Collection of Older Works

Faethfully Yours: Chapter Twenty-Nine

For a long while after, we were motionless. Tangled in our embrace, we lay and that was all. A low rumbling telling of rain sent faint vibrations around us though I wasn’t sure if rain would ever really come. The lands were so dry it seemed as if any sort of cloudburst were a distant dream, a fantasy of centuries.

Cradled in the crook of Ivan’s arm, I silently thanked the rolling black clouds brushing past at the hands of invisible winds. They were the perfect backdrop, thunder the ideal theme song— actually, I wished it would rain. It would only have made everything that much more right. I couldn’t imagine having gone through the things I’d experienced to then  be lying beside Ivan under clear blue skies and a bright sun. No. We were gray skies. We were the mist that blanketed country sides. We were flooding rains, deafening thunder and blinding lightning.

A light chuckle jarred me from thought.  I lifted my head to find a faint smile playing at the corners of Ivan’s fangless mouth. He wasn’t looking at me, rather at his finger that trailed lightly down the course of my bare back like the sweetest lullabies. A cool shiver rippled through me and it was then I realized he smiled at the goose bumps that covered my skin. Reaching the small of my back, Ivan started his journey upwards once more. “Scared of me, little girl?” he asked tauntingly, his voice rusty and hoarse and so insanely sexy.

Crazy thing was that lying there on the hard floor beside the open window, cradled next to Ivan, without any of my powers and with Kala’el having threatened to break me, I’d never felt so safe. Tracing his wicked smile with my finger, it became contagious. I didn’t answer. Instead, curling closer to him, I hauled in a long, slow breath taking in the scent I loved and missed for far too long.

Ivan's exploration of my back trickled past my shoulders and down my arm that lay draped over his chest. It stopped just shy of my elbow. Gradually his smile faded, first from his eyes where it was replaced by a distant lilac sorrow. Smoothing his hand down the rest of my arm resignedly, he took my hand and interlocked our fingers.

We were quiet for a moment.

“Our fusion marks are gone.” He said the words full of regret. I'd completely missed that his arms were equally bare. In the panic-induced moment that was his death, I hadn’t noticed whether or not his marks misted away. Truthfully, how could I have possibly given it any thought when all I saw was his life force vanishing before my eyes? But I wouldn’t harbor those thoughts anymore.

Settling into his side, I swallowed them away. “They are, but it doesn’t mean anything. We are still bound, right?”

Silence.

I didn’t need to look at him to know the answer. I dared it anyway. Lifting my eyes, I met Ivan’s jade stare. "Right?"

“Charlotte, things between us happened so fast. Most Fae don’t realize they are commons until after the binding ceremony. But you and I, let’s just say we consummated the marriage before the actual ceremony.” He chuckled, a mischievous glimmer flashing past his eyes. I didn’t laugh. I understood him but all I heard was that we weren’t bound anymore.

Bringing my hand to his lips, Ivan brushed light kisses on each knuckle. “The day before I died, Kheelan and I discussed taking you back to Hillenia ahead of time."

"For the binding ceremony?" I asked skeptically. Ivan didn't seem like the type to break protocol, much less to marry me. 

He let out one of those 'Well that's not entirely it' sighs. "That was a factor but once we saw the red in your hair, that was our cue.”

I blinked. “I nearly blew up all of Shongopovi and my hair color was your cue that it was time to leave?”

“It was more than just hair color. With everything you already had being thrown your way, I didn’t want to worry you but after having Maris within you for so long, she was bleeding into you. I bound her powers yes but her essence, the person she was, it was slowly seeping. Whatever seal was placed within you was not intended to keep her bound forever. At some point she would be freed and the stronger one of you would eventually overtake the vessel.”