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Betrayal.
It was something he despised, and yet, those he intimately loved were the first ones to betray him. Not the crew of pirates, or the connections he had made with a few coin, but the women he had spent countless hours and days with. At first, he thought Rosaelynn’s betrayal was the worst, leaving him for another man because of money, but then Rain stepped into the picture, causing a greater betrayal. At least Rosaelynn disappeared from his life.
Cristianno lay on the small cot, eyes open and gazing up at the blue sky through the opening in the tent. His lover lay pressed against him, her hands gripping tightly onto him, just as he had done to her the night before. At first he was shocked that Niela had agreed to stay with Tia, but Cris didn’t want to question her. Instead, he simply let her sleep. Tia had told him earlier that she had stayed up all night watching over him, making sure he was fine. Cris leaned his head slightly downward to kiss the top of her raven black hair.
As his sea-green eyes turned back to the blue sky above, he couldn’t help but wonder what went wrong. “I gave her everything,” he whispered softly. “And she chose him.” That was the one thing he couldn’t wrap his mind around. He sought her like a desperate puppy, day after day, begging for her return, but she simply pushed him away, saying that she belonged to another. “That means, she didn’t want me.” But the memories she once had were nestled in his head and he noticed her struggled heart, where she loved both men, but the love for Cris was indeed stronger. Cris shook his head. “If you loved me that much, why didn’t you just come with me?” he muttered. Instead, she chose to be with the rogue and Cris had no choice but to move on.
Just when he had awakened the comatose Rain, she stabbed his shoulder. “I could have pulled off your shark tooth, but I was being merciful,” she snarled at him the night before.
Cris shuddered at the memory of her words amidst the chaos in the small cave. “How could you even think about that?” he whispered. There was so much betrayal in her words, in her actions. Her words and memories were twisted and manipulated so that Cris was always the one at fault, even when he wasn’t.
“And all I did was give her my everything.” Cris closed his eyes as flashes of her memories burst before his closed eyes. His eyes opened once more unable to escape the flood of memories. Her memories. Cris simply looked up and tried to distract himself, watching the clouds pass by.
“ ‘Ow joo doing, Cristianno,” Tia’Zula asked as she entered the tent. Cris lifted his finger to his lips and looked down at the sleeping Niela.
“She be watchin’ joo like a hawk,” Tia whispered as she sat beside them both. “Rain do dat to joo?” The troll gestured to the wrapped and healing wound on his shoulder.
“Yeah.”
“I tol joo dat it be trouble if joo go.”
“Yeah, I know.” Cris extended his left arm out to her. The tattoo of the wolf howling and small blue raindrops was revealed to Tia. “Get rid of it.”
Tia chuckled, taking his arm, “Joo wanted it badly, Remembah?”
“It’s pointless to have it when she refuses to have her memories.” Cris winced as Tia zapped him with small amounts of electricity, burning the blue color on his skin. With each wince, he tried hard to maintain his composure to not awaken Niela.
“Joo know wat joo can do about da memories, Cristianno,” Tia softly said as she healed his skin. The raindrops were no more.
“I do, but I’ll let you know later. You are still coming with me, right?”
“Of course. Joo need a medic onboard, no?”
Cris smiled and nodded. He took her hand with his free hand and squeezed it tightly. “I’m glad to have my crew’s loyalty.” The troll smiled and looked at Niela.
“So dat be the one?”
Cris looked down at is sleeping lover. “She’s the one.”
“She be scared when joo say ‘er name.”
“It’s a rather sensitive subject.”
“Tia dun care. As long as she no be ‘urting joo, I dun care.” Tia touched Cris’ forehead and nodded. “Joo be fine. Joo lose blood, but joo be fine in days. So, Rain be alive?”
Cris was never one to wish ill on anyone. He hated the thought. It was something his father had taught him and his mother had raised him to believe, but for a moment, all he could think about was how much he wished she had died that day in Stranglethorn. Those memories gushed at him as soon as he thought about her falling into the water. Cris blinked and winced, his body trembling over. Tia simply watched him and shook her head. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at Niela, hoping that he hadn’t awakened her. “Yeah…I guess she is.” He turned to look at Tia. “She could have killed me.”
“Da wound not be too deep.”
“Tia, she could have ripped off my tooth.”
“Ah, yes, dat be a problem. Dat wat joo get for tellin’ joor secret to da world.”
“It wasn’t to the world. I trusted her…” He chuckled softly as he looked away. “I fucking trusted her with everything: my life, my heart, my everything, and she couldn’t even appreciate that.”
“Wat be ‘er excuse?”
“That she never stopped loving me.”
The troll rolled her eyes. “Dat no believeable.”
“Well, technically she didn’t, but come on! She couldn’t just come back to me if she loved me as much as she did?” Cris shook his head, “There’s something wrong with her. She’s not the strong woman I thought she was. She’s weak and frightened.” He laughed softly, “She’s afraid to love.” Tia’Zula even laughed at his comment.
“To be afraid to love is to nevah experience life.”
“Yeah, I know.” Cris looked at Niela, who shifted a little in his arms. “I almost gave up on love, but I’m glad I didn’t, or else I wouldn’t have this gem in my arms right now.”
Tia shook her head with a smile, “Be careful, Cristianno. We no foresee Rain bein’ so crazy.”
“No, Tia, we didn’t, but Niela…she’s different.”
“And she be awake too.” As soon as she knew Tia’Zula was aware of her awakened state, the elf opened her eyes, simply gazing at the troll for a moment. Her hands never loosened their grip on Cris’ shirt. “I be givin’ joo time alone. I needta do tings before we go back tah Silvahmoon.” Tia gently reached over to touch Niela’s forehead. At first, Niela tensed, but with Cris’ hand firmly on her shoulder and a kiss on her head, she calmed herself as the troll felt her head. “Joo be fine. I be impressed wit joor mendin’ skills, elf.” She smiled softly and left the tent.
With a faint smile, Niela tilted her head up and looked at Cris, who stared down at her. “Are you well?” she asked in a low, sleepy whisper.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse done to me. I hear you’re an amazing surgeon, however.” Niela poked his gut and Cris chuckled. He took a deep breath. “Love, we need to talk.”
“Yes, we do.”
Cris nodded, “I have two things to tell you, then you can decide to speak…or whatever you wish.” Niela cringed a bit as she lifted her head to get a better look at him. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, wincing again at another memory. Opening his eyes once more, Cris looked at Niela and smiled softly. “I have her memories. Everything that she felt, thought, went through. Every time I close my eyes, they’re there.” She tensed slightly, a soft hiss escaping her lips. He leaned forward and kissed her head, “Sh, my love.”
“She did that on purpose.”
“I can either leave them and learn to cope with them until they simply become my memories…or, I can have them removed. Every memory of her can be removed.” He gazed at her solemnly. “I will leave that choice to you, my love.” Niela blinked and was about to say something else before Cris lifted a finger to her lips. “I’m not done, love.”
He looked around, and softly said, “I’ve been betrayed by so many that I have loved and who have supposedly loved me back. I don’t think another betrayal can be tolerated.” He looked at Niela and smiled at her gently. “But I feel as if I’ve found the one who completes me. You once said you were fine with the idea of being my rebound, but in all honesty, I think she was. You were the one I was waiting for.”
Cris ran his hand through her dark hair and caressed her face with his fingertips. “I know that it’s a bit…irrational to speak of this, but this is my second request…” He gazed into her green eyes before speaking softly, “Marry me.”
A soft gasp escaped the woman’s lips; a gasp that seemed to stop all time and perhaps even life itself for a single moment.
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