Episode 82: Reconciling (Meldrick & Aadya)

He slipped into their room late in the evening. It was time to talk about divorce and their future as king and queen before the tension of the weekly meeting. They needed a unified answer for their children.

He ran his hands across the wood and looked at the vase she often left messages in; today it was empty.

There were moments – moments of clarity and moments of triumph. Moments of pain, alone or shared, and moments where nothing made sense at all.

This was one of those moments for Aadya, where everything combined from chaos to beauty into an arrangement that she didn’t understand her place in.

When he found the center of the room, steps away from the bed they had shared for years, he turned to face her – his queen, his love, the woman who had encompassed most of his life, the woman he had admired and aspired to help.

For one, she had not sought out a counsel with Konrad; this was between her and Meldrick. The kingdom could wait.

He took her hand in his, her brown skin calloused with love – love for her people, love for their children, and love for him.

The past week had broken her, in a way that felt strong and powerful. Coming out of the spell was like breathing again, seeing again. It was a rebirth. She loathed the transition. She wanted to feel whole again, to feel right. She couldn’t sort it anymore – she loved Meldrick. He was her king, when Drey had left her and when time had stopped he had held her and been there. He was her pain, engrained in the scars of that live’s conception. 

In the rare moment that she needed someone, he let her fall into his arms. He caught her. 

She knew she didn’t need that support, and she knew he needed things too. She could give them to him, give him the chance to be whoever he wanted. Their time together had always been marked by force. Today, they would choose. She pulled herself against him and looked into his ruby eyes, heated from the passion of emotions.

“So,” Meldrick said, he swallowed.

“So,” Aadya replied, her lips turned into a meek smile.

“I think,” they said together.

They laughed, and he saw a tear stain her cheek. Love’s embrace was meant to be happy, but he could sense that she wasn’t looking for a quick reconciliation. She was thinking – setting her mind to some decision like she always did.

He wiped the tear off her cheek with his thumb and ran his fingers down her face and behind her neck. He met her forehead with his.

“What is is Sest zikol-zel oll?”

Aadya knew, before she offered, what his decision would be. She didn’t think he knew it yet, but he would. Meldrick was capable of loving himself.

“I think we should take this as an opportunity to decide what we want for ourselves, instead of falling back into what we are accustomed too,” she stated.

He moved his head to the side, lifted just off of her forehead, in the way that he tilted to think as though he needed the subtle change in posture to observe a situation in its entirety. It was his subtlety she loved the most.

She wanted to love him for eternity, but she also wanted to ensure he was happy. Not just content, not trapped like his parents, but truly happy with whatever he chose. The spell may have pushed them apart but the issues of the spell were never gone – they had feelings for others.

“I love you, Aadya,” he said.

It was an impossible decision; he knew Giana was waiting for him to make it. He knew Aadya was waiting for him to make it. He had never chosen something so momentous. Part of him wished to unwind time, to take back Giana so he would have more time to decide. He couldn’t though, it was time to face the reality of the situation.

“As I love you, Mel,” she replied. “But we have been pushed around our entire lives. If she makes you as happy as you have been these past few days… you’re allowed to be happy.” She choked back her tears. There was nothing she could do to change how he felt, nothing she wanted to do. She wanted to be loved entirely, by choice.

“You should choose whichever path you think will bring you the most joy in life. We will never lose each other.”

Meldrick looked into the pools of her eyes. She was, without a doubt, the most capable queen and woman he had ever met. Next to Indigo, who was a force in her own way.

He shook the thought off.

Aadya. Giana. His future.

He could see a future with Aadya continuing as it had – together with flower messages and loving each other and raising kids together.

He could see a future with Giana travelling and having tea and leaving each other surprises, loving each other as well. Raising kids together someday.

“I don’t want to choose,” he replied, honestly. She deserved honesty. To see his heart in two.

Aadya laughed, of course he didn’t want to choose. She had struggled with the same decision, with or without the spell.

She tried to imagine what she would choose, if Konrad had been a serious option for herself.

For her, she would have chosen… she sighed.

“I understand you, I understand your trouble deciding, and I understand how difficult that may feel,” she said. “So,” she exhaled again, long and slow. “So, I think you should be with Giana.”

He watched her as she spoke, as words left her mouth well thought out but lacking the normal finesse she usually spoke with.

It was relieving to hear her think he should be with Giana, because it didn’t feel wrong. He knew if it was the wrong option he would feel some sort of remorse as she said it. He only felt resolved.

He kissed her, one last time, and held her close in his arms.

“You are,” he began. “beautiful. Everything about you.”

He held her for awhile, the pain of the decision made again fresh and difficult.

It had been too long. She let her body ease away from his and looked into his eyes once again. “Well, then.”

His chest rumbled with a light wave of laughter.

“Well, then. I’ll see you at work?” he replied. His tone was light, but she knew it was heavy underneath.

“I’ll see you at work,” she replied.

There was nothing more to say – no matter what they would always be close. They were part of each other and an ever changing kingdom and realm. They were a team, above anything else.

To love him without requirement, to let him love another and be at peace with the decision, was freeing.

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