Chapter 31: Love Poems
The couple enjoyed one of the city’s special dishes. They were satisfied.
Afterward, they borrowed a small canoe for a night exploration of the city on the water.
Lamplights and lanterns blended seemingly, their warm glows reflecting off the dark water like scattered stars. The city was alive—not as much as the capital, but it was.
°°°
The wooden boat dipped gently with each stroke of their paddles. Water lapped softly against the hull, a rhythmic whisper in the evening hush.
She sat at the bow, her hand trailing through the cool canal, sending ripples into the golden reflections. He sat behind, paddling with steady, unhurried pulls, guiding them under low stone bridges and past weeping willows whose leaves brushed the surface like fingertips.
Overhead, strings of paper lanterns swayed in the breeze, casting a soft amber glow that caught the edges of her hair. His eyes lingered there—on the way the light moved with her, on the quiet rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed the night air.
No words passed between them. None were needed.
A distant musician played a stringed instrument, the melody drifting across the water like a forgotten memory. Somewhere, a couple laughed behind an open window. The scents of night-blooming jasmine and fresh bread mingled in the cool breeze.
He slowed the paddles, letting the canoe drift. She turned slightly, just enough to see him, and her lips curved into a small smile.
He reached forward and took her hand. She squeezed back.
Under the arch of a stone bridge, tucked away from the bustle, they paused. The world narrowed to the width of the boat, the warmth of their joined hands, the soft lapping of water.
She leaned back against his chest. He rested his chin on her crown.
Above them, a single lantern flickered, its flame steady and sure.
The canoe floated on, carrying them through the sleeping city—two souls adrift in a moment that needed no name, no promise, no ending, only focusing on the moment.
Once they were satisfied they retreated to their room, tomorrow would be a day filled with fun, excited to explore their first dungeon the couple went to sleep in each other arm.
°°°
Meanwhile, in another dimension, in angel domain.
The current leader of the angel, the almost composed woman was becoming restless, the more days pass the more she wished to confirm if it was really him and if it was how should she behave? Apologize? Lock him away? Countless things ran through her mind but one thing was certain she wouldn’t let him go, not this time.
°°°°
There was an ethereal beauty to the sunlight, as if a layer of tinted filtering had been added in the sky. Everything was in honeyed tones, beautiful and soothing. Lilith moved her hand through the air, watching her fingers. It was almost as if the light was amber nectar, flowing in slow and graceful swirls.
Gabriel embraced her from behind as he rained kiss down her earlobes and neck down to her collarbone, this action sent chill down her spine, she spun and sealed his lips as they shared a kiss.
In that kiss was the sweetness of passion, a million loving thoughts condensed into a moment.
After kissing the couple went to bath together with promise of writing a love poem to each other, read it before they departed, you might wonder why they were doing this but it was one of their many ways of displaying affection, to keep their relationship passionate, filled with thrill as they spent more time together.
The couple was done and got dressed in black adventurer gear they had commissioned Elfie to do, a simple gear made of powerful monster hide and arachnid thread. It was now time for each of them to take turns to read aloud the poem they wrote and naturally Gabriel was first to start.
[With one touch you entered my soul,
As if your own body were its key,
Not a thing of metal nor gold,
Yet a sensation of love that came,
Through fingertips and eyes,
Through your steady breaths,
Through your sweet words,
And the resolution of my survival self,
To never let anyone sit at my core,
Surrendered in that fleeting moment,
Realising that it now forever was in love,
Silencing the whisperings of doubt,
Finding the ways forwards in any storm,
Finding the resolution to protect come what may,
Finding a new inner strength had ignited,
Relived to discover my own pure self,
That in real love there is no temptation to change,
Because it is our real selves that bonded,
It is our real selves that each other loves.]
Lilith took a moment to digest the poem, she clenched her paper, her heart bearing, glad she wrote the current poem, as if they were on the same wavelength. She took a deep breath to calm down before unfolding her paper and began reading her poem.
[I listen to you talk,
Soaking in your excitement,
Revealing in the light of your eyes,
Bathed in the warmth of your voice,
I see how you are often still,
I see how you move,
I notice how you listen to me,
How you think so deeply,
Of the right response to say,
Willing to walk my thought paths,
To take part in joint problem solving,
There is a vast difference between strength and ego,
You are strong,
You believe in yourself,
You respect the honest heart,
And have the wisdom to see reality,
That some are players seeking only play,
Rather than mutual benefit,
And in all that,
From your ways to your words,
There is so much to love,
Yet when we add the chemistry,
The passion to touch,
The primal need for intimacy,
There is that feeling of being in love,
That it has arrived without fanfare,
As a humble traveller,
Not there a moment earlier,
Yet forevermore existing after.
With you I want to stay forever.]
The couple moved as if attracted by a powerful magnetic field they locked lips as they kissed passionately, they could see through each other eyes how much they loved each other.
As they become breathless after an intense kiss, they stopped, and with their foreheads touching he said.
’’We are so different,
You and I,
Yet together are balance,
As yin and yang,
Both beauty,
Both strength,
A perfect match,
A perfect bond.’’
She couldn’t agree more, she felt loved, she felt blessed and so was he. Their relationship might appear harmonious but each knew what they sacrificed, what they could tolerate, what they went through. Sometimes they would fight, become like a oil and water but every time they would find their way back once more, the key is communication, tolerance, acceptance and more and in this life it wouldn’t be different.
The couple hand in hand departed toward the guild, eager to have some fun. Why not start with a little competition? Thought the couple.
