The Shadow and The Draw, page 20
“Exactly like that.” He grins, and he looks so much like Amryn.
“You never got married?” I ask him, and his face drops a little, surprised by the question.
He rubs the back of his neck and looks out over the valley sprawling beneath us. “Uh, no, I guess I just never found someone.”
“That’s too bad,” I say, “you’d be a good husband. And a good dad.”
He shrugs, and crosses his arms over his chest. “After I lost everyone, I guess - I dunno. I guess I didn’t want there to be more people for me to lose.”
“Oh Tal.” I say with a sigh.
“Hey, no, it's OK,” he says, shaking his head emphatically. “I’m fine. I got you all back now, and well, who knows, right?“ He takes a deep breath and gestures to the sky. “Come on, we’re here to fly.”
“Right.” I look up at the sky, willing my wings to extend, to carry me up into the falling rain. I close my eyes, and breathe out, and I feel - “Fuck. “ I rub my forehead with my fingertips.
Tal laughs. “Ok, well, we have a method for teaching real impatient kids real quick.” He says.
I look at him questioningly. “And that is?”
“Sink or swim, Darlin.” He seizes me around the stomach, lifting me off my feet, and darts across the cliff top with me in his arms. I don’t even have time to cry out as he hurls me off the cliff edge.
Air rushes past my ears, and blind panic fills me as I watch the ground hurtle towards me. I hold my breath, waiting for the impact. He’s killed me. The fucker’s killed me. I’m not going to swim, I’m going to sink.
Suddenly I hear Tal laughing and whooping, and I realise the ground isn’t getting any closer. My back tingles with electricity, and I look over my shoulder to see glowing white smoke behind me, my wings waving back and forth as I hover over the trees.
Tal swoops down beside me, laughing. “White wings, nice!”
“You fucking asshole,” I say to him, “you could have killed me.”
“I was right behind you,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “God, you’re so dramatic.”
“You threw me off a fucking cliff, Tal! Who’s dramatic?”
“Hey, it worked didn’t it?” He crosses his arms over his chest, still grinning. “You just had to believe in yourself like I do.”
I shoot a fireball at him, missing him on purpose. “Fucker.”
He throws his head back, laughing. “You’re a feisty little bitch, you know that?”
I fly after him, summoning my flames. “Say that again!”
With a swoop of his wings he heads back towards the village. “Feisty little bitch!” He calls over his shoulder.
I shoot sparks at him, and he laughs, and I look down at the ground as it blurs under me. I’m flying. I’m flying. This feels amazing. I spiral up into the sky, feeling the rain drops racing to meet me, and I laugh as thunder rumbles overhead.
We fly back into the village, touching down outside the Great Hall, and Amryn’s waiting for us, shaking his head and grinning. Elise rushes out of the hall and laughs when she sees us. “I see flying lessons went well.” She says.
“You could say that.” Tal says, grabbing me in a headlock and roughing up my hair.
“Ey!” I protest, pushing him away. “He threw me off a cliff!”
“She deserved it!” Tal says, pointing a finger at me. “And she threw a fireball at me!”
“I missed!”
“Only because you’re a bad shot!” Tal jumps, yelping as I send sparks shooting around his feet.
Elise is laughing so hard tears are running down her cheeks, and Amryn looks like his grin is going to break his face. Tal and I pull our wings back in, and they disappear under our skin.
“That was fun, huh?” He says to me, putting an arm around my shoulders and looking down at me proudly. “You’re a good kid.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “Elise, I think we should break out some of that fine whiskey tonight.”
“Oh yes!” She says, clapping her hands together. “Let’s have a party, huh?” She puts her arm around Amryn and gazes up at him. “We have so much to celebrate.” She looks around at us all, and she bites her lip. “So much to celebrate.”
“I still have these things,” Elise says, hauling a bag out of her closet. “They belonged to your mother.”
I sit on her bed, wrapped in a towel after my shower, and watch her pull out a small green velvet satchel, and some clothes. I open the satchel and pull out a gold chain with a medallion hanging from it, a peridot in the centre, along with some gold rings and a pair of large gold hoop earrings. There’s a black dress with a tight bodice, thin straps and a long skirt in amongst the clothing. I stand up and hold it up to myself in the mirror.
“Oh yes,” Elise says, sitting down on the bed, smiling at my reflection. “That’s very pretty.”
“Thankyou for all this,” I say.
“Oh honey, these are your mother’s things -“
“No, I mean -“ I sit down beside her on the bed, and take her hand. “I mean, everything. All of this. It’s the first time I’ve felt like I had a proper family in a really long time.”
Elise smiles and claps my hand in hers. “It’s so wonderful to have you back here, you and Amryn. Now we just need to go get Ceili and the others, and everything will be perfect.”
“Yes it will be,” I say with a nod. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, honey, anything.”
I take a deep breath. “Why did you all leave us there so long?” I meet her eyes hesitantly, not wanting to cause her any pain. “I mean, why didn’t you just come and bust us out, immediately?”Elise sighs heavily, and I feel bad that I’ve ruined the mood. “It’s OK, you don’t have to answer, I’m sorry.”
She grips my hand and shakes her head. “No, please, don’t feel bad. You have a right to ask that. At first, it was simply because we didn’t have the numbers, and we didn’t even know where you’d been taken. As we recovered and tried to rebuild, we slowly had information filter back to us, so we finally knew where you’d gone.” She stops speaking, gazing out the window.
“And then?” I ask tentatively.
She gazes back at me, and her eyes shine with tears. “The decision was made that as long as you and Amryn weren’t going to be hurt, we wouldn’t intervene. We knew Lordain wouldn’t hurt either of you, because he wanted you for your power.” She strokes my hand gently with the back of hers. “You were safe there, and we knew we weren’t going to be able to protect you, not properly. It took us years to gain our strength back.” She inhales heavily. “I’m sorry. Everything you and Amryn went through, so desperate to be together, and thinking you couldn’t be.”
“It’s OK,” I assure her, giving her a smile. “We’re here now.”
“Yes, and soon Ebony and Liall will have their daughter back too, home, where she should be. With everyone else.” She reaches up and gently strokes my cheek. “Anya, too. She’s still your Momma, in a way.”
I try to ignore the pang in my stomach. I’m not going to think about what that’s going to take, what it means to try and get everyone back here, safe, home. Not tonight. We deserve to have a little fun.
Elise leaves me to get ready, and I pull on my mother’s dress, which fits me almost perfectly, except it’s a tiny bit long. I guess my Mom was taller than me. I look in the mirror, and I wonder if I look like her. I look like Ebony, so maybe I do. I have to ask if someone has a photograph of her. I want to see her face. I can only remember flashes.
I put the gold hoops in my ears and hang the medallion around my neck, and head out into the cabin. Tal and Amryn are sitting at the table, glasses of whiskey in hand, and Tal’s eyes land on me first. He gives a low whistle, and nudges Amryn.
His eyes widen a little. “Wow.”
“Do I look pretty?” I ask, giving a little twirl.
“You look incredible.” He replies.
“Ready to party, huh?” Tal says, and takes a sip of his drink.
Liall comes out of the kitchen and hands me a beer. “Maybe leave the hard liquor to these knuckleheads at this early stage of the night,” he says, shaking his head and smiling.
“Are you saying I can’t hold my drink?” Tal says, pretending to be insulted. “Rude.”
Amryn looks at me meaningfully for a moment, then taps Tal on the arm. “Brother, I need you to do something for me?”
Tal nods. “And what’s that?”
“Your flames can burn me, right?”
Tal’s brow furrows. “Uh, yeah, sure. Can I ask why?”
Amryn turns over his arm, the mark of the Draw tattooed on his forearm now facing up. “I want this fucking thing gone.” He says. “And I want you to be the one to get rid of it.”
“Amryn -“ I say, but stop when I see the determination in his eyes.
Tal’s mouth sets in a hard line, and he nods. “Gladly.” His eyes flick up to Amryn’s. “I don’t need to tell you this is going to hurt like a bitch, do I?”
Amryn shakes his head, and Liall rushes out of the kitchen behind them “I’ll go and let Elise know you boneheads are setting each other on fire.” He hurries out of the cabin.
