His fingers tangled into my hair as he pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. I let myself get lost in him for the moment. There were still things I needed to say, as well as other things to update him on, but everything could wait. I wanted to savor this moment so I could keep it with me for the rest of my life. And longer.
Eventually, we broke away from one another and spent another moment staring into one another's eyes.
"I love you," I blurted out.
"You realize you said that already?" he teased, his bright smile reaching all the way up to his eyes.
"That's not how you're supposed to respond," I pointed out, not hurt in the slightest. The way he'd responded to me made me certain I'd heard him right before. He'd already said it to me too.
"Then what should I say? Thank you? I know? Great news?"
A loud giggle escaped me, and I moved to cover it with a hand. "Great news, definitely."
"Hmm, it doesn't have the right ring to it, I think."
"No, possibly not," I agreed.
He nodded to himself. "I think I'm going to go with, I love you, too, Kelis."
I beamed, the words making my heart soar and my soul take flight. He might not have been the person I used to imagine would say them to me, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was the right person to share this with.
"We should get back to the palace before it's too dark, though," I said, looking up at the sky. It was still afternoon, but we were still a long way out, and I didn't want to cause anyone back at the palace to worry about us. Father had enough on his plate without me making it worse.
"I'll fetch us some water if you saddle the horses." he suggested.
"Sounds good to me." I got to my feet, only remembering as I stood that I was hungry.
It seemed I wasn't the only one who thought of it, as Topher handed me some bread and cheese. It wasn't anything fancy, but it would stave off the hunger until we were back at the palace, which was the main thing.
"You said you went to meet a contact in Urbis," I prompted once we were underway. I swayed on my horse, leaning into her natural rhythm to make things easier for myself. "And why am I still so tired?" I let out a loud yawn as if to accidentally prove the point.
"Which of those do you want me to answer first?" Topher asked from beside me. He was riding his own horse as easily as I was. He must have learned at a young age.
"The tired one? That seems like it will have the shortest answer."
He chuckled. "It does. I suspect you've worn yourself out from using so much magic at the contest yesterday and then trying to see the future. What were you even trying to see?"
"Where you were," I replied quietly. "Though, I had a vision-dream last night too. I was in Skyla with the other people with golden eyes."
He perked up. "That's good news. You've only been able to see the near future so far, which means they'll be arriving in Enchantia soon."
I nodded. "Perhaps they're already there."
"Is that going to be a problem? I don't know how far the wanted posters got distributed."
"I don't know," I answered honestly. "But Father said he'd let them into the palace if they turned up while I wasn't there."
"Oh, good. That'll make it easier," he said.
"That was my hope." I pulled out my flask and gulped down some water. "Now, Urbis."
He sighed. "You're going to be disappointed."
"Tell me, anyway." I spied the palace through a gap in the trees. The trip back had seemed much quicker with his company. We still had a ways to go, but we were nearly back.
"I made it to the meeting point with plenty of time to spare. And I stayed longer than I should have. But my contact never showed up. I ran off for no reason."
"It made me come chase you, though," I pointed out to cheer him up. "Not many people can say that."
Topher let out a good-natured laugh. "Admittedly, most people chase the princess, not the other way around."
"I like to do things my own way."
"One of the many qualities that will make you a fantastic queen," Topher said.
Pride welled up inside me. It meant a lot that he thought that, even if he wasn't the first person to say it to me.
"Hopefully, not for a long time, though," I added quickly.
"Absolutely not. We'll get back to the palace, make preparations for the golden-eyed people to arrive, and then we'll work out how we're going to break the curse on your mother," he promised.
"I think they have the answers on how to do it," I said. I was growing more certain of that with every vision, and every moment.
I couldn't wait for the people with gold irises to arrive. Somehow, it felt like they were part of my destiny.
3rd November
I'd never had one of my dreams tell me what day it was referencing before, but I was certain this one was about what would happen when I woke up. Well, perhaps not straight away. But whatever I was about to see would be happening within the next few hours.
My vision swirled but cleared faster than it had before. The scenery was familiar to me, having only ridden through it yesterday. If Topher and I had lingered in the forest a little longer, we might have run into them. But this was better. I'd rather meet them in my own palace
