Minerva's heart pounded while Edmund's lips pressed against hers. So many odd sensations slowly creeping into her mind, she couldn't think straight. She knew it was wrong, to be kissed by a man who wasn't even her lover. But god, he tasted like heaven. She has never been kissed before, and she didn't even understand why she had this strange sensation towards this man. She should get offended by his action but it was too late. Minerva's hands were circling on Edmund's neck while she answered back his sweet kisses. His lips were soft, conflicting from his firm body.
Edmund gently ran his hand through her golden hair and pulled her even more. She was so soft against him. Her lips were innocent and yet intoxicating. He wanted to savor this little moment between them. He couldn't control his own feelings anymore. All he ever longed for was to kiss her and be with her. He already knew that this was too much to ask for a plain mortal from a queen. Hell, he didn't care at all about his punishment after this. He only craved for her. And kissing her like this was the most incredible thing that had happened in his life. He had felt her sweet kisses too, and it made him ache down to his heart.
No matter how it felt so right, it would still be wrong. He could never have her. A sudden ache ran through his soul while he closed his eyes and softly pushed her away. He tried to smile but his eyes had no spark. "Am I going to be dead now, your Highness?"
He could still see her swollen lips from their kisses. She was blushing and it made her even more beautiful. She was speechless and he couldn't fathom why she had returned his kisses. Every inch of his body was dying to know the answer but he was so scared that he only remained unspoken after that.
"Why, doctor?" Her eyes were full of bewilderment and confusions. "Why did you kiss me?"
Aghast from her question, how could be a queen so insensitive with this kind of matter? "And why did you kiss me back, your Highness?"
He saw her cheeks turned red from his direct words. Ashamed, he watched her walking backwards, away from him, and it took a heartbeat away to hold her once more. He buried her into his chest and no matter how desperate she was to let lose but still, he wrapped his arms around her slender waist and buried his head down to her hair, inhaling her unique scent.
"Let me go, doctor. Or else—"
"You will kill me again?" He continued her sentence still he didn't let her go. "I know you can't kill me, Minerva. And so I will use that opportunity against you." He grinned devilishly.
"This is a disgrace to a queen!"
She was back to her senses, he could feel it. Anger and indignity brought her cold façade once again. "Now, answer me. Why you did you kiss me back?"
Forcing herself to remain silent, the more she tried to resist him, the more he was convinced about her deeper feelings. But could it be true?
He shook his head. That was impossible. "Let me change the question", he mumbled. He was so eager to know the truth, to bare her naked from her disguise. He wanted to know something about her. It was now or never. "Why did you save me from drowning two years ago?"
"And why do I have to answer that irrelevant question? For goodness sake, that was already a past! Why do you have to ask me something that is not even closer to the reason why I'm here in the first place? Just let me go, doctor! Time is running out for me. I don't need to answer this. And you don't have to give me such questions. "
He heaved a sigh before uttering, "Because it matters to me."
Again, they both went silent.
A few seconds passed, Edmund's heart was in throbbing. He loosened his hold and backed away from her as if she could burn him literally. Her cold eyes were still fixed and there was nothing that he could ever do about it. He tried. But dammit. She was like as cold as ice from Antarctica. Standing only a few inches away but they seemed like a thousand miles apart. He couldn't reach her no matter how he tried to. Couldn't stand this suffering any longer, he turned around.
His voice was still soft and yet there was agony and frustrations in it. "Get ready, your Highness. We will depart as soon as you are ready. I will prepare the things you need along the way. We will go out to meet your brother."
Before he closed the door, Edmund stopped and spoke again. "But this is not what you'll expect it to be. I want you to meet him as his little sister that he'd always missed, not a queen who wants to have her revenge. Forget about what he is or his wife in your city, and try to open your heart in a different perspective. If you will see nothing but hatred, and if they really are murderers like what you have always been saying, then punish them. But I want them to have a fair judgment before you'll give your justice. They are one of my closest friends. And a friend will always be a friend no matter what the consequences might be. You should know better, unlike us….you have bonds."
Minerva heard the shutting of the door and his footsteps echoed through the hallway. The only man who made her warm and breathless turned cold in her very eyes. She couldn't think of anything as the waves of emotions seared her.
He kissed her with so much passion and she let him kissed her like that. Instead of hating her, he helped her. She couldn't deny these strange feelings for him. It made her go insane. But it was never enough, Edmund was a famous historian and she was only his subject. There was no connection between them and there should not be. After tomorrow, everything would be back to normal. He would still be here in the surface of the earth while she would be in the bottom of the ocean. There was no chance between them. How could she think such things like this? Her priority was capturing the two fugitives, not falling in love with a human.
Love.
Minerva's knees weaken at the thought of it.
"Why did you kiss me back?"
Because she already loved him…
She tolerated his actions because her body betrayed her. Her heart began to pound fast. She got jealous because of that reason. She acted strange because of him. And yet, because of him too, her heart would shatter once more.
These stupid thoughts, they succeeded in bringing tears to her eyes. In spite of everything, she wanted to follow him, but her pride wouldn't let her. It was the best way. Another heartache, and yet it seemed like this tremendous pain would never be cured with time.
Another thing, Minerva would face Ayden and Fate for the very first time. Anger, lost, betrayal, and love were mixing in her somnolent heart. She didn't even know what emotion should win from the inside. Missing her beloved, and yet she was in deep pain for his wrongdoing, she wanted to punish him so much that it hurt her, too. She always believed that Fate was nothing but trouble and there was no good for her. She was only a gorgon, a snake monster, who has been the murderer of Kinos. For her, Ayden was completely blind and stupid. He had chosen her over his kind…his family. How could she act as if everything was alright later?
The day that she'd left Atlantis, she was so sure about her mission. Find them and punish them, better, bring them back to Atlantis. And then, she wasn't sure anymore. Part of her wanted to see the only family who gave her pure love and comfort, another part of her wanted vengeance and justice. Whatever emotion would prevail, she as a queen would surely fail her entire mission.