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CHAPTER 6:
Finding the kids was easier than expected.
Incendio zoomed deep into the forest, his eyes closed and yet somehow he still knew where to go. We followed closely behind him, until he dove to the forest floor. “Incendio!”
“Iris!” Incendio cried, rushing toward a huddled shape in the distance. Michellie and Cyan dropped to the ground, rushing after the fairy. I remained shifted and in the air, making sure no threat remained.
I inhaled, trying to catch an unfamiliar scent, but all I could smell were woods. Whoever had taken the boys were gone, leaving no noticeable trace behind. I made a mental note to have a search party come out when we got home to check more thoroughly.
“What happened? Why are you three covered in blood?” Cyan cried. I looked over quickly, noticing that all three boys were almost drenched in blood. It’s thick red stained all of them, their clothes and faces covered in it. There was, oddly enough, no smell to it. I tried to inhale deeper, but smelled nothing out of the ordinary. Whoever had lost this much blood had somehow managed to mask their scent completely.
Iris had Cyan and Kieran curled up on both sides of him, seemingly sound asleep. If it weren’t for the copious amounts of blood, you might even be able to argue they had just wandered off on their own.
“It’s not ours.” Was all Iris replied. “I put them to sleep so they wouldn’t worry.”
“You what?” Cyan was overwhelmed by his own emotions.
“They were scared so I just… I took their fear away and made them sleepy.” Iris explained, phrasing it so that it left out the acknowledgement that he had taken all their fear into him and was probably sitting there scared out of his mind. The kid made me uncomfortable, i admitted, but his action was extremely noble. The amount of fear coursing through his body must have been overwhelming and yet there he was, not a single tear on his face.
“Who taught you something like that?” Michellie asked, looking accusingly at Incendio as if the fairy had taught him to do that.
“No one mama. I just… i just did it. They kept crying and… and I just wanted want to help them and then I did it.” Iris said, his grip tightening on the boys when Cyan moved to grab one of them. “Don’t. They’ll be scared again.”
“It’s okay Iris.” Michellie insisted, her entire body still tensed in fear that someone was waiting to attack any moment.
“You did an amazing job.” Incendio added. “You’re all safe now. I can see that. It’s okay to let them go.”
“But…” Iris wanted to say something, but chose to simply loosen his grip.
Cyan snatched Ciel and Kieran faster than humanly possible. In a single second they were both nestled in his arms, being held as if Cyan’s life depended on never letting them fall. Michellie began examining Iris, checking him for any scratches or cuts, strangling him in a hug when she found none. “We should go now.” Incendio spoke up. “We are safest in the palace.”
The rest agreed. Michellie and Cyan cradled their children as they took off into the air, relief clear on their faces. This time they had avoided a potential disaster.This time their kids were safe.
Next time, they might not be so lucky.
—————-
“What happened out there?” I repeated, watching the three little boys closely.
“You guys won’t get in trouble! We just need to know what happened!” Cyan repeated, clearly growing frustrated. The children had been grilled repeatedly for the last two days. So far, they hadn’t shared much about their experience.
They, for some reason, seem to had taken a vow of silence. They would share looks and shake their heads, but kept their mouths shut. At least with prisoners, there were ways to get them to talk. There wasn’t a lot to be done when a bunch of little kids decided to withhold information from their parents. The normal techniques I used for secret keepers didn’t seem appropriate against five year olds.
“Iris, answer the question right now!” Michellie commanded, but Iris continued to stare blankly at his mother as if nothing she was saying had any effect on him at all. I almost laughed, but I had experienced the same exact tuning out by the children and my empathy was too great. “If you don’t answer me-“
“We were out in the garden.” Kieran finally cracked. Ciel and Iris didn’t even flinch, which confused me. If they didn’t care if Kieran spoke, why hadn’t they talked themselves? What exactly were they trying to accomplish with their silence? I was snapped out of my mental questions when Kieran continued, “We were playing with Ms. Kate and Ms. Lucy. We- we heard a weird noise coming from the gate and we told-“
“What noise?” Cyan cut in.
“I don’t know.” Kieran was ready to cry, but didn’t stop telling his story. “We went to go look and there was a-a hole dug under the gate. We told Ms. Kate and she told Ms. Lucy to take us inside, but when we turned there was a man and then he- he grabbed… and then…”
“It’s okay sweetie.” Cyan caved, going to take Kieran in his arms. Apparently, that was the end of our questioning. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. Shhh shh it’s over. You’re all safe now.”
