Only the Stars Can Know

Six

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She lay on her side, her knees bent in such a way that she fit perfectly in the circle of his embrace. Her head was pillowed upon his bicep; the muscles in his arm completely relaxed yet the hardness of them pressed comfortably against her cheek. She couldn’t moved even if she wanted to as his other arm rested on the side of her body, his hand laying on her hip as he held her to him. Even though the length of him was pressed tightly upon her back, his legs were not wrapped in her own. The only part of him that really truly touched her was the gentle caress of his hand. “Are you asleep?” she asked, knowing full well what the answer might be but she could not help but ask. The Prince of Persia never slept. For some reason the thought saddened her greatly.

His answer was not one of words; his hand gave her hip a soft squeeze through the downy blanket before his arm slipped around her middle, somehow bringing her body closer to his. The intimacy of such an embrace made her heart thunder in her chest, surely he could hear it within the silence.

“How long have I been sleeping?” she asked, not really knowing if it was light outside or not.

“It’s almost dawn,” he murmured, his voice sounded grave and tired, his breath whispering across her ear and neck causing goose pimples to spread upon her arms.

“I don’t want to move,” she confessed, the hold he had on her was frightening soothing.

He sighed and she felt the breath of his silent chuckle, “Then don’t. You have no where else to go,” he stated, his grip tightening for a span of a few moments before it relaxed.

She nodded her head, her cheek nuzzling his arm felt calming so she did it again, feeling the softness of his skin against her own. She moved her arm to rest upon the one that held her waist, her fingers feeling the contours of his flesh as it eased against her touch. Her hand found his and as if he knew what she was going to do his fingers opened and allowed hers to slip through. She tilted her head and lightly brushed her lips against his bent arm, lightly tasting and taking in the sent of him. He smelt different from Aladdin, he smelt of sun and open deserts. He tasted of exotic spices and the rarest of herbs. The muscles of his arms were toned and well cared for, their outline clearly defined against sun darkened skin. While her love was indeed strong, he was built more fragile looking than the man that now held her.

She rolled over on her back and he brought his knees up, resting them so his thighs were pressing against her bottom and she had no choice but to drape her own legs over his. He curled around her like a cat, his arm pulling her against him and his head moving to nestle against her shoulder giving her the impression that she now was holding him. She and Aladdin had lain in a similar position but always with him she still felt like he was the one holding her. She was the weaker one and always needed the comfort of his touch yet with the Prince she now felt like she was the stronger of the two.

The thought made her heart soar with hope and pride. As strong as the Prince was, as fearless and unafraid he was he still needed someone to touch him, to reassure him that he was still human. She didn’t know where the thoughts of him came from but she trusted them to be true. He was starved for the touch of others, for the kindness and understanding that only another person could give. “Have you ever lain with someone?” she didn’t know what had possessed her to ask such a question but she could not find it within her so take it back or apologize for it.

“What do you mean, Princess?” he whispered, his words tickling across her chest.

“Have you ever lain with a woman?” she stuttered for the words trying to keep the blush from rising to her cheeks.

Still he did not lift his head, as if the act alone would change something between them, “Intimately?”

She swallowed and whished that he was not resting his head on the hollow of her neck and shoulder where she was sure he could hear her pounding heart, “Yes.”

“It was a life time ago,” his voice was filled with all the sorrow and shame in the world, as if it was the greatest thing that he had ever done yet he wanted desperately to forget it.

“Did you love her?” she thought perhaps that he never did love her and that was why he was so distressed about it.

He swallowed thickly, “Very much so,” he words were heartrending.

“What happened?” somehow she knew that whatever answer she received he would never tell her the full story.

“She forgot,” he said and shifted his hand releasing hers to trace patterns upon the exposed skin of her torso. “And you, Princess,” he asked and he had ever right to, “Have you ever known a man intimately?”

Now she did blush, women were not supposed to know such things until the wedding. “Yes,” she shamefully whispered.

“Did you love him?” he had question in past tense. It was only far, for she had done the same thing.

“Yes,” she tried to keep her voice from breaking, “But I don’t know if I can let him touch me again after... after the dreams.” She watched the shadows that the single lit lamp created upon the walls and the shelves that lined the large bed camber wishing that he would say something but dreading the words.

“I too had dreams, Princess. The only way to stop them is to not sleep at all, yet it is up to you to keep them from becoming reality,” it was not the words that she thought he would say.

“And you?” she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, brushing it back from his face, “Why don’t you sleep to dream?”

“Because,” he said, gently twisting his head to he slightly buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, “I was not strong enough to keep my dreams and nightmare just that. I was not strong enough to keep them from manifesting into reality.”

Her heart skipped a beat and she realized that he too was fighting his own weakness, that her presence and touch was slowly turning him back into a human, “How long?”

“For three years,” then he was silent and she basked in his confessional limitation, let in fill into her knowing that she was not the only one who had inadequacies that torn at her heart. She laid there for so long that she didn’t even noticed she had fallen back to sleep with her head turned to the side and down to face his. Her arm still resting across his and her hand lying upon his cheek made him smile.

He closed his eyes and willed his body to relax as he did so many times before only this time it seemed different; this time the feel of her in his arms was undeniably comforting.

S%S

When next she woke the lamplight was burnt clean but the sun filtering through the canvass of the large tent gave her enough light to see by. She sighed contently and snuggled deeper into warm body that lay next to her. She smiled and listened to his heart beat, strong and steady under her ear. She slowly lifted her head and peered at him, fully expecting to see his amazing eyes starting intently at her. Her eyes widen when she took him in. The blanket that they were using was pushed down to their waist line and sometime during the night he had shed his blue shirt. In the back of her mind she wondered why she had not noticed in before now. Even in the dim light she could clearly see the scars that lined and crisscrossed his chest and torso, their white lines stark against his dark skin making them clearly visible. She had never seen so many scars on just one person before, on a Prince none the less.

She looked into his face and smiled more fully, suppressing the urge to reach up and brush unruly locks of hair from his forehead. His breath was even and steady and in his unguarded state of rest she noticed that the harsh lines of his face completely disappeared. Not only was he sleeping peacefully but he looked young, younger than she thought him to be. He couldn’t have been more than a few years old than her, far too young to have so many marks tattooing his body for all eternity.

She twisted her bottom lip between her teeth and rested her head once more against his chest, wanting to once more hear the strong beat of his heart.

He woke with a gasp, his arms coming around her to hold her close to him, his eyes were wide and frantic as he took in his surroundings, his mind trying to process what had just happened. She reached up and placed a soft hand on his cheek trying to calm him even though her own heart felt like it would burst from her chest. “You fell asleep,” she stated, offering him her best smile.

He reached up and rubbed his forehead taking the time to return her smile before flopping back down upon the mattress. She let out a short woof of breath as she placed her palms against his chest and rose up, her weak arms shaking from the effort. “Can we go for a walk today?” she asked wanting more than anything to get her strength back.

“Anything you want, Princess,” he answered, his tone was surprisingly serious with out a hint of playfulness etching along its sides.

TBC...