King Josiah and his guard emerged from the corner of the hall to find a pacing man in front of the door.

Galexious guards who were stationed on either side watched him, their eyes traveling back and forth in the same direction that he went.

Josiah stopped to take in the scene of the summer prince.

At that moment, he turned, his head coming up to make eye contact.

There was a moment of silence between the two males. The silence stretched out as Josiah walked forward.

"I wanted to make sure she was okay."

Josiah stopped in front of the prince, his gaze flickering to the still closed doors and the guards that stood in front of it.

"She did not want to see you?"

The summer prince smiled. In his smile, Josiah saw the truth.

"I should not see her."

A sound of frustration left Josiah as he crossed his arms. "Your customs are cruel. She is your sister. You treat her as if she is nothing. She deserves your respect and love. Not this."

"Our customs may be cruel, King Josiah, but they are still our way of life. Lumi knows this and I know this. She would think less of me if I did not abide by them. I have already broken it once by speaking to her."

At his words, the summer prince raised his hand, showing Josiah a fresh and ugly burn mark.

"You-," Josiah could not seem to find the right words in him. He stared at the symbol, a shadow of recognition passing through him when he realized that Lumi had the same marks on her own skin. Three such scars running down her back.

"The summer customs say to mutilate your body?" Josiah could barley contain the disgust he felt as he spoke the words.

The summer prince only raised a single eyebrow at him, amusement clear on his features. The look only made Josiah feel more anger.

"I would never tell her to do such a thing," Josiah said.

"I don't think you will ever understand," the summer prince said, his gaze going back to the door. "Our customs. Our laws. Our traditions. They are not beautiful to you because you refuse to see it in something so foreign. It is a shame that you look at the unpleasant and equate it to be the whole."

"Leave," Josiah pointed down the hall, "you won't even see her. You refuse to. You have no right to know if she is well or not."

A torn expression suddenly came over the summer prince's face.

"Is the child well?"

"You have no right to know."

Josiah held his hand out, still pointing and waiting for his departure. He watched the sorrow come over the male's face. The look of accepted defeat. Josiah knew it was not in his nature to simply leave silently. Not if he was anything like his sister.

And true to his thoughts, the summer prince did not disappoint him as he took several steps down the hall, before suddenly turning back.

Josiah hated that they shared the same eyes. They were similar and he hated that he could so easily see her face in his.

"She was going to be the leader."

"What?"

The summer prince stood to his full height, pride making him rise and a challenge coming to his gaze. "I am Dakarai Aumatage Oxalis, fourth prince of the Summer Kingdom, Grandson to the high chief Ikigai of the Utara and Crest bearer of the Court rite. Though I was born before her, I was groomed to be Princess Lumikki Idalia Oxalis' protector and second hand. My purpose in life was to be the hands that held the knife for her. To be the body that stood in front before anything else could dare touch her skin."

Josiah could not tear his eyes away from the anger that latched onto the male's face. He wanted to look away and turn his back to the features of her that could be seen in his own, and the broken truth in his words, as the summer prince cracked. The male of such few words was finally speaking, and Josiah wished he could stop.

"She was going to be the leader. My grandfather, high chief of the Utara, offered her his place. A seat that in our country, holds more authority than the King himself. She was going to..." The male's voice broke as he spoke, "but then she gave herself away."

"It's too late now," Josiah found himself saying those words. It was too late now. It was. She was his now. She was his Queen. She was a part of his country. She belonged to his people now. To his world and his traditions.

Josiah hated himself in that moment as the summer prince stood and told his truth. He hated everything about himself. He hated how much he wanted to ignore the words that were spoken and toss them aside. She was not anything of the summer lands. She had given that up. She had left that.

"It's too late," he said again, "she is forgotten to you."

The summer prince had his head bowed. It seemed his anger was gone now that his words had been said.

"She is not forgotten."

He did not look up, but his hands remained clenched at his side as he looked away, "We will always remember her and what she did for her country. She is never forgotten. Just gone."

