The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 131. A goodbye wave.

Chapter 131: 131. A goodbye wave.

"Neriah, come." He said as he released her hand.

"No." She said and she thought to herself, not once had she gone into his arms. Even on their first night, while she was busy trying to figure out how to seduce him then, he came to her. Not once had she gone to him.

He spoke softly, "Then can I come?" And tonight if she let him, he would go to her again.

She didn’t want this to end like it did in the bathroom, so she kept quiet, thinking of how to refuse him and pull him in at the same time.

"Since when did I control your movements?" There, it was neither an invitation nor a rejection. It was neutral. At least she hoped her low, somewhat calm words sounded that way.

A low muffled laugh, almost like a cough reached her and what reached her next was the man she knew as her husband. He pulled her close to his body and brought her to his head level and they stared at each other.

Her cheeks flushed as she could see those golden eyes so clearly in the darkness now that they were close to her. His palm touched the side of her face and her body curled with need.

Her lashes fluttered and fought to stay open as they suddenly wanted to hide her eyes from him. "I really wish you would pray for my safe return." He suddenly brought the topic up again and before she could give a reply, his hand went under her chin, lifted it up and his lips sealed hers.

It was long, sweet and slow. Like he was taking his time to teach her afresh. To teach her how well he could kiss her and how much she would miss the lips that kissed her.

And when it ended, he pulled her body an inch closer to his own and whispered with a kiss upon her head, "Goodnight Spitfire." And that was all he did, nothing more, nothing less.

...

By the time Neriah woke up, it was the early hours of the morning, the sky was gaining color even though the sun was not up yet.

But... he was already gone from her side. Quickly, she ran to the balcony only to see the knights that escorted him but she could not see him. He was blocked by the other buildings.

She picked up a shawl and slipped on her slippers as she ran out of the room. "Your Highness!" It was Aria, but Neriah paid her no heed.

She thought of running downstairs, but he would have been out of reach by then so instead she ran up the stairs that led to the top of the Kadan-Rana palace. Round and round she climbed, she could hear Aria calling out to her, saying something about her choice of dress but Neriah could care less about what her maid was saying.

All that clouded her head at that point was to see him before he left. She wanted to tell him that she wouldn’t miss him but he should try his best to come back as soon as possible. She wanted him to know that she wouldn’t pray for his safe return but also he had no right to get hurt there.

She wanted to make him understand that she didn’t want to kiss him goodbye but she wouldn’t mind if he kissed her goodbye.

""Y_your Highness!"" said the knight that stood in front of the door which led to the terrace.

"" Open it."" She ordered and instantly the man opened the door and her steps quickened even more as she ran toward the edge.

"" Your Highness?! "" She ignored the call of the other knights who stood guard on the terrace as they saw her.

Her eyes scanned the ground area till at last, they found him. He was dressed in armor and sat atop a big black horse. His back was turned to her. He was almost out of the palace gates.

Her heart was racing, her hair that was being raised and dropped by the wind was whipping her face and her hands lifted up to wave as her lips parted to call out to him, "Bar—" She suddenly paused as it had finally dawned on her.

What was she doing? For the first time since she had woken up that morning and began searching for him, she had come back to her senses. The pain in her trembling legs due to the steps she had hurriedly climbed was also more pronounced now.

"What are you doing, Neriah?" She stared blankly out into the air. "Why did you run all the way up here like an idiot?" She muttered to herself. She was not acting like herself. This was not her. She was a princess who valued herself more than anything, so how come she had run out of her room wearing just her nightgown and a shawl?

Worse, she just ran up those stairs like she was being chased by a demon and all for what? To catch a glimpse of a man she hated? It made no sense. He was Barak, the same Barak, the same crown prince with dragon blood, he was still dark-skinned. He had not gotten fairer nor had his looks or blood changed.

He was the same person in and out so what was she doing?

Slowly, her hands slipped away from the reins at the edge of the terrace as she turned to walk away, but then the side of her eyes caught something. And she wondered if she had seen correctly.

She turned around and looked toward the gate again and she was right. She had seen correctly. He had seen her... He was staring at her and her entire body was held by his eyes that remained on her. He was so far from her and yet slowly, she could see the corners of his lips rise into a smile and it reached his eyes. Neriah could see he was truly glad to see her there.

He lifted his hand and touched his chest, then pointed to her,’should I come to you?’ She could tell that was what he was silently asking and she shook her head in a no. Then he smiled and nodded and to her shock, he waved her goodbye.

It was just a wave, a simple, normal wave. Not even an enthusiastic one. Just a simple small wave so why did it feel so much like a goodbye kiss? Even better... There was something warmer about it.

And she fought everything in her to stop her hand that held her shawl to her chest. She fought everything to stop herself from waving back. Or so she thought. Neriah had not realized that her hand she thought was holding her shawl had loosened and although it remained next to her chest, her palm was open and was facing his direction.

She only realized it when his smile grew even warmer and she quickly closed her palm, clenching onto the shawl as his horse began to trot with him atop it.

He was out of the gates, he was gone.

"Your Highness?" Aria called as Neriah finally turned away from the edge. "My Lady, A_ are you alright?" The lady asked and Neriah knew the answer to that question. She was not.

She was not alright and she was not normal either because it had always been her and Aria and Riri. It had always been them and she was hardly lonely. Yet Aria was right in front of her and she could not help feeling dull and lonely. So, so lonely.

...

Due to Neriah’s lack of focus, Lady Eliza had ended their study session earlier than usual saying that Neriah should rest for the remainder of the day.

Neriah sat alone in the balcony with her head resting on the ear of her chair and her legs on a small round table, wondering how life could suddenly become so boring. She’d been in that position for over an hour, she was certain her back would hurt when she finally decided to stand up but she was too languid to get up so she remained there.

A sudden flapping sound drew her attention. She moved her eyes toward the direction it was coming from and a white feathered creature sitting on the reins came into view. It was Stacy the carrier dove.

For long minutes, she stared at the bird with her eyes alone. Her body was unmoved and her head remained the way it was. Only her eyes stared at the bird.

It cooed and cooed as if announcing its presence and when it saw that she made no attempt to move, it flapped its wings, lifted itself from the rein and landed on the table next to her legs.

Neriah breathed out languidly as she finally dropped her legs from the table, instantly feeling the pain at her waist, yet ignoring it as she reached for the bird’s leg.

"Fine." She sighed as she took the piece of paper from the bird’s leg.

"I have something to tell your owner anyway. He should know that our enemy has gone on a journey. If he plans to lay an ambush, then this is his best chance." She was going to write back to him. She would let him know that her dear husband was away, so this was their chance. "The best chance to kill Barak Der Drache."