Chris was fast asleep in his arms as he awoke. The moon outside the window told him that it had only been a few hours since he fell asleep, though it felt like only minutes. He felt something tickle his nose, most likely the same thing that woke him. The dim moonlight revealed that at some point he had pulled himself closer to her. His arm rested over her side, arching over her and falling to the other side. His body laid almost flush with hers as he curved into her. And his face was almost buried in her hair.
Carefully peeling himself away he withdrew his hand surprised to find it attached to Chris's own. She held fast to him in her sleep, seeking connection with anything. After a minute of thought, Zeven laid his arm over her side again. Minding her injured shoulder, but he didn't let go of her hand. He looked at her face basked in moonlight and found her sleeping face oddly soothing. Closing his own eyes he fell asleep to her breathing.
***
The next several days came and left easily, as the pair fell into step. Chris would begin to think of solutions to the war while Zeven would sit in the vicinity. Making sure that she didn't overdo it, and adding perspective when he had any to give.
Every so often he would pull Chris away from the books and the paper. Insisting on a change of pace. They couldn't spar with her shoulder so he found other activities. He tried to teach her piano on several occasions, all of which ended up turning into him showing off for an hour before Chris managed to escape back to her workspace.
At one point, Zeven grabbed the old checkered board from inside the coffee table's drawers and invited her to a game. Their first game lasted all of five minutes. And Zeven was very grateful he hadn't suggested making it a punishment game. Hours passed in a blink as they played. Out of the many games played, Zeven won only two. But to watch the almost giddy expression on Chris's face when she was about to win, helped ease his ego.
Eventually she would go back to work and he would wait for the next moment he could pull her away. Each day ended with the pair holed up in Zeven's room talking military strategies in a game they created, before falling asleep next to each other.
She had been there for almost two weeks. And in that short time, Chris and Zeven had become almost friends. Bickering and laughing in equal measure.
Chris had begun to shift from the original problem to other issues that needed work. After reading the couple of books on Tamsian history, she found herself both fascinated and baffled by the similarities and differences between her country and his. She started drafting plans to integrate certain practices in his country to hers. Also making note of laws she found unjust or issues that went unaddressed.
Zeven watched as she worked, watched as a tornado blew through his house. "If you could get rid of one law right now what would it be?" He had been listening to her muttered ramblings for a bit, but he was still thrown for a minute as his brain scrambled to keep up with her. "Easy." he said, "I'd get rid of the requirement to have kids." She marked something down on her paper.
"Why?"
"Because I find it particularly moronic."
She looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I'm not sure if this exists in your kingdom as well, but here, you are expected to sire or birth three children."
"Is that why you are obsessed with sex?"
Zeven chose his words carefully, "There is a difference between sex for procreation, love, and enjoyment. I only engage in the third kind. I have no interest in continuing my familial line."
That was not quite what she had expected to hear. It made no sense for him to not want to continue the royal bloodline, but at the same time she couldn't fault him either. She was about to drop the issue when he continued.
"The law served its purpose when it was written, but now there is an overflow of unwanted children. They get left behind by their parents and put into facilities until they grow up to have children of their own to throw away one day. As king it will be my privilege to end it first and foremost."
Chris forgot that in less than a month he would be crowned King of Tamsia. And in less than a month her life would go back to how it was. For some reason the second though bothered her more than the first.
Gunter walked around the corner and into the kitchen, still wearing his outing coat. He didn't say anything, but he made it a point not to look at Chris. As soon as Zeven saw him, he all but jumped out of his seat to race over to where Gunter was standing. Snatching the letter from Gunter's hands Zeven opened it, his hands began shaking as he read. A steady hand on his shoulder kept him tied to reality.
Zeven continued to read. His face growing into snarl as his grip on the paper tightened to the point of crushing the parchment. It was obvious when he finished reading, he was seconds from shredding the paper and setting fire to the remnants. Gunter and Zeven shared a look for a moment, before turning to look at Chris.
She had watched the scene and knew whatever was in his hands was not good news. Zeven tried to choke back as much of his rage as possible as he walked towards her.
"You should sit." The look of his face made it impossible to refuse him. The anger was replaced with what was almost concern. She sat and he pulled up the chair in front of her. Close enough that their knees touched.
He passed her the letter and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
As she began reading she couldn't believe what she saw. It was an official statement from her father. In it were the details of the death of Prince Christopher.
Her breath caught as she read the proclamation of her death and the subsequent detail regarding finding a new heir. There would be a choosing ceremony for a replacement.
Her head began to swim. Everything she had done to this point had been done with the single goal of becoming king and the weight of reality came crashing down on her.
The world spiraled around her, and she couldn't breath. Trying she took in short, rapid breaths as her chest felt like it was being pulled apart. Crawling up from deep inside it felt like something was poisoning her from within.
She couldn't think. She couldn't move. She couldn't stop or go. Frozen in the inferno. Her hand lifted to her chest, desperately clawing at it. Trying to free herself from the imaginary force squeezing her so tight. Jerking herself upright, she managed to take a step before her vision went black and she began to fall.
Strong arms grabbed her mid fall guiding her back to the chair. The arms removed themselves from her waist but did not leave her body. Instead they traveled up to her face. Cupping it gently, forcing her to look where they wanted. Her skin burnt where it was touched, a million needles piercing into her flesh.