"Leave," Josiah whispered, "you only bring her pain."

There was a ghost of a smile on the prince's face. The Prince looked towards the door. He whispered a word in his foreign language that Josiah did not know. A melody of sorts that made his flesh crawl at the pain that could be heard from the words.

But the prince did not say anything else as he turned back and followed Josiah's command.

Josiah found himself staring at the empty space where he had once stood.

He hated himself. He was beginning to hate the person he was becoming when it concerned her. How he seemed desperate to hold onto something that he already had. He closed his eyes and sighed, tilting his head up. He was not ready to go back into the room and see her. Not ready to think through the conversation that had just happened.

She was not an object, that much he knew. He and the Winter King could play their silly tug-of-war game. Josiah knew it was all pointless. He had her. He and Theros both knew this. Josiah knew it. And he felt bitterness seep through him at the fact that he was taking her back with him to his Kingdom- that something so great and exhaled had fallen so far. That he was dragging such a radiant creature into his darkness- to a land with no light. To a land with no sun.

* * *

"I will have to see him eventually."

Lumi laid her head on the pillow, her eyes closed. She felt exhausted. Her body felt so heavy and worn. She wanted nothing more than to rest, but she knew better.

"You need to rest," Josiah's comment contradicted her thoughts, making her smile as she opened her eyes to take him in. She had heard his conversation with her brother. She was waiting for him to speak about it. To ask her questions.

But he didn't.

He never did, and Lumi silently let it go. She had seen the anxious and uneasy expression that had been on his face when he had first walked in. She did not want him to face such a conflict again. Not after he had just finished telling her of the renewed peace treaty he had negotiated with the Winter Kingdom.

"Theros can wait with his idiotic bet," Josiah's words were as close to a growl as Lumi had ever heard. It was rare of him to become angry, but she could see it now that the actions of the Winter King were putting him on thin ice.

"But I won," Lumi pointed out. "Speaking of..." she looked around the room, evaluating it while Josiah watched, "where is my cat?"

An exasperated sigh left Josiah, "Ramus put it somewhere."

Lumi frowned, "I did not stalk Kifo for four hours to have your say the words 'Ramus put it somewhere'."

"You named it?" Josiah's voice sounded slightly higher than it usually did as he took in this information.

Lumi grinned at him, "Of course. That way I had something to call him when I petted his pretty head."

Josiah only shook his own head, his eyes closing as if to block the sight of her out.

"I need to skin him, the fur will make a nice-,"

"You are not skinning it."

Lumi frowned, "it's my tradition that after hunts you-,"

"You are not in the summer lands," Josiah snapped.

They finally turned to face one another. Lumi felt a heaviness in her chest. But she only smiled up at him.

"Yes. I understand."

Josiah seemed unnerved by her easy acceptance. But Lumi had heard his conversation with her brother. She knew in the beginning, what he had meant when speaking of the mutilation to the body. She knew the consequences that should occur for breaking oath and speaking to that which should not be spoken to. Lumi wondered how Josiah saw her own mutilations. The three burns upon her back.

Once, Lumi had been proud of them. She had seen them as an act of courage. She had passed her trails, withstood pressure, and persevered. She saw her marks as a symbol of her dedication to her people and how far she was willing to go, in order to become strong for them.

But since leaving the summer lands, Lumi knew that was not how others saw the burns on her back to be. Not since the Winter King had stared down at her skin, calling the marks actions from savages. Not since Josiah described them as such in a horrified tone.

Lumi was confused about what was right anymore. She did not know what to hold onto. It seemed that the life she had known and the customs, religion, traditions- all of it seemed wrong to anyone who was not a part of it. She was becoming confused because Lumi had never seen her world from the eyes of an outsider. She had never seen the wrong as they did.

To her eyes, they were beautiful.

To theirs, it was shocking and gruesome.

Josiah was sitting on the edge of the bed now. Lumi watched him as he inhaled deeply, taking deep calming breaths.

