Dark Queen: The Cybelline Prophecies

Chapter 48

"Jinon, have you heard of the tale of the butterfly lovers?" Kyria asked softly as she nestled herself in his chest. He marveled had how naturally she seemed to fold into him, as if they were supposed to be one all long.

"Hmmm?" He said, picking a leaf from her hair.

She took the leave and examined it, "There once were two people who loved each other very much, but could not be together. The girl was promised to another and so her lover died of a broken heart. When she heard of this she took off the wedding robes she had worn to marry the other man and ran away, to her lover's grave. She begged the gods to open the grave so she could be with him. The gods were so touched that they did what she asked. But instead of death, they were transformed into butterflies so they could be together."

"Are you worried that we won't be together?"

She snorted, "If you so much as look at another woman I'll turn you into a chicken and roast you." But her hand had tightened around his arm. There was so much uncertainty around their love, she was afraid, even if she didn't say it outright. She sighed, "The current court is not in my father's favor. He doesn't approve of our reliance on our Fae allies, not with the Fae Wars having carried on for so long. He worries that it will bleed into our realms. The Fae and Folk don't care about human suffering, they only see us as tools."

"Not all of them." Jinon protested, "There are good Fae and Folk." Kyria nodded, "Yes, I'm sure, but the Dark Fae rebellion has destroyed the balance between the Dark and Light courts. If the Dark courts take over, they won't maintain peace as the Light court once did."

Jinon smiled, "But the rebellion is mostly dead, it'll return to normal. Are you planning to be the next prime minister? You certainly know a lot."

Kyria laughed, "No!" She thought for a moment, "My family is my whole world, I want to tell them about us as soon as we can."

Jinon nodded. Kyria paused, "But let's wait until the day after tomorrow?"

"Why not now?" Jinon asked, he worried that if he waited too long, Kyria might change her mind about him, he asked, "Are you worried that they won't accept me?"

Kyria smiled, "No. they'll dance with joy, knowing they can marry me off." She paused, "But we should wait until after King's birthday? My father and brother are working on the King's gift."

Jinon nodded, he was a little disappointed and was terrible at hiding it. Kyria laughed, took off her silver locket and clicked it open, inside was a magically enlarged compartment, a beautiful golden crystal lay inside, "This is the most precious thing I own. It's an amulet against evil. Since you are always at war, I can't think of a better gift. It's said to contain very powerful magic." She took the golden dagger, the gift of the king. And after a moment, gently pressed the gem into the hilt. Her fire melted the gold a little until the crystal was firmly entrenched in the dagger. She handed it back with a grin.

All Jinon thought was how beautiful she looked, never mind that she just forever changed one of the national treasures of the kingdom. He leaned in for a kiss.

"Lady? Where are you?" An attendant called out. Kyria's face reddened and she shoved Jinon, forgetting that they were sitting in a tree.

FFMMMHHPMMM. Jinon landed in a bush.

"Lady! What was that?"

Kyria looked down and then, she called out to her attendants, "Nothing! It's nothing! Just a large bat!"

"In daylight? My Lady?"

Jinon caught his breath and began to sneak away.

Kyria flew down in the opposite direction, "I'm not sure, it sure looked like one. What's for dinner, I'm starving..."