Chapter 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mi palacio, su palacio.
Castor
She. Is. Heavenly.
Danielle is majestic. A princess. I bet she sleeps with her hands tucked preciously beneath her chin.
Last night, I tossed and turned, fighting myself as I grew drunk on her aroma flooding my bedroom.
The desire to see her consumed me, which made me grateful two sets of bars stood between us.
Waking myself up enough to unwind the enchantments on the cage around my own bed would have stopped me in my insanity.
And I need those precious moments of clarity to separate us until I can figure out a cure for this blasted affliction.
Until I’m cured, I cannot bring myself to take the chance that I’ll become hypnotized by the shape of my soulmate while her eyes are closed in rest. It is not by any means unlikely I’d lose track of time tracing every strand of her hair, and if dawn wakes her before I pull myself away, if she opens her eyes and meets mine…
No.
No.
Absolutely not.
I’d sooner gouge them out—again—than suffer the smallest chance I might lose her to my own errors.
She’s so quiet and careful right now, but I can sense the fire in her.
I await, with baited breath, for it to devour me.
To that end, she must become comfortable here.
And the first step to becoming comfortable in a new place is for that new place to become familiar…
and the first step to becoming comfortable with a stranger is for that stranger to become familiar.
So, last night, I determined that we would spend every moment together. After I made her breakfast this morning, I began showing her everything that is hers.
And now I bask in her awe and wonder, falling—enraptured—into her presence as I drown—steadily—in love.
“Wow,” she whispers as I present the pool exit leading into one of my more favored gardens. It’s the one that’s near a trod to the human realm, which means I can get signal for my phone while I’m on the bench I built in the flowers beyond the covered patio we’re standing beneath now.
My senses track my beautiful soulmate’s delicate footsteps as she wanders the stone plateau toward the rushing water features spilling down the wall and into the pool.
The shush of her long robe against the floor guides me after her.
I home in on her every motion and the shape of her body’s heat, just in case she slips, just in case I need to catch her.
“You live here alone?” she asks.
Alone.
My heart twists, but I maintain soothing calm in my tone.
“Yes, the goblins live in the Desolate Caverns. Technically. I’m near positive they only stop by for food.
” Once, long ago, I tried to give them bedrooms and treat them like individuals, subjects, friends.
I had grand schemes of educating them and pressing them into higher planes of thought.
Unfortunately, they tore up their bedding, created a nest, and built a cave out of splintered furniture around it.
It took half a day before they fully rioted, ate their way through my front door, and returned to their caverns. Now, I let them come and go at will.
It occurs to me, moments late, that I don’t live here alone anymore. Brightening, I correct myself, “Actually, you live here now, too, with me.”
She stiffens.
Which…is certainly fine. We are still very early in learning one another. It will take a moment to embrace our new lives together.
It’s hard taking in a new home, especially one so large. It makes sense she’d be apprehensive to accept the truth that everything for her has changed.
Given time, it’ll be wonderful.
All the stories I’ve read for research turn out wonderful, and many of them have much harsher starts.
Ropes and chains. A reprehensible amount of force without consent.
I will only explore such options if this tender approach I’m utilizing doesn’t appeal to the fire in my beloved, but for the moment, um, no.
Alexios says that consent is important. Ever since our friendship began, he’s reminded me of it.
Often. And ever since I told him I was to bring my love home, he’s texted me at least three separate unsolicited just remember consent is important messages with emojis.
A feat, considering he’s only known of this for but a day.
I’ll probably have yet another “reminder” come through from him right now if I go over to the bench where I get signal.
Once, before my soulmate appeared, I was trying to locate a companion through brute force, and I told him that consent doesn’t pair well with kidnapping. He cleared his throat and said my name very, very slowly. The following pep talk, of course, was filled with irrelevant suggestions.
Like, perhaps, I locate my soulmate without kidnapping her.
Rude of him to imply that I should take kidnapping off the table entirely.
Women love kidnapping.
I know.
I’ve done my research.
And what has he done? Nothing. No research at all. He woke up in the world, and months later, the universe handed him his forever. Truly a case of tell me you’re God’s favorite princess without telling me you’re God’s favorite princess…
Sighing, I settle my irritations, because they don’t matter anymore. I’ve always known that I’m no one’s favorite; it’s a blessing to know now that at the least I am thought of, however little.
While I’m on the topic of my dear tiny bat of a friend, I should probably check in with him and let him know that everything went well with this kidnapping—despite him being so against it.
I was messaging him about my plans last night before I brought my soulmate home.
He’ll be overjoyed to know that she’s not even tried to run away yet.
Not in an entire evening, morning, or afternoon.
That’s, probably, an excellent sign.
Not a consequence of her sheer absence of opportunity…
Hm.
I trail after my dearest heart as she skates her fingers through a waterfall. She’s so gentle. So…subdued.
Maybe I should give her some perceived opportunities to flee before I brag about anything to Alexios?
Maybe I should give them to her regardless…
Maybe I should hope that she tries to take flight, if only to prove that she’s still got the spirit for freedom tucked away in her chest like a dark pixie.
If she does run away, I can tail her and save her from the redcaps in the forest before I declare that I didn’t want to keep her if she wanted to leave, but I did have to make sure she was safe. Such an event would likely make her fall tremendously in love with me.
Marvelous.
There are no bad endings.
If I allow myself to get injured, she can even treat the wound like in the Beauty and the Beast movie.
I’ll not yell at her like that boorish moron, either.
I’ll treat her right. Always. And, later, when she learns I can heal myself faster than she can treat a wound, I can confess having wanted her near me.
Women love feeling wanted and needed.
Given how self-sufficient I’ve had to become in my lifetime, finding ways to specifically make sure she understands her importance is vital.
And I’ve one such opportunity for her to assist me at present—given that I either enlist her help in checking my messages or turn the rather obnoxious VoiceOver function on.
“My feather.”
Elegant, she turns toward me in a shush of her robe. “Yes?”
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I say, “There’s a faerie path, a trod, that leads to the human realm beside the bench over there.”
Her breath catches. “There…is? Where does it lead to?”
“Zahra’s road, a few bushes away from her house.”
My beautiful soulmate swallows a lump in her throat.
I press on. “I get signal on my device near the trod. Would you mind letting me know what notifications I have?”
She clasps her hands together in front of her nightgown as she follows me past the pool and to the bench.
I sit first, and she takes the spot next to me, as far from my side as appears reasonable.
I’d have half the heart to feel offended…
but I’m sitting. With my soulmate. On a bench in my garden.
On a bench I crafted with my own hands in the garden I’ve long since tended in an effort to ward off the loneliness.
No one else has ever sat here before. Just me.
It hurts a little to take in air, and I fumble handing her my phone.
“Sorry,” I whisper, calming myself enough to locate her hand.
I place my phone in it and hope my stupid friend isn’t being too stupid if he’s sent me any more stupid messages about consent.
He is very stupid in text, because he takes full advantage of the fact faeries can lie in text. “Feel free to start at the top,” I say.
She says, “Whimsy is thinking of you.”
I laugh. “Aw.”
“You have Discord?” she asks.
Humming, I lean back on the bench. “Yes, I’m in Zahra’s LARP group. We meet once a month and play pretend in her backyard. I don’t care right now what they’re talking about.” And the likelihood I skip LARP day for the foreseeable future is high.
In the stillness of her calculations, it occurs to me this effort at helping her feel useful may open up an opportunity to escape. Problem is, if she escapes to Zahra’s through this trod, I won’t be able to save her from the woods.
That’s a dilemma.
Zahra has a lovely home.
If it weren’t currently afflicted with infant, it would be an excellent place to stay. More excellent than staying with me in this stone prison of unfamiliarity and threat.
Except. Except. Zahra does not have a pool.
I do.
Women love pools.
But…what if Danielle would choose not being around me over having a pool?
“Do I have any text messages?” I ask, harsher than I wholly intend. I should not take my own inadequacies out on my soulmate. She has done nothing wrong. She likely will never do anything wrong.
“Yes,” she says, so quietly.
I contain myself, soften myself, murmur sweetly, “What nonsense is Xios saying now?”
“It’s from Zahra.”
I straighten, forgetting myself again so swiftly. “Truly? She rarely messages me first. Is there nothing from Xios?”
“There’s nothing from Xios.”
Odd. “What did Zahra say?”
“Take care of Dani. Or else.”
Ah. I suppose Alexios told her the big bad secret. Figures. Were roles reversed, I’d not be able to bear Danielle’s worry for her friend, either. It is a testament of Alexios’s loyalty to me that he withheld so much for so long.
Tracing a circle in the wooden armrest, I murmur, “My password is four zeros.”
Danielle’s heart rate elevates with every number she inserts.
“Shall we send Zahra a picture?” I ask. Read as: shall we take a picture together?
When I’ve put Danielle back in the safety of her cage, I can stow away somewhere safe and see my soulmate.
I can stare into her beautiful eyes—whatever shade they might be—and lose myself in her for a time without worry.
It’s a villainous scheme.
The likes of which I have certainly never plotted before.
“I…” she begins softly, “…have never sent her a picture before.”
Surprise hits me, raising my brows. “Really? Is that not a usual thing that friends do?”
Her tongue escapes to dampen her lips, but she does not reply.
The tension in the air is not lost on me, so I wave my hand. “No matter. Forget I said such a thing. Send back How dare you, period, capital H. The audacity on that woman.”
Moments pass, then Danielle says, “Done.”
“Excellent.” I take my phone back and drop it in my pocket. “Onto the rest of our tour then.” Linking my arms within the sleeves of my robe, I rise and march onward, to the next annex of our humble, quiet abode. Delight soars when Danielle follows me instead of dashing through the trod to Zahra.
Sure enough, something in her spirit spells a level of defeat…but we can work on that. I know we can. Soon, she will rise from the ashes of her past, embrace the blaze in her soul, and come away with me, unburdened.
Soon, I will fix all that is wrong with me. And we shall find joy and peace in the love we will share. Together.