"Are you happy with me?"

The question caught her off guard.

She tilted her head, thinking.

"I suppose I am."

He did not seem to like her answer. Lumi stared at him curiously, wondering what he had been wanting or expecting.

"Who were you happier with?"

Lumi felt her gaze harden. She knew who he was comparing himself to.

"Josiah." He turned at the sudden harshness in her tone. If she could, she would be crossing her arms at him, staring him down. But her wrapped shoulder prevented her from completing such a look. Instead, she settled for just glaring as she narrowed her eyes.

"I won't answer that. You should know better than to ask a question such as that."

"Why?" he whispered.

"My life is not something that should be measured by people. If you think I am unhappy, then try your damn best to make me happy. If you think I was happier with him, then work harder to make me never think such a thing- or for you to never have to question it to me again."

Josiah blinked at her, her words obviously taking him by surprise. Before a grin slowly came across his features.

"There she is," he said.

"I had never left," she replied, rolling her eyes, "now go find someone to skin Kifo." She made the motion of shooing him away.

"And send Theros to me!"

Josiah stilled at the door, turning back to look at her uncertainly, "what will you ask for?"

Lumi only laughed, "you worry too much, oh husband of mine. I knew the moment that bet was made who the winner would be." Her hand rose, fingers stroking the edge of her neck, lightly tracing the claw marks that were visible there, "afterall, I have fought worse than a cat who hangs in trees."

* * *

There was a high level of tension and uncertainty as the Galexious guards and their King waited outside.

Lumi could practically feel it oozing out from under the door now, as she sat and watched Theros.

He stood before her.

"You summoned me?" There was a mocking tone to his voice. Lumi raised her eyebrows at that. His haughty look fell immediately. A silence lapsed between them.

Finally, he spoke, "are you well?"

Lumi laughed, "no thanks to you."

He did not even blink at her blunt statement, but she had not expected him to apologize or explain his actions. Lumi knew he had no reasoning for it.

They were similar in some ways. Lumi knew he didn't see it. The way he had always become angry at her for not thinking through the consequences of her actions had always seemed ironic in her mind.

He had not thought that day when she had fallen in the pond. He had not thought that day when he first held her. And he had certainly not thought the day he had said yes in accepting her as payment.

He seemed unsteady now. Lumi felt her heart breaking every time she saw him. He seemed so fragile. She wondered if anyone else saw him in such a way.

Slowly, she patted the bed, a silent request for him to sit next to her.

He did not move, his glacier eyes flickering up to her with an unsure look.

"Come here, Theros," she whispered.

He moved to her. Hesitantly he sat. Lumi did not make any effort to be closer to him as he slipped his shoes off and pulled his feet to be beside hers.

His shoulder brushed against her right one. The left was still in bandages, and she saw his eyes travel to take them in. She hit his hand away when she felt his fingers trace the claw markings that were visible on her neck.

He pulled back, clasping his hands together as they both sat in silence.

"What is it that you want?"

Lumi waited. She recognized the hardened tone in his voice. He was trying to hurt her.

"Do you want me to make a new peace treaty with your husband?" The last word came out in a patronizing tone, one that belittled the word. "Maybe see me on my knees? Would you like money? Gifts? Jewels? Or perhaps-,"

"I would like for you to be quiet."

There was an audible snap to his closing jaw.

She laughed and shook her head, "no wait, that's not really what I'm asking for!"

They both took in her words before Lumi felt her shoulders shake from his own silent laughter. She glanced at him discreetly, watching as he lifted his head to the ceiling and ran his hands down to cover his face.

"Lumi, Lumi, Lumi," he shook his head as he said her name. "Just tell me what you want so I can leave."

She smiled at his words.

"You won't like it."

"Knowing you- of course I won't like it."

She sighed deeply before turning slightly to face him, "Do you love Elowen?"

Theros glared at her.

Lumi laughed, "no need to sulk."

