Mint and Honey

[heartofcourage]

"More interested in my wine than me?" Yasmine teased as she followed him and showed him where the bottles were stored in her small kitchen. "He sent me far more than I'll ever be able to drink on my own."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I can't offer much help, I'm no lightweight but I prefer staying clear-headed." Alex glanced over the bottles before he picked up a familiar one that came from the vineyards of Damascus. "We had this the night before we left," he murmured.

 

[heartofcourage]

“How do you remember something as small as that?” Yasmine asked, getting two glasses from her cupboard.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Do you want the honest answer or the one that won't get me in trouble?" Alex offered with a peaceful smile, taking the bottle from the rack and walking alongside her while she got the glasses. He opened up the bottle and poured for each of them.

 

[heartofcourage]

“It’s becuse you’re a lovesick fool.” Yasmine said simply, looking at Alex as if to dare him to deny it.

 

[KieranSoares]

"That was part of it," Alex picked up his glass, fingers tracing the rim. "I was... Worried. The plan was that I would go home and you'd follow when Palmyra's borders were secure and your grandfather was completely healed and on his feet again... I honestly... Didn't think you'd actually make it back to Scotland. I thought the only time I'd see you again was if I visited Palmyra somewhere down the line. Call me a fool for thinking that, I deserve it. But I was... Scared. Scared you'd never come back. So I spent that entire night committing everything to memory, down to the bottle of wine." Alex glanced at the bottle now sitting open on the counter.

 

[heartofcourage]

Yasmine watched Alex carefully as he confessed to her that he had thought he would never see her again. “What else did you take note of that evening?”

 

[KieranSoares]

Alex glanced up toward the ceiling as he thought about that last meal with Yasmine's family and their loves, each having seemed to have found a new partner. "You were wearing that dark, rich green scarf... And we held hands almost every moment from that evening to the next morning when we were about to part." His smile returned. "Aida was doing the same with Sahine. If they weren't holding hands, Sahine was leaning on her shoulder. And I don't think Aida ever quit smiling... And then I remember how neither of us could sleep that night. So we tried to make the time last by making love. We didn't talk... Not at all. There was nothing left to say."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You know I would never leave you behind willingly." Yasmine said softly as he continued to talk about all that he remembered from that last evening in Palmyra. "Never again. Not after what happened with that viper."

She still carried the thin scar in her hair from Alex's surgery after her brutal treatment in the desert by the German soldiers. She would always have some slight memory issues that she worked through with sheer stubbornness.

 

[KieranSoares]

Alex stepped closer as she brought up the memory of Haniyya's treachery. She had done a lot of damage in the effort to keep Ibrahim's attention and trust in her alone. Wrapping an arm around Yasmine, Alex sighed. "I was worried your family would end up like ours once was in a few situations... I wasn't even alive when they happened, but I've heard the stories of how two very powerful men were driven to madness and tyranny by someone pulling the strings from behind. Arland Wick died for it on the end of a knife after he kidnapped Julia, Ciaran, and Annie, and captured Brogan. The... 'Mad King' Tamblin lost his life to it as well, Brogan was forced to kill his own father to free the throne from his grasp. I can't imagine what might've happened to Ibrahim and your family if Haniyya's grip on him had held."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Jiddo wasn't ill. Jiddo simply was lonely." Yasmine said as Alex wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tightly to his side. "I have suspicion that I might still be a target from Barbarossa. If he wishes to take my family out of this war, he would strike at what he can reach. With the rest all the way in Palmyra, I know I'm fair game."

Yasmine leaned her head against Alex's shoulder, pressing her cheek against his throat as she wrapped her arms around his chest. "But I won't let him win. We can't let him win."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He's taken up a fight with the entire north and already wasted resources on a fruitless battle in the south. We ourselves might be too small to do much against an empire, but the sum of our allies is near his equal, with the Rus threatening to match him in sheer land ownership. I'd say it's an even match if we can all work together. We have a large number of leaders which is a blessing and a curse, but the dedication between them is something a lone Emperor just doesn't have."

 

[heartofcourage]

Yasmine lifted her head and stared at him for a long moment. She saw a wealth of emotions in his blue eyes and all she wanted to do in that moment was to take the uncertainty that she saw there away. She knew that he had issues within his own family that caused it and there was nothing she could do about that, but she knew being with her was a large help.

Leaning in, she cupped his cheek and kissed him deeply, letting out a sigh as their lips met and she clung to him in need.

 

[KieranSoares]

Wine forgotten, Alex set his glass aside to give Yasmine his full attention. His own hands rose, one to her cheek and one resting on the join of her neck and shoulder. His thumb stroked her cheek as he pulled back a few inches, murmuring as met her gaze, "I love you."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I don’t doubt that.” Yasmine said softly as he swore his love to her, kissing her back with as much ferver as she had shown him. “I’ve never doubted that.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Alex chuckled softly. "You always have an interesting answer. If only I could be as clear-headed about all of this." His soft blue eyes looked down at her with an adoration built of complete trust and calm. While they could both joke about him being a lovesick fool, he had a serene and intelligent approach to their relationship, even when the world around them grew stressful. In the short time they'd been together, Alex already knew his happy middle ground and how to balance his independent lifestyle with his love for her companionship. It was as if the 'honeymoon' phase had only lasted a short while, or was only going on in the background.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I don’t know how else to act about this, Alex. I didn’t grow up in a traditional family nor was Palmyra a typical place. If we were still there, you would be within your rights to have a harem if you wished.” Yasmine said softly, Alex’s gaze open and clear as he looked down at her with that same serene look he always had.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm not against multiple people in a relationship, but I wouldn't expect you to tolerate me having multiple partners while you're stuck with just me," Alex chuckled softly. "We're meant to share things like that, aren't we?" His arms draped about her waist and he laid his head on her shoulder.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I don’t want multiple partners.” Yasmine said softly as Alex seemed to wrap himself entirely around her. “I’m a one man kind of woman.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"And that's fine too," Alex murmured, letting out a long, content sigh. Even if he had his worries, he could at least relax a while when it was just him and Yasmine.

 

[heartofcourage]

“You’ll stay tonight then? I have nothing pressing to do tomorrow.” Yasmine said softly, still a bit hesitant to ask him outright to stay the night.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Only if you'll have me," Alex offered with a smile, knowing that it wasn't easy for such an independent person to ask that.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Of course I’ll always have you. Even if we weren’t together, you’d always be welcome because you saved my life.” Yasmine said softly as she pressed her forehead against Alex’s and let out a soft sigh. “I owe you my life, Alex. Never forget that without you, I would not be here.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"You owe me nothing. You never have." He closed his eyes once more, content to simply exist with her a while.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Take the compliment, healer.” Yasmine whispered, kissing him again with a soft sigh.