The next morning Mira woke feeling incredibly refreshed. Her body didn't ache anymore, neither did her head. Her vision was clear and so was her mind. She sat and quickly began to dress in anticipation of seeing Tine and and making choices for their home. She was just getting into her dress when Mary entered.
"Here Miss, I can help you with that. We should get you downstairs. Cook has laid out a wonderful breakfast and your young man is waiting on you. Now, let's get you dressed for your young man." Mary smiled at Mira in the mirror as she laced up her dress for her.
Downstairs, Tine and her parents were waiting at the table as she entered. Tine and her father stood as she entered the room. Reaching out, Tine gently guided her to her seat and cook passed the dishes to her mother, letting her serve herself and pass the dish to
After spending the better part of the afternoon with the young designer, Tine was ready to have some time alone with Mira. Standing, he nodded to her mother, who had just entered the room."I would like to take Mira for a stroll, if I may?" At her mother's nod, Mira smiled. Tine gently guided her with a hand on her lower back.Just as they were about to reach the door someone knocked. Tine was hesitant to answer the door. While his mate did live here, this wasn't his home to allow anyone entrance to. Just then, almost as if she had heard him, Lady Amethyst bid him to let the guest in. When he opened the door, Raptor stood there, his eyes wild and red rimmed. His hair mussed like he had run his fingers through it multiple times and his heart was on his face.B
The battle raged. Smoke obscured the castle as the walls fell from the balls of fire shot through them. It was thick and black and caused all to cough who inhaled it. The fumes noxious and smothering. Sounds of metal clashing as swords clanged against each other and against shields and armor. The sound of men crying out in agony as they were wounded with either metal or fire.Sheiria turned this way and that. Desperately looking for..... There! She could just make out the bulk of his shape. She would know his massive outline anywhere. Just as she reached his side, a sword pierced through her shoulder, almost cleaving her arm from her body. Erwan watched in horror as his love was grievously wounded. Knowing she was dying, he immediately dropped his sword and snatched her up in his arms and ran into the castle and attempting to lock them in the inner most parts of it. He would not let her die in the midst of the battle for their home. They would die together, because his beast could no
700 years laterMira enjoyed her time alone in the forest. It was her quiet time. Her time to decompress. Especially with the festival tomorrow night. Tonight unfortunately was the ball, and she was not looking forward to it.Walking through the forest, she smelled something spicy. Amber, smoke and maybe lavender? It called to her and she could not quite find where it was coming from.She searched for an hour thinking that it was maybe a flowering plant that she had not yet discovered in her walks. While searching for the source of the scent she came across something deep in the forest that she had never seen before. It was stone ruins of what had obviously been a very massive structure. All the remained were a partial wall and an arched doorway. Looking on it in wonder, Mira reached out her hand hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to know it's history.....When her hand made contact with the stone ruins she felt everything. The love the generations of inhabitants of the castle had
Tine watched the people filter in to the main hall of the assembly house. It was the largest building in the village and was used for parties, weddings and other types of gatherings. Tonight was a ball to kick off the festival of The Chosen. Even though his kind had not been in this area in 700 years, the villagers still honored their traditions. It appeared that even the mate pairings were sometimes chosen on this night every year. Although the Clutch have not been present the villagers saw fit to continue the mate pairings, after a fashion. The village elders had paid attention to the young people all year long and had made notes of how certain females acted towards certain males and vise versa. Tomias sought him out where he stood in the shadows and bowed as he came to stand in front of him. "My Lord, she will be here tonight. Her family lives on the large estate on the edge of the forest and are usually some of the last to arrive. However, there is some competition for her hand.
Tine continued to watch from the shadows. It wasn't time for he and his mate to meet. He had disappeared from sight during the chaos that had occurred with Lord Anton and his son, Ashton. if would seem that their society had become somewhat matriarchal. He had not realized that the women ran the households and the town. But looking around, he began to notice that the men deferred to the women and that the older the woman, the more deference was paid to her.This was very different in the way he was raised. The clutch was very male-oriented and very much male ran. Women are the ones who paid deference to men in his society. Not the other way around. It would take some adjusting, but he and his mate would rule together and teach the villagers to as well. It had been that way with his mother and father. They had ruled well together. His memories of them was few, but when he did think about them, he felt their love surround him. Even now, 700 years later, the remembrance of their love wa
Mira stood in her bedroom with her mother as she was getting ready for the evening's choosing. To say she was nervous was putting it mildly. Her stomach had finally stopped rolling but her heart was still racing. It had slowed somewhat with the 2 glasses of wine her mother had given her with her supper. Mira almost snorted in a very unladylike fashion. Supper indeed. She had struggled to get the food past the tightness in her throat. She was so badly shaken from the thought of finding her husband tonight that she had barely managed to get soup and a small bit of bread into her stomach. While the wine had gone down easily, the food had not. And Mira was now in a state of relaxed chaos.She frowned to herself. Was that really a thing, she wondered?"Mira, darling, perhaps a bit more of the soup? You are swaying somewhat. I think, perhaps, you have had a little too much wine and not enough food." Mira turned to see her mother speaking to her but in her head, she felt vaguely disconnecte
His lips touched hers in the briefest of touches as they brushed across hers. Sensations, emotions, raced through her like the heady wine she had earlier in the day, and just as strong, sending her swaying into him for more. Hearing him chuckle at her reaction, she felt his large, warm hands move from her face to her shoulders and pull her into his body. Mira felt her body soften and try to mold itself to her mate and soon to be husband. Laying her head on his broad chest, she whispered in the dark, "I want to see you."She felt him remove a hand from her back and snap his fingers. Suddenly, flames appeared to dance on his fingertips. Gasping,she took a step back. Tine refused to release her and kept one arm wrapped securely around her waist. Looking up at him, she realized several things at once.One, he was at least a foot taller than her 5'5 height, Two, his hair was a burnt bronze and his eyes were the deepset, purest emerald green she had ever seen. Three, his features were someh
Tine watched as the Clutch Elders assembled in the Hall of Ancestors for the Reading of his bloodline. As the Master of Records read his lineage starting with the first of his line and going forward for twenty generations, he felt his chest swell with pride. His line was one of the oldest and strongest of all of the dragon clutches scattered about. Thanks to senseless and fearful hunting in some parts of the world, his kind were fewer and fewer. Most humans were fearful of things that they did not understand or could not control. Realizing the Master of Records was waiting on him, he cleared his throat and asked him to repeat the question. Several of the male elders nudged each other in the ribs and openly laughed thinking he was thinking of his soon-to-be mate. He didn't bother to correct them. They wouldn't believe him anyway."I asked if you are preparing a