21. Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-one:
~Melrose, a year later~
It’s hard being a flirty girl in a kingdom full of sticks in the mud.
Every year on the first day of Wintersdark, the Order of Avaris hosts a ritual of blessing for the kingdom.
Six candles are lit for the six gods that watch over us.
A blessing is bestowed upon the flowers and crops, to help renew them for a harsh winter and Our Lady’s embrace.
It’s a time of celebration and love. It’s a way to thank the gods for a good harvest to keep our bellies full through the winter.
And best of all, it was the day that Keida of the Frost finally mustered up the courage to kiss me.
The biggest stick in the mud in all the kingdom.
A year later, I prepared for the festival much as I had the once previous…but with a special pep in my hoof-step.
I yawned, stretching my arms over my head.
Sat up in bed, I found myself alone for the first time in ages.
Most nights, Keida collapsed into my sheets.
Rarely did I find her missing from my pillows when I opened my eyes.
Even when the visions plagued her, she sought me out for comfort.
And warmth, but she refuses to admit I keep her from freezing to death.
I’m a frost fae, Melrose, she says, I can’t get cold.
Says the woman with her cold toes in my fur.
Which made finding my bed empty a peculiar thing.
Especially on our holiday. I furrowed my brows, slipping out of my bed.
A trail of hardened candle wax led me to a large wash basin.
The candle in question sat at the center of an entirely frozen bath.
Suds and little rose petals were stuck in place in the heavy ice.
I stepped up beside the tub to find a thick parchment note attached to the candle.
Dear my favorite troublemaker,Pluck up the candle and blow on the wick when you’re ready for a bath. Ensure the bedroom door is locked.Yours eternally,Keida.
I squinted at the candle with suspicion but did as I was told.
Locking my chamber doors, I tugged my dressing gown off my body and returned to the tub.
I plucked the candle from the ice. It took a bit of finagling and upper arm strength, but I managed to free it.
Then, I simply blew on the wick, watching it smoke for a moment before it hissed to life.
Magic sparkled around me, filling the air with sparkling stars that exploded in the air.
When I glanced down, the tub steamed, foamy water that smelled heavily of rose oil and shea butters lapping at the side of the basin.
I set the candle aside on the table full of my other soaps and stepped inside.
Melting like chocolate in a warm pocket, I sank to the bottom.
Bliss engulfed me. A perfect temperature maintained by magic, delicate scent, and wonderfully bubbly.
If I wasn’t suspicious at first, I grew paranoid as I felt something slithering up through my leg fur.
I sat up, glancing down into the red tinted water.
There was nothing but bubbles, me, and petals in the water.
Only, I distinctly felt it curl around my legs.
I reached down, touching my leg to find nothing there.
The feeling did not go away. In fact, it grew worse.
Closer. It crept up my legs till my knees were pressed to the sides of the tub and I felt a tendril lick my cunt.
It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize what was happening.
A nervous, giddy giggle fell from my lips as I sat back in the tub.
Two invisible tendrils of magic stroked me in slow, languid movements.
My eyes rolled back in my head. A moan trickled out of my throat.
And I’m the troublemaker. She obviously enchanted the candle.
Not only was it meant to brew me the perfect bubble bath, but it was meant to fuck me.
It was a game we’d been playing on and off for a year.
When Keida was made to go off on official business, she’d bless my cunt with her magic.
To keep safe until I return, she said. And when I laid down to sleep, or while I was simply up and about, I’d feel it.
Her magic thrusting inside me. Sometimes it was small, short-lived bursts that left me dizzy.
Always a torturous, delicious tease until I finally got to bed where she’d let me have it.
Oh, and have me she did; rough, hard, thrusting with abandon like it were her fingers buried inside me.
I often had to bite a pillow—usually hers—to keep from letting all of the Order know Keida was taking care of me.
It didn’t matter the distance, her blessings were always absolute.
Just like those nights when she refused to let me feel lonely, in that tub she showed that I was no further from her mind than she was mine.
I knocked my legs against the side of the tub to let her magic have at me.
One tendril curled around my clit, tugging and circling till my stomach clenched up.
The other thrust into me without mercy. I took ahold of my nipples, tweaking them in rhythm with her thrusts until my walls clamped down.
Washes of pleasure rolled down my body. I ached from the fullness as the tendril stayed firmly inside me till I’d milked it for all I could.
When it finally slithered out from me, I nearly drowned in that tub.
I was boneless, my nose barely floating over the surface of the water.
After an egregious amount of time, the water began to cool.
My fingers were greedy prunes. I glanced at the candle and saw the magic had eaten away at it.
It was nothing but a nub and a crispy wick.
I grinned to myself. Whisking my drenched body out of the tub, I went about my usual routine.
Drying my fur, shining my hooves, brushing my hair, and opened my boudoