Disguised In Stardust ✔

Chapter Twenty-Six

We passed multiple doors on the way there, some wide open and others locked. When we finally reached his bedroom, which was located at the very tip of the structure, I was breathless. Literally and figuratively.

Though I was gasping for air, I couldn't help but take in the cozy room around me. Strung with bright purple lights and flecked with both large and tiny potted plants, his room looked like a sanctuary. A large, plush mat was tucked away in a higher level of the room, hidden behind two shuttering doors.

He rested me on the circular mat decorated with lavender fleece pillows and a sidearm. Now this was a bed that I could sleep in for days at a time. My lungs were cutting themselves short, but that didn't stop me from gawking at the warm, almost ethereal space I was in.

I could see Faelin snatching up supplies from his endless shelves of ingredients, returning to another corner that was beside his sleeping space. He mixed together small mushrooms and crunchy seeds, stirring with a wooden rod into a magenta liquid. He then retreated to me with the vial in-hand. He slid it into my trembling hands and urged me to drink it.

"Wh.. what's in it..." I muttered, gripping the vial despite myself. My heart clenched warily as I peered into the container, watching the seed particles dissolving in an acidic fluid.

"Drink it, quickly." Faelin nudged it to my lips, tipping it up with his fingers over mine. I took a sip, initially feeling indifferent. My heart was thumping hard against my rib cage, and my breaths were still panicked.

As I continued to consume the mystery concoction, I felt my lungs opening up bit by bit. I felt my throat relubricating itself, my tongue sucking back up moisture. My breathing slowed and fell to a languid pace. With every breath, more oxygen entered me.

The taste was so sweet and light on my tongue that I found myself gulping it all down.

I let out a sigh, one far less pressured than my last. "The seeds are called Kuna. The nuts release moisture in the air, and when they are mixed or crushed, their moisture seeps into every muscle it touches. In your case, it helps in producing more saliva in the mouth." Faelin explained, taking back the empty container from my fingers.

"The pink liquid is a pain reliever. I had some left over from one of my anesthetics. The mushrooms are reactants that not only heal wounds but improve senses with the tongue. They're widely known for their sweet taste." Faelin's eyes practically lit up when he spoke about alchemy.

I could tell it was his true passion, just by that and the way he expertly handled his projects. He was both careful and swift with every ingredient he touched.

When I was thinking, I didn't notice Faelin shutting the blinds to his arched windows. The room was dim with an amethyst hue. Spiraling patterns on his wall began to glow with pink, some fusing into violet. I watched as Faelin slipped his shirt off.

He climbed onto the mat with me and plopped down against he pillows, his head falling on my shoulder weightlessly. "Are you okay?" I asked in concern, feeling his tried body fall limp against me. His chest and shoulders were cold. His wings spread out and tried to cover himself but to no avail.

"I should be asking you that." he muttered, "The blue magic between the staircase lifts you up and takes you down... Use that from now on." I nodded.

I reached for the blanket at the foot of the mat and pulled it over us, resting the edge of it over his shoulder. A long moment of silence passed. I could tell Faelin was still awake. His eyes stayed open, and while he didn't particularly look at anything, it seemed he was scrutinizing my chest. "What about the mushrooms? Those were glowing." He let out a raspy chuckle, shaking his head subtly.

He shifted in my arms to look up at me, eyes reflecting the dim violet lights in his room. "Still hung up on that..? Those are called Black Lungwort. I know the name sounds terrible but it's actually one of the more basic fungal ingredients for alchemy. They're usually found in the Dwarven swamps."

"You had to go into the Dwarven territory to get that?"

"Gods no, I usually get shipments from their kingdom.. They quite like me." he boasted with a smirk. He was about to say something else when he yawned wide and openly, his mouth gaping like a cat's. His tongue darted out and swiped at his lips, nubs at the sides of it dragging along the edge of his mouth.

"You're tired. Sleep for now, I'll wake you in the morning." I told him, adjusting the blanket over us.

"Our time zones are different than yours. You won't be able to settle with our sleep schedules." Faelin sighed, his body sinking further into me. It was as if all of his tension dissipated at that moment, like he was just a mass of limp muscle weighing down on me. It was nice and warm in the biting cold of the room.

"Dain, I..." he trailed off into silence, his exhaustion finally getting the better of him. I smiled down at the alien, pressed my nose into his fluffy hair and closed my eyes in bliss. Sleep gripped me sooner than I would have thought.

_

When I awoke, the blanket was thrown away from me. I was exposed to the icy morning air of Faelin's bedroom. I slowly uncurled myself from my fetal position and stretched my limbs. My eyes hesitantly cracked open with that cold, dry feeling of something like ice weighing on my eyelids.

Two figures stood in the middle of the room, hushed voices bickering back and forth. They were just out of my bleary morning vision, but I could tell one was Faelin by the height and distinct shape of his wings.

I rubbed my eyes sluggishly, wrapping his fleece blanket back around my freezing frame. This level was so cold that a layer of swirling frost had covered the outsides of his thick windows. The sun was up high, slowly melting away the frost splayed out on the window panes.

"Faelin..?" I rasped. The two distant figures paused, both of them turning to look at me.

"I'm here, Dain." His voice urged my eyes to follow the source. One frame stepped closer and crouched down next to me. My vision cleared, revealing the fidgeting prince. He wasn't dressed in my comfortable clothes; instead, a string of glittering gold slung low on his hips and a veil of laced white flowed under his collar.

The silver collar spread halfway across his shoulders. Along his bare back, a thick band ran right between his wings, acting as a suspender. His low-heeled leather sandals were etched with designs, swirling along the many straps.

His skirt was long and tapered off to the right side, cut in thin knee-length strips that swished with every move he made. Good thing he wore snug leggings below that skirt.

His chest was exposed under the lace shawl to reveal a pink circular marking on his chest that I didn't remember being there before. "Dain?" he nibbled at his lip and pulled at the skirt tassels. His bashful eyes were downcast, looking at me in dubious anticipation. He stood back up to give me space.

"Wow. You look.. I don't even have the words to describe you right now. Everything is so... stunning." I stood and embraced him, running my hands along his golden wristguards. At the bottoms of the cuffs, a thin chain connected to an ornate ring that fit around his middle finger.

"This is my attire for the coronation. I don't know how to feel about it." Faelin glanced down at his whole outfit, tugging at some things to keep them in place. My face was at its boiling point.

"You're wearing it because it's our tradition as the royal Zyldi family." A brass voice rumbled from behind me. I whirled around so fast that I might have fallen if it weren't for Faelin catching me from behind.

His father stood there with a hand on his hip, those menacing ivory eyes narrowed in on me.

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