17. Red bird

Two men were walking heroically in the dense forest, whose faces were as bright as the sun and their eyes were sparkling with courage.

"This forest is not as dense as before." Jack was following Darius Simard and commented while looking around.

"This is my fault."

When Jack heard his low voice, he looked at his back while knitting his eyebrows.

"Do you still consider yourself responsible?"

Darius Simard brought a sad smile on his lips while looking at the birds which were sitting on the branches sadly of the tree in front of him.

"Yes. Because I couldn't protect the forest well."

"You only trusted Martin, it was your goodness. He cheated you, this is his evil. For how long will you hold yourself responsible?"

Darius Simard suddenly stopped and looked at the attractive scene in front of him with his unclear gaze.

"As long as I exist."

His voice seemed lost in deserted sorrow and his eyes were dim as if he was regretting something.

Jack looked at the giant tree near the bank of the river which had white flowers. The place was the same where Jane Dover rested at night and accidentally slept while talking to that strange red bird-like creature.

Jack understood the depth of the sadness of Darius Simard and sighed sadly.

"Every animal, tree, plant and every power living here consider you as their king even today." It seemed that he was trying to coax his own heart. Darius Simard turned back with a dry smile and said patiently, "Maybe they will never forgive me because I handed them over to a hypocrite for my own advantage."

After saying this, he headed towards the giant tree and Jack looked at his back confusingly.

"But Sean…" He ran to him then suddenly stopped talking as if he was baffled by something. He followed Darius Simard to the tree and looked at his back in disarray.

"Actually, I am also confused about how to call you."

Darius Simard was smiling while looking at the branches of the giant tree where he was sitting that night while hearing her. But when Jack threw the silly question, he turned back and looked at him with his gentle gaze.

"You should call me Darius."

When Jack saw his blossoming face, he could not hold back his questions and finally asked him, "Are you inspired by the name or is it the effect of that princess?"

Darius Simad could not smile lustrously but he turned back and looked at the stone where she had rested her thin body that night. His lips curled slightly and he spoke from his heart, "I love it when she calls me by that name."

Jack glared at his back for a while, while thinking about the consequences of falling for her, "If she calls you Darius, will you make yourself Darius?"

Darius Simard did not want to be get disturbed because he was remembering that amazing night when they were alone at this sight and she finally spoke to him that she wanted to talk to him.

Darius Simard turned his head and glared at Jack with a warning gaze which terrified him and he covered his mouth in regret saying, "Okay okay, I won't talk."

Darius Simard turned his dark gaze and looked at the stone with a gentle gaze. He went ahead and sat near the stone while looking at the flowing water of the river. Jack could see that he was having a slight satisfying smile and he was missing her.

"Aren't you afraid?" Jack looked at him seriously.

"For what?"

"What explanation will you give her when she will come to know the truth?"

Darius Simard's gaze turned clear as calm as the forest.

"I haven't thought yet."

Jack sat beside him with a deep sigh and picked up a white flower from the ground.

"When you were the king of this jungle, everything was so perfect! There was truth in the air here but now it suffocates here. This nature, these winds, these rivers, these valleys, all were yours. You are more powerful than Martin but now you cannot get all this back from him." He was sad but when he did not get an answer, he turned his head and looked at Darius Simard in bewilderment whose gaze was on the flowing water and eyes were dry.

"Do you hear me?" He asked in confusion.

Darius Simard sighed deeply and nodded slowly saying, "Yes. I'm listening to you."

"Am I not telling the truth?"

Darius Simard swallowed the truth and nodded again while saying in a husky voice, "I know."

"Then why are you not answering?" Jack was irritated with him. Darius Simard gave a sad smile under which Jack's questions were buried completely.

"What is the meaning of this smile? Every time with this smile, you strangle my questions." He was angry but Darius Simard seemed to think something deeply. He blinked his dark eyes slowly and leaned back on the trunk of the tree.

"I have to protect her." His voice was resonant and low as if he was sad.

Jack shook his head helplessly as he had understood that Darius Simard was still thinking about Jane Dover and did not care about his panic.

Jack lowered his head and played with that flower while asking, "When did you see her for the first time?"

"Years passed." A cold answer appeared and Jack became stunned. He looked at Darius Simard with his widened eyes and asked, "You saw her years ago?"

Darius Simard controlled the heaviness over his heart and nodded slowly.

"But she never came out of the dungeon before marrying Darius Simard, so when did you see her years ago?"

"I had seen her here. On the banks of this river. Under this tree."

Jack raised his head and looked at the vast branches of the tree. He knew that the tree was years old and Darius Simard used to come here whenever he felt sad.

"Well, then when she came here that night after marriage, you saw her." Suddenly he thought something and looked at Darius Simard in shock.

"But it's only been a month, so when did you see her years ago?" He knew that the red bird which was following Jane Dover was Sean Walsh himself.

Darius Simard's tightly pursed lips parted slowly and he swallowed sadness under his dry throat then said, "She was standing here. Alone. Scared. Lost. Pitifully."

When Jack noticed that his voice had turned hoarse, he became serious and kept looking at him.

Darius Simard closed his eyes and remembered the day before years when she was standing here ready to jump in the river to kill herself.

"Hey…"

He was passing by there when he saw a thin and weak woman standing near the bank of the river and was gathering the courage to jump in it.

"Hey, girl. Stop."

Before he could reach her, she jumped into the river and in a blink of an eye, he flew and held her in his arms.

They both got carried away by the river flowing together but he did not separate her from his arms. At that time the flow of the river went very fast, which swept them both to the calm shore after struggling a lot in the heavy flow of water.

The woman's long silky hair covered her face. Carrying that lightweight woman in his arms effortlessly, he came to the shore and put her on the ground gently. While panting, he wiped his wet face with the back of his palm and looked at the face of the woman who had fainted by now. He valiantly removed the strands of hair from the woman's face and on seeing her face, his heart stopped beating for a while.

Her little face was very naive. The water sitting on the eyelids was shining and the delicate nose was decent. Her pink and thin lips were juicy and then his eyes fell on her long and thin neck, through which it reached her chest and then there arose an unwanted movement in his body.

"Fuck…" He frowned in annoyance not to feel that peculiar feeling. He was not a human so he did not have control over such desires so it would be tough for him if he would make up his mind about that and it would be terrible for this innocent woman who was definitely a human.

He patted her soft cheek but it seemed that she had passed away. He placed his index finger near her nose and sighed in relief because she was still breathing. He held her cheeks and did not wait but put his lips on her juicy lips and blew in her mouth.

Jane Dover regained consciousness while coughing and she expelled the water that had entered the body in vomit. After vomiting, after coming back to her senses, she placed her palm on her painful chest and looked at the handsome face who had leaned on her and his warm breaths were falling on her face. Water was dripping from his hair and he was looking extremely fabulous. Neither she could say anything nor could he ask anything. The eyes of both were filled with each other. Yes, this was the first time when they met each other. After looking into her eyes, he felt that she was the most beautiful woman and he was going to protect her from now on.