The Eternal Machine, page 23
That’s why Alvis backed off, I bet Orion told him after that night. I bet they all knew.
I want to ask Novak about the wings, but I don’t think he even knows. I can’t tell where one scar ends and another begins on his back, though I’m quite sure they weren’t real wings I saw. I want to believe it’s just his shadows playing tricks on me, but deep down I have a feeling there is a lot more hidden beneath the skin.
Alvis might know, or Captain. Orion’s words from the library come back to me.
“What he hides inside is more than I could bear, for that I am certain.”
We lay there, awake but silent, for several hours. I am nearly asleep when I finally tell him, but I want him to know. I want to be brave, like him, and I believe my words to be true.
“Does it feel like getting drunk, when you first meet them? And you know you never want to be without them again, and your heart hurts looking at an empty ship?” I yawn, my voice drifting. “If so, then I think we are mates. Sorry.”
I fall asleep with a smile on my face while teasing him. His chest rumbles with gentle laughter and strong arms followed by warming shadows keep me safe.
* * *
Most of the next morning is filled with lovemaking, fucking, and storytelling. And with Novak, there is definitely a difference between the two kinds of sex. We now lay naked together in the bed, he is playing my song on his lute and I am curled up beside him, his locks of hair curled around my finger.
“You know, I’ve always quite liked this one.” I say, voice hoarse. A content smile finds him, and he raises a brow at me.
“It came to me a few weeks before I met you, up in the nest on the ship. Scratched it into the wood and everything.” He says proudly. I draw my brows together and give him a look. “Serious! I’ll show you next time we see Captain again.”
“What do pirates do all day, anyway? I’ve been thinking about becoming one, I didn’t think I was quite cut out, but if you’re a first mate, can’t be that hard.”
He laughs heartily, tossing the lute aside and covering me with tickling kisses. I squeal and he scoops me up, a dead serious look crossing his face. “Can I bathe you?”
I blink incredulously, peering at the end of the bedroom that holds the washroom. “You want to bathe me?”
He makes for the quaint bathroom, holding me tight and rolling his eyes. “Yes, you, me, in the bath together. Soap and the such. I mean, I assume you’ve taken baths before.”
I elbow him after he sets me down carefully on the edge of the tub, drawing the usual theatrics from him. He was true to his word and I am quite sore today, but am absolutely not complaining. It’s not like we’re in a big hurry, and if we stay here for a few days, that wouldn’t be so bad. Would it?
Within moments the water is running, a vial of soap is poured into the tub which brings huge bubbles. The sight makes me giddy and I reach in, scooping up a handful of the floral scented clouds. Novak bows deeply, and gestures to the tub. “After you, my lady.”
I lower myself in, the warm water is bordering on steaming. A sigh escapes and I lean back, dipping under at once. When I surface, Novak is waiting with a thoughtful smile, still outside the tub. “I thought you were coming in.” I say, splashing at him.
“I am, but not yet.” He says thoughtfully, his soap filled hands finding my scalp and scrubbing gently, moving to coat my tresses from root to end. I relax under his touch at once, and when I raise my head to the ceiling so he can rinse me, I let out a breath that has been stuck inside my chest for 236 years.
* * *
The consequences of bargaining with Ancient Fae did not bode so well for everyone.
Alvis tussles my wet hair when I sit down at the dining table, and he grins at Novak’s own wet mop. Alvis saunters to the kitchen and Novak trails after him, turning red at once when his friend complains obnoxiously about the thunderstorm we must’ve had last night, and this morning.
I roll my eyes at Alvis, and when I spy the sadness lingering in his eyes whenever he looks away from Novak, the realization I made last night stings even further. He is too good a Fae, a friend.
Emeric and Orion are perched on a couch in the adjoined living room, snuggled together and each riding their own version of the same book, veiling childish smiles behind the pages. Umber is nowhere to be seen. The rooms are filled with gentle conversation, normalcy striking me. This is what it was like to live in a home, the unsettling feeling I had last night.
Novak sets down plates filled with meat and potatoes, a hulking salad earning it’s own platter. “What is that?” I poke at the slab of meat with a fork.
