The orange hue over the horizon looked like a reflection of the flames appearing and disappearing from the valley below. Several miles away from Petang Asol, a man and a young woman trained as they did like back at home. There were no trees, flowers nor grass in the valley, thus the flames did not burn anything. The heat that came from the flames, undoubtedly, turned the flowing river warm.
As each minute passed, the flames began to appear slower than before.
" Your endurance is getting better, but it still needs to be improved." Dmitry commented. The man was standing still as he stared at the young woman who was panting from exhaustion.
"Are we done yet?" Emerald asked desperately.
Dmitry chuckled. "For now."
Emy sighed. Although fatigued, she did not complain. Her grandfather did not insist her to train after the council for he knows that she is aware of what she must do. The duel will be held in two weeks' time. Rue and Luther even invited her to visit the famous café in the area. She excused herself saying she was still tired from what happened the night prior. She still remembers how she was so embarrassed to knock at Dmitry's quarters and ask for him to continue her training.
"Stop that" Emy shouted without staring back at the man.
"Stop what?"
"Staring at me. Do you have something to tell me?"
Dmitry chuckled once again. "What made you so passionate today, Princess?"
Emerald ignored him. Dmitry sighed. To her surprise a hand pulled her by her elbow and moments later she found herself pushed in the river.
"Why did you do that?" Emy angrily asked.
" The water is cool. It might calm your nerves. Moreover, I won't be ignored princess. Especially by you."
She let her gaze wonder away from Dmitry who was laxly standing at the river bank.
"I…I felt weak…"
"Weak?"
"When we were in the Takang, I felt helpless. If you did not come in that car, I would have died inside that place."
While talking, she was unaware that Dmitry had taken off his shoes and had slowly come in the river where she was standing. Dmitry patted her head. It was a sweet gesture but suddenly he harshly threw a palmful of water in her face.
"You! You do not irate me this much in a day!"
Dmitry laughed. With his palm over her head, he directed her gaze at him. Emerald, saw her own reflection on the man's eyes. At that moment, she wanted to shy away, but instead she kept looking directly unto his eyes. There was nothing else to feel. There was only the sense of staring back at him.
"You forgot something else Princess."
She knitted her brow.
"Your dear sister fell on the Takang as well. Who broke her fall? Hm?"
"That, that was something anyone could do."
"Yet our grandfather did not do it."
She showed an expression denoting that she does not understand his point,
"You broke her fall. You saved her without my or anyone's help. My point is, princess, you are skilled and you are powerful. It is just that you were just kept inside the mansion for too long. You were so protected by the walls by your grandfather not knowing that he was chaining you as well."
"It doesn't seem that way. I though my grandfather pushed me too hard. Pushed us too hard."
Dmitry shook his head gently. "I would have done the same if I was your grandfather. You are the heir of the Kandas Clan. You are his only offspring with the gift. Understand that he was doing it for you to be safe and strong."
"He was doing it for his pride! He…"
Dmitry gently covered her mouth with his palm, "Shhh..hear me out princess."
Dmitry continued seeing that he got her attention, " I spent my life hearing stories from my grandmother about how stern our great grandfather was. She would say that the power that our clan had came with a responsibility. Ignore this responsibility and you tick off the balance. It took sometime before I understood her. Princess, look at what she had gotten herself to when she ran away with her lover."
Emerald nudged his palm, "Aunt Selena, just followed her heart! She loved your grandfather. Are you saying she made the wrong decision."
Dmitry kept silent. Without answering he just stared at her.
Then, Emerald understood his reply through his silent stares. Selena did make the wrong decision. She was stripped off her inheritance. Lived a miserable life where her husband, daughter died and her grandson's existence unknown to many. She felt a pang in her heart realizing what Dmitry meant.
The cool water around them made it lonelier. The breeze that the night blew kept her longing to be near the man who might have looked unperplexed by his circumstances. Emerald found herself cradling Dmitry's face in her palms. "But without that decision, you wouldn't be here."
Dmitry smiled. A painful smile. "That is true. One among few perks."
Emerald cannot ignore the sensation of his skin on her. A shiver ran down her spine as the man kept staring at her. The feeling swelling up inside of her cannot be contained anymore. Without hesitation she tiptoed and touched his lips with hers.
Dmitry grinned. He raised his head, momentarily stopping the kiss. Emerald[K1] was blushing. Her breathing was fast. He grabbed her waist and gently sat her on the edge of the river. This time Emy was staring down at him.
"Princess, you should know the consequences of what you have just done."
Emerald beheld his eyes once more and replied, "Can we not think of those at the moment?" and she kissed him again.