Mira lay in bed, curled up on her side in misery. She didn't understand what was wrong with her. She would cry at the slightest inclination. The feelings she had were over whelming her. She felt so lost and alone. She felt abandoned. She knew that Tine would be gone for several day, but had no idea that it would affect her so radically. She was so miserable that she didn't even bother to turn over her pillow that was wet, soaked, from her constant tears. They rolled down her face in a silvery trail, leaving her eyes red and swollen.
As she lay there contemplating the depths of her misery, she heard her door open and heard a familiar step. Her father sat down on the side of the bed and took one of her hands in his and raised it to his lips.
"My darling daughter, it is time for you to
Mira could see the memory of the final battle at the old ruins in the forest. The woman clothed in an odd armor that was black with a gold sheen to it in the sunlight. Her arms were bare to mid-bicep. She had boiled leather sleeve attachments to cover her vulnerable shoulders. On her head sat a helmet of the same black material. Her back was covered the same way. Her legs were covered in leather trews that laced up the sides from knee to hip. Mira was slightly appalled by this showing of skin. But she also guessed it was the only way to get them on. She was standing in the middle of the keep bailey talking to several soldiers, giving orders and directions. No man sneered at her. She wore her authority as easily as she wore her armor. As she directed each group of men, they departed to do her bidding. Some stayed with her, these flanked and surrounded her in the back to guard her vulnerable spots and to fight at her side. Pride shown in the eyes of the men. Mira didn't know if it was
Raptor uttered one word, a name, "Amelia..."Amethyst stopped and looked from Tine and the elder to his uncle. "I'm sorry. I have been told that I look just like her. Amelia was my grandmother"Amethyst watched, along with Tine as Raptor absorbed this information. Watching the blood drain from his face as he mumbled some excuse and left to go back to the inn."What was that all about Tine?" Amethyst asked to anyone in general. "I have my suspicions, I'm afraid, but it is not my story to tell. At least, not until I find out for sure. But, I also suspect Lady Amethyst, that you already have some inkling of the answer yourself. However, I am not going to pry." A that moment, Mira could have happily melted through the floor as her stomach growled loudly. As loudly as Raptor had growled earlier."Heavens, it seems that someone is hungry. We should probably go in to dinner. I believe Tine that you and Mira are especially hungry."Amethyst turned and led the way toward the dining room where
Tine was so busy pacing that he almost missed the moment that Mira came down the stairs. Rushing to her side, he watched as her eyes dilated as their hands touched. He knew in that instance that she knew he was something other than human. He waited with no small amount of trepidation. Mira looked over at the man that she had quickly fallen in love with and smiled her best smile. In that smile Tine saw her love for him as well as her acceptance of whatever he was. Releasing the breath that he had unintentionally been holding, Tine returned her smile and leaned in to kiss her cheek."Here now! None of that!" Mira heard her mother say."Leave them be, dear. I remember when you chose me. We couldn't seem to keep our hands off of each others." Hearing his wife clear her throat loudly, he then tried to recant by saying, "Of c
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