The Magic of Aurelian
Chapter 16: Truths and Wishes

Eleonor

A knock on my door startled me out of my thoughts. I hardly slept the night before, and I had gone the whole day in a daze. We took a tour of the city yesterday and discussed different alliances and trade opportunities with Queen Maris. She was definitely the most agreeable of all of the monarchs, that is, after Queen Himari. We also met the three women who fit the shoe, and they were all charming, but of course, none were the owners of the shoe.

Kiran had spent the day catching my eye and smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile back at him, but deep down, the fear still took hold of me as I knew I still needed to tell him the truth about Lady Ella.

"There you are, what took so long? Are you ready to go?" We were making our way back home today, and Gabriel had come to collect me. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Nothing, I just hadn’t heard you knocking." I grabbed my things and stepped out of the room to walk with him.

"You've been out of it since yesterday. Did something happen between you and Prince Kiran? Don't think I haven't noticed the little looks you both gave each other yesterday. You went from not even looking at him to not being able to keep your eyes off each other. Did he finally get brave enough to declare his undying love?" My brother chuckled and emphasized the last two words, but I involuntarily gasped at his accuracy. "He did, didn’t he? Well, I can't say I was expecting that so soon, but good for him."

"Good for him?" I asked, wondering why my brother was so at ease with a Prince declaring his love to his older sister.

"Yes, anyone with eyes can see that the two of you are in love. It's time you two stop tiptoeing around each other."

If only my brother knew how little we had been tiptoeing and that we'd jumped into this thing all the way. I was glad he didn't know, though, as I'd rather keep details of my intimate life private from my brother.

"There you two are, we're all here now. Will you fly next to me today, Eleanor?" Kiran greeted us with a smile.

"Yes, I'd love to." I smiled back at him, and Gabriel took the opportunity to chuckle at me one last time before joining the other guards.

"Let's go then, I'm ready to be home again."

Kiran

We made it to the Forgelight Inn by dinner time. Mrs. Isadora and her family welcomed us just as warmly as they did the first time we arrived. I finally felt I could breathe again as I had felt the weight of my anxiety throughout the entire journey. Eleonor and I would settle everything after we talked, and then the shoe and the pretense of continuing to find Lady Ella could be set aside. In truth, I hadn’t thought much about Lady Ella since starting this trip. She was lovely and kind, and kissing her had been wonderful, but what I had with Eleonor was so much more, especially after our night together at the Luminescent Pool.

Now that I’ve been with her, I can’t imagine having anyone else serve beside me as my Queen. Eleonor kept me together this entire trip and ensured that the Light Kingdom was well-represented everywhere we went. Without her, I would have been lost to my anxiety. She makes me a better man and a better Prince, and I dare say that if she accepts my proposal to be my wife, she will help me be a formidable King.

She had already entered her room, but I needed to see her, so I knocked on her door.

"Kiran. To what do I owe your visit?" She bit her bottom lip, unsure of my presence.

“I wanted to see you. Might I come in?"

She hesitated for a moment before opening the door for me to enter. No sooner had she closed the door than I was kissing her. I pressed her back against the door as I ravaged her lips. I gripped her bottom and pushed her closer to me, unable to keep myself from grinding our bodies together.

"Kiran, we shouldn't…not here. We should talk about some things…before this anyway." Her voice was breathy as she spoke between kisses.

"You're all I can think about. Yesterday was torture, having you so close the whole day and not being able to kiss you or hold you. We can talk after." I lifted her and carried her to the bed. She arched her body into mine as I kissed down her neck, and a breathy whimper escaped her. I trailed my hand up her leg, pushing her dress up as I went. "I need you, Eleonor."

"Kiran, someone will hear. The bed is squeaky, and the guards are close."

"We won't use the bed, then." I picked her up again, wrapping her legs around my waist and taking her into the bathroom. I had been gentle with her last time, but my need for her was driving me to insanity. I walked into the adjoining bathroom and set her down in front of the sink. "Take off your clothes." We still had our travel clothes on, and I know Eleonor always took a bath after arriving at our destination to wash off the day's travel. I turned towards the bath and opened the water so that it would be warm for her. By the time I finished, she stood before me completely naked, with her long blonde hair in loose curls down her back. She was breathtaking, and I rushed to her, pulling her into my arms.

We kissed hungrily, and Eleanor reached down to undo my belt. My shirt was pulled over my head, and she ran her hands over my bare chest, igniting the fire within me even further. The rest of my clothes were discarded, and I lifted Eleanor onto the counter, wrapping her legs around me.

Her body was perfect, and I kissed every inch before me. I entered her quickly and held her hips tightly, needing to feel myself deep inside of her. Eleonor, in turn, held onto me tightly letting me take everything I needed from her. "Kiran," She moaned out my name as I picked up the pace. I could feel her getting close to her climax, and I leaned her back slightly before lifting one of her legs over my shoulder to reach her more deeply. She cried out at the change and it didn't take long before she shattered all over me. It took only a few more strokes before I reached my orgasm, kissing Eleonor through our shared climax.

I held her gently as we came down from our high and regulated our breathing. "Your bath should be ready now. You get in, and I'll grab you something to wear."

She nodded at my words, "My bag is on the chair."

I grabbed my clothes and slipped them on before heading back to the main room. Her leather bag was left open, so I dug around for a clean dress. There was so much stuff in the bag that I had to pull out a few random things. A book, a sweater, another book, a hair brush, a glittery shoe…wait, a glittery shoe?

Eleonor

Kiran had always had my heart, but now he had my entire body and soul. How do I tell him the truth now? I let this get too far. My stupid body betrayed me, but his touch felt too good not to have. I should have just come out and told him the truth weeks ago. Then he could have decided what to do before now.

I quickly scrubbed myself clean and wrapped myself in a towel. Kiran said he would bring me clothes, but he must be waiting outside for me instead.

"Did you find–" My words cut off mid-sentence as I saw Kiran sitting on the edge of the bed holding my shoe. He looked down at it as he sat too still on the bed.

"Kiran?" My voice cracked as the tears welled up in my eyes. "I was going to tell you today. It–"

"I thought for a moment maybe I had asked you to hold the shoe for me, and I had somehow forgotten. But then I realized the shoe I have is the right shoe…and this is a left shoe…" He laughed mirthlessly, "It's been you this whole time. You were Lady Ella…how did I not see it? Your green eyes…that's why you changed your eye color, isn't it? You've been right here this whole time. This entire tour was set up to find the owner of this shoe, and you...Were you just playing me for a fool?" He stood and started pacing the room, the shoe still tightly in his grasp.

"No, it was never supposed to be like this. I wanted to tell you, but the longer I waited, the harder it became." I shook my head, tears blurring my vision.

"You told me you couldn't be with me, but then that same week you let me kiss you as Lady Ella." He ran his hand over his face, clearly flustered. "You let me make love to you…twice. Am I just a joke to you?" He whispered that last part, seemingly losing steam to be angry with me and letting the hurt take over.

"Hurting you was never my intention. I originally lied about my identity so that Aria wouldn't know it was me, but then you came and we couldn't reveal the truth, so the lie stayed. But then, I kept it up because I knew you wanted to see me. I'm not a Lady, I'm just a warrior's daughter who could never be worthy of a Prince's love, so I pretended, but the lie was never supposed to go beyond the ball."

"But it did." His voice was cold and strained.

"I'm sorry, Kiran." My crying made it difficult to speak, and I felt vulnerable as I was still just wrapped up in a towel.

"I'm sorry, too, Eleonor." With that, he tossed the shoe on the bed and walked out of my room, leaving me to continue crying. I dressed, and when it came time for dinner, I cleaned myself up and went downstairs hoping to see Kiran with his men. He was nowhere to be found though.

"You're quiet tonight. Where is Prince Kiran?" Gabriel nudged me, and I couldn't keep the tears from my eyes before looking away from my brother. "Come on, let's take a walk."

He led me outside to the garden, and we walked over to the bridge that led to the wishing well.

"I thought you and the Prince had finally come to an understanding? What went wrong?"

"There's something you don't know. Solara and I lied about my identity at the first masquerade ball, and we kept it up for the rest of the balls. Kiran found out about it just now, before dinner, and he's really upset about it."

"Your identity? Why would he be mad about that? It's not like….oh…" Gabriel's eyes widened at the realization. "You're Lady Ella, aren't you? I have to say, I didn't see that coming. Why would you lie about that? You've had so many chances to just come clean. Does Aunt Jacinta know, is that why she really sent me?"

I nodded with a painful expression on my face. "I have no good reason for any of it. I didn't mean to hurt him. What if he never forgives me?"

My brother wrapped me in his big arms and let me cry on his shoulder. He was a few years younger than me, so I was used to being the one who comforted him, but it was nice to be on the receiving end. "Give him some time, you can talk again when he's had time to think. For now, though, take this," He reached into his pocket and pulled out two coins. "Let's make a wish. Maybe yours will come true." I looked at him and smiled through my tears before counting down with him and throwing our coins in the wishing well.

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