“He made us follow him back to the hole… under the gate to get out.” Kieran tried to continue through his tears. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I followed him papa cyan.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Cyan hugged Kieran tighter. “I’m just so glad you’re all safe. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” Michellie added. “The most important thing is that you’re all home now. We’re all very lucky to be safe and sound.”
“Yes.” Cyan breathed, trying to inhale Kieran’s scent into his lungs. “Thank Solar. You were all very strong and brave to get away.”
“How did you all get away?” I asked the question that had been bugging me for some time.
Kieran opened his mouth, trying to get words to come out, but ended up crying harder. Iris and Ciel kept their faces empty of expression. I frowned, deciding to let that question go. After all, they were all children. The oldest, iris, was only six years old. Whatever had happened and however it had happened, had most likely been strokes of luck. There was no reason to traumatize them into remembering.
That just meant more works for the guards. They now had to figure out the rest of what had happened from the minimal amounts of clues left behind by the perpetrator.
Cyan, Michellie and I shared a look together. We mutually agreed to let the incident die, at least in front of Kieran, Iris and Ciel. Maybe the children would forget, or so we hoped.
“Cyan.”
The room visibly tensed. Cyan kept his back to the man that had entered the doorway, not sparing the person who had called him a glance. “Why don’t you three go upstairs and wash your hands? I’ll come get you for lunch in a few minutes.” Cyan told the kids, who all nodded obediently and began to file out of the room.
Ciel tried to pass the man, Elijah, on his way out the door. He was stopped when a hand was placed on his head.” Ciel.” Elijah sighed, tenderly stroking the hair atop his son’s head.
“Yes King Elijah?”
Elijah withdrew his hand as if he had been burned. “Nothing son.” Elijah said stiffly. Ciel nodded and followed after his two friends.
“Leave us.” Elijah ordered Michellie and I once the children had gone.
“Don’t.” Cyan countered, keeping Michellie and I frozen in place.
“Do.” Elijah demanded. “Both of you, get out and close the door behind you.” Michellie and I began to move mechanically, the power in his voice forcing us to obey. Cyan seemed to decide against arguing and let us go.
Once the door was closed behind us, we seemed unsure of what to do with ourselves. So naturally, we decided to eavesdrop.
“I said I don’t want to talk to you.” Cyan began.
“That’s not a decision you get to make. I’m your bonded.” Elijah countered. “Cyan, it’s not my fault… what happened to the boys. You have to believe me. You have to know that I would never allow the children to be harmed. I-“
“I know!” Cyan yelled. “For fucks sake Elijah, I know that you didn’t intend for the kids to be taken! I know you would’ve sooner died than let one of them get taken, but that’s not the problem!”
“What is the problem then? Tell me what exactly has you ignoring me and running from my presence every chance you get! I don’t understand why I feel like i’m losing you! I don’t!”
“I told you to spend time with your son!” Cyan screamed, so loud we could’ve been down the hall and still have heard it. “I even went as far as penciling your own child into your work schedule, just so there would be no reason for you not to see him! I told you, for the hundredth time, to be a damn father! ‘What’s the problem?’ You really want to know? It’s my entire life! The problem is i’m a dad all by myself! He’s your son too! Kieran too! Kieran adores you and you barely look at him! You sit locked in that damn office-“
“I’m running an entire Kingdom Cyan! I’m the ruler of multiple species, and guess what, we’re at war!” Elijah yelled back at him. “Contrary to popular belief, I have more dire matters to attend to than chicken nugget lunches and playing outside!”
“Oh, and what I do isn’t as important right? I’m just the person raising the future king! Do you realize that? Ciel is your child and the future of our people! There is nothing more dire than being his father!”
“Except making sure we’re all alive!”
“You’re so full of shit!” Ciel spat. “You keep busy just so you don’t have to face the fact that you’re blowing it as a dad! Admit it, you prefer working over being with your own family!”
“Maybe I do! Maybe I take on more work because I know, no matter what I do, you’ve already decided that you’re the only one who gets to bond with OUR son! You were like that before he was even born, and you’re still like that! You wouldn’t even let me touch your stomach while you were pregnant! Do you remember that? You keep saying i’m his father, but you decided five years ago he was YOUR kid and your kid alone! Now he fucking calls me ‘king Elijah’ for fucks sake and I bet you’ve never once corrected him on it!” Elijah yelled.
