Chapter 11

                                    

                                          
James was ignoring that his condition was getting worse by the hour, so Delilah decided to brush off what happened too. All they could do was enjoy each other before enfermo took over his body.
"Let's hear it, Boss."
"Gladly." James said as he gave a reassuring smile.
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Becca yawned as she felt the sun on her body and brushed her dirty blond hair out of her face. She stretched then took a look around the room which she despised when she first arrived. Now she actually enjoyed waking up in the elegant bedroom. A black giant Mastiff, who was actually still a puppy, barked as he nuzzled Becca's legs. Becca gave the big pup the pets he so desired. "Morning, Cedric..."
You see, Becca was forced to marry a prince she was raised to hate to prevent a war between their two kingdoms. They had multiple fights with each other, both verbally and physically, with plenty of enemies to face together over the years. Becca may have been a princess, but she wouldn't hesitate to put you in place with force herself.
Her enemy-turned-husband, Alaric, was an ass but could be charming when he wanted to be. He was way taller than Becca which caused her to look up when they're next to each other, had short brown hair and striking dark grey eyes that often-reminded Becca of dark silver.
Somehow in the end, they truly fell in love.
Becca followed the smell of breakfast to the kitchen with Cedric on her heels only to find her husband taking bacon off of the stove, wearing just pajama pants and slippers. Becca could clearly see the scars all over his upper body. If they were from some kind of enemy or her, Becca couldn't tell. Then again, it's probably both, since she also has her fair share of scars, half of them coming from him. Once Alaric noticed that Becca was in the room, he spoke up in a rough yet slightly sleepy voice. You could still hear the England accent he had. "Breakfast is ready, Love."
Alaric sat down at a table then started on his plate as Becca walked over to the countertop where her plate was sitting. Of course, it was one of her favorite breakfast meals; french toast, bacon, and apple juice. She hates to admit it, but Alaric's cooking could out do the kitchen chefs any day. "And what do you say about helping me with Cedric today, my dear Belladonna?" Alaric said, trying to start small talk.
This made Becca pause from shoving the last of her French toast in her mouth. The next thing Alaric knew, there were two knives stuck in the wall behind him, barely brushing against his hair. 
"I thought we said no throwing knives at each other in the kitchen?" Alaric said as he snatched one of the knives out of the wall.
"And I thought this was a 'No Insult Day', but here we are!"
"I didn't even say one?!"
Becca huffed. "Yes, you did! You called me that even before we were married, when we were constantly at each other's throats!"
"I don't know what you're- wait...." The sentence died on Alaric's lips to only be replaced with laughter. Becca thought she could see a couple of tears in Alaric's eyes from his laughter and was about to throw another knife with the intention of hitting him this time. Alaric suppressed his laugh into small giggles then waved his hands to stop her. "Wait, wait, let me explain!" He got up from his spot then headed outside, nodding his head for her to follow. "Come on, Blondie! Trust me!"
"I don't trust you right now as far as I could throw you...." Becca replied but followed him, nevertheless. Alaric led the blond outside to their garden which confused her. What did the garden have to do with that ridiculous insult? The two walked through the rather beautiful garden until Alaric stopped in front of dark blue flowers, with some even having black berries on them. Becca gave Alaric a look, but he only smiled.
"These flowers here were my mother's favorite.......you possibly know of them as Deadly Nightshade, but they're also called Belladonna. I call you that because you remind me of them. Pretty face but extremely dangerous. Once we got married, it was an added bonus that Belladonna means 'beautiful lady', so I kept it." Alaric couldn't help but laugh again. "I can't believe you thought it was an insult this whole time!"
Becca felt her face heat up in embarrassment and punched Alaric in the arm, making his laughter increase.
"You think I'm pretty and beautiful then?" Becca said, trying to turn the embarrassment around. It worked as Alaric's laughing stopped and a blush of his own spread across his face. He turned away mumbling, trying to hide said blush.
"Would you look at that, I think Cedric called me."
"Don't you try and change the subject by blaming him! Wait- you come back here, you little overgrown giant!"
"I don't know what ever you could mean, you elf."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A DAMN ELF?!"
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Delilah couldn't help but laugh which drew a small smile from James. Their situation was amusing to her, and she had a feeling James told this one because it slightly referenced her and Rowen's situation.
At least she knows that it's a simple nickname instead of an insult.
"Ah, yes, definitely one of my favorites. Hate can easily turn into love and love turn into hate." James said with a distant look in his eyes, but it disappeared before Delilah could notice. He let out a small cough. "Can you get me some tea, Hun?"
Delilah had a look of worry but sighed then nodded as she got up from her spot.
Once Delilah left, James coughed more harshly, quickly grabbing the already bloody towel to cough into. He reached into his dresser and grabbed a golden envelope with red designs over it. He knew his time was running out and wanted Delilah's last memories of him to be nice. A final smile appeared on his face at the thought of seeing Psyche again after so long.
"Okay, I couldn't find any more of your favorite tea, but I did find your favorite flavor of sparkling water instead!" Delilah said as she came into the room. When she walked closer to the bed, she saw how unnervingly still James was with a strange envelope that had her name on it sitting on his lap. Her heart dropped and the bottle of sparkling water fell from her hands.
"James?..."
Delilah fell on her knees near the bed as she clutched his now cold hands with tears blurring her vision then let out a scream that echoed throughout the mansion.
The god of love has told his last tale.
James was gone.




















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Stay powerful
-BATIM35