Heaven

Thinking of you keeps me awake.

Dreaming of you keeps me asleep.

Being with you keeps me alive.

—Unknown

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Eva blinked her eyes open, and for a minute she was blinded by the bright light that hit her eyes. She sat up to find that she was lying on a bed. A very comfortable one. The soft blanket slipped off her chest to her knees as she rubbed her eyes to adjust to the light.

Looking around, she found that she was in an unfamiliar room which felt like it had been drowned in black paint. Almost everything in it was black. The curtains, the bed, the blanket, the walls, and the floor. Only the lights were brightening up the room that looked colorless.

This was not how she expected heaven to look like. That was when she noticed that she was dressed in a white, silk nightgown and there was no sign of the gown that she wore before she fell.

As her memory flooded back with the past events that had occurred, she was sure that she was in heaven. Hell could not be furnished with such a soft bed, right?

Placing her feet on the cold, freezing ground she winced in pain. Looking down at her leg, she saw that a cloth was wrapped around it where the branch had pricked her. Perhaps this is not heaven, Eva thought to herself. But then how had she survived that lethal fall?

The door to the room opened, and instead of an angel, a maid appeared in front of her. This confirmed that she was still living in this world and she sighed. With relief or weariness, she didn't know.

The question that bugged her was, 'How?'

"Milady, you are awake? Let me help you!" exclaimed the maid when she noticed Eva trying to stand up by herself.

The girl helped her sit back on the bed and then said, "I'll call the King." before leaving and closing the door shut behind her.

Eva's eyes furrowed when she heard this. Oh no! The maid had seen her with her silver hair falling freely on her shoulders. Why had she not displayed any sort of surprise or fear? And what was she saying about a King? There was no King in the Kingdom of Vermont, unless...

No, there was no way. She was still in her country safe and sound. How could she have entered another Kingdom? But... The Enchanted Forest was the only thing separating her village from the Kingdom of Xandria. What if... ?

Questions tumbled inside her head one by one and she had no answer to any of them. She was distracted from her thoughts when the door once again opened but there was no maid there this time.

Instead, a tall man stood there looking like the very reincarnation of the devil himself and Eva felt uneasy as she felt the dark aura around him markedly.

He was handsome looking, no, handsome was not enough to describe his appearance. It was hard to describe him as handsome when she had seen no one as attractive as him in her whole life.

His hand was in the pocket of his slacks as he walked forward in her direction. When she noticed him coming close to her, Eva took a few steps back until her back met the hard wall behind her.

He didn't stop approaching her and Eva held her breath when he entered her breathing space. She was a head shorter than him so he leaned down until their faces were in front of each other.

His hand was placed on the wall, right beside her as Eva stared straight into his obsidian black eyes which were darker and deeper than normal human beings.

Was this a staring competition, thought Eva as she tried not to blink under his intimidating gaze. By any chance, did he not have the ability to speak?

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. In a smooth tone, he spoke, "You're staring in my eyes."

It was a declaration, not a question and the girl felt confused.

Eva blinked foolishly. What did he mean? Should she not stare into his eyes? Then she remembered that he was a King and it was considered rude to stare into his eyes. Hurriedly, Eva lowered her gaze to the floor feeling her face turn scarlet in embarrassment.

"I never said you couldn't."

Her face shot up to meet his which was closer to hers than before. She gulped seeing it so close and felt that soon her back would become one with the wall.

His face was devoid of any expression but she noticed his lip curve up when she lifted her head. It was a slight smile that vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"Uh, who are you?" asked Eva, leaning her head as back as she could. His warm breath was mingling with hers making the atmosphere rise, it was more than she could bear.

"Don't you know who I am?" asked the man with the same slight smile rising up again. All this time, he still hadn't removed his eyes away from hers and Eva's biggest wish was to push his face away so she could breathe properly.

"Can you, uh... " she hesitated. "Can you please move a little back?"

"You didn't answer my question," he commented, completely ignoring her question.

"You didn't answer-" Eva stopped before she could say "mine." However, it was too late since he looked as if he already knew what she was about to say. Amusement glimmered in his monotone eyes as he tried not to smile.

"A King is never obliged to answer. Don't you know this?" he questioned, wanting to see what she would reply with next. It was the first time that he had met a girl such as this one. He didn't want to lose the opportunity to take his fill of enjoyment.

"Shouldn't a King also respect women's private space?" muttered Eva, not knowing he had heard every single word that escaped those soft-looking lips.

Suddenly, her body swayed and he caught her before she could fall. Eva's eyes widened when she felt his arm around her waist holding her steady. The other hand was still in its place on the wall, unmoving.

"I will send a maid to help you clean and dress up. She will bring you to the dining room where you can then eat."

Eva opened her mouth to refuse when her stomach betrayed her in the worst possible way. Her belly growled and he looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"I shall expect you to be at the dining table soon," he spoke before gently letting her go. When he felt that she was stable and not going to fall again, he backed away and left with a smile slowly coming to form on his lips.