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Over the last few weeks it had been raining so much Damen didn’t even flinch when decided to go out the moment it had finally stopped. Over the years, Marlas had become such a thriving land, life restored where once was only desolation.
In the centre, Damen had noticed rain fell more frequently than in the land that was once known as Akielos, but less than in the north, where Vere’s ex capital was located. It was the perfect place for their reign to thrive, a solid union between what were the best qualities their old domains had to offer.
Hence, the moment the first ray of sun hit the royal chambers, Damen asked Laurent to follow him outside for a walk. His husband didn’t decline his offer; Laurent loved the rainy weather, yet he was also pretty tired of being secluded in the palace, without having any opportunity to enjoy the first days of spring.
They took the horses with them, two beautiful stallions that were a gift from Nikandros for their latest wedding anniversary. Damen realized that almost six years had already passed since his and Laurent’s marriage; he thought about it while looking at his husband walking next to him. They were now proceeding slowly in the last mile that separated them from the castle.
Damen could feel his senses being inebriated by the warm smell of bread, the scent transported by the wind playing also with his dark curls. Damen could see the palace already from that distance, every chamber so filled with life now awakened. Even though the scenery was lovely, Damen couldn’t help but shift all of his attention elsewhere.
Damen’s hazel eyes were now set on Laurent who walked gracefully in the field. By reaching his mid-twenties, Laurent looked now so refined, as aging had definitely suffocated any trace of adolescence that was left in him; yet, the king of new Artes didn’t lost his grace at all, nor his mannerism that was able to capture the attention of even those wrapped in a long conversation.
As for Damen, he didn’t need much but Laurent’s presence to forget about the rest; Laurent walking next to him was enough for Damen to gravitate towards his figure, for Damen to enjoy such a celestial image.
However, Damen wasn’t the only one with his eyes set on his loved one. Laurent too, who had now stopped, set his blue eyes on him. If adulthood had erased any trace of softness typical of boys from Laurent’s face, his eyes were now gentler, resembling more the pale spring’s sky than the cold ice of winter. Those eyes didn’t burn with the same intensity of snow against skin; they looked at Damen with the same softness of the sky over their heads that allowed flowers to bloom.
“What?” Damen asked, his own voice made of sugar.
Laurent looked at him intensively before speaking up, his blonde hair caressed by the wind.
“If I were you, I would not move at all.”
Damen followed Laurent’ suggestion, yet he couldn’t help but feel a bit confused. Laurent left the bridles and walked slowly towards Damen, careful at every movement. And it was the way Laurent moved, his attention all focused on where he was putting his feet, that helped Damen decide to look down. As Damen was sure to find some kind of trap set by hunters, he was surprised when noticing the reason for all that fuss was actually a mushroom ring. He had stepped into one made by little, white mushrooms, probably sprouted because of the last rainy days.
Damen turned to Laurent again, his husband now standing still in front of him. He had stopped before stepping on the mushrooms, his hands clasped behind his back and a severe expression on his face.
“For what reason, exactly?” Damen tried to force him to talk.
“My brother once told me” Laurent started saying, his voice so dramatically serious one would think he was whispering a secret capable of destroying their reign. Damen, aware his husband was now inventing some bullshit type of excuse, still listened to him, his eyes shining from amusement.
“Those who step into a mushroom ring have to kiss their precious loved one before stepping out, or they will unleash a horrific curse that will fall on their family.”
Damen didn’t have any problem imagining a little Laurent listening carefully, and maybe a bit scared, his older brother’s words. And he also didn’t have any problem imagining the young prince standing still in a mushroom ring for hours to avoid the curse before Auguste finally spitting out his lies.
“If you really wanted me to kiss you, you should’ve asked,” Damen told him. He was having fun, really, as he really loved when Laurent felt safe enough to let his youthful side out in his presence. Damen was aware that his own life would have turned differently without Laurent’s playful side. And it was something Damen despised in other individuals, yet loved for Laurent as he thought it was such a fitting aspect for his husband, as that playfulness was simply a product of Laurent’s own intelligence.
“Is King Damianos suggesting he would have loved to kiss anyone else? Are you, perhaps, telling me you have a new lover?” Laurent’s blue eyes shined amused at him, yet his gaze was full of affection, of love directed at Damen only.
“We are married,” Damen fleebly pointed out as he took Laurent’s hands in his with the same tenderness reserved to a small flower.
Laurent was so close to burst out laughing, yet tried to keep his act intact and raise an eyebrow.
“So?” Laurent asked, waiting.
Damen pulled him close, looking for his soft lips that every single day, since years now, always turned to him to start a kiss. Like flowers unfold under the sun’s warmth, Laurent’s lips did the same under Damen’s, silently asking him to deepen their kiss.
When they parted, Damen caressed Laurent’s face, enjoying the way his husband was gazing back at him. Those blue eyes possessed the same color of the sky when dawn was slowly replaced by morning.
“You’re my only loved one, Laurent.”