Astra hesitated for a moment, after all Theron was still a man. Being a princess, she had never been so close to a man not related to her before, let alone being in one room. Astra was still contemplating on what to do when her hand was pulled, and she ended up falling on the bed precisely on Theron's arms. A gasp of surprise and worry escaped her mouth as she tried to wriggle her way out of his arms, but Theron held her slender waist tightly pressing her body onto his. Her tension increased when he pulled her further until her whole body was on the bed.
"Theron, what...what are you doing? Let me go!" she spoke hurriedly, still sparing no effort to get away from him but it all went in vain. Though he behaved like a child, her strength was no match in front of his well-built body.
Theron chuckled not aware of Astra's fear. He kept on holding her until she stopped moving and her breathing became even. He was about to let her go when a hot liquid fell on his neck and soft sobs followed. He instantly loosened his grip on Astra, and she drew back away from him fearfully. Theron went quiet with worry written all over his face. He could feel his heart breaking with every drop of tear coming out of her eyes. He slowly placed his right hand on his chest above his heart due to the sudden unfamiliar pain he was feeling. It was the pain of watching his beautiful wife shivering as tears rolled her cheeks unceasingly. To the oblivious Theron, the first thing he thought was maybe he had held her too tightly that it hurt her.
"Why are you crying?" his voice came out more like a whisper filled with worry and tension as he patiently waited for her answer. Getting no reply from her, Theron face fell, and a wave of guilt overcame him. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Am sorry! Am sorry!" he apologized and immediately flashed to her side unannounced.
Astra shuddered and instinctively moved away making her fall off from the bed with a thud.
"Ouch!" she exclaimed in pain while rubbing her back.
Theron jumped off from the bed and sat on the floor beside her but did not touch her. He was wise enough to now understand he had scared her when he held her earlier and that was the reason she was moving away from him. He bit his lower his eyes glued on her guilt overshadowing them. A moment of silence enveloped the place, but Theron eyes never moved from Astra.
"Theron is a bad boy now. Very, very bad boy!" he murmured to himself regretfully, but Astra heard his mumbles.
She raised her gaze at him and all the worries from earlier were washed away in a whim. Seeing his face etched with remorse, her heart softened and realized she had overreacted. She went quiet and stared at Theron unblinkingly regretting her previous actions and contemplating on how to apologize to him.
"Theron, I..." she paused then took a deep breath before continuing. "I didn't mean to do that. I was just a little scared. Please don't feel bad."
Theron only blinked his green eyes at her. "Really?... I know you are lying just to comfort me. I scared you a lot. Am a bad boy! Am a bad boy!" he lamented remorsefully and hid his face with his hands. Soft sobs followed as he continued to chant, 'Am a bad boy'.
Astra became worried and immediately wiped the tear stains on her face before kneeling down in front of Theron. Her hand went up to his hair but paused before she could touch it. She was avoiding his touch earlier but now here she was, about to do the opposite. What an irony of fate. She blamed herself for fretting too much, knowing Theron had no ulterior motives for pulling her on the bed. He was only impatient due to her delay and also over-excited to enjoy her storytelling.
Astra cleared all the doubts on her mind and held Theron's hands, removing them from his face. Her eyes met his which were full of tears. It seemed they had a common hobby of shedding tears by the slightest trigger. Her fingers traced his cheeks and wiped away his tears. She was about to draw her hands back from his face, but Theron held them in place surprising her. This time she did not react on a whim because she was already spellbound by his eyes. Though they had had several eye contacts, she had not focused a lot on them. They were deep emerald, green, and emitted a charming glow under the dimly lit room.
"You have beautiful eyes," Astra murmured, captivated by the allure of them.
Theron eyes shone a little in response to her words, as a smile found its way to his lips. "Don't they look scary?" he asked still unsure of what he had heard.
Astra shook her head then replied, "Not at all. They are the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen."
Theron face turned hot, and he turned away to hide his shyness. Astra laughed heartily seeing his reaction. He was just so cute and lovely.
"Oh, how lovely. Look who's shy now," she teased trying to lighten up the air, before turning to see his turned face.
"Am not shy. Am not shy. Am not shy at all." Theron repeated more like trying to convince himself. He hid his face into his palms again and buried them on his lap.
"Really? Then why are you hiding your face? Let me see," Astra said trying to remove the hands off his face.
"Noooo! I won't let you!" he said and got up abruptly removing his hands from his face, then fled away from her to the other side of the bed.
Astra stood up laughing, unable to control herself. "Come here, Theron. I just want to take a look and see why you are hiding your face."
Theron shook his head in denial and got ready to flee when Astra started running after him.