“Same as your dried crap, just better.” Novak teases, winking at me. I decide fairly quickly he isn’t wrong.
Alvis settles across from us with his own plate of food, scrutinizing a map of Terra. The thick blue aura he usually holds is especially dark today, reminding me of what a brewing storm would look like.
“Where’s your sidekick today?” I taunt, finishing my plate. You can hear a pin drop, the air turning still and empty. Orion joins us at the table, Emeric pretends to be interested in his book.
“Umber is dead.” Orion puts a hand on my shoulder and I drop my fork, cold crawling under my skin. I whip around, brows narrowed together.
“What happened?” I whisper, but the truth is already knocking on my heart.
Alvis speaks harshly from across the table. “She pissed off the wrong people.”
Orion leaves my side and joins his brother. Orion reaches for Alvis’ arm, but his brother roughly shrugs him off. “Poof, pile of dust.” Alvis grumbles with dark amusement, staring at me.
“I didn’t realize you cared so much.” I tread a thin line, packing my pipe with caution. Alvis slams his fist on the table, losing composure and rattling the plates.
“I thought I could let my guard down.” Alvis’ heightened voice sends my heart into a thunder, and his charcoal ears fold down. After a long breath, he speaks with quiet defeat. “She was smarter than to pull this.” He breaks, embracing his brother who takes him aside for a moment.
I puff on the long wooden pipe and pass it to Novak. Emeric joins the circle in silence, and the air is still too dense in here. The Fire Fae puffs, and then passes the device to Orion after the twins rouse from their moment of unspoken words.
I make it through one more silent round before storming off to the decimated garden.
* * *
The only visible landmark in the yard is the stone fire pit, somehow still intact. All the well tended flowers and shrubs are flattened to the ground. The sunflowers and fence they had once leaned on are destroyed as well, the wood splintered in every direction. A bomb of ancient magic had erupted in poor Emeric’s backyard. A rare moment passes when I wish I could draw on Aether.
“I want to say, I’m sorry.” Emeric’s soft voice startles me and I jolt on the remains of a stone bench. I peer over my shoulder incredulously. He is standing at my side with hands clenching elbows, and a soft orange glow to his downward eyes. I stand uneasily and rest my rough hand on his soft, rounded shoulder.
“What for? Have you seen your garden?” I ask, attempting to tease. He lets out a small smile and rests a trembling hand atop mine.
“I didn’t know that would happen last night. It was just supposed to be a small fire, I made cake, for after. I didn’t know.” His eyes glisten and I wrap my arms around him, reeling in my breaking heart.
“You were visited by the Ancients because they respect you, and you respect them.” I sigh, pausing. Sorrow lingers inside me for the Fae I thought I knew, but not the one she really was. “Whatever deal Umber tried to make, and her own choices, lead to her demise. Tricky as they might be, the Ancients are beings to be respected.”
Alvis is right, she might not have been kind, but Umber was smart. I push the thought away for now, holding Emeric in his torn garden. The Fire Fae heaves against me as we hold each other, and is silent for a few moments after.
“It’s not very often that I wish for magic.” I admit. My statement causes him to find my face, his own filled with surprise. I wipe the tears from his soft dark cheeks, speaking softly. “But I wish I did, right now, to fix this.” I gesture to the mess around us.
Emeric smiles, then a small giggle escapes him. Those soft sunset eyes come alive, and he brings a steady hand between our chests. “Sometimes, you have to burn it all down to the ground, and start over again.”
He snaps his fingers and sends the devastation around us into white flames, the heat feasting only on what he commands it to, leaving nothing but charcoaled ground.
Clear and ready to start over.
Twenty One
It’s you, again.
After a couple more nights of warm food, baths with Novak and a farewell party in the Beakglen square, we say goodbye to Emeric. We have been on the trail north for a few hours, the mood solemn ever since we departed Beakglen. I am still curious what the others had asked for, but know better than to pry.
