To Tame An Angel: A Femdom Fantasy Romance

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

NALLA

My eyes fluttered open when I was lifted by someone’s gentle touch. I grimaced, pain invading my senses. But the person was careful and warm. Their arms curled around me, and I was pressed into a chest. I was dimly aware that we were flying, and I panicked.

“Tannor!” I gasped but felt my body convulse in pain and consciousness leaving me. My grip was weak, my heartbeat low, and I feared death would claim me in my sleep.

“Stay with me, Nalla.”

I didn’t know the voice, I’d never heard it before, but I latched on to it, petrified of letting go and getting lost in the dark.

The darkness came regardless, and I lingered there for many days. So many days that when I finally woke, my mouth was parched, and my limbs felt sluggish and numb. But I woke. Full woke, blinking up and taking in the patterns of a simple wooden ceiling. Feeling the warmth of a fire and the comfort of a soft bed.

“You’re awake,” a voice said, and it took a lot for me to turn my head.

There stood a man, tall and wide, with thick dark brown hair and skin, and soft gray eyes. His wings were a tawny brown and they settled proudly behind him. He was handsome when he smiled in relief and came quickly to sit by me.

“You’ve been asleep for days, we were afraid it was too late,” he said with a strong voice. His wings distracted me because they looked so bright and strong, like they’d never been broken or hidden.

“Where’s Tannor?” I asked in a whisper.

He filled me a cup with water and set it against my hand for me to drink. I drank greedily, feeling the water coat my desperate insides.

“Your angel lives,” the man said with a smile. “He’s still recovering. He was badly hurt, but we’re hoping with time, he’ll heal.”

Relief washed over me and inexplicably, I began to cry. Large sobs for all the happenings of the past few days. The man leaned forward and pushed my hair back from my forehead staring down at me with a very concerned look.

“Don’t cry, Nalla,” he said gently. “You’re safe now.”

“Why did you help us? Who are you?” I asked between hitching breaths.

He smiled and a dimple dented his cheek. “You haven’t figured it out?” Then he held up something small and brown between his fingers. I recognized it as the small tuff of hair mother kept in her trunk. The one I’d taken. The one belonging to my brother.

Slowly, I calmed, and met his eyes. “You’re…”

“Allon, your brother.” His gaze softened when I gasped. “I always wanted to meet you. I never expected to hear your voice in my head and heart a few nights ago. I felt when you set off your magic and I knew exactly where to find you.”

I stared at him uncomprehendingly. “You heard me?”

He nodded, still leaning down and brushing my hair back. “I did. I knew it was you and I knew you needed help. I knew one day you would get away, I just felt it.” He gave me a wide smile, but there was pride painted there. “So father and I searched for hours until we finally found the mess you left behind.”

I shook my head at listening to him. “Father? Father is here?”

He nodded. “Oh, yes. He’s spent each night right here in case you woke.”

A breath caught at my throat, and I looked around. It was so much to process that I felt afloat and needed grounding. I sat up with a groan. “Help me up. I need to see Tannor.”

“You need to rest –”

But I cut him with a look. “I need to see him. I need to make sure he’s alright.”

He held my arm but gave me a slightly hurt look. I took his hand and wobbled when I stood. He helped me steady, placing his hands on my shoulders. I stared up at him, taking in his face, trying to change the visions I had of him as a child to the grown man before me.

“I-I don’t know you, Allon. So much has happened, I just need –”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Something you’re familiar with.”

It was strange that without knowing much about me he keenly understood what I implied. We stared at one another, and I studied the person I’d been born with. My fingers dug into his forearms and his wings shuddered, as if in happiness.

“I know it’s a lot right now. But the good thing is that you’re safe. And we’re safe and able to spend as long as we’d like in order to know one another. To make up for all the years,” he said with great sincerity.

His words and voice were so soothing that on impulse, I threw my arms around him. He gripped me tightly. The moment I was in his arms it felt like this dormant connection, once severed, was sewn up. The threads linking us brightening and delighting in their union.

Outside of the small hut where I’d healed was a moderate sized village. Allon held my hand as he showed me outside, pointing to various buildings and explaining what they were. It was a small colony of men and women living harmoniously. Many, I was surprised to learn, had run away when they’d fallen in love during a taming. Others were men who lived together after running away from the pits. Children ran around, little boys with their wings spread open, and little girls laughing, flicking their magic haphazardly. I awed at the spectacle, at how normal everything was.

An old woman, with long braided white hair and dark skin, walked to us, using a cane which she heavily depended on. She smiled and the creases of her wrinkled skin made her eyes get lost in her face.