“Maybe I would correct him if you acted like a dad for five fucking seconds!” Cyan was raging and I was certain an explosion was coming soon. “Don’t blame you being a shit dad on me! I didn’t stop you from seeing him! You live in the same house! I didn’t keep you from tucking him in or feeding him his meals or teaching him his lessons. That was your choice to put work over seeing your child’s first steps, his first words… his surgeries… If you wanted to be there, you would be! Just like when they went missing and you CHOSE not to come looking for him!”
“Oh please! You made it clear as hell you didn’t want me to follow! You’ve always made it clear that you could do it all on your own! You’ve never needed my help! You’ve never welcomed me into your family, the family we were supposed to have together.”
“And since when has that ever stopped you from doing anything?” Cyan choked out, most likely sobbing now. “You know, once upon a time I knew an Elijah who asked me out and then showed up at my house that same night and demanded that i let him have me. He didn’t care whether or not I could do it myself or if I needed help. He invited himself into my life and I love that about him… I fell in love with that Elijah… where did that Elijah go?”
“He’s gone Cyan! For Solar’s sake, that Elijah was an evil monster. He was made by a monster, controlled by a monster and then became a monster.”
“That Elijah was the love of my life.” Cyan said softly. “I… I never saw him as a monster. He was my savior. He saved me from my privileged, boring, lonely life. You think he was a monster? Well the only monster I see now is standing in front of me.”
We heard footsteps coming toward the door and Michellie and I scattered, taking off down opposite ends of the hall as the door flew open. “Cyan!” Elijah called, obviously not done with the conversation.
“I have to go be a father and do pointless things like make chicken nugget lunches and give hugs and play outside.” Cyan answered. “You go be king. You were right about one thing, I don’t need you to make sure Ciel will make a good king. He’s already an amazing person. I just pity your for not knowing him. I pity you for alienating yourself from your family.”
Cyan closed the door behind him, turning and seeing me at the end of the hall. “Hello.” i said awkwardly.
“What did you hear?” Cyan sighed, rubbing his puffy red eyes.
“Nothing.” I lied. “Except maybe something about chicken nuggets? Now that’s something i can get behind.”
Cyan chuckled, the sound coming out way too forced. “You could get behind a lot of things Kric.”
“Easy access.” I joked. “Besides, i only get behind things that will bend over.”
Cyan laughed again, a little more genuine this time. I walked up the stairs with him, his ring burning a hole in my hand. I wanted to give it back, but now was definitely not the right moment. Oh well, I thought to myself. They would make up soon. They were bonded soul mates and that meant things would work out exactly how they should. No couple who was truly meant to be bonded could ever really stay apart, or so I hoped.
——————–
Incendio’s P.O.V.
My body was tingling, the familiar heat kissing my skin lovingly. I was numb in a few seconds, the images picking up a few seconds later.
Kric smiling, Kric laughing, Kric dying… all because of me. No matter what future I looked at, they all showed the same outcome. The more time we spent together, the clearer the images became. It was too late. We would be together. We would fall in love as true mates should. We would enter the otherworldly bliss of bonding together, and then…then his blood would be on my hands.
I saw myself ripping the seed from his chest in every future, a cool detached look on face. His eyes were wide, silver and unbelieving of what was happening. His image would twist and swirl, but the betrayal remained clear on his face.
The rest of the images, the one before this almost certain outcome, were extremely hard to make out. I would see some things clearly, like the two of us curled up together in a bubble of happiness. I could make out the occasional twinkle of our blossoming love, but mostly it was too hard to make sense of. The pictures changed too often and far too quickly. All that could be made out were blurry pieces of light that confused me and made my head ache.
I was determined, however, to see a different future. I would wander for the rest of my life if that meant I could see a different outcome. I couldn’t live out the future before me. There was no way. I would not be responsible for the death of my mate. I would sooner die.
I searched for what felt like centuries, going over Kric’s life with a newfound urgency to change it. The blurs remained just as hard to comprehend. My concentration began to break, the edges of my consciousness beginning to tug at my mind. I felt extremely warm, by body flooded with an unusual heat.
“Incendio?” The voice drawled out my name. “You’re extremely defenseless right now and you should know i’m definitely the kind of guy to take advantage of that.”
My eyes snapped open, my heart almost stopping as my mind registered the silver gaze that was trained on me, a few inches from my own face. “No you’re not.” I finally spoke. “You have never and would never take advantage of someone without consciousness.”
“You’d be surprised what i’m willing to do when it comes to you.” he teased, but my heart sped up anyway.
“You’re here.” i said instead, confused as to why.
