Nervously, Xenia paced up and down the dirty, spider-web covered cottage as she waited for her savior to arrive. Every little noise made her anxious. She was not used to being so far from the castle when she had no one with her.

She knew that Zela was nearby, but that didn't help her to calm down. Her heart was pounding in her throat. Still, part of her was eager to see Roman again. She wanted to know more about him. And she had many questions. Xenia hoped that Roman could answer at least some of them. Because she knew that as soon as her father would be back, she would not have the chance to meet Roman. Or at least it would be anything but easy.

Roman of course felt her nervousness growing and therefore hurried to be at her side. Just like Xenia, he could hardly wait.

The door opened with a squeak, causing the princess to flinch. But a quick glance showed her that her fear was unfounded. A smile spread across her face as she walked towards the prince.

Roman smiled as well. He gently took her hands in his as he looked into her beautiful eyes. Both were very quiet and just looked at each other. It was almost as if they had not known each other for a long time.

"Hello, princess. I'm glad to see you." Roman said to break the silence.

Xenia blushed as she lowered her gaze. The feelings inside her were running wild. What she didn't know was that Roman felt exactly how she felt and that he felt the same way.

"Please, Roman.... call me Xenia. There is no need to be so formal." she replied softly.

"Fair enough, Xenia... How do you feel? Is everything really alright?" he wanted to know, because it was the normal thing to do.

After all, he couldn't just tell her how she felt when she might not be able to explain it to herself. Sometimes his gift was irritating, for example, when he told someone what was going on inside him without being told.

"Thanks to you, I'm feeling wonderful. And I wanted to thank you. I don't know how or why you came to me, but that doesn't change my gratefulness." Xenia said as she finally looked into his warm eyes.

"I'm grateful, too. And I know it's confusing. I will do my best to explain it to you. Well, if that's what you want." replied Roman.

"That's what I want. I need answers and I think you are the only one who will give them to me. Why did you come to me?" she wanted to know.

"Well... to start at the beginning. When we met at the party, I immediately felt this connection between us. I don't know how much you know about powers, but I have the gift of empathy. I can feel certain emotions, vibes from people around me. And with you... it's stronger than I've ever felt before in my life. I could feel from many miles away that you were in pain. I could feel the agony. And I couldn't bear that, so I wanted to help you somehow." he explained to her.

"I don't know anything about powers. Let alone that I should have possessed any, well before.... I don't know why he attacked me. I'm normal. But that's another topic. 

Tell me.... do you know why our fathers are enemies? My father never wanted to tell me. All my life I was told to stay away from everyone and everything in your country. That I wouldn't understand. And I'm tired of being treated like a little girl," Xenia said.

Roman took a deep breath. It was hard to explain it to her when she didn't know anything. It was probably all a bit much at once. But she had the right to know.

"All right... where do we start? You must have probably possessed tremendous powers that this dark creature desperately wanted to possess. When he hurt you, he transferred your powers to him through the dagger. Maybe all of them, maybe just some. He must have seen you as a threat.

I think you never noticed anything about your gift because you were never in a situation where you needed them. Or maybe they hadn't awakened yet. I don't know. And as for our fathers... That's a story that took place when they were pretty young. Probably around 20 years old.

At that time, they were fighting for new territories. Everybody wanted to expand their borders. Conquer lands. And I don't know exactly how it happened, but your aunt was also at the front. According to the stories, she was a strong woman who was determined to fight for her kingdom. When our fathers, who were princes at the time, clashed, your aunt, the princess, tried to mediate. She wanted to settle a dispute. But it came to a fight. 

Apparently... apparently she tried to snatch the sword from my father's hands. With the help of her power, that is. She had the gift of telekinesis. She could move things. And when she tried to do that with the sword, it flew out of my father's hands. It had so much momentum that it impaled her. Right through the heart. She was dead instantly. And your father to this day accuses my father of killing her. But it was just an accident," Roman told the story.

He didn't know how Xenia would take it or if she even believed him. But that's what had happened.

Her gaze lowered again as she let go of Roman's hands and sat down on one of the wobbly chairs. It was indeed quite a lot at once. And Xenia knew that it would take her a while to understand and process it all. But for her there was no doubt that Roman was telling her the truth. She knew deep inside that she could trust him. And somehow it all made sense.

Xenia took a few deep breaths as Roman knelt in front of her and took her hand in his again. He searched her gaze.

"I'm sorry. I know it's a lot. And I can understand if you need time," he said softly.

"Roman, so you know how I feel?" Xenia wanted to know and he nodded.

"Then you know that I trust you. I trust you completely. And more than that. I like you very much and also I feel the connection between us. I want to see you again as soon as possible so you can tell me more. It looks like I have a lot to learn. Promise me I'll see you again, Roman," she said softly, squeezing his hand as tightly as she could.

"I promise! Nothing will keep me away from you." he replied before pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.

And he meant it. She already meant more to him after this short time than his own life. He felt that she was as serious as he was. Together they would have to find a way.

"I will let you know when it is possible for me to come here next time. And I'll have the cottage fixed up a bit," Xenia said with a smile.

"If you think of me very hard, I will feel it. It will almost be like being by your side." Roman replied as he pulled himself and Xenia to their feet.

Slowly he wrapped his long arms around her middle. Xenia's hands rested on his broad shoulders as she looked up at him expectantly. Immediately, Roman felt the pull. The desire to be touched.

He leaned forward, then waited a moment. He wanted to give her a chance to resist. But she didn't. Instead, she stood on her tiptoes and reached for him until finally their lips touched.