshelf across the room while I wait for her to fill up the tub. The water pours and pours into oblivion. I swear there’s no end to that soaking tub. It’s taking for what feels like forever for her to just fill it up. I need her to hurry so I can walk in when she’s covered by bubbles and—
Just then, I hear the trickle of water. I look up, and I see water running out from under the bathroom door. It’s already trickling down onto the spiral stairs. My heart seizes in my chest.
“Alessia?”
There’s no response. I’m running up the stairs before I can stop myself, bursting through the bathroom door without knocking first. I take in the situation in half a second, and it cleaves my heart in two.
Alessia is curled up in the fetal position on the floor, sobbing silently. Her body trembles violently, but she’s stopping herself from making a sound. The water pouring into the tub has long surpassed the maximum capacity, and it’s just running out onto the floor and out the door now. Alessia probably lost the will to get up and turn it off when she started crying.
And to think, she was the picture of indifference in the church…apparently, there’s a lot I still don’t know about my wife.
I walk over to the tub and turn off the faucet, pulling the drain plug on the bottom while I’m at it. I wait for the water to drain a couple inches, then put it back in, stirring up the water to make sure there are enough bubbles to cover the surface. Then, satisfied, I take a couple of towels, dry up the water trails, and toss them aside. I shut the bathroom door, tap the spellglass lights beside the sink to dim them, and finally return to Alessia’s side. She’s completely undressed already, so I feel bad for not asking before touching her, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
I pick her up, carry her over to the tub, and gently set her in the water. She looks up at me in a panic, pulling her knees to her chest as she sinks into the tub.
“What are you doing, Aurelio?” she demands. “I told you to give me some time to decompress.”
“I know you said that, but I can’t help lending a hand when there’s water running down the stairs,” I say softly. “I was worried it might damage some of your books.”
“They’re fine. I can dry them.”
“Even so, I’d prefer they never got wet in the first place. It might damage the text before you can get to them.”
I grab the chair from beside the changing screen and bring it closer to the tub, taking a seat beside the edge. Alessia stares at me with puffy eyes, her face bright red from crying. I can trace the tear stains down her face with my eyes; it breaks my heart to see it. I reach out to carefully wipe the tear tracks away. Alessia’s eyes round.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not sure, really. I just can’t bear to leave you alone when you’re feeling this low,” I admit.
“What if I want to be left alone?”
I shrug. “I don’t think that’s what you really want. It’s written all over your face. I think you’ve used up all your fake facial expressions for the day.”
Alessia glares at me. “I’m not fake!”
“I didn’t call you fake. You’re an expert at hiding your emotions, though. You could have fooled me, the way you handled Daelia’s outburst.”
Alessia’s face falls again. She bites her lip, turning away from me.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. It’s nothing worth getting bent out of shape for.”
“Clearly, it is, or you wouldn’t be crying.”
“I’m not crying!”
“Sweating from your eyes, then.”
That draws an unexpected snort of laughter from Alessia. “Fine. Crying. But still, it’s alright. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“That’s impossible. I’m married to you. I worry about you every five seconds.”
“Marriage doesn’t mean you have to care so deeply about your partner, you know.”
“It does to me. It’s my choice to care about you, and I care about you a lot, Alessia. Enough to take up my whole day, every day of the week. I’m always paying attention to you and trying to figure out what’ll make you smile. It’s my only goal every day: to put a smile on your face, no matter how I have to do it.”
“You don’t have to act like my servant. You’re free to make yourself smile.”
“Oh, trust me, I do. I can’t not smile when I get to spend everyday with you. And if I feel like it, I’ll run off and do something fun on my own. But I’d much rather do something fun with you.”
Alessia finally turns to look at me, a smile tugging at her lips. Although her eyes may still be filled with tears, they are not unhappy tears now. I see affection and gratitude sparkling in those beautiful blue eyes everywhere I look in them. There’s no end to their depth. I could search her eyes forever, and I’d still never find the end of her feelings. She feels more things than I could possibly imagine.
That doesn’t mean I won’t try to discover them all, one at a time.
“Aurelio…I’m actually glad that you’re here.”
I smile, brushing her hair out of her face. “So am I.”
“I really hate fighting with Daelia. I only get so much time with her, so spend that time fighting…it…it rips me apart.”
A tear runs down her face, and I immediately wipe it away. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”
“I want you to hold me, actually.”
“Say no more.”
I undress, climb into the bath, and have Alessia sit on my lap. She buries her face into the crook of my neck and cries. I simply run my hands through her hair and sit there with her, wondering how I got so lucky to marry someone that feels so much and shows so little, but decided to show what little she does to me.