Satis' Fire

Chapter 2: The Fall

Satis’ light green eyes flashed at Nefarion. When she landed on the diamond-like gleaming wide ledge of the palace, Nefarion followed her with a taunting smile.

She noticed that he easily relaxed his wings while she grimaced when she stretched her wings and furled them behind her back. She could feel the trembling of her wings as if the ligaments were going to break anytime soon.

“So, you’re the infamous Satis!” Nefarion continued with amusement in his eyes, assessing her that she thought it was sort of malicious enough. She didn’t like it at all.

“Go away, stupid Sudarśayatt! Don’t come near me.” With the use of her telekinetic power, she made him move away from her.

The Kinnara gasped. No one did this to him before, thus making him more interested in her.

Satis began to walk toward the palace entrance where a few guards stood immobile with spears in their hands. Their brown body armor was made of the best steel in Kinnacia, which was fireproof and magic proof. Only the Kinnara army was officially supplied with it.

“You’re going to see Princess Nerindra, aren’t you?” Nefarion guessed, keeping pace with her.

She didn’t answer him. Instead, she stared at the guards, and when they saw the emblem she wore on her belly chain, they gave way and opened the ceiling-to-floor thick double doors. Her clad feet made a soft cluck on the gold marble floor. Still, Nefarion was at her heels.

A couple of Kinnaris-in-waiting appeared from nowhere. They wore a uniform, which was a thick long skirt and skimpy top, looking decent for the royal family. She glanced at her own see-through skirt, but she didn’t mind since her mother helped her choose what to wear. It must be fine to wear it at the palace.

“Yes, Kulipree (Noble) Satis?” one of the two asked her, addressing her formally with a slightly bowed head.

“I think Princess Nerindra is expecting me. My ifuun, I believe, already sent a message through our family servant that I’d be coming starting today,” she answered in a formal tone and a stoic face.

“Yes, Kulipree Satis.”

The two Kinnaris glanced at Nefarion with a question in their eyes. At the same time, they reflected of some sort of interest.

Getting what it meant, she quickly explained. “He’s just a nosy Sudarśayatt. He’s definitely not my fated one! He wouldn’t ever be and could never be!”

The two Kinnaris giggled while Nefarion gave her a raised eyebrow.

“We’ll see if I’m not. I can feel the connection is already there. Between me and you,” he taunted.

She gave him a fiery look. “Dream on, Sudarśayatt!” She pushed him toward the closed doors with her telekinesis. An audible thud was heard upon hitting his back to the special steel doors.

She quickly marched to where the Kinnaris-in-waiting led her, and they briefly checked if Nefarion was fine. Well, he was uninjured from what they saw, as he straightened without any problem, and Satis did not care at all.

The large foyer or the receiving area was spacious, and nothing could be seen except for the colorful murals on the high ceilings and walls. The murals depicted beautiful Kinnari and Kinnara beings, mostly romantic ones. They either hugged or kissed each other or simply held hands with a loving smile pasted on their faces. She knew they were the fated ones—the previous Kings and Queens of Kinnacia. The different faces told her they were from different generations.

Satis was led to a monochromatic lavender sitting room. Obviously, this was where the princess received her guests. She looked around when the Kinnaris-in-waiting disappeared. She thought they must be able to use their teleportation power without a problem. They must have trained hard for that since it required a lot of energy, focus and determination. Otherwise, it couldn’t be done, and the energy would just be drained from one’s body and be left weak.

There was a huge window to her right. She wondered what the purpose was if the princess couldn’t get out of the palace. Maybe it was for the guards.

“Kulipree Satis! Nice to meet you at last!” Princess Nerindra’s sweet voice from behind her made her spin around.

“The pleasure is mine, Princess Nerindra.” She did her best to gracefully bow to the princess and gave her a smile as she handed her the bunch of lyābhēnala flowers.

The princess accepted the flowers with a wide smile and smelled them. “Oh, I love them! Thank you, Kulipree Satis. This is the first time I get to touch the lyābhēnala flowers. I always wanted to see them in person, not only in books!” she said excitedly, eyes shining happily.

“I’m happy you like them, Princess Nerindra,” her jovial reply.

Satis observed the beautiful princess. Her mother was right. Princess Nerindra was beautiful, elegant, slender and tall. She knew the princess was eight years older than her. She wore beautiful dangling earrings, necklace, bracelets and a belly chain. The family crest of the Rājjāki Royal House was evident in its gold color. It was a face of a beautiful Kinnari with wings on the side of the face. If it was a Kinnara wearing the crest, it would depict a Kinnara’s face with wings on the side of the face on an armband.

“I heard you came with a Sudarśayatt, a noble Kinnara?” she asked gently and curiously, leading her to sit by the window, which had a couple of lavender throw pillows.

“Ah, I didn’t know a witless noble was born in the Sudarśayatt House,” she articulated before she could mince her words.

The princess laughed. “Is that so?”

“Uh… I don’t think we ought to talk about him, Princess Nerindra.”

She nodded and watched as the Kinnaris-in-waiting appeared suddenly with refreshments to serve them. They shared the nectar and cakes as they got to know each other.

It was getting dark when she realized she stayed longer than intended. “I’m sorry. I took a lot of your time, Princess Nerindra. I must return home now,” she said politely.

“Right! Right! You’re not supposed to return late. I was too engrossed and enjoyed talking with you that I forgot the time. Please send my kind regards to your ifuun. I would love to meet and talk to them sometime,” Princess Nerindra uttered with a smile.

Satis bowed and left the princess that followed her with her light green eyes.

Satis, however, was surprised to see Nefarion waiting for her outside, by the exit of the palace. He was simply leaning against the wall. He stretched his wings and arms before he furled the wings and his arms were crossed over his muscled chest.

She ignored him and jumped off from the ledge, smoothly descending. Nefarion was right beside her.

“That talk took for a while. I didn’t expect it,” he began conversationally.

The sun was just there for a second, and now it was gone. The surroundings were now filled with colorful glow-in-the-dark beings, as well as trees and plants, which gave her kind enough light. Unlike dragons, Kinnaris and Kinnaras couldn’t see in the dark. They rely on other beings and things that give off light so they could see.

“I have enough of your snobbery, Satis!” Nefarion suddenly said in a serious tone when Satis didn’t make a conversation with him.

With that, Satis felt her wings failing—she couldn’t even move them. It was like they were tied by something invisible.

“Oh, shoot! You Sudarśayatt imbecile!” she screamed as she felt herself falling and falling down fast.

She saw him smirk and fly away. A gasp and groan escaped from her when she tumbled down on the branches and huge leaves near the pink falls. She cursed Nefarion endlessly, closing her eyes as she was about to fall on the sharp edge of a stone. However, balls of cool black fire suddenly appeared and formed into a net, breaking her fall.

“Thank you, God of Fire!” she whispered with closed eyes, scrambling to her feet.

“You’re welcome, Satis,” a deep sexy voice answered in a drawl.

Her heart leaped at the sound of it.

Does the God of Fire really talk to a Kinnari like me?