“I am.” He sighed, pulling back and sitting down on the dirt floor beside me. “I’m in need of some of your weird prophesying.”
“I do not-“
“I know, I know. You can’t see the future well enough to predict it blah blah blah.” Kric held out his hand, uncurling his fingers to reveal a solid gold ring, much too small to fit on his own hand.
“Cyan.” I said, seeing it now. The images flashed in my mind, the many sad faces of my dear friend. I could see Cyan clearly, the way his face fell every time his mate spoke. I looked further back easily enough, the images of their actual ring exchange entering my mind. “This is his ring.”
“Yeah. He and Elijah got them for one another like four years ago. They never take them off… but Cyan threw his away yesterday. I picked it up on a whim I guess and now I’m just carrying it around. It feels like it’s burning a hole in my pocket now and I just don’t know how to give it back to him.”
“Well, opening your hand with it inside is always an option.” I told him, gesturing to what he had just done. It was difficult to give him any better guidance than that. You’re a fairy, I berated myself, your job is to give the sun people guidance and you’re doing a terrible job.
“They had a big fight, like so big I couldn’t even make fun of Cyan for the rest of the time I was there. I had to be, ugh, serious. After three hours I couldn’t take it anymore. I really had to leave.” Kric explained, clearly put out by being forced to act like a compassionate person. Forcing myself to put aside my feelings, I attempted to do what i was supposed to: give kric actual guidance that would benefit his future.
“That troubles you?” I asked, trying to understand.
“I don’t know… I just… okay i’m going to say something really dumb and once I tell you, you have to swear on your little fairy wings that you’ll never tell anyone.” Kric demanded. “I mean it. I’ll come back here and curse up a storm until all you fairies pass out.”
“There is no possible future where I would break your confidence.” I assured him, although there was one almost certain future where I did just that.
“So you say.” He scoffed. “But anyway… I guess it bugs me because… because they’re bonded… well not just bonded… like actual soul mates who have bonded. It doesn’t seem right.”
“You don’t believe bonded pairs should fight?” I asked, shocked by this.
“No. That’s not it. I’ve done my fair share of bonding after all and they all started and ended in fights.” He chuckled, not noticing the effects his word had on me. Ignore it Incendio, I told myself, everything he has done was because he held no obligation to you. “It’s that they’re actual mates. Even dragons acknowledge that soulmates… they’re meant to be. Two people who are meant to be should be together.”
“You don’t like the distance between the kings because it seems improper to deny what the goddess intended.”I clarified for him, finally understanding.
“Right.”
“Well answer me this, Kric the dragon. If your mate appeared before you, right at this moment, could you drop all other preconceived feelings and notions that you’ve held all your life? Would you be willing to devote all you are and all you will ever be, right this second, to a person so different from yourself?”
Kric’s frown deepened as he thought about this. “That’s different.”
“It is not. You expect the king’s to dismiss their own feelings simply because you believe that is what being with a mate means. It is perfectly plausible to assume, with that thinking, that you would be willing to restart your entire life to fit the desires of your mate. Am I right?”
“No.” Kric snapped, a little too forcefully. “I mean… i’m sorry.”
“You did not offend me. I knew that was your answer before you even spoke.” I said honestly, my eyes focusing on my knees, which I had brought up toward my chest. “Being mates is not as simple as ‘being destined for one another and so it must be’. Your soul may perfectly complement one another, but you are not the same people.”
“Sometimes… I wonder what’s the point of a mate.” Kric confessed beside me. “If it’s still just as hard as being with anyone else, why even do it?”
“Why do you think the king’s do it?” I asked instead of answering him, not confident in what my answer might have been.
“I have no fucking clue. I’ve never seen two people so resentful of one another love each other so much.”
“Did you know the ancient greek word for love was ‘eros’ while their word for strife was ‘eris’. It is amazing, i think that the two words are so similar. Actually, I suppose it is more telling than amazing. Even in language, love and heartache are not so different. In fact, it seems an impossible task to have one without the other. Nothing is free, especially love. Every action comes with a consequence. It makes sense that one of the greatest emotions one can feel would have a horrendous outcome.” I rambled.
“That’s kind of beautiful.” Kric commented with a laugh. “If my mate is as beautiful as you, maybe I won’t mind a little shit on the side.”
“What if he was not?” I asked before I could stop myself. “What if he was cruel? What if he was the kind of person who would willingly rip the heart from your chest?”
“Geez.” Kric groaned. “That’s a pretty dark thought for a cute little fairy.”
“I don’t know if you have noticed,” I said slowly, “but i am not exactly your typical fairy.”
