Chapter 22

Emilia woke up to find Octavius’s bed empty. Like she had been doing in the past few days she snuck into his room to lay beside him. He wasn’t the same as he used to be and she couldn’t put a finger on when exactly he had changed but she knew the death of his father coupled with Festus’s accusation had hit him hard and in her bid to comfort him she always snuck into his room late at night to lay with him. Sometimes he would be awake but pretend not to be while other times he would be fast asleep but before long he would wake up like he was troubled and at times like this he would either stand by the window to look out or take a walk and she never knew where he went only that when he came back his feet would be cold so her guess was he took walks outside.

As she touched the bed around her to confirm that he was indeed not in bed she sighed and opened her eyes. He was not by the window either and if her guess was correct from how cold his side of the bed was, he had been gone a long time.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and picked her robe from the chair beside her. Usually she waited for him to come back to bed but this night she was going to look for her husband and sit with him if he wanted to talk. She pulled her robe tight against her body and went in search of him. The halls were dark because the scones on the wall were running out of oil, there were no guards out to keep watch as most of them were sleeping. The night was cold, no wonder he always came in cold.

The castle was quiet as a grave and only here or there could she hear scuffling by either rats or maids. She put her hand on the wall to guide herself as she walked since she couldn’t see much. A soft wind blew past her almost blowing off the flames on the wall.

She walked past the throne room and peeked in it but couldn’t find any sign of her husband, she checked the dining and saw no sign of him either. Deciding he may have gone for a walk by the pond he had told her about when he first started courting her she went outside. The moon was full and the stars were bright making it easy for her to see where she was going. The open palace grounds was empty, no guards standing by the gates not even a stable boy scurrying into the pantry to steal bits of food. Her heart raced slightly at the silence so she walked quickly to the back gate which led to the main village but she struggled to open it she heard something from the top of the castle. At first she disregarded it as a night bed that may have been startled by her presence but as she looked up she saw a foot leaning at the edge of the square roof of the side of the castle. And then she heard his voice, it was Octavius.

Quickly, she picked the hem of her robe off the floor and half ran into the castle, climbed up the stairs that led to the very top of the castle and opened the door that led to the roof. The moon was high so she could see her husband clearly. He was sitting at the edge of the roof with his eyes closed, his full dark hair was wild and his robe was pulled close only slightly parted since one of his legs was up against the very edge of the roof. As she moved closer she realized he was asleep so he must have been talking in his sleep when she had heard his voice. She smiled at the sight of him even though she was a little worried. What could be troubling him so that he could only find peace at the top of the castle?

As Emilia moved closer Octavius opened his eyes. At first he thought he was dreaming as he gazed at his wife walking closer to him, when she came closer he smiled. She was so beautiful, everything about her and drawn him to her in the first place and even after everything he couldn’t stop the excitement that rushed through his veins as he beheld her. Ashterah had nothing on her when it came to making his blood boil with want.

“My love,” she said softly. The light of the moon made a halo around her fair head. She came by his side and crouched beside him her hand rising to cup his face.

He leaned his face into her hand and nuzzled it, her hand was soft against his face and it was the balm he needed, the balm he didn’t know he was craving.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” she asked.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he answered.

She slipped her hand down his face to his hand and linked her fingers with his. He squeezed her fingers twice before pulling her to his chest. She laughed and laid her head on his chest, rubbed the muscles of his shoulder and moved her legs to lay flush with his.

“You haven’t been able to sleep for a lot of days now, are you okay?"

He wasn’t okay but he couldn’t tell that to her without explaining his predicament. Even though she had stayed in Camelorn for quite a while now she would never understand why he couldn’t turn down a goddess’s offer and he couldn’t tell her about that either because there was no telling what Ashterah in her insanity will do to her and if the goddess wanted it to be publicly known that she wanted him in the first place she would have done it in front of the whole of Camelorn. But even then Octavius couldn’t see himself shuffling between two women when he was so in love with the woman in his lap right now. She looked up at him with creased brow and he bent his frown to kiss her frown away.

“You haven’t answered.”

“Nothing to concern yourself with. I’m still trying to grasp the responsibility that will fall on my shoulders when I become king,” he hedged.

She rubbed his chest and kissed it. “You’ll be fine, the people love you because you’re responsible and I love you too and will be there by your side every day.”

He tipped her chin up. “I know.’ He kissed her lips softly but like always every time he kissed her, a surge of want ran through him making him jerk under her. He shifted and withdrew in an attempt to prevent her from noticing before he did anything that will make him take her like an animal. But she noticed already and as he tried to withdraw she held him back firmly.

“Not today, Octavius. I have watched you deny yourself for weeks and it hurts. You will take me to your chambers and make love to me today.” She looked at him with slightly teary eyes and his heart squeezed at the sight. She chuckled “And who knows? Maybe this time the gods will give us a child of our own.”

He almost choked on his breath.

Emilia stood up letting her robe fall open as she did so he would have no reason to resist her again. She pulled him up.

“Come my love, in a few days or more you will be crowned as king let me be the first to congratulate you. Come to bed with me and let me warm you and make you forget your worries.”

Even as he stood to follow her he knew he couldn’t forget his worries until he paid a visit to Ashterah.