Songs of Fallen Stars

7

Rion

I sit with my back to the pool while she bathes. All I hear is the sound of water splashing as she scrubs herself clean, the lamp illuminates the room just enough that if I were to turn I’d see her silhouette in the darkness. My heightened senses allow me to see easily in the dark, I don’t need the lamp to see what I want. But at this moment, I wish I had eyes in the back of my head.

“Who was he? The man from earlier” She asks softly from behind me.

“Darius, he is Lord of the Fae”

“Fae… Fairies?” She asks

“Fairies? I do not know that term. Fae are creatures of the wood. They can change their size from a full grown man to a hummingbird. They are malicious things, always after jewels and treasures. They hoard their precious belongings inside trees and they rarely come out of the woods. If you were unfortunate enough to come across one of their hiding spots, a swift death will come to you. They kill first and ask questions later. They are ruthless little bugs.”

“Oh.. that’s not what I imagined..” She murmurs

“What did you expect?” I ask, c*****g my head to the side as I wait for her to speak.

“Well. It’s going to sound silly to you, but the Fairies I know of are sweet. They are small and have pixie dust to fly, and they can grant wishes. But, of course, they are just a bedtime story.”

“Well, I wish ours were the same as your version. They are a pain in my ass most of the time.”

I hear the water shift as she stands, drips echo in the pool. I turn my head slightly and see her. Her body is toned and slim, her curves highlighted in the soft lighting. Her hair sticks to her skin, down her neck and across her chest. I can see her hardened n*****s. I pretend I don’t notice it, but I do. I have to act like I’m not looking when she steps out of the pool. She walks hesitantly towards me,

“You’re sitting on my robes” She whispers, holding herself and shivering. I look down and see the fabric of her robes under me. I stand pulling them up with me. They are warm from my body heat, I hold them up, spread out for her and she steps into them, pulling them around her. She steps away quickly and ties the robs tightly around herself.

“What was he doing here?”

“Darius? He was there for a small council meeting. The summer solstice is coming up and he wanted permission for the Fae to not attend”, I explain.

“Why do they want to skip it?”

“Beaucase solstice celebrations are a time for unmated beasts to mingle and hopefully find their mates. Fae believe that they should only be mated to their own kind, therefore they have no need to go. It is not true, there have been many Fae who have been mated with other kinds of beasts. But they shun them out of their courts. When I said the Fae are ruthless, I meant it. There have been stories of them killing their mates if they are not of their kind”

“That’s horrible. Why is it so bad if your mate is not of your kind?”

“It’s not bad at all. It only means that the bloodline will be muddled, but in this age there is no such thing as pure blood anymore.”

“I thought you were supposed to be pure-blooded?”

“Ha. No, I am a hybrid, not pure-blooded. I am the only of my kind. I have blood from all the different kinds of beasts. You will read about it in history books soon enough. It is not a story to tell tonight” I simply say as I lead her back to her room.

“For now, get some rest”. I open her door and wait for her to go inside. She looks at me like she wants to fight me about it, ask more questions, but she doesn’t.

I go to my own room, across the hall and lay in bed. I memorized every inch of her body, every curve and I think about it all night.

I wonder how she will feel about me when she reads my family history. It is not pretty. My father was executed for doing experiments on my mother when I was still in utero. My mother died giving birth to me. I was raised by my grandfather. He was a hard man, very strict, he wanted me to be the leader my father never was. I am the only one of my kind for a reason: mixing blood species is extremely dangerous. You never know what the outcome will be and, as far as we know, I am one of three to survive the procedure. The other few that did were all killed because of the threat they posed. Young children, babes, being slaughtered for what they could become. My grandfather would not allow that to happen to me. He trained me to be a weapon.

Once she reads all this she will surely think I am a monster.

Morning comes quicker then I expect, Yazier comes strolling into my bedroom without announcing himself.

“When are you going to start showing me some respect?” I ask as I stretch

“That will never happen. You need someone to keep you humble. That’s me” He smirks and lazily plops down in a chair in front of the window.

“What do you want to do about the Summer solstice?” He puts his feet up on the windowsill, he has a knife that he is idly flipping in his hand.

“What about it?” I ask as I pull my pants on, willing my morning wood to go away. Now is not the time. Yazier pretends not to notice it as he looks away.

“What do you think? If you host the Summer solstice and they see her, smell her, they will know. Maybe not that you're mates, but they will definitely know there is something different about her. Do you really want that kind of attention on her? On you? She is now your greatest weakness.”

“I know that. I have considered it carefully. If I don’t host, like I have done for hundreds of years, then it will raise suspicions. The last thing we need is people snooping around to see what I’m trying to hide. I won’t announce it right away. Let’s keep them guessing. As far as they know, Elara is a Lady of this court.”

“And what if you have another Darius? Someone who defies you without fear of the consequences?”

“Let them try and see what happens” I say boldly.

He sighs and rises from the chair, heading for the door. “Just look after her for a few more days while I set things in motion for our travels, then when we get back we will discuss it in more detail”, I tell him. He nods and exits the room, leaving the door open. I see Rosa knocking on Elara’s door before she slips inside.

I have work to attend to, otherwise I’d wait in the dining hall and have breakfast with her. But today is not a leisurely day for me. I have to go to the borderlands and sort out a dispute between my own people and the werewolf borders. It will take me most of the day to deal with it. My lands are vast and traveling to the borders will take half a day. I will likely be gone for two days. The thought of not seeing Elara for that long makes me ache, but I tell myself I was fine for centuries without her. I’ll manage two days.

I don’t say goodbye. I think it might be too hard for me to go if I did. Instead, I glance at her having breakfast in the dining hall. She doesn’t notice me but Yazier gives me a small nod and Rosa smiles sweetly at me as I watch Elara.

It is time to go, I head outside and shift as I take off into the sky. Traveling by air, in my true form, is the easiest way to get around, especially long distances.