Chapter 50

Ayla put her left palm on his bare chest, put her ear on top of his heart, and closed her eyes.

Kerra got under the blankets, climbed on Rhobart's legs, curled, and started purring. Ayla fell asleep listening to Kerra's purring.

The blizzard lasted about an hour before it died out.

Ayla slept poorly that night, afraid that she would somehow touch his wound and harm him. From time to time, Ayla would get up and put more wood on the fire before getting back under the blanket, where Rhobart was.

Close to the morning, Rhobart started having a fever.

"No! No!" Ayla sobbed when she looked at his wound.

It was red and burning.

Ayla was no herbalist or a Mage, and she only knew so little about plants and sicknesses. What was she supposed to do now?

The princess made more tea and washed his wound with it. Then spent all morning putting wet pieces of tunics on his forehead. She made him drink more tea, and when Kerra brought Ayla a rabbit, she made a bit of stew for her and the King. If she thought making him drink tea was hard, it was even harder to make him swallow a few spoons of the stew.

When Ayla wasn't looking after Rhobart, she was busy sorting through the mess the goblins made. She threw away the food she thought they had touched or bitten into. Unfortunately, it was almost all the food from the baskets. But Ayla and Rhobart had fruits, dried meat and vegetables, cheese, and some hard bread. It was enough for at least four-five days.

She also took care of Runner and Spirit, making sure they had hay and water.

Ayla hoped that when the night came, his fever would go down, but it wasn't the case. It had gotten worse. Rhobart was burning up and kept saying words in the old language of Nordmar. Words she didn't understand. She kept tending to him all night long.

At dawn, Ayla barely could keep her eyes open. She put her head on his chest.

"I will close my eyes for one minute," she said before drifting to sleep.

Ayla woke up hours later. She no longer had her head on his chest. During her sleep, Ayla moved, and now she had her nose buried in the crook of his neck.

Ayla breathed in his scent. She loved how he smelled. So wild and untamed. And there was another scent–snow. Ayla frowned. How can someone smell like snow? And why was it so familiar to her?

A hand played with her hair, and Ayla put a hand on his chest so that she could move. Her heart almost stopped when she finally noticed that he wasn't burning anymore.

Ayla lifted her head and looked at him; Rhobart looked back at her and smiled softly.

"You are awake! And your fever is gone!" Ayla said, and she kissed him.

Ayla gasped when she realized what she had done. She tried to pull away, but Rhobart put his left palm on the back of her head and kissed her back.

And it wasn't a soft kiss. It was a kiss that claimed and conquered. A kiss that asked for everything and gave everything.

Rhobart pushed his tongue inside her mouth and tasted her. He licked every inch of the inside of her mouth.

He broke the kiss for a few moments to give Ayla time to breathe before his mouth was back on her, his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her, claiming her.

A minute or an hour later, Rhobart fisted his hand into her hair and broke the kiss for the second time. He pulled her hair gently and tilted her head back to look into her eyes.

"Even if I kiss you for an eternity, it won't be enough! It will never be enough!" Rhobart said, and he pulled her back for another kiss.

Rhobart kissed her until her lips became swollen. When he looked at her lips and smiled proudly, she blushed.

Ayla put her head on his chest and listened to his heart. It was beating as fast as hers. And she had never felt happier in her life.

While Rhobart started running his palm up and down her arm, her eyes fell on the pink satchel.

"Rhobart? Who gave you this satchel? I have never seen you take it off," Ayla asked, curiosity burning her.

His hand stopped moving. He even forgot to breathe. Moments later, Ayla lifted her head and looked into his eyes. She couldn't read his expression.

"I am sorry if I–" Ayla started saying but stopped when Rhobart finally reacted. He inhaled deeply before speaking.

"It was a gift from the most important person in my life," he said, looking into her eyes. "She was my best friend, my everything." He swallowed hard before continuing, "She was my soulmate."

Rhobart stopped speaking and kept looking into her eyes. It seemed he was searching for something in her eyes.

Ayla felt a pang of jealousy in her heart. And then sadness.

Rhobart had a soulmate. Not only that he had one, but he also found the one person that completed his soul.

People were lucky to find someone to love and be loved, but only very few found their soulmates. A soulmate was rare because it was hard to find. Soulmates were precious, and many people dreamed of finding their halves.

"Where is she now?" Ayla asked and hoped her voice wasn't as shaky as she thought it was.

Rhobart looked away for a few moments, then looked back at her, "I lost her because of the war."

Ayla felt sorry for him. To find the only person who made you whole, only to lose her.

"I am sorry."

"Don't!" Rhobart said.

Ayla didn't know what to say. She felt his sadness, and she wanted to comfort him but didn't know how.

"I hated your father for a long time. I hate your whole family because of him. I am glad that I killed him, and I hope the Darkness makes him suffer for all eternity for everything he has done," Rhobart said after long minutes of silence.

Ayla nodded, "I would hate him too if I were you."

Rhobart said nothing.

"You hate me?" Ayla asked, thinking of the part where Rhobart said he hated all her family because of her father.

"I did. For a long time," Rhobart confessed.

Ayla's heart cracked. No wonder the King had been so angry at her in the beginning. He lost his soulmate because of her father. And even hated her because of her father.

"Do you still hate me?" Ayla asked. She feared the answer but needed to know.

Rhobart looked into her eyes, "I needed a damn blizzard to realize I never hated you, Ayla. I was just bitter and hurt."

Did she dare to hope?

"Then what do you feel for me now?"

Once again, Rhobart fisted his left hand in her hair and brought her closer to his mouth.

"Do you want to know what I feel?" Rhobart asked.

Ayla nodded.

"I feel like I want to kiss you yesterday, today, and tomorrow."

And his mouth claimed hers again. And this time, he kissed her slow, as if they had all the time in the world to kiss each other.