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Caelan was humming a light tune from when he was younger. It was slower, sadder, had more emotion compared to most songs in the Night Kingdom, but was a childhood core memory he had. |
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Adele stopped brushing Calvin and listened to Caelan's humming. She looked at him. "What's that song?" she asked curiously. |
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"A song I basically...made up? I don't know, it's just random. SOrry" Caelan said, going silent |
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"No, I like it," she said, touching his arm. "I've never really been good at... You know, music. I prefer writing. Though I guess if it came to it I could write lyrics to songs... I don't know, I've never tried." Adele sank into thoughtful silence, watching Calvin graze happily, no longer burdened with his tack. |
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Caelan just nodded, his mind on his mother and the pure terror he felt for her. He didn't want anything else to happen to Adele but if his mother did anything ever again, it would give him reason to have her put to death. He'd do anything for Adele--even have his own mother removed from this life. |
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Adele, seeing he was lost in thought, decided to leave him alone. She walked over to Calvin and took his halter, leading him over to where his tack was. She didn't know what to do with the tack, as she didn't want to put it back on him to ride back to the castle. She could ride him bareback, but then what would they do with the tack? Could Caelan carry it back? She didn't think so. Carrying the saddle alone was hard, but walking miles or riding miles with it would be much harder. She pondered the thought, not wanting to ask Caelan his opinion because she didn't want to interrupt his thinking. But she really didn't know what to do. Eventually, she settled down in the grass, happy to stay there for a while if need be. |
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Caelan snapped out of his thought, grabbing the saddle effortlessly and balancing half on his shoulder and holding it up with his right arm. "C'mon, baby." He said to Adele, offering his hand as Aurora walked beside him |
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Adele was surprised at first to see Caelan lift the saddle so easily, but her face almost immediately changed to a playful smile. She shook her head and said, "Show-off," before taking Caelan's hand and leading Calvin next to Aurora. |
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"Only for you, darling" He said, kissing her cheek and walking back to the castle silently. He asked the groom to give both horses a bath and towel dry them ebfore placing blankets on both horses. The groom agreed and got started immedietly. Caelan led Adele into the castle and to his room before embracing her. He breathed in her scent and held her close. "I love you" |
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She smirked at his comment, but didn't say any more. The walk back to the castle was quiet, but in a nice way. Adele enjoyed the scenery and watched Aurora flirt with Calvin. She had a huge crush on him, and he wasn't letting her get away with it easily. She smiled as the mare tried to take a step closer to Calvin, who pinned his ears and snorted, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Aurora shrank back, but in a few moments she was tantalizing him again. Adele chuckled lighlty at their playing, glad Calvin was acting normal. When they reached the castle, she let Caelan do whatever he needed with the groom, standing next to him but not doing anything. She didn't know what she should be doing. It still felt weird to her, being a princess, but having no control over the people here. It was how she'd grown up, ordering the cooks around to get her dessert, and having the grooms wash her horses. But in the night kingdom she couldn't do any of that. It made her feel like an imposter. Once they were in Caelan's room, she relaxed more, realizing she had been holding her breath, hoping that they didn't see his mother. She leaned into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him. She closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of being safe, warm, and loved. Only a month or so ago, she'd never felt any of those things, spending most of her time in the woods, trying to keep her powers a secret. But she wasn't keeping any secrets from Caelan. And that was the best feeling in the entire world. That he loved her for who she was, not who she was pretending to be. Adele leaned her head onto his shoulder, resting there in his comforting presence. |
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Snow and Sleet Mix, Clearing at Night