The rolling farmlands continue well after we pass through the invisible border of Terra. As we near the town Pan once called home, the reality of seeing him again is heavy on my mind. Novak is plucking his lute and leaning back on his horse, smiling at me whenever I find his face. Worry lingers in the purple skin under his eyes, and I figure he’s been thinking about Pan too.
I turn my thoughts to last night, my cheeks warming. He wouldn’t let me touch him until I had come over and over. Only once I was an absolute puddle of pleasure, did he make love to me. Deep, intentional sex, and before he came, he turned ethereal, like every time, but I still haven’t seen the wings again. Each time, the connection between us grows stronger, but still isn’t quite the same as when I first felt it.
I want to ask him if he can hear my heart thundering for him through the bond between us, like how I can hear his own nervous pulse. I can feel his warm shadows caress my spirit deeper each day, our darkness intertwining further as well to form the growing bridge between our souls. A seed of doubt plants in my heart that perhaps he wouldn’t ever allow himself to feel the bond, and his own trepidation is what dampens the connection.
I have his love, I don’t need him to believe in some Aether bond, even though I very much do. I decide to focus on the area around us, and our journey ahead. We plan to stop for dinner in the approaching town and camp on the outskirts of the Great Tree. For now, the expansive fields shrink into small meadows hugged by meticulous lines of trees.
Then, the meadows disappear entirely, bringing us into another world. A dense forest of ferns and mushrooms the size of oak trees hide the sky. The ground is a litter of leaves, saplings and shrubbery fighting for sunlight, the skittering of foliage the only clue to life.
My favorite part of the luminous forest so far are the bright mushrooms. Some cluster on bark and provide homes to shy pixies, others rival trees with mycelium ranging every color. Some are short and fat, like ale barrels with a thick dress that teases the ground. For a moment I debate stopping to test their strength and sit upon one. They certainly appear sturdy enough, but about the time I gain my courage we encounter the horrors waiting for us.
Charcoal skeletal remains of a wooden cottage is the only structure left standing. In the surrounding clearing, the foundations of other cobbled buildings are crushed into dust and pebbles. I shudder as we ride by, sure I can hear Weylin’s screaming and the thud of her head rolling onto the ground. Even with dusk fast approaching, we wordlessly continue for another twenty minutes. About the time I shed the feeling of ghosts watching us, Fiddler’s ears relax and he is more than happy to stop.
We make a small camp and decide to stay the night here, and before too long, Alvis has a rabbit crisping over the fire Novak starts, and we’re situated around the flames. Alvis offers me a small wooden plate with a bit of the meat and I take it with an even face, listening to him and Novak talk.
They discuss the route from the Grand Tree to Silverbury, and how to avoid the main villages in Sylvan lands. Orion remains silent and doesn’t even try to pretend to eat, like I am. Warmth pricks my neck and my heart flutters when I speak. “I appreciate everything you two have done for me, but you’re not going to Sylvan with us.”
Novak whistles lightly. Orion and Alvis face me at the same time, identical hurt displayed across their sharp features. “And why not?” Orion snarks. Alvis straightens and I focus on my hands, afraid I will break under his resolve. Fucking bastard still gets under my skin. This business of feelings is too complicated.
“I’ve never had true friends before, but I know I wouldn’t be one to you, if you came.” The thought of them not coming hurts just as much as the thought of them being torn apart. Novak’s visible warm shadows slip behind my back, a comforting touch. Novak doesn’t have to hide from the twins, he can be himself.
“And we wouldn’t be true friends if we didn’t.” Alvis spits, still furious at the mere suggestion, and rises to stalk off through the woods.
“We’re coming, end of discussion.” Orion’s blunt and final words fold my ears down. He snatches up his bedroll and his Alvis’, leaving us to find his brother, who had disappeared into the twilight of the woods. I pull my knees up to my chest and scowl at the fire, Novak pokes it every now and then in silence.
After a while, he lays out both our bedrolls and slips off his shirt, then beckons me over to lay beside him. I oblige, nestling into his bare chest with a huff.