“She woke, I told you she would wake,” she said and stopped before me, looking me over and inspecting me. “She’s got ancient strength in her.”

“Nalla, this is Lady Mayora, our leader,” Allon said and I nodded at the woman.

“Thank you for taking us in,” I managed. “I want to see Tannor. I want to be with him while he heals.”

The woman nodded and started to walk towards another hut. “Of course you do. I was much the same when I arrived here with my own wounded angel. He’s passed now, but I recall how desperate young love is.”

I stared at the back of her white head. “You were also one of us?”

She paused and turned to me, her withered jaw shaking. “I was the Queen’s Mistress of Secrets. The position no longer exists after the mess I left behind. But even with my high rank, falling in love with the Queen’s new pet was more than just frowned upon. It was right down treason, and so we escaped. He barely made it out. Just like your young man, he was tortured. But we made it and lived a delightful forty years of freedom. My own granddaughter is engaged to your handsome twin brother.”

I turned to Allon who seemed a little red in the face. He gave me a lopsided grin. “Like I said, we have much to get caught up on.”

“Come, come, youth is desperation personified,” Lady Mayora said and waved us into the tent.

I rushed ahead, desperate to see Tannor. I found a clean, cool room, which held a bed in the center. A few medics worked inside, both men and women. They paused when I entered and turned to stare at me. I didn’t care for any of them. My eyes were on Tannor who looked pale under the sheets and was covered in bruises and bandages. When I stood next to him, seeing him so frail and broken, I wanted to cry but I willed myself to be strong. His hands were bandaged, and I held on to his wrist, hoping he could feel me.

“Let’s give them some time, yes?” Lady Mayora waved her cane around and the rest moved out. I leaned over Tannor, studying his face, which admittedly looked better than I’d seen it last.

“He’s very strong,” Lady Mayora said in a low tone. “I worked on him myself when they first brought you. He was at the brink, dear. Very close. But he has a strong heart, and I was able to stabilize him.”

I looked up at her. “With magic?”

She gave me a knowing smile as I combed Tannor’s hair from his face.

“They never really tell us all that our magic can do. They want us to think it can only be used for control and pain. But that is not the case. Most of it lives dormant within each of us. It can save those who need saving and it can heal.”

I studied Tannor. Many of his cuts and burns were completely closed and healing nicely. Even his wings were bandaged and devoid of blood.

“Do you think he can hear me?” I asked her, pressing a kiss to Tannor’s cheek.

She nodded, giving me another smile. “Yes. Stay with him, it’ll help him.”

And so, I stayed. Allon brought me a comfortable chair and a nice hearty soup, which I ate quickly and went back to holding Tanor’s wrist. He sat next to me, and we quietly conversed, stealing happy glances at one another whenever we discovered something we both enjoyed. Some hours later, I fell asleep, resting my head against Tannor’s leg.

I woke when someone gently set a blanket over my back. When I blinked, I saw an older man with a wide face and skin, hair, and eyes like mine. His hair was white, tied back, and he dressed in plain clothing, with his wide white wings neatly tucked behind him.

We stared at one another, unsure of what to say. I knew him, would’ve known him in a crown of strangers. Hale. My father.

Slowly, Hale smiled, his eyes watering. He cupped my face, and wordlessly pulled me into his embrace. It was like being found. I clutched his shirt tightly and he pressed his face into my hair.

“Oh, my girl,” he sighed, and I dug my fingers into his chest. “I thought I would never meet you.”

I looked up and studied his face, memorizing the lines cutting the edge of his eyes and how bushy his eyebrows were. He was still very handsome, and I could see why mother had loved him.

“I suppose there is much to say between you and I,” he said and urged me to sit.

I kept my hand on Tannor’s leg, but father and I sat together. He would ask questions and I would answer them. Truthfully. Even if the truth would hurt him. It often did, and I saw the frowns he had, knowing he too would need time to process the information I provided him.

When there were no more words we sat in companionable silence.

“You’re welcome to stay here. There’s plenty of land and work. I know it’s not a castle,” he glanced at me.

“I’ve had castles,” I said quickly, pressing my fingers into Tannor’s calf. “I’ve had castles and felt completely alone. I just want… I just want to live and be loved and be with the one I love.”

Sadly, he nodded, as if he wished that too for himself. My heart broke knowing he’d gone so long without it. But I took his hand and held it tightly. Mother might never join us and Zaya and Valle might be lost. But we would begin again, with our small family, and make the best of it.

Nine days later, Tannor opened his eyes. And when he did, I was there. Refreshed and healed myself, looming over him with a look of relief. When he saw me, he sighed and sank into the pillows with a smile.