Kric laughed aloud, throwing his arm over my shoulder. “If I didn’t know any better, i’d say that was a dick joke. Be careful little butterfly, fairies don’t make those.”
“I do not see you telling on me.” I pointed out. “After all, I know your deep dark secret about you believing in the sanctity of soul mates and bonding.”
“Hey! I never said anything about bonding!” Kric argued. “I bond for two reasons: because the sex is hotter and… hmm i guess it’s only one reason.”
“Perhaps the reason none of your bonding experiences have lasted is because you don’t acknowledge the sanctity of it.” I mumbled. “Bonding is the most intimate experience of your life. Every time you bond, you share your everlasting soul with another. If you do not take that seriously, your bond is never truly matured. What you felt with those you have slept with, it is nothing compare to the effect of truly bonding.”
“Says someone who’s never bonded.” Kric teased.
“Neither have you, not really.” I insisted.
“I have.”
“You have not. A true bond is not easy to break.” I turned to make eye contact with him. “From what i see of your life, all of your bonds were flimsy ties at best.”
“Then tell me virgin, what is it actually like?”
“It… it’s like setting your entire body on fire. The peace that comes from your bond should be earth shattering. All of a sudden, everything that you’ll ever hope to have is within your grasp, nestled in your arms and it’s impossible to imagine a world without this connection in it. You cease to be a single person. You are now yourself and your bonded and everything and everyone that your bonded has ever loved. Your life is fuller. You are truly, utterly, connected to that person for the rest of your life.”
Kric stayed silent for a long while. “You sound like you have experience.”
“No.” I whispered. “Not yet, possibly not ever. However, as a fairy, I possess knowledge of almost everything, bonding included. If it has been experienced, I have witnessed it… I have intruded upon it in my walks and read about it with the elders. Believe me, a true bond is something far greater than sexual release. It’s a releasing of the soul, the truest pleasure one can experience… the only orgasmic pleasure even fairies participate in.”
“Hey Incendio?”
“Yes?”
“Feel free to push me away.”
“What?” I looked over, realizing Kric’s face was slowly moving closer.
“You were wrong for the first time earlier.” Kric was saying. “You said I would never take advantage of someone, but i’m fully intending to take advantage of you.”
“That is not possible.” I whispered.
“You see everything that’s coming right? Can you guess what i’m going to do next?” Kric joked. “I’m going to take advantage of that sad, longing look you were giving the ground and i’m going to kiss the sadness off your face.”
“I was not wrong.” I insisted. “You are not taking advantage of me.”
“Why do you say that?” His lips were brushing against mine as he spoke.
“You are not doing anything that I do not welcome.”
“You welcome my kiss then?”
“I welcome you.” I said simply, knowing deep down that I shouldn’t.
“That sounded beautiful somehow.” Kric said again. “I wonder what other beautiful sounds you make.”
His lips were on mine before I could answer. I wasn’t sure who had finally closed the last bit of distance, but I was sure that whoever had made the move… it had been far more than welcome.
Everyone thank Fir3andBrimstone for commenting on every paragraph of chapter 5! They were the sweetest comments and really gave me a lot to think about while writing!
Remember, if you’re dying for an update, all you have to do is comment on ever single paragraph of the chapter! That will get you an update, a dedication and a follow! (IMPORTANT NOTICE: from now on, the comments must be relevant to the chapter! As much as I love over 100 comments telling me to update, I much prefer ones relating to your feelings on the story. The reason I have this way to get faster updates is because I really love knowing what you guys think! However, you’re still welcome to ask me to update 100 times if you still want to! It will Probably motivate me to update quicker haha. I’m sorry if this upsets anyone. I hope you guys can understand!)
If you have some free time, I’d love a little feedback:
-what are your thoughts on Incendio and Kric so far?
-what’s the most interesting aspect of the story so far?
– what do you guys think of cyan and Elijah’s problems? who do you sympathize with?
-what are your opinions on Incendio and Kric’s kiss? Do you think they’re ready to have the ‘mates’ talk?
-is anyone confused in the story? If so, what should I clarify?
-also, as just an extra little question, I’ve been writing a one shot book as well as a few separate short stories and I haven’t posted them because I don’t update them as often and I wouldn’t want to frustrate anyone, but I also love giving you guys stories! So should I just post them under the explanation that their updates will be far in between, or should I keep them to myself until I have time to update them regularly?
Thanks for reading darlings <3
Vote, comment, follow, etc. <3
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