Disguised In Stardust ✔

Chapter Seventeen

I lay there for a good while, hugging Faelin against the bed until I drifted off. I couldn’t imagine what he did when I went completely limp above him. Was he struggling under me or did he fall asleep too? It must have been uncomfortable, considering his small size.

When I woke up, though, he was gone. I was lying face-down on the edge of my bed. A blanket was draped over my shoulders and a pillow was snug under my head. I smiled into the pillow, then brought myself up to find it bright and early outside. What time was it?

“Did I sleep the entire day..?” I asked nobody in particular, “God, my back hurts..” I stalked through the open doorway and stretched idly.

The house was eerily noiseless. Had I switched realities again? A wave of paranoia gripped me. What if Seth had broken in and had stolen Faelin while I was asleep? I picked up my pace in search for my alien interest, stumbling whenever my drowsy feet couldn’t catch up with my wild brain.

With every empty room after empty room, beat of silence after beat of silence, I found only one place I could check. The basement, where we’d found the alchemy set. A sliver of hope finally sparked as I shuffled quicker to the basement. Finding the quietude unbearable now, I couldn’t help but heave a sigh to calm my nerves.

As I ambled down the creaking steps to the basement, I listening intently. I had to know as soon as possible if there was any living life down here, and luckily my pleas were answered.

Soft, muted clinking could be heard from the far corner of the vast underground room. My basement was one so desolate that I was worn out by just the look of it; grey with stone, cold with concrete. I hadn’t used the place in ages.

Now, everything was lit up like a warm evening sky, as two boxy lanterns hung on the back walls and flickered gently, while Faelin had set up dusty bookshelves to store various ingredients. Jars, both narrow and fat, were on the top shelves, while the larger ones were on the middle shelves. A long, wide table that I had folded up a while ago, was now set up nicely. The rickety thing supported a system of tubes, vials, flasks, even things I couldn’t quite describe.

Faelin was so quiet that I hadn’t noticed him until now.

There he was, tinkering with a mortar and pestle that resonated with the thick mashing of ingredients. Faelin’s wings poked out from under a loose t-shirt. Thin yoga pants were a little low-hung on his hips, but they looked cute on him nonetheless.

I decided not to say anything, and instead I approached him. He moved around with such swiftness that I was sure he’d notice me. But then, he swept by the back shelves to gather ingredients and returned to the table. Just when I was certain he’d stay still for at least a few seconds, he was moving again.

I shot forward and wrapped my arms around him, feeling him wriggle under my hold. He cried out, eyes wide and feet spread apart as he fought against my arms. I shushed against his ear and laughed nervously. It was adorable how he calmed down immediately.

“Don’t do that!” he breathed, “I almost killed you!”

“Wh- How so?” I felt my face grow hot as I squeezed his small frame.

He sighed and shook me off gently. He continued what he was working on before I interrupted him. “With the residue I have on my hands.” He nudged me with his elbows and pouted. “You’re not immune to the bane like I am.”

“Oh.” was all I could muster. He quickly dipped his hands into a bucket of water by one of the table legs. He flicked his fingers at me, clearly annoyed. The water had an odd lavender scent to it.

“I’m almost done. I need to separate the guava juices and mix them with two ounces of mercury. Right..?” he mumbled. Then he threw his head back and groaned, “Earthen alchemy is so complicated...”

“Are you a beginner, or..?” I didn’t have to finish for him to catch my drift.

"Regrettably, I'm an apprentice. Master Cexius has been teaching me for xaits.” he answered nonchalantly. So he has a mentor?

“Master.. Haven't heard that one before. At least, not in real life.” I raised a brow. He turned his head and peered over his shoulder at me.

“It's simply a respectful way to address an older tutor. He is the town apothecary. While as a prince I was supposed to learn battle strategies and manners, I wanted to learn alchemy because I saw what others could do; it fascinated me. So when I.. came back home from imprisonment, Master Cexius agreed to teach me all he knew.”

“Oh. So you’re still working on it?” I thought back to when Seth had hidden everything from me that one year.. Back then, I called it the “Year of Secrets,” not knowing better. That was when he held Faelin captive… Right under my nose.

What a bastard.

“Yes.” Faelin answered bluntly. He poured a solution in a funnel, where it dripped down a thin tube to a vial with a heater underneath.

“You own a shop, right? Mystic Ailworks?”

“Strange Ailworks.” he corrected.

I chuckled awkwardly, “Right. I’d love to visit it soon. Well, if you'd let me." His face flushed crimson at that, wings closing together under his shirt. They flicked a few times, adjusting, then slid back together in unison. They were beautiful; I couldn’t seem to get my eyes off of them.

“Dain, I was thinking about yesterday. You’re worried that you might break the bond between my mate and I.” His face was bright red.

“Yeah. That’s why we can’t be a thing, as much as I’d like us to be.” I said.

“About that,” he started, fumbling with his fingers, “you surely won’t damage the bond if you engage in... Whatever you humans do. You’ll just make the connection stronger.”

“What do you mean?” I tipped my head to the side and leaned against the table, making sure not to crush any alchemy components.

“What I’m saying is... Ugh. The reason that we have matching marks, is because we are mates.”

That wasn't the only thing that surprised me that day. His last sentence almost made my heart stop completely.

"You are to rule with me over Oletis."

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