@caduceusthemagnificent; // ♡ ‘d for a starter — ALEXANDER && CASSIMA
Cassima sat amidst a mess of pillows, her head snugly nestled against Alexander’s shoulder. Moments like this brought her more happiness than anything. Quiet moments where she could content herself to simply sit at his side. The past few years proved arduous, from the unrest in the isles, to Mordack’s kidnapping, to the murder of her parents and Alhazared’s schemes. But Cassima couldn’t imagine a happier end — or rather, beginning. Things still felt… awkward between her and Alexander at times, but then again, everything about their relationship was still so new. He made her happy, and the awkwardness that came with newness would fade, she knew.
In these moments at the end of the day, though, worries did plague her. Not about them, but about Alexander. It didn’t escape her notice how often he woke in the middle of the night, with screams and tears. Cassima knew he endured many things under Mordack’s imprisonment, and even in his adventures to free her. But… Cassima felt so helpless merely holding him through his terrors. Perhaps if she knew what plagued him, exactly, she could help more…
Alexander hadn’t addressed them with her yet. And Cassima didn’t ask, herself, out of respect. She didn’t stop dwelling on the topic, though, or wondering if talking would help. Tonight, like many nights so far, it sat on the tip of her tongue, and she let it remain there as she lightly ran her fingers up and down his arm in soft, idle caresses.
“Alexander? Are you… alright at night?” Cassima frowned briefly — it didn’t sound as nice finally leaving her lips. But a sympathetic smile formed as she tilted her head up at him. “I’m sorry, I— I don’t mean to pry, if you don’t want to talk about it. It’s just… I’ve noticed you waking a lot, and I want to make sure everything’s okay.”
Within the dimly candlelit room, Alexander read quietly from one
of his books. His eyes were growing heavy, but every part of him
had wanted so desperately to at least get to the end of the chapter
before he would attempt to get some sleep. Especially with his
wife’s warm body so close to his own, the body heat shared
between them left him just a bit drowsy.
The new king never truly would look forward to going to sleep, but
he’s realized long ago how useless it was to resist it. At that point,
nightmares were just as normal and typical as getting dressed in
the morning. It was becoming routine again, now that he didn’t have
Cinnamon to truly calm his nerves like before.
Waking up your new wife screaming and sobbing during your
honeymoon likely wasn’t the best of first nights together. And even
more as they were slowly becoming more and more used to sleeping
beside one another, the terrors still refused to let up.
He’d been more surprised that she didn’t end up asking sooner,
honestly. The question had brought him out of his concentration on
the page, and left him carefully taking note of the place where he
was before placing the thin, blue ribbon bookmarker between the
pages. Alexander gave Cassima all of his attention, though he was
left momentarily silent as he tried to figure out just how he’d be able
to express to her the truth behind things.
“I... I am still very sorry. That I keep waking you.” Alexander first
expressed to her, though he must’ve apologized for waking her with
his cries countless times by now. “I really should have warned you,
about just how relentless they are. I can promise you that everything’s
fine, it’s just...” He trusted her. Right?
The reasoning behind things sat at the tip of his tongue, but he felt
as though he just couldn’t get the words out. Alexander had gone
silent, not finishing his sentence as his eyes appeared to fall to stare
down at their bed sheets as he tried to figure out how he wanted to
tell her about this.