Just as I want to go out and see where Elsie is, the doors of the castle open once again, and Elsie comes in running. Seeing me alive, she hugs me tightly and immediately starts crying.
'Calem, my love! I am so happy and grateful that you are alive,' she says, sobbing. 'I am grateful that you fulfilled my wish and came back! I am happy that you are here right now, with me, alive!'
I hold her tight in my embrace and gently kiss her forehead.
All the people who are standing in the hallway with us start applauding and nodding.
'Now, that we see how much you love each other and how you rescued Elsie from enemy, we are more than sure that you are a strong and honorable warrior and deserve our respect,' the oldest warrior says, and the other nod in agreement.
'We will never forget what you have done,' another warrior says.
'And you will always be welcome,' the oldest one says again.
He takes Murgan's dead body and starts dragging it out of the castle – certainly no one needs it inside the hallway. The other warriors also realize that they need to leave us alone. One by one, they start leaving the hallway of the castle. When the last person leaves the hallway, I look around and see that I and Elsie are alone.
'Calem, you came for me,' she says in a soft voice. 'You realized where I could be, and you came to rescue me.'
'I cannot live without you, Elsie,' I say. 'You are my sunshine. I would turn the world upside down and would find you anyway.'
'They killed everyone,' Elsie says, her eyes filling with tears.
'Skena is alive,' I say, knowing that that fact will make her happy. She looks at me with her big blue eyes and starts smiling.
'Really? Oh, Calem!' She hugs me again.
'Yes, I told Achaius to take her to the nearby village, as she was wounded. They will treat her wounds until we have time to take her from there,' I tell her. I love how her eyes start shining with happiness.
'Oh, Calem, it is such good news!' She exclaims.
'Elsie, my love, my sunshine,' I say softly, looking into her big blue eyes, as she smiles at me, still in my tight embrace. 'Now, that your uncle is dead, would you still want to marry me, or you would rather want to stay and live here, in your castle, free of bad people?'
She looks at me with her innocent eyes without blinking and says:
'Calem, I would rather be your wife and the mistress of your modest home than stay here.'
Her words make me melt, warming me down from the inside. 'Are you sure of it?'
'Absolutely,' she says, and her beautiful lips flourish into a smile.
'Every day I will make you not regret that decision, my love,' I tell her, hugging even tighter.
'I love you, Calem,' she says, her face so close to mine. My heart starts beating faster, as this is the first time that she talks to me about her feelings.
'I love you, too, Elsie,' I tell her almost in a whisper.
Our faces are too close to each other. Elsie closes her eyes and comes even closer with her lips parted a bit, thirsty for a kiss. I dive in with passionate kisses, which none of us want to end. My tongue meets hers inside her mouth, and starts caressing it, making Elsie moan softly, her breathes coming in intervals. I hug her even tighter, and I can feel how her body gets weak.
Chapter 10
Elsie
The kiss makes me go weak in the knees. I can feel his hardness against the lower part of my belly, which makes me go crazy with passion. I move away from the kiss, my breathing still unsteady, and look into his eyes.
'My sunshine,' he whispers.
I almost know what he wants to say, but he does not say it, perhaps thinking that I will refuse.
'Calem, it is late already,' I say gently, and he nods. 'It is past midnight,' I add. 'We need to sleep.'
'I know,' he says and stops, still looking at me.
'You can… you can sleep in my bedroom, with me,' I say at last, the last part of the sentence in a barely audible whisper.
Without any words, he takes my hand and starts walking down the hallway. He does not know where my bedroom is, but he is eager to get inside. I smile under my nose as I lead him down the dimly lit hallway towards my favorite bedroom where I have spent my entire childhood. I open the door, and at the very first second, with the smell and view of the inside of my bedroom, memories come back to me.
My room has not changed during my absence. It is as it used to be. The two lanterns on my walls are lit, casting dim shadows around and making my furniture visible. Everything is clean and nice, as if my uncle decided that my room must be ready for me when I arrive. To be honest, I have missed my soft bed, where I have dreamed many times about being happy.