Maybe one day, he thought, his feelings would fade, he could finally focus on doing his job for the sake of doing it, not for the sake of impressing them or keeping them interested.
But oh, how wrong he was.
From standing at the gates to walking alongside them to guarding their personal room to them visiting his quarters and now the Suitor visiting the Bride in theirs. It did not fade, if anything it only grew stronger. Not exponentially but definitely a little bit over the years he had worked for them. Was it years? It felt like it. Perhaps these small upgrades are what's keeping his feelings from fading.
They stood with their back facing the door, staring out into the nothingness that is the sky and landscape though the windows ajar. A breeze circulated through the room, their veil and dress fluttering with it, some loose feathers drifted from their head and out the window.
The Suitor stopped at a small distance away from them and kneeled down. âYour highness, you asked to see me?â
They slowly turned around, the gloriole and sun casting a shadow over their already veiled face. âI have a few questions to ask, knight. Stand up.â
He obeyed accordingly and rose to his feet, though he still kept his gaze low out of respect.
The Suitorâs breathing hitched momentarily and he looked up in confusion, studying the Brideâs features. Did he fear them? Yeah, there was a certain intensity in their gaze, their unreadable expression was intimidating and just generally the air of mysticism around them made him feel queasy. But fear? Maybe morbid fascination is a better term
"I... don't think so. I wouldn't define it as fear", he muttered out.
The Bride tilted their head and walked up to him with slow, silent steps. "Why do you think it's not fear?"
"Well, uh..." He began shifting his weight back and forth. "For one, I obey your orders out of respect, not because I'm scared of the consequences. And... I don't wish to avoid you."
The Bride only hummed in acknowledgement and stood in front of the Suitor, just an arm's length away.
"Why did you let yourself be captured?"
His breathing paused momentarily. It's true, he was away when the army erupted into chaos as the Prince took them in one by one, he could have ran further away and escaped, but instead he chose to get closer.
He suddenly remembered something and looked up at them.
"Your highness.. you know everything. You already know my answer."
They chuckled behind a sleeve.
"How smart of you. Yes, I do know why, but I wanted to see how long it'll take you until you realise the capacity of my knowledge."
A black and clawed gloved hand reached out to the Suitor.
He obeyed, sliding off the helmet and shaking his what to fluff his hair back up, his head being tilted up by the chin.
The Suitor stared, a flush creeping up to his face.
The Bride has lifted their veil, an act reserved for the groom.
It felt impossible to look away, his gaze was stuck to their masked face. He thought he could make out the colour of their iris through the eye slits, but before the Suitor could say for sure, they stepped back and pulled the veil back down, turning away.
He still stood there dazed for a moment, before remembering his position and quickly bowed, hurrying out of the room while putting the helmet back over his head.
The Bride waited until the door clicked behind them and looked back at where the Suitor previously stood.
Silence filled the room, broken by a soft chuckle. "You've never been good at expressing your feelings, comrade."