Rayne stumbled, and froze. His eyes wide. He stared at me, with what appeared to be new eyes, he inspected the forest green of my gaze and gasped. He stepped closer to me and reached his hand out as if to touch me, then stopped himself. I prayed my instincts were leading me true. I suddenly bit my lip and wrapped my arms around myself, feeling incredibly foolish.
"You're alive..." He gasped out. Then he reached forward and pulled me into his embrace. I froze awkwardly. I was not expecting this.
"I have felt so much guilt for your family, for what my father did. I'm glad you are alive." He pulled back and stared down at me in wonder. Then he took a step back, and he went down on one knee before me. I gasped, looking around and gesturing for him to rise.
"Your Majesty, Lyra Wren Argyris, the rightful Queen of the Sidhe. I, Rayne Armand Deimos, pledge my fealty to your honor." My cheeks heated; I felt the pull of a magic bond stringing its way between us. A fealty bond is not taken lightly amongst the Fae. A bond that can only be broken by release or death.
"What about you? What about the crown?" I stammered; I was taking away his whole future. I would be forcing him out of the role he had been groomed for and punished for his whole life. He shook his head.
"I was not born to lead. I never wanted to be king. You, however, are a Queen in your own right." He finished. He placed a kiss on the back of my hand.
"I accept your oath, Rayne Armand Deimos." The bond snapped into place. His loyalty was tied to mine. He rose and smiled. I took a deep breath.
"I can't impress enough the importance of this remaining a secret." I said. He nodded immediately.
"Of course." He responded. I thought I heard a noise from within the apartment. I turned sharply to stare at the door. Rayne and I walked up to the doors, I gently turned the handle and peaked my head in. Gwyn was still snoring on the couch, her face pressed into a pillow. The popcorn bowl at her feet had fallen over. I released a breath in relief. I felt Rayne's hand on the small of my back.
"Meet me tomorrow night. There's something I want to show you." He whispered in my ear, I shivered. I felt his closeness at my back. I nodded my head in agreement. I felt his lips brush against the side of my neck, then he was gone. I turned my head to see a shadow disappearing of the edge of the balcony, the way he had come.
Making my way through the mess that was my living room, careful not to wake Gwyn, I made my way to my bedroom and collapsed down on the soft comforter. I revelled in the cloud I was floating on, touching my kiss swollen lips. I mentally scolded myself, that turned out alright, so far, but I needed to be more careful who I open up to. This was a matter of my life.
I cringed when I looked at my clock and realized I needed to be up in three hours to get to the practice field. I sighed and closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift off to sleep. But in my dreams, it was a large, gruff solider with his arms around me.
When I woke up in the morning, shuffling slowly out of the comforting warmth of my blanket cave, Gwyn was already gone. She'd left a note saying she'd meet me at the practice field at 9 A.M. It was 8:30 now. I gratefully sipped a heavenly cup of coffee, and got dressed for the day, I put on my training outfit, and strapped my dagger to my thigh.
The grounds were quiet this morning, and the overcast sky cooled down the morning air. The crisp air helped to wake me up. When I made it to the training grounds, I could hear the familiar soothing sounds of the men training. When the field was in eyesight, Gwyn stood out immediately. She was in bright pink leggings, with a bright pink tank top and sports bra. Her chocolate curls pulled up in a ponytail. She was bouncing around and stretching, I could spot a few of the men eyeing her hungrily. I laughed and picked up my pace, hopping the training fence and running up to her.
"Hey! You made it!" I said to her, smiling. She looked up at me mid stretch and smiled.
"You feeling okay this morning? You look a bit peaky." She giggled, remembering the amount of Fae wine we drank. I laughed good naturedly and nodded.
"I'm tired, but I'll survive." I started stretching out my hamstrings. I heard a low growl behind me and turned my head to see Kellen passing by behind me. I blushed and let out a low laugh.
"Enjoying the view?" I taunted him. He chuckled and came up behind me, putting pressure with his hands on my hips so I went deeper into my stretch. I shivered at his touch.
"Feel better?" He spoke into my ear. I swallowed, looked into his eyes and nodded. His golden eyes darkened, and he leaned in to place a soft kiss to my cheek. I blushed and looked around at the soldiers, who were all studiously looking away. I knew what he was doing – marking his territory. I scowled at him. He winked and moved back to ordering the men around.
"Whew! It's hot in here!" Gwyn fanned herself and winked. I laughed and shook my head.
"Boys" I sighed, exasperatedly. She laughed and I caught her glancing over at Cael, the soldier who had asked about her yesterday. I smirked and lifted my gaze across the field to the men.
"Hey Cael! Have you met Gwyn?" I gestured him to come over. Gwyn smacked my arm, but flashed a bright smile as he ran up, his indigo eyes shone in a smile.
"Hey Gwyn, nice to meet you. I'm Cael." He held out his hand, she blushed a deep red and took his hand. He turned her hand over and kissed the back of it. She gasped and turned even more crimson. I decided to back away and let them talk. I ran over to Kellen, who was watching me from the other side of the fence. He turned to look at the two of them and smirked at me.
"Working your magic already?" He quipped. I laughed and winked, staring back at them over my shoulder.
"Who knows, maybe they'll turn out to be soul mates." I said wistfully, he looked at my face.
"Maybe they will be." I turned and caught his eye and blushed. I placed my hand on his arm.
"I was wondering if you might come with me to the forest later." I asked, his eyes narrowed but he nodded. For the rest of the morning we turned ourselves to training, and I basked in the movement of my muscles, the honing of my skills. I also got to take out some aggression and pelt Kellen with a stick.