“You won’t get rid of them so easily, you know.” Novak teases in a whisper, pulling a fur over our heads. I sigh in relief, closing my eyes and breathing in sea salt. Always sea salt. Delicate fingers brush purple from my cheeks, then he twirls a lock around, a tendril of darkness intertwining with it.
The vial on my neck pulls me from my comfort, and the worries of Sylvan still flood me.
“I can’t fathom it. I try to imagine Typhan worse than anything I’ve heard so far, and they’re still going back.”
“You’ve only known them for a short time, but I think it’s safe to say that if you will walk into the Eternal for them, they will do anything for you.” He chuckles, taking my hot silence as confirmation. “Alvis thinks you’re the best thing since Aether, and I’m pretty sure if you didn’t have Orion’s heart before you met Emeric, you sure did after.” Color flushes my cheeks at his words.
“It’s just hard to wrap my head around this friend’s thing. This mates thing.” I chuckle, tracing his cheek with a soft finger. He smiles, eyes glazing a bit.
“The more I think about it, the more I think you’re right.”
I feign hurt, gasping. “You don’t think we’re mates?” He doesn’t want to admit it, but he doesn’t deny it either. I’ll take what I can get. Novak kisses me softly, and I respond by biting his lip harshly.
“You’re such a brat, don’t you ever get tired of being put in your place?” His bright eyes and cradle of shadows flash black for a moment. The call of seductive darkness, and I cannot resist. I shake my head and lower my lips down his bare chest, tracing his scars with my tongue. I nip at his stomach, pulling the light hair at his pant line with my lips, while my hands undo the button.
“Lyth, here?” Novak’s desperate whisper pricks my ears, but I already have released what I want, and he is ready.
“You better be quiet.” I take his hard length in my hand, stroking with a loose grip up, and then tighten subtly when I go down. I lick his shaft, curving my tongue around his pulsing thickness. “How do you want it?”
Firm hands find me and he tries to pull me up, his voice hoarse. “No, you first.”
“I said, how do you want me to suck you?” I tease his tip with just my lips.
“I want to be so far down your throat, you’re gasping for air.” He darkly admits.
I take him in my mouth, and he hardens further when my tongue flicks the head, following down his shaft. A deep rumble emits from his chest and he tangles a hand in my hair. I moan, the sound vibrating his shaft. My hand slides up his thigh, then gently cups his balls. He lets out a gasp and thrusts involuntarily into my mouth, begging to reach my throat.
My other hand wraps around the bottom of his shaft, moving in time with my mouth. I can’t quite take him all, but he is writhing under me and only lasts for a couple minutes.
“Fuck, Lyth. Get up here, now.” Novak snarls and I obey immediately, straddling him and taking his length, needing him in me now.
We both moan when he enters, I sit up and shed the blankets covering us. The moons light our bodies, his handsome face is filled with delight as I slowly ride him, my full breasts glowing under the stars. The knees of my prosthesis hum quietly on either side of him, and his hands guide my hips with gentle assistance like he did before.
“How are you so perfect?” He murmurs after a moment, taking a cold breast in his hand, the other still holding onto my thick hip. “You are beyond anything I deserve.” He rumbles with such ferocity I come the moment the primal sound meets my ears.
The shadows around us flicker from charcoal to black when I cry out his name, my hips pausing as a shudder erupts through me. When I focus back on his face, he is fighting the black creeping into his eyes. Both hands dig into the skin of my waist, desperate to make me his plaything. I lean down, whispering into his snow fluffed ear, drawing a shudder from him.
“I rather like your shadows. Let them come out and play.”
Novak trembles under me, taking my round cheek in his hand. He is worried again, like the first time, and I realize he wasn’t scared before that he might hurt me with his size, but with his Aether. Even though we’ve loved each other while he was completely ethereal, he is still holding back something.
“I’m, afraid, what’ll happen if I do.”
“Please, for me.” I ask tenderly, my lips lingering on his. “I’m not afraid.”
Novak sits up while still inside me, wrapping his arms around me and holding me close to his chest. He kisses my nose, and nods ever so slowly. He is settled deeper inside me than before and I squirm a bit.
