Once there was Darkness

Chapter 33

Kessa was standing at the water’s edge. The waves kissing her feet.

“What would it take for you not to do that?”

“How far do you think I would make it, my king?”

“Your upper body strength would get you half way there.”

“And then?”

Kol sighed. “With your leg hurt, I don’t think you have the ability to make it all the way to that land mass.” It hurt him to say that. “If you want to try, can I ask you to wait until tomorrow?” She said nothing. “Mother said the room that was prepared for you was untouched last night.”

“True.”

“Where did you sleep?”

She started walking away. He followed her around the beach. The cane wasn’t working very well in the sand. But she didn’t complain. They came to a cave where candles were burning. With great difficulty she set down to start a fire. Kol looked around, last night wasn’t the first night she had slept here.

“Is this where you slept when we came here before?”

“When not on duty.” He started to speak. She stopped him. “Sit, please.” He did. “Close your eyes and listen.” To his ears came the crackling of the fire. The rolling of the waves. Water crashing against the rocks. A slight breeze was blowing. Drops of water were trickling down on rocks. When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate the room or the company; I feel like I need this right now.” She put her hands on top of the cane, “there is a lot here for me to process.”

“Why can’t we help you?”

She took a deep breath, “I don’t know how.”

He got up and set down beside of her. “Does this mean that you have stopped wrestling with God?”

She blushed, “I knew you read that.”

“Kessa, let me help you.” He pleaded. “We can figure this out together.”

“What do we do first, my king?”

“First,” he stood, holding out his hands to her: “while this is nice and I understand the reasoning, you are going to a real bed under a real roof?” He put out the fire and blew out the candles.

“You do realize it is going to take me all night to make it up to the house?”

He stopped. Dear God, this was the problem. She was afraid. He kissed her. She didn’t have the strength to or the want to – to protest.

All she really wanted to do was cry. He scooped her up in his arms, “this is how.” He felt her tense up. She accidently scratched him when she went to put her arm around his neck. “Kessa, you’re still hurting. I could tell it was hurting you to walk but to the touch?” She didn’t answer him, couldn’t. There was a ball of pain lodged in her throat. If she would have spoken, it would have been a scream.

He sat her on the edge of the bed in the room that was prepared for her. Then knelt in front of her. “Are you okay?” She shook her head yes. But tears streamed down her face. He gently wiped them away. “I’m sorry.”

Through gritted teeth she finally spoke, “thank you. I’ll be okay, my king.”

“If you need anything, please let me know.”

“Of course.”

He kissed the top of her hand and left. “See you at breakfast.”