Her mind began to retreat into itself from a danger only it could perceive.
The hands on her face did not let go. They did not let her look away, but it was in vain because she could not see.
Zeven moved in closer, his nose inches from hers as he looked at her. Her hands desperately clawing at his arms. Wanting the sensation of burning skin to cease.
"Look at me Chris," keeping his voice low and soothing, "fix your eyes on me."
Her grey eyes met deep brown ones; her eyes were empty and vapid, on the brink of flickering out.
"Breathe Chris." he pleaded, "feel everything in this moment, but I will not permit you to shut down." His grip didn't let her move away from him.
Her hands slowed finding purchase in the fabric of his shirt, they clung to it like a lifeline. Heart hammering away in her chest, she fought back against the nothingness closing in. She tried to move her head away from the hands that held her, but they wouldn't budge.
She could hear someone saying something, and the brown eyes that bore into her own seemed to be crying out to her as well. She could focus on the eyes, they were so dark that the pupil blended into the iris. Deep and dark, an abyss that she could fall into. But these eyes were not trying to consume her.
All that she could see, she focused intently on them. Their slightly almond shape. The crow's feet that were just beginning to form in the corners. The cloud of lashes that spanned both the top and the bottom. The discoloration that started in the innermost part and fanned their way out.
Her gaze broadened. Now she could see bushy eyebrows that hung low over his eyes. Notice the way they pinched together in the middle forming two distinctive lines.
Traveling down to the bridge of the nose. It was swollen and bruised. Sitting just off center of the face. Her eyes continued to shift, moving to the sharp cheekbones and down to the chiseled jawline.
Lastly her eyes came to the lips, rough, cracked, and upturned. They were moving, she tried to focus on what they were saying. The voice was low and quiet as it talked in soothing words.
Chris made her way back up to the eyes. Her own now clearer. The world stopped spinning around her as she regained some of her sense. The hands on her face stopped burning her skin and instead grounded her to the moment. And her heartbeat that had been hammering in her ears quieted enough for her to hear the things around her.
She looked at Zeven crouching in front of her. And as he saw that she was coming down from the episode the tension in his brow dissipated. His hands remained on her face for only a second longer as he moved his thumbs across her cheek. Pulling them back, they took up new residence in the pockets of his trousers.
As he backed away the space around her felt empty again. Having nothing to hold onto her hand began to shake again, a slow trembling that persisted. She wanted to reach back out to him, she didn't know why but it felt better when he was there. Her breathing caught as she inhaled, sounding in three parts as she choked on air.
He returned to her side without a word. Sinking into the extra chair before taking her hands in his. He squeezed them tight. "Would now be a good time for a joke?" She kept her eyes on him, trying to speak in her shaky voice. "As l-l-long as it's n-n-n-n-ot about this-s."
Zeven leaned in closer; his voice an oxymoron, both soft and gravely at the same time. "I would not make fun of this." he was serious, so serious that she knew every word was to be believed. Then the corner of his mouth tilted up slightly and Chris knew that he was about to negate any positive feelings he had just given her. "Besides you do so many stupid things on the daily, I won't lack material until you're well into your eighties."
"T-that l-l-long?"
"Maybe longer."
A half smile began to form on her face. She then shivered and Zeven realized how her fingers felt in his hands. Remembering he still had his jacket on he began attempting to remove it so he could cover Chris. Releasing her hands, he slipped out his right arm. His coat was still caught on his left wrist and he swung it around to his front.
His plan did not work he realized when he heard the sound of leather slapping skin. In his attempt to disrobe he had flung the jacket sleeve too far and had come around and hit Chris in the face. To add insult to injury the offending sleeve was caught in her hair by a stray button.
Chris looked shocked for a moment as far as what he could see from behind the sleeve she looked. Zeven stifled a laugh as he watched as she tried to free the button from her hair with her good arm. He could see her face scrunch as she tugged. Before he realized what he was doing his own hands had found their way to hers. Quickly brushing her hand away, he moved closer in so he could see what he was doing.
Chris felt his hands on her head. Her scalp was slightly tender from her previous attempt to rip out the button herself. She could hear him as he started humming quietly, Chris also became incredibly aware of how close they were as she was left staring at the vast expanse of his chest.
He was further away than he had been only minutes ago, but this still felt strangely intimate. The humming in the background brought her back to the present just as Zeven eased himself back with the freed sleeve in hand.
She kept her gaze away from his face and kept her face turned away as he wrapped the coat around her shoulders, making sure not to catch another button in her hair.
"This is something that we need to talk about, but it can wait until you are feeling better." he placed his hand on her knee reassuringly.
"No need to wait, it's really s-s-s-simple actually-" "Christopher," his voice let her know exactly what he felt, but she shook her head. Looking strong in spite of everything. as good as her poker face was, she had the feeling that Zeven could see right through it, so she wouldn't pretend that everything was okay. That being said, she refused to roll over and die. "Let's get them off their thrones. You and I would be infinitely better suited to ruling than they are.
Her answer was all he needed to hear. She would be fine, he was sure of it. From the ashes she would rise and he wanted to be there for that glorious moment.
"I swear to you Christopher. I am willing to do whatever it takes to make this kingdom a better place. And I have every faith that you will do the same in yours."
They shared a powerful look in that moment. Honest and quiet.