The Cursed King

Despite the avenue of faster motorboats and even miniature ships that could transport several goods in the canals, there were still at least a few hundred gondolas in Italy that were still left in good condition.

There were only a hundred licensed gondolas today. Most of these sleek boats were now kept in museums as heritages of the past and only a few could imagine one being used now.

This was now a luxury that only a few could afford compared to thousands of boat riders in the past.  But when it came to his wife, Loriel wanted to give her the best. 

It also happened that he was one of those few who managed to get a collection of gondolas. He kept some as a private collection while he let Marc handle some of it to be used as a tourist ride.

He loved preserving things from the past. He thought, if he didn't keep his hands into some of them, they would be gone forever and he would never see them again.

Humans were so bad at preserving their cultures and tradition from the past.. So, Loriel took it upon himself to do a bit part of the job. Well… not really him per se. But he thought about it and let Marc do it for him.

Same same.

Now that they were here in Venice, Loriel wanted Elise to enjoy a gondola ride so she could send the pictures to her curious coworkers. They could see how much she was having fun during her honeymoon and that her husband spoiled her to bits.

Marc and Alex had got everything taken care of.  When Loriel and Elise left their fancy villa the next day, the gondola was already waiting by the canal in front of the property. 

Since it was in February, the temperature was too cold for people to ride a gondola, but for both Loriel and Elise this was not an issue. They could warm up their bodies easily with their powers, even though Elise didn't know that Loriel knew about her power.

So, today, the canals looked quite empty from tourists who wanted to ride gondolas. If they rode now, it would feel like they got the place for themselves.

The gondolier welcomed them with a big smile and said how he was impressed to see a couple wanting to ride a gondola at such temperature, and especially without a gondolier to take care of them.

"Huh?" Elise turned to Loriel and asked in surprise. "We are not going to use his help?"

Loriel shook his head and smiled smugly. "That is correct."

"You know how to paddle a gondola?" Elise asked again in disbelief.

"It looks easy enough, besides I want to enjoy a boat ride with you that has no other people disturbing us," Loriel whispered into her ear with a smile. "Trust me, we'll be fine." 

For Loriel, it would be easy to create wind to help push the gondola so he wouldn't need to actually paddle, but he would pretend anyway. He was selfish and didn't want to share his wife in a romantic gondola journey, even with the gondolier.

"Okay," Elise didn't seem very comfortable with the idea, but she also wanted to enjoy the experience. "Shall we?" 

Before they could ride on the sleek and narrowboat, the gondolier helped Elise aboard. "Here you go, Miss."

"Ah, thank you." Elise sat down on the boat.

The gondolier then started giving Loriel some tips and instructions on how to use the oars to help them get around.

Loriel pretended to pay attention for a couple of minutes before he tipped the guy and then took his seat beside Elise. 

While he was going to use the oar and did know how to use one, Loriel also had other plans. When he steered the boat out of the port and into the city's canals, it wasn't only the oars movement that helped them navigate through the city. 

The waters also moved along with them.

This was a little similar to what he did back in NYC Central Park, but instead of plants, the water was the one who moved according to his will. 

Loriel could then instead spend his time talking with his beautiful wife. 

"I feel like I'm in a storybook," Elise spoke with a smile. Her gaze was on all of the beautiful architecture that they were traveling through and she even looked down at the clear and blue waters.

Her reflection was pure in the waters and she couldn't help but feel like the upstream was helping them move along the canals with ease. It was really lucky.

"Well, this place is truly beautiful."

Loriel was happy to acknowledge that fact. It wasn't often that a city or country managed to make him admire it despite the countless centuries that passed him by.

Elise nodded and ran her fingers through the water.

"I'm glad that the past and present still manage to be connected like this gondola, it almost feels like you're living in a dream."

Loriel took it as a good sign that his wife was enjoying herself, so by extension, it meant the same for him. He was happy to be just at her side and doing all of these activities with her.

A part of him still wondered if he was also dreaming.

If this was once again a conjured mirage or illusion that his mind made to keep himself sane. Loriel needed to shake those thoughts away. "Yes, I can't help but wonder it myself."

Elise took note of Loriel's tone and clarified herself with a smile. "It's just so nice to see that they managed to keep some things from a hundred years ago intact." 

"I can't help but agree with you," Loriel acknowledge. "Italy and other countries have truly made it a point to reclaim what they have in the past and protect it. It's a cultural heritage."

"One can't help but also wonder about other kingdoms too," Elise said with a hint of melancholy. "Not everything can be protected and some are lost to time."

Loriel did his best to make sure that she was okay and enjoyed the romantic ride with him.

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