She finally cleared her throat after a while few minutes of hugging and Meiron backed away, blushing as well.
"Forgive me once more. It's truly been a while since I've seen you Ervea."
She misses him as well. But unfortunately, she needed to come back to a harsh reality in which she remembered. She lives outside the palace now and she will be returning there soon after the meeting with the king.
"Yes. It's been a while. I think it's also important to remember as well that that embrace was merely as a friend that I haven't seen for quite some time."
Meiron blinked several times before sadly backing away several footsteps, his gaze downcast towards the floor apologetically.
"Of course, my lady. Forgive me."
"Please seat down, Meiron. I want to catch up with you. What happened after I left?"
"I...would you like to know the full story or would you only like to hear of how I was when I was deployed to fight outside the walls?"
"I would like to know the full story, Meiron."
"After you left, Lord and Lady Amerthyshia were quite furious. They said that you left without their knowledge. That you ran away. Though the made no attempts to search for you, claiming that you had abandoned them. That you have forsaken your birthright and your family."
Ervea fought the urge the scoff. They abandoned her far earlier than she abandoned them.
"They continued to do their duties a few months afterwards like the fact that you had left bothered them little. The king was displeased to hear that you had ran away, claiming that it was a shame that you ran away, most importantly considering how close you were to his son. He said that he would also help in search of you but your parents said that no search was needed since the statement you had shown was clear. You ran away and thus, do not want to be found."
She couldn't give but let out a disappointed sigh in regards to her parents actions. But, nothing can be done about them and their attitude towards her.
"Though of course, the most affected of your sudden departure was the Prince."
She gripped her dress in a tight fist as she took a sudden deep breath in. She knew from what her cousin told her for a time, he was angry at her. Though, he didn't he really give much details as to how he coped with her leaving.
"He read the letter you left him that morning and he ran out of his room in disarray. The maids said that he shouted your name with panic written on his face as he ran out of the room, searching for you. He didn't want to believe you left. He actually came to me that day as well. Only when I told him that it was true and held another letter which you addressed to me that it finally and truly dawned on him. He had such a heartbroken expression on his face."
She sighed in sadness as she listened. She knew that it was going to be hard to listen to it. To listen to the ripple of events that followed as she broke the hearts of the people that loved her here in the palace.
She was more than prepared to listen to how her parents would react because to be honest, she really didn't expect them to be affected by it much if not at all. But her cousin who was practically the only family member that she truly recognized as her family...well, she didn't prepare herself as much as she would've expected.
Because as she listened, she felt her fists at her side start to tremble and her eyes glinting with tears that she truly did not want to shed but threatened anyways. She took a deep breath in and exhaled, somehow managing to fix her emotion and expression.
She was raised not to shed her tears lightly and was met with punishment if she did. She was also raised to only shed tears if it would benefit her to do so. If it would garner her with sympathy and pity for her use. She could only cry and let out any kind of sorrow in privacy. She hated having such knowledge and she hated most of all that she had been trained not to even cry normally.
Meiron looked at her with furrowed brows and a concerned expression on his face.
"I'm quite alright, Meiron. Please continue."
He looked at her closely and whatever expression he saw on her face gave him a relieved expression and made him believe her words.
"He asked to search for you. But your parents were quite furious enough as it is that they told the king that a search for you was no longer needed. They told everyone that it was because they respect your decision to be free and that they know you did not want to be found. So the Prince asked for a private investigation of your whereabouts instead. You hid yourself quite well as it took sometime for you to be found. When he found out where you were, the Prince was torn on whether or not he should even contact you, since his sorrow had turned to rage. Though, with all things, time had soothed his rage and he finally had the courage to send you a letter."
She nodded and remembered the first time she recieved Ethros's letter. She was crying the entire time she read it. She looked at Meiron and thought of how thankful she was to have him and her cousin at her side in this palace that gave her so much pain.
"And what of you, Meiron? How did you react after I had left."