He continued to glare before finally answering, "no."

Then he whispered, "do you love him?"

"Uh uh uh," Lumi wiggled her finger at him, "I'm the one talking."

He groaned and went back to his former position of face tilted up with hands covering his eyes.

"Just tell me what you want, damn it."

"I thought about it. I really did. But I do have a lot already. I have everything I need. Don't tell anyone this- and I mean Josiah-," Lumi glared at him, "I know you may try to use this against him but this is a very serious conversation Theros. Don't betray me by belittling what I have to say and making it as material for your pettiness."

He remained silent but Lumi saw the reluctant acceptance in his face.

"I worry about you."

His gaze lowered to meet hers as she smiled softly at him. There was a vulnerability in his eyes that Lumi saw.

"I worry about you and I know...I know you don't want to hear this...but you seem...you seem so lonely Theros. You were lonely when I came. I don't know what I meant to you but I think I helped ease some of that. You just...whenever I was in that throne room and I saw you there sitting on your throne by yourself, I felt worried about what would happen when I eventually left. I knew I would have to leave one day."

"But Elowen cares for you. She does. You may or may not see it. Maybe you just ignore it. Maybe I'm the last person you want to be hearing this from...but I need you to see that you have enough room on your throne for two chairs. You and I both know it would have never been me. So stop pretending that the way of the world could have been any different."

He was silent for a long time. Lumi sat there, waiting for him to speak. She knew that he needed to process. She knew that eventually, he would respond.

"What are you asking of me? I said I would give you one thing you desire. What is it that you are wanting?"

"I want you to try."

Lumi felt as if the silence between them was broken. She watched as the male before her bowed his head.

"It will always be you," he whispered.

"Maybe some part. But not all," she said, "maybe today. But not every day."

"Why are you asking this?" his voice betrayed him. Lumi smiled sadly as she took in the raw agony that laced his words.

"Theros."

He did not look up. She knew he was avoiding her gaze.

"Theros. Look at me."

He reluctantly did. They silently stared at one another. Theros leaned closer. Lumi shook her head, her hand resting on his cheek to stop him.

"No," she whispered.

"Don't ask this of me."

She felt her thumb slowly stroke his skin. She watched as his eyes closed from the small contact she had allowed.

"I will always love you."

Lumi suddenly felt like crying. He had never said those words to her. She didn't know he had felt that deeply for her. She realized then, how horribly wrong she had imagined his viewing of her to be. She thought it had been an obsession. Something like a toy that had been taken away. Now, she slowly swallowed back whatever words she had been planning to say. He had taken her by surprise. But Lumi's goal was still the same. He was only making it harder for the both of them.

"You said you would give me one thing I desire. I desire this. I desire you to try. To be in the attempt of happiness. To look at what you have already, and see the blessings they carry. Theros. I want you to live."

They looked into each other's eyes. Lumi wondered when they had reached the point, that communication did not need to be said in words. That just looking into his glacier blue, she could see the hurt and pain that was mixing there. The reluctance. The suffering. But also the defeat.

"Let me go," she whispered to him now, "don't let our past destroy your future."

He closed his eyes. And when he opened them again, Lumi matched his smile.

"You were the first I have ever loved."

"And that is an honor," she said, "but I cannot be your last."

He tilted his head, "was I yours?"

She laughed, "my first love was my country. My second was my people. My third was myself. You, Theros Erebus Hellebore, were certainly loved by me, but do not think you were the first to touch my heart."

He shook his head at her words, his eyes rolling in an amused sort of way. Finally, he stood. Bowing low before her, he rose again and turned his back.

Before he could reach the door however, Lumi stopped him with a single question.

"What would you have asked for? If you had won?"

He turned to look back at her. His smile was a sad one. But in it, Lumi saw the first steps of acceptance. She saw the friendship that could be between them and the love that could become something else, with the passing of time.

"That song. I wanted to hear that song one more time. I wanted it as a promise that we would meet again."