Starlight of a Moonbeam

Circles in Time, Two - Age 19 (Elena POV)

"My Darling Wolf,

"But half a moon has passed since we were last together and already I feel as if I were dying! My heart calls for you, my mind can think of nothing but your soft rosebud-colored lips and golden hair, and my wings and feathers ache to fly for you, but alas! You have left where I am, and I must stay where you have left me. I do not resent you, nor do I hold any indifference, though I long for a touch from your fair hands!"

A very unprincess-like snort erupts from me, followed by a choking sort of laugh. I pull one hand away from the letter in my hands and examine the ruff callouses and torn skin that's been just the same since the day I started training - the day I was born.

Fair hands indeed.

With an eye-roll, I turn back to the midnight ink upon flower-pressed parchment paper and continue reading.

"What pains me more than a thousand cuts is the knowledge that you are but a day's flight from me, and will be so for the next moon's turn and still I cannot go to you! But rest assured, my love, that I will be watching your departure from this land from afar with relentless tears and a broken heart."

Another cackling laugh bursts from my lips and shatters the silence in the sun-lit room.

"Life at Mistward has been ever so dull since you and Almuru left, and Betrix will be leaving within a few days as well, so I will have no one but Alester to keep me company! But, I can expect my father to collect me within the next two fortnights and take me to the Barrier Reef, so I will not be distraught for long. Though I do wish you could accompany me; I have such fond memories of you and I in the forest pools together."

A hum escapes from me, and my toes curl slightly in my slippers. The memories of swimming with him are fond, to say the least. But I can't squash out the hit of jealously in my chest when hearing that he'll be going to the sea for the next few months.

"I beg you with all the pitiful nothings I am made of in comparison to your divine soul to respond to this love letter with all the urgency of Norrek's strength! For I shall be waiting upon the stoop of the door until your response shall at last arrive and save me from the miserable boredom that has befallen me since your departure."

Stephian Norrek, a high-ranking warrior in Queen Sellenne's guard and our trainer at Mistward did indeed have impressive strength, even for an immortal fae warrior, but what was more impressive was his stamina and confusion as to why the rest of us should have any trouble keeping up. He was, however, a good teacher and I had learned a rather extensive amount of control and strength from him that made me a much better and longer-lasting fighter.

"And now as the devil himself calls me back to the ropes,"

The ropes: series of thick cords that were suspended over and hanging down into one of the deepest and narrowest canyons in the mountain range. It was one of Norrek's training methods for us to hang there halfway down the ravine with only a rope and our strength to keep us there for over four hours.

The exercise wasn't just for building muscle in the way one needs it to keep from falling with merely your hands, but it also calmed the mind and was an effective focusing exercise once you got past the fact that you were hanging above a ravine that probably led to the underworld itself.

"rest assured I will come back to the light only by the thought of your open arms to me upon the other side."

Another laugh escapes me, and I tap my pointer finger along the edge of the parchment as my head automatically shakes. The one time I "opened my arms to him" was when I ran at him and tackled him to the ground.