<h4>Chapter 395: Lady Dove’s longing.</h4>


    Rnd had never been more surprised in his life than when he saw Lady Dove Wheatley standing in the garden where Lady Iryne Thorin was hosting her fairy tale ball. He was on his way to find his wife when he saw her.


    She was cloaked in deep red. Her silver blonde hair was knotted into a braid that hung thick with ribbons and pearls intertwined on the inside and outside. His breath had hitched as soon as as he recognized her.


    "It’s her." He muttered.


    He had not been able to move further, he could not bring himself to. Rnd was not sure if it was a dream or a hallucination.


    She had approached him to talk and immediately, he had taken her hand and brought her to a ce far away from the eyes of the others. If he spoke to her at length in public, others would make assumptions. Also, he could not guarantee that his wife would not take her head.


    They had not even started talking when he heard the pigeon criesing from the window. It was the signal that his wife was in the area. Sir Samuel hade up with the silly idea after the sword rain incident.


    His heart started to beat crazily, tremors rolled in his lower stomach. He had not done anything immoral but still he was nervous, afraid that his wife would misunderstand and overreact.


    "Your highness, you remember me." Lady Dove took a step towards Rnd.


    She unaware of the turmoil he was enduring.


    He took a step back. "I should apologize for dragging you to this ce. I just didn’t think that we should talk in view of everyone. In my position, everything I say or do is watched and talked about."


    Lady Dove looked around. "And you thought that an isted part of a castle with a very bright golden...err...throne is the best ce? If anyone sees us together then I think they will talk even more."


    Rnd looked around the isted set whose lighting was dim. "I did not think things through when I dragged you away from the gardens. In hindsight, I may have overreacted when you recognized me."


    Lady Dove smiled. "You remember me."


    Rnd pinched his hand before replying. He could see how many types of death his wife would present to him when he got home. Nheless, he responded honestly. "I remember every war that I fight and so I remember every person Ie across on a battlefield."


    She raised her hands half-way and made a yful curtsy. "My apologies, your highness. I never introduced myself back then and you never asked me what I was called. I am Lady Dove Wheatley of Varune." Her voice was soft and steady.


    Another pigeon cooed and he got the message. Sigrid was around, Rnd was already aware. Anymore cooing and she would roast the human pigeon over a fire.


    "What brings you Eldoria?" He asked.


    Sheughed softly. "What if I say that you brought me here?"


    "Coo-roo-coo....coo-roo....aww."


    A thud was heard and Rnd guessed that someone had found Sir Samuel and pushed him down.


    Lady Dove turned her head and looked out the window. "Pigeons at night, your kingdom is fascinating." She turned around and looked at Rnd again. "I don’t know how many chances I am going to get to see you while I am here so I am going to be bold and speak my truth.


    I missed you so much after I left. I never forgot you, not even for one moment. I have dreamed of you over the years, wondering if I would ever see you again." She shrugged. "I came because you never came looking, why didn’t you ever search for me?"


    Rnd took a shallow breath. "You should not havee, it was a waste of your time. I am married, Lady Dove. I have a family and a life. I love my wife."


    "I know that." Lady Dove stomped her foot. "I came across a newspaper from your empire in my kingdom. There was a picture of you and her on the cover. You were looking at her as if she....like....."


    "She is my world." Rnd said.


    Lady Dove could not bring herself to say it but she nodded. She had not just looked at one newspaper, she had looked at many, collecting pictures of him and hating her, the crown princess that was his wife.


    She had so many regrets that she had been carrying all these years and he was one. Longing and envy had carried her like the wind and brought her to Eldoria.


    "I know that. I see it in the way you look at her in every picture of the two of you together." She turned then, facing the window. "But I still came anyway. I guess I am a fool. Or maybe, sometimes love just has to be reckless." She touched her head. "Memories can scream louder than allmon sense on asion and for me, this is one such asion."


    Rnd felt himself sweat the moment he heard her say ’love’. He had never professed love to her.


    Lady Dove turned around again and faced him. "I fell in love with you the moment you caught a sword aiming for me with your bare hand. You were bleeding and had to be in pain and yet your eyes, they were filled with such fierceness, bravery and warmth. I remember when you took a bite of your first fig." Sheughed, "Such a simple thing and yet you had your tongue out and face twisted in concentration. I remember everything, I tried to forget but I couldn’t."


    "Memories do not make a life." He told her. "You should forget them and forget me. You are a good person, you deserve to find your own love and happiness."


    "But I don’t want to forget Rnd." She said. "The months we spent together, they were some of the best in my life. I don’t want to find love and happiness with another. I want our friendship to bloom again, I want room in your life, in your heart. No matter how small it is, I will take it." Her voice quaked. "Tell me that you have not missed it, that you have not missed me."