Game of Survival

by T R Tells

  She walked over to him and wrapped her hands over his eyes.

  “Guess who?”

  Angeal didn’t jump at her touch. He smiled, already knowing who it could be, but decided to play along.

  “Hmm . . . let me see, well, it can’t be my brother. He has much larger and rougher hands. Then, again, Donnie has been using some real fine lotion.”

  Thea laughed and removed her hands from his face. He turned around and grinned at her.

  “You know I’m telling Donnie what you said about his hands right,” she teased him. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was just in the neighborhood, is all. Can’t a guy come in and visit?”

  Thea noticed he had his hands behind his back. Her brow rose as she wondered what he could be hiding.

  "A man, probably, but a prince flitting around a place that used to be a brothel," Thea gasped and playfully placed her hand over her mouth. "The entire kingdom would be shocked, my good sir!"

  “Ah. What can I say? You’ve bewitched me,” Angeal told her with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “These are for you by the way . . .” Angeal removed his hands behind his back to reveal a bushel of purple lilacs.

  A gasp escaped Thea's lip when he revealed the flowers to her. Her cheeks and the bridges of her nose turned a scarlet red at the romantic gesture since no one had done this for her.

  “Angeal, I love them.” She gushed and took the flowers in her hands, bringing them to her nose to smell.

  A boyish grin appeared on Angeal's lips and he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you deserve it. I kind of figured you weren't into all that flashy jewelry, something simple, and beautiful."

  Thea still had her nose into the flowers as she looked at him.

  “Hm, so you think I’m simple, Angeal?" Thea asked wanting to see how he would react; and as she assumed, his face grew even darker shades of red than before.

  “W-What, no, that’s not what I meant, honest,” Angeal quickly stuttered over his words. “You’re simply much more than—”

  Thea started laughing, stopping Angeal mid-sentence.

  “I’m just screwing with you, Angeal. I know what you meant, but don’t think I don’t like jewelry either. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

  Angeal's smile tugged at his lips when he realized Thea was only teasing him. His heart had beat wildly and he had thought he might have ruined his chances.

  “If you’re staying for a little bit,” Thea offered, sheepishly looking down at the flowers. “Would you like to join me on the roof?”

  “Yes,” Angeal said without hesitation. Thea sat her head up and looked at this man staring back at her. She hadn’t met really anyone who was eager to be around her, except when it came to sex.

  Guard yourself just in case, Thea. You can never be too sure.

  “Follow me . . .”

  ***

  Thea led Angeal back to her room, where she would usually leave out of the window when she went doing missions as the Sicarri. Thea opened the window and turned back around to Angeal.

  "It's a pretty long drop from here and the ledge is pretty steep," she told him. She wondered if it was a smart idea to have the prince doing defying stunts. "I don't want to have to save you, but . . .I will if I have too."

  “Well, I’d say that’s a change of pace from the usual knight sweeping the girl off her feet.” He told her as he rolled up his sleeves above his elbow. “If you can do it, so can I. I’ve had my fair share of climbing buildings.”

  Thea’s brow rose. “Ooh, confident. I like.”

  Thea popped her head out of the window first and expertly began to scale the side of the building on the narrow ledge. Angeal looked out the window and watched her move across the building with grace and speed.

  “You’re quite good at that,” Angeal told her. He stepped one foot out of the window and gripped onto a solid part of the building. For a brief moment, he looked down and saw the ground before. “Woah, it’s higher than I thought.”

  “It’s probably about seven feet tall,” Thea told him. Angeal looked at where she now sat on the roof. “Are you coming?”

  Angeal’s eyes widen. “How did . . . How did you do that? I didn’t even see you get on the roof.”

  Thea shrugged. She couldn’t tell him her training had come from being a Sicarri, but she hoped the mystery was enough to keep him guessing.

  “Just propel your body up, like you’re jumping.”

  “Propel my body up,” Angeal mumbled under his breath. He still held tightly onto the ledge and looked down at where his feet stood on the building's scaffolding. "Propel my body up . . ."

  Angeal bent his knees and jumped in the air. He lifted his leg slightly in the air to throw it over the side of the roof, but the moment he tried to the momentum started to recede.

  Angeal grasped at nothing and his eyes widened, but just as quickly as he had started to plummet, Thea's outstretched arm grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He landed not only on the roof but on top of Thea. Their noses touched and their bodies pressed concurrently together. They stared at one another for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever.

  “Are you . . . Alright?” Thea was the first to speak. Her heart practically leaped out of her chest at the proximity the two shared.

  “Yeah . . . I mean, I won’t lie and say it wasn’t terrifying, but once that fear is over it was actually quite . . . Riveting,” Angeal said his eyes lingered down to her lips. “I should, uh, get up, huh?”

  Before Thea could give him an answer, he was already sitting up and sitting beside her.

  “Wow, it looks pretty neat up here,” Angeal said awed at the scape that laid out before him. The roofs and buildings of houses were pressed together.

  "What it doesn't look cluttered and disorganized?" Thea asked watching him.

  “No,” Angeal asked still looking at the houses close together. “It’s actually nice.”

  Thea furrowed her brow, wondering what he meant. "What do you mean? Surely, the view from the kingdom is a lot more appealing than sitting on the roof of a brothel."

  This time Angeal looked at her with a perplexed look. "Why would it be? The kingdom might be taller than any other kingdom, but when you look below it, everything looks small and minuscule. It loses life and meaning, you see it as nothing more than an object you conquered, but sitting on this roof . . .”

  Angeal held out his arm to gesture to the rows of houses that were lined together, some the same size and some shorter or taller than others.

  "This looks like a puzzle. A puzzle at first glance seems odd, even ugly, but when you piece it together and look at it differently, it becomes beautiful."

  Thea was speechless. She never looked at it that way, in fact, she never really had time to sit on the roof and do nothing. She would hop from rooftop to rooftop killing who needed to be killed.

  "That's actually very . . . deep. You're brilliant, Angeal."

  He smirked. “I suppose, but so much knowledge can only get you so far.”

  “What do you mean?” Thea asked.

  "I mean . . . I'd like more from the world and to see more of the world. I know that there are other worlds out there, good and bad, but there's a profound beauty I find in the unknown. I remember a year ago I was having a conversation with Donnie what I wanted more out of life than just being King of Middilgard.”

  Thea chuckled. “I don’t think you’d want to battle monsters or anything.”

  “Well, maybe not that. But I don’t want to be ignorant of the world around me. That can very well get you killed just as much as fighting a monster.”

  “Well said.”

  "Oh, I almost forgot," Angeal said reminding himself with a snap of his fingers. "Donnie gives his best and apologizes for his absence."

  “Mm, Donnie, yes. Where has he been? Kadda has definitely taken a shine to him.” She gestured for Angeal to come closer, who leaned into her so she could whisper into her ear. “I think she might have a cru
sh on him.”

  Angeal laughed and lightly shrugged his shoulder.

  "Well, Donnie has that effect on women it seems . . . Do his charms affect you as well?" Angeal cleared his throat and subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck.

  Thea thought he looked pretty cute jealous. “Hmm. I don’t know,” she stretched her words and rested back onto the roof. Angeal turned to look at her. “I might be, but then again, I think someone else has caught my attention.”

  "Your teasing again, aren't you?" Angeal asked but he was smiling when he said it and leaned back on the roof beside her.

  They stared at the sky for a few moments, not speaking, but the silence didn’t feel awkward as it did relaxing.

  "Angeal?" Thea called him. Angeal turned his head slightly to see she was still staring at the sky, but her eyes were pinched, and her lips were turned into a frown. "Do you think . . . if it isn't too much trouble if you could send people to find my sister?"

  “Your sister?”

  Thea turned her head to look at him and nodded.

  "Yeah. We were shipwrecked and were separated. I haven't seen Dominya for over a year now."

  Angeal listened to her story. He could see the look of anguish in glassy eyes. He knew that if either of his siblings were missing, he’d send out a search party for them.

  “I’ll send a search party of twelve men to look for your sister.”

  “You will?” Thea questioned. Even though she had asked, she didn’t expect him to say yes so willingly. “Can I ask why?”

  "It's simple, Thea, family means everything and without loved ones beside us, life could get pretty grim by yourself."

  Thea didn’t say anything for a moment. She looked away from Angeal and looked up at the sky.

  “There’s also one more thing,” Thea told him. “I hope you don’t take me as needy.”

  Angeal twisted his lips to the side. “Never. What is it?”

  “Maggie, she told me about, Eddie, and how he was arrested. I wanted to know if he’s going to be on trial?”

  "As of right, he's locked away. But it's hard to trial a man who has done nothing illegal in Kingsland's eyes. I can only hold him for so long and I am afraid Kingsland Guards will talk and speak with my father."

  “I see,” Thea sat up, she wrapped her arms around herself and brought her legs to her chest.

  Angeal sat up as well. He watched her for a moment, studying her. Her face seemed to give nothing away, but if he paid attention, he could make out a slight twitch on her eyebrow. He sat close to her and reached out his hand to brush her hair out of her face.

  “Did you want to see him?”

  Thea snorted. “It’s not a pleasantry visit, I can assure you. It’s simply so he knows I’m back and that he can’t make me or the girls do anything he or Flint wants. He’s certainly not the guy I remembered.” Thea rested her chin on her knees, remembering a time when they were all just kids.

  “But I guess a part of me wants to know that he’s still alive. I know Maggie wishes to know the same. He was like her brother after all.”

  There was deep anguish that Angeal could sense coming from her, darkness surrounding her, trying to pull her under, but even through all of that, there was something else that he sensed withering obscurity.

  Hope? Strength?

  Thea was like a heart ever pounding and pumping blood, overflowing, and no matter how many times it was beaten or stabbed it still kept flowing.

  Survival? The innate instinct to know what to do in any given situation? Or. perhaps it was all three? Without Hope and Strength, how could you survive through the darkness and beatings?

  There’s so much I want to know about you.

  “As you wish. Anything you want, need, just ask. If it is in my power, then I will do it for you.”

  Thea looked at Angeal this time as he spoke his declaration to be there and to give her what she needed. His features were calm, relaxed. His coal black eyes, never wavered as they gazed at her, were gentle and inviting. Thea felt safe, and she had not known that feeling since Dominya and Jiran.

  “You aren’t worried about the rumors?” Thea whispered suddenly feeling shy and small. She was fully aware of their close proximity. “You know, the prince, going into a brothel and being seen on the roof with a prostitute.”

  She inhaled and exhaled with a huff; her shoulders suddenly tense.

  "I've had men say they want to be with me but the moment they realize what they were getting into, they would run."

  “Thea,” Angeal whispered her name and it brought a shiver down her spine. He reached for her hand and grasped it within his. “You aren’t a whore. You aren’t a prostitute or someone’s welcome mat. You are a person with feelings and emotions. Emotions that not everyone can handle and would probably break.”

  Thea smirked and rolled her eyes. “Then, I’m sure I’m just a side project. Royals have mistresses, but conquering a whore seems much more dangerous.”

  Thea admitted she was being cold, but she had repeatedly opened her heart and tried to see the good in things, but she ended up getting burned in the process.

  "And do you know how many royals are even bigger whores? Incidentally, being a prince, I could have any woman and a mistress while my wife bares my child. Where I can sit on the throne and rule over Middilgard, but you know what? I want you, Thea, over all of that."

  Thea blinked at him, dumbfounded. “What? No, you’re lying. Why would anyone give up luxury, money and their throne? Maybe you haven’t explored enough to know what you want, you said so yourself. We’re from two different worlds and fate will always find a way to pull us apart.”

  Thea was being hard on him, she knew, but the thumping in her chest drummed loudly in her ears—she was afraid he would hear. She was worried that he would only use her like every man out there.

  "I know I want you. Isn't that all that matters? Isn't knowing that pounding in your heart when you see that smiling face of someone most beautiful. It isn't because I'm going to be king and in command, but it's up to me, and my heart if I choose you and I know you want me too."

  "But . . . What if when you get too close, and you see what lies in me, all you see is darkness? I've been through a lot of shit, Angeal, more than you can think."

  “And, who hasn’t? Some more than others, but who says you have to go through the darkness alone? I reckon you’ve been doing that all your life and it sucks to do it alone.”

  Thea's lip quivered and her eyes started to grow warm as her vision became blurry with tears. Angeal grabbed her other hand and turned her to face him.

  “I am not ashamed or afraid of you, Thea. I want you to know that you don’t ever have to be alone again. Your past — good or bad — doesn’t define who you are, it shapes and molds you. You’ve gone through hell, but you pushed through it when you could have given up.”

  "That's because I had people who loved me and I couldn't give up and leave them."

  "And isn't it time you did something for yourself? You deserve so much more Thea, and I want to give you all of that. The moment I dreamt you, the moment I saw you, I knew that you were my destiny," Angeal looked at Thea's hands, feeling them tremble in his hold. He rubbed his thumb over her fingers.

  “They say the past, present, and future are a gift to man and you . . . you are my gift.”

  A realization came over Thea when he spoke the last words of his sentence: My gift. Could it be?

  "You talk so easy about it, but there are mountains and walls we have to go through."

  “Then, I’ll break them all down.”

  Thea’s gasp caught in her throat as she rested her hand on Angeal’s chest, gazing into his eyes.

  “And the rumors?”

  “Let them talk, it’s just words. Besides, Donnie will beat the crap out of them if he hears anything and you know he doesn’t care.”

  Thea grinned. “That’s true . . . What about Kadda? Are you even prepared—”

  Angeal placed his f
inger on her lips.

  “Kadda is you, Thea, and I will love that little girl like my own. I want you both apart of my life, and I won’t leave either of your sides.”

  For a moment, she was reminded of her visions. The countless times where she would lie in bed with a face, she could not see but knew in her heart that she loved. When she looked at Angeal, she felt an unusual weight in her chest, but it wasn't burdening guilt or misery.

  Happiness? Could I really be happy again?

  She had almost forgotten what happiness even felt like, but she knew for once, she would do something for herself.

  Thea leaned her head into his chest, wrapping her arms around him, as he held her.

  Chapter Fifty-Fifty

  There was a knock on Maggie's door that pulled her away from her reading. She put the book down on the nightstand and went to the door, when she opened it, she tilted her head slightly to the side, surprised to see Sabine and Cassie in front of her door.

  “Sabine, Cassie, is everything alright? Did something happen?” Maggie asked concerned for the children’s safety.

  Cassie shook her head and spoke first, “No. No, everything is fine. We just came here to say thank you.”

  “Even though she offered,” Sabine mumbled under her breath, she had her arms crossed over her chest.

  Cassie glared at her friend with a pout, before looking back at Maggie with a smile. “What Sabine is trying to say—”

  “It’s no problem, of course,” She told them. Maggie thought it was the right thing to do, she knew that if anyone found out the children no longer had a caretaker someone else would be in charge of them and probably even cruder than the last one.

  "I wish I had someone to pull me out of the situation I was in, but things happen, and you learn from it. You get stronger into a strong-minded individual,” Maggie told the girls. While Sabine looked bored, there was a twinkle in Cassie’s eyes.

  "You guys have been through a lot and it probably doesn’t get easier, trust me, I know. But if you want to change and make a better life for yourself all you have to do is keep trying and push past those demons."

  Cassie quickly nodded. “Yes, yes, of course, we want that.”