Chapter 16 #3
He reminded me of a plant that Sand Priestess Selmira had shown me in a book once, whose name I couldn’t recall.
A marvellous carnivorous plant, its beauty having the sole purpose of trapping its na?ve prey.
Its appearance, smooth and inviting, its fragrance, an already broken promise of nectar.
A plant only designed to tempt its prey, blinding it to its lethal truths.
And as the poor insect lay inside what it was so attracted to, feasting on its nectar, the traitorous plant swiftly closed its jaw, trapping its prey until it consumed its every essence.
Its fate long doomed, too late before it realised that it should have flown as far away from it as possible.
The difference between myself and the poor insect was that at least the insect was blind to the danger.
The insect had the excuse of unawareness.
Whereas I, on the other hand, did not have that same excuse.
I knew his strength, I was aware of his power—I had already been given a little taste of its lethality.
And despite being fully conscious of all that, my attempts to avoid his looks, to resist his touch, failed me every time.
And tonight, the more he touched, the more I craved his nectar.
Even just now, my every attempt to resist lustful thoughts crumbled, as I was staring at his eyes, at his lips, thinking that no other face existed in Lyrantheia that was more striking.
“Cordelia?”
“Mmhmm?”
“Good night,” he said flatly. I was fairly certain that he wanted to ask me something, but I did not push, in dread of what I might have to answer.
“Good night, Lord Hailin,” I said tenderly, before turning onto my other side, feeling his piercing gaze at my back.
Why was he all I could think of?
I touched my lips, in secret, wondering what his own would feel like if they were to replace my fingertips. Would our kiss be soft and tender, or would it be fervent and raw with desire?
Semuel excused me for the morning as I had to attend an ‘important’ servants’ meeting.
I yawned. It made no sense for me to be there. I was Semuel’s personal servant after all. I left the meeting prematurely and headed for the stable.
I shook my head at the empty paddock. They had not taken the horses out yet, so I sauntered towards the stable, thinking, What would those two do without me?
Little did I know that it was I who would end up without them.
The stable was oddly still. It was quiet, except for a few nickers here and there. Then, in the near-perfect silence, I heard something. It sounded like muffled breathing coming from the farthest stall.
Was someone there? Was someone injured?
I made small, silent steps towards the faint sounds and carefully peered over the half door.
My eyes grew wide. Faern was slumped against the wall.
Semuel was shirtless, straddling him. Semuel gripped Faern’s light brown hair while Faern’s hands pulled at Semuel’s back.
Their faces were buried in each other’s.
I willed my stunned body to retreat, silently, but I was too late. Faern’s eyes snapped open. I almost stumbled backwards.
“Shit,” Faern breathed.
“Fuck,” Semuel muttered. I was about to exit the stable. “Delia, wait!”
I turned around, finding it a bit uncomfortable to look him in his eyes at first.
“I’m sorry,” we both blurted.
“What are you sorry for?” Semuel’s glassy eyes were filled with either doubt or confusion.
“I’m sorry for invading your personal space.”
“Are you not repulsed? Or disgusted by me? By us?”
“What? No, Semuel, of course not.” I chuckled. “I—I did suspect it, you know. You’re my best friend and this changes nothing. If anything, I am happy for you both.”
Semuel came running towards me, grabbing me at my waist and swirling me around. I couldn’t withhold my giggles.
Then he held me tight. “Wildheart!” he said, close to my ear. We locked eyes the second my feet touched the ground. I felt something made of joy—something I only felt when Semuel and I shared a moment. And the thought that often appeared in my mind struck once more.
Is this what it would have felt like if he were my brother, my older brother?
Faern finally came out of the stall, his face flushed. He gave me a small wave and said, “Hey, Wildheart.”
“We didn’t mean to keep it a secret from you, but if word came out…I would be cast out as a traitor, my father would never accept me,” Semuel said, head lowered.
My jaw clenched. “It pains me that you have to hide yourself from your parents, your friends. But I understand, and I promise you both that I will keep it a secret for as long as I live.” After all, who was I to judge them for keeping secrets? I wasn’t completely honest with them either.
Faern walked towards me and gave me a long hug. Then I said, my voice muffled with my cheek pressed against his chest, “If I knew I’d be getting this many hugs, I would have come sooner.”
Faern barked out a laugh that I felt thrumming in my ear.
I smiled at both.
Then I watched Faern grinning at Semuel, exposing his pointy canines.
And as my gaze moved from Faern’s mouth to Semuel’s scarred neck, I realised how those twin scars came about.
I had heard about it, this thing that the Fae do.
I wasn’t sure what it truly meant. I thought it must have been something intimate, good even, in some kind of weird and twisted way.