Chapter 5, Escape

The fifth chapter of "Wilde Horses Couldn't Stop Me!"

XI:

He opened his eyes, wondering if it had worked, but her eyes were still closed.  He lingered a little longer in his kiss and then he suddenly felt breath weakly pushing his lips away.  Her eyes flitted open.  She looked like she’d seen a ghost.  Milo drew away in amazement.  She was awake!  She was alive!  

They looked at each other in complete disbelief.  Suddenly Milo realized the consequences of his actions.

“Kida…” he thought to himself.  He had already been a knight in shining armour for someone, someone he had made a promise to.  And Kida was already mad at him.  This would make things even worse.

“M-milo…” she murmured, “you’re still alive?”

“Yeah,” he smiled.  He had to hurry.  If someone saw her awake with him at four in the morning, people would draw conclusions.  

“Beatrice.  You must be extremely confused right now, but I just need you to trust me.  Yes, I am Milo.  Yes, I am alive.  Yes, I… just kissed you.  But I need you to forget this happened.  Wake up in a few more hours and say that nothing woke you up, you just… woke up suddenly, all by yourself.  I need you to forget that I kissed you, okay?  Just do this one thing for me.  Please?”

He was pleading with her.  She looked scared and perplexed, “Okay, Milo.  I trust you.”

He thanked her and then left, locking the door behind him.  Beatrice lay down again, eyes wide open.  

“How can you expect me to sleep when I just woke up?”

All the same, she was just happy to be alive.  Even happier to know Milo was alive, too, after all the years she thought he was dead.  She hoped she wasn’t dreaming and tried to fall asleep.

XII

Milo made sure the door was locked and put the key in his pocket.  If he told the truth, would Kida ever forgive him?  He didn’t know where to go.  He had to think.  He needed a place where people couldn’t find him, or where they could, but only after a while.  He flew a ketak up to stone giant head around the outskirts of the city.  And thought.  And cried.  And threw rocks at the birds.  And yelled at the waterfalls.  And cried some more.  Kida might never find out about this, but how could he be her husband if he had to hide things from her?  Especially this early in their marriage.  

“I wasn’t thinking about Kida in that room at all.  I just wanted to save that girl.  Maybe I really am neglecting Kida for this girl.  She was right to be mad at me!”

He looked around the city.  It was so beautiful.  A wonder of the world, at the least.  And he was in charge of it with Kida.  How could he have screwed this up so royally?  He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.  Could he now?

“I’m a terrible person.  A terrible husband.  And I dragged that innocent girl into this.  I told her to forget it ever happened.  A minute into her first day in Atlantis, conscious, and I’m telling her to forget what happened.  I’m so… lost.”

He sat down in defeat, “But that fairytale… didn’t it say that only her true love could save her with a kiss?”

He gasped, “Am I her true love?”

He thought about it, “Impossible!  I barely know her.  You can’t just know someone is your true love with that little information!  And I thought Kida was my true love.  It’s just because I’m from the surface.”

Looking down at the stone giant beneath him, he sighed, “What should I do, my old pal?”

The giant sprung to life and started walking toward Milo’s palace.

“Wait a minute, you can understand me?  That is incredible!  What are you trying to say, that I should tell Kida what happened?”

The giant simply started walking toward the palace.  When they reached the palace, the giant lowered his head, so Milo could step off.

“Thank you for your help.”

The creature nodded in acknowledgment and went back to his post.

“I still don’t really know what to do.  I guess I’ll wait it out.”