This love is like a curse (67)
Talia picked off a hangnail near her nail.
A drop of sweat appeared on his forehead and slowly flowed down his temple.
Longboat took her by the shoulders and slowly turned her around. Long, strong fingers gently cupped her cheek.
Thalia couldn't look him in the eyes and stared at his chin. The next second, Longboat's face came closer.
His lips, surprisingly warm and soft, lightly touched the corner of her mouth and immediately pulled back.
It was a light kiss, like a breath of wind.
Minimal contact made for the sake of formalities.
This fleeting touch, which could hardly even be called a kiss, seemed to pierce her heart.
— I announce the completion of all ceremonies.
After the priest’s words, restrained, formal applause swept through the hall.
Thalia raised her trembling gaze to Longkas. His imperturbable face, in which it was impossible to read a single emotion, studied her intently.
What is he looking at so intently?
Longboat, piercing her with a gaze, turned to the guests. Thalia breathed a sigh of relief.
He put his arm around her waist and led her through the crowd.
Faces floated past like shadows, one after another, in time with their steps.
Gareth with an eerie sparkle in his eyes, a worried emperor, a satisfied smile on Senevier’s lips... Countless shadows flowed like a river, and soon a dark sky pouring rain opened before his eyes.
- Bring me a cloak.
Stopping at the entrance to the chapel, Longboat turned to the waiting knight.
He immediately handed over the outer garment he was holding in his hand.
Longboat threw it over Thalia's shoulders, then bent down slightly and easily held it with one hand.
Waist hurriedly wrapped her arms around his neck to prevent herself from falling back. Soft hair, saturated with the scent of soap, touched her nose.
He held her behind her back with one hand and walked slowly through the rain.
Thalia watched as silvery drops softly fell on his face, gradually covering him with a white veil, and then turned her gaze to the garden, over which an ominous shadow hung.
-...Where are we going?
“I have prepared a temporary home outside the palace,” he answered leisurely, without changing his pace. - We will stay there until we leave for the East.
Thalia's face showed confusion.
Is this how weddings end?
Senevier was undoubtedly preparing for a lavish wedding. The entire palace was filled with bustle all day long: decorations, food, preparations.
There could also be guests who came specifically for him.
Is it possible to just leave all this and go away?
“We did everything that was required of us.” There is no need to stay here for the amusement of the public.
A cold voice pulled her thoughts back into harsh reality.
He's right.
This marriage is just an excuse for dirty gossip.
A bastard princess with a handicap, a switched bride, a pitiful groom who has turned from an object of envy into an object of sympathy...
There is no need to listen to what they say about them. Everything is clear.
Barkas had no reason to endure such humiliation.
Even the emperor could not demand such a sacrifice from the future ruler of the East.
They stopped at a carriage with the coat of arms of the Siekan house.
The footman, sitting on a horse, ran up and opened the door.
Longboat easily climbed inside and sat her on the tightly padded seat.
Thalia looked at him in amazement. He was soaked to the skin, although very little time had passed.
He sat down opposite, loosened the collar of his formal robe and leaned back with a tired sigh.
Drops of water flowed down his forehead to his eyes, and his wet but still dry gaze settled on her.
- How is your leg?
Thalia twitched her lips.
His excessive attention to her leg was annoying.
Gareth’s mocking voice rang in my ears again: “You paid for the title of Duchess with your foot.”
She chewed furiously on the tender flesh of the inside of her cheek.
I know. I know, damn it. But why remind us of this again and again?
“The leg is still there, so don’t worry.”
Her harsh tone made his eyes narrow slightly.
Talia looked away towards the window, avoiding that sharp, piercing gaze. But soon wet fingers grabbed her chin and turned her head again.
— I asked if it hurt.
The firm voice made her shoulders shake, but it didn't last long - Thalia sharply threw his hand away.
“Will it make you feel better if I tell you everything is okay?”
-...
- But what can you do? Since that day there has not been a single day without pain.
She scanned his face, frozen as if behind a mask, and, like a stinging wasp, darted the words:
“So don’t ask meaningless questions just to get on my nerves.” Annoys.
His warm and tender lips, which had recently touched her skin, were now pressed together in a cold line.
And although she herself behaved disgustingly, the suffocating silence that hung between them put pressure on her. Still, cold indifference was better than pity. Since her legs became like this, the sluggish, forced participation on the part of those around her has become the most disgusting.
To hide her anxiety, Thalia deliberately snapped:
—Are you going to spend the night here? Why haven't we left yet?
The longboat, who had been looking at her in silence for some time, turned around and lightly tapped on the wall of the carriage. A moment later, the sound of the reins being waved was heard, and the carriage slowly moved off.
Thalia looked out the window at the wet garden, distorted by the cloudy glass. The unfamiliar landscape, which never became her home, quickly floated past behind the foggy curtain.
She was watching him thoughtfully when suddenly her body rose up, and the next moment she found herself on a soft seat.
She looked up with a surprised face.
Longboat laid her down on a wide seat, reached behind the back and took out a cloak with an embroidered coat of arms of the knights of Roem, covering her with it.
- The path is not short. Try to sleep.
Thalia reached out to throw away her cloak, but Longboat was faster. He grabbed her hand and pinned them to the seat. Looking into her eyes, still clouded from the effects of the medicine, he said rudely, as he did in his youth:
- Don't be stubborn. Those semi-unfocused eyes only make you worry. Sleep.
Thalia flinched at the threat in his voice and pulled her cloak up to her nose.
Longboat sighed quietly and sank into the seat opposite.
She suddenly wanted to cry. Talia buried her face in the fabric soaked with his scent and closed her eyes.
* * *
At some point she apparently dozed off.
Realizing that the shaking of the carriage had stopped, Talia grabbed her throbbing forehead and struggled to open her eyelids.
The empty interior of the carriage appeared before my eyes. Blinking in shock, she stood up abruptly. Looking around in alarm in search of Longboat, she heard a voice outside, rough and metallic:
- What do you intend to do with the first princess?
Thalia felt her limbs go cold. She moved to the window to see who asked this question.
The rain had stopped, and under the scarlet evening sky the rough outline of a stone building and about a dozen men loomed.
It was not difficult to find Barkas among them. He stood with his back turned to the glow of the sunset and said calmly:
- For what purpose are you asking this?
“Are you really going to leave her?”
“That’s funny to hear,” his sarcastic grin cut through the damp air. “Wasn’t our marriage originally just a way to restrain the empress?”
The interlocutor remained silent.
— Marriage is not the only way to protect two people.
- Do you mean...
There was confusion in the man's voice. But Barkas, apparently, was not going to explain anything. He interrupted his interlocutor's speech with irritation:
- Do I have to report to you?
- S-sorry!
The man bowed his head in a hurry. Longboat, looking at him with cold eyes, added indifferently:
- Nothing will change. Monitor the Empress's actions as before. And if the Crown Prince suddenly decides to do something reckless, inform me immediately.
- I obey.
Apparently, this was the end of the conversation. The longboat turned around.
Thalia hurriedly sank back down and lay down on the seat.
But before she had time to pull on her cloak and pretend to be asleep, the carriage door opened and Longboat appeared on the threshold.
She froze, looking at him with numb eyes.