Tal raises a hand, which glows orange, heat shimmering across the surface of his palm. He raises his eyebrows as he looks at Amryn. “Ready?”
Amryn steels himself, looking over at me, and nods. “Do it.”
Tal inhales through his nose, and puts his glowing hand down on Amryn’s arm, covering the tattoo. Amryn’s hand balls into a fist, and he exhales through gritted teeth.
“Fuck, that stings,” he says, taking another swig of whiskey. “Holy fuck.”
Tal frowns as he looks down at Amryn’s arm, and I clutch my hand to my face as I watch the steam and smoke rise, the smell of burning flesh filling my nose. The door flies open and Elise rushes in.
“What in hell’s name are you doing?” She asks, rushing to the table.
“He wants his mark gone,” Tal says simply, keeping his eyes on Amryn. “He wants to be free of their bullshit.”
“Oh.” Elise’s face relaxes nods and puts a hand on Amryn’s shoulder. “Of course you do, baby boy. Good. I’ll have this healed in no time.”
Amryn pounds his fist on the table. “Holy shitting fuck.” He clenches his eyes closed and a laugh escapes from between his gritted teeth. “Freedom sure comes with a fucking price.”
I realise I’ve been frozen to the spot, and give myself a shake, rushing to stand behind his chair. I put my hand over his fist on the table.
“OK,” Tal says, lifting his hand from Amryn’s arm. “That oughta do it.”
“Ah,” Amryn says, sucking in another breath through his grimace, “finally.”
Elise puts her hands over the shiny red wound on Amryn’s arm, and his head tips back against me. I put my hands on his face, and he looks up at me, smiling. “Well, now that’s done, we can party, huh?”
Elise chuckles. “I’d tell you to stay off the whiskey after being healed, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be taking that advice tonight.”
Tal leans over and raises his glass to Amryn, who picks up his own and clinks against it. “Thanks, Tal.” Amryn says.
“Any time,” Tal says with a smile, and takes a swig.
Music starts playing outside, and Liall comes back into the cabin. “The party’s starting without you,” he says, waving his hand in front of him as the scent of burned flesh hits his face. “Holy shit, that smells bad.”
We all laugh, and Elise sits back, looking down at Amryn’s healed arm. “There now, like it was never there to begin with.” She says.
“Good,” Amryn says, taking my hand and kissing my palm. “I’m done with that place. Come on, let’s go have some fun.”
Amryn takes my hand as we walk outside, and there’s people everywhere, everyone is happy and smiling and laughing and drinking. The whole village. Our village. Our people.
Music is blaring from the great hall, and despite the rain people are staying outside. Fires burn in pits dotted around the square, the lights flooding from the homes illuminating the village as night falls. Thunder rumbles and someone cheers, and then I see flames go up. Three men, emerge from the hall, their flames burning red and yellow on their arms. They approach me and bow.
“The Queen is home!” One of them calls, and everyone cheers.
“The Queen is here!” The next one says, and everyone cheers again.
“And the Old God sees us!” The last one says, and they shoot their flames into the sky, where they are met with a bolt of lightning. The village goes wild, sending their flames up to meet the sky as thunder booms overhead. Amryn and I step forward to join them, my white flames mingling with his orange ones as they travel into the navy blue clouds above.
Amryn looks at me, smiling. “The Queen is home.” He says quietly, and brushes a kiss against my lips.
“I want to marry you.” I say suddenly.
Amryn’s eyes widen as he looks at me. “What?”
“I want you to be my husband,” I say, not sure where this idea is coming from. It’s being at home, I’m sure of it. I feel safe. It feels right. I want him to be mine. I want to be his. Of course I do. This was how it was always meant to be.
“Are you proposing to me?” He asks with a laugh. “You want me to be your husband?”
I nod. “Yep. I am. I do. Obviously.”
He pulls me into his arms and crushes my lips with his. The rain continues to pelt down on us, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “Well, then I accept.” He says to me when we part.
“Good.” I pull him back to me and kiss him again. He’s mine. Mine alone. No one else’s.
We walk around and talk to the others, mingling and drinking more, and finally a whiskey glass finds its way into my hand. I know I’ll regret it but I drink it anyway. I feel amazing, and every time Amryn’s eyes meet mine my stomach does a little flip, because he’s beautiful and he’s mine and I love him.
The music gets louder, and the night is getting hotter despite the rain that won’t let up, and we find ourselves dancing in the crush of the crowd outside the hall. It’s wet and hot and muddy and perfect.
Amryn’s behind me, his arms around my waist, his mouth on my neck, and this is how it’s meant to feel, electric and hazy and delirious. I grind against him as the music booms around us, and my arm curls behind me, around his neck. I turn my head to meet his mouth, my lips opening for his, for his tongue. The whiskey is making me feel so hot, and now I just want him so badly.
I turn around and put my arms around his neck. “Take me somewhere and fuck me.” I murmur into his ear. My feet are off the ground as he scoops me up against him, his mouth on mine, his teeth catching my lower lip. We move through the crowd, through the darkness to our cabin. He pushes the door open, and we stumble in, entangled, our mouths on each other.
I’m stopped as I back into the couch, and Amryn seizes me in his arms, turning me around, pressing himself against my back. He pushes down the top of my soaking wet dress, his hands over my breasts, my nipples hard from the cool rain. His mouth is on my neck as my body warms under his hands. I reach down behind me, my hands moving over his cock, swelling inside his pants.
He pushes my dress right down, onto the floor, and I undo his pants, feeling them drop as well. He tears his shirt off over his head, and then he’s against me, naked, hot, urgent. The whiskey is making us both crazy. He puts his hand on the back of my neck and pushes me down over the back of the couch.
“You want me to fuck you, baby?” He asks, his fingers straying over my back, moving down, between my thighs.
“Yes,” I whimper, my fingers clawing into the cushions as he pushes two fingers inside me.
“How do you want me to fuck you?” He pulls his fingers out, then plunges them back in again. “You want it slow?” He moves his hand up, his wet fingers moving over my clit.
I moan loudly. “Oh god.”
“Slow?” He pushes his fingers back inside me, my heat meeting him, growing and growing with every move he makes. “I need you to tell me, baby.”
I shake my head, flooded with delirious pleasure. “No.”
“You want it fast, do you?” His fingers swirl around my clit.
I nod. “Fuck me hard,” I gasp, pressing my ass back against him, my hips rolling against his hand. “Please, oh god.”
He leans over me, his hot breath on my neck. His hips push against me, and he groans as his cock slides inside me.
“Oh fuck,” I breathe, my back arching as his thrusts stretch me around him. He’s so hot and hard, and he’s pounding into me, his hand in my hair. My body is throbbing, just for him, the whiskey and heat and haze making me feel as though I’m floating, as though we’re suspended somewhere. There’s just us, nothing else.
I put a hand between my legs, and my clit is swollen and aching as my fingers move over it, circling myself as Amryn keeps thrusting, his fingers digging into my hip. His hand moves from the back of my head to my throat, turning my mouth to meet his, bouncing me on his cock.
“You’re heaven,” he says with a gasp. “You were fucking made for me.”
“No one’s had what you have.” I can barely speak. “No one ever will.”
I’m moaning loudly, my fingers and his cock and his hands and his mouth sending every nerve in my body into overdrive, shimmering heat dancing across my skin as my veins glow bright white. I feel the sweat breaking out over his skin, our bodies sliding against each other.
Amryn groans as I tighten around him, and I clench my eyes shut as I begin to shake and quiver. “Oh god.” I breathe, and the hot pressure between my thighs explodes, dripping over Amryn’s cock. I can’t breathe for a second, my body so consumed by my climax and the sweet feeling of Amryn’s sweat on my skin.
He thrusts into me harder, and clutches me to him, tensing with his mouth pressed to my cheek, then shuddering deliciously as his cock pumps inside me.
My head tips back against his shoulder, and we stand there, in the light of my glowing veins, trying to catch our breath as we subside together. How is every time with him perfect, always better than the last, always leaving me feeling like I’m going to split in two?
