Unedited as yet, so please no comments about my spelling or grammar. Thanks!
Rosa leaned up and against Darrec to steal a quick kiss. Which he didn't return. Again. "What is wrong with you? Why do you not kiss me anymore?"
Darrec stifled his groan. "You know why, Rosa. I don't love you. I never really did." Now she would cry, and he would feel bad and apologize. She would beg him to hold her until he gave in. Or walked away, which he kept threatening to do. Today he would.
Rosa lowered her head and nodded. They'd had this conversation before, multiple times. It still hurt. "Less than two months ago, you swore you loved me. You spoke of marriage. Then she came home. Now you love her. So fickle." She looked up into his eyes. "I expected better of you."
She took a step back ans turned away. Her eyes were dry. If they were to stay that way, she had to leave. "I can't compete with a memory." Two steps. "That's all she is, you know. A memory. She's changed since we all played together as children. She's not who you think she is. Kaliani is a princess now, not the girl from your memory." One more step. "Why choose a memory over flesh and blood, warm and willing me?" Her resolved shattered and she ran. Away from him, away from their special place, just away.
Not until she reached her tiny attic bedroom did she stop running. She would be punished for shirking her duties, she knew for certain. She needed a good cry first. Then she would return to work. Maybe.
Darrec watched as Rosa began to walk away. He stiffened when she called Kali a memory. It had been no mere memory that had shyly kissed his cheek. Her resulting blush had taken his breath away. She was beautiful, even more so when she blushed. He'd wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Luckily for him, he'd remembered their relative positions and stopped himself. A guardsman seen holding the crown princess would lose his head. if he were lucky.
So why did he remain loyal to her? They could never be together. He didn't fully understand his own reasoning.
He came back to himself as Rosa said 'warm and willing.' Willing? That was new. She'd only teased before. Before he could ask if she were serious, she fled. Not that it would be hard to find her. She would either be in the kitchen ratting on him or in her bedroom.
Her bedroom. Now there was a thought. It should have stirred him more. Had it, he would have gone after her. His lack of real reaction told him all he needed to know. Warm and willing was no longer enough. he wanted what his parents still had, what he saw every time Da looked at Mum: love. Mere companionship would not do. Only love.
After all, love was what separated man from beast.
He was no beast. Not anymore.
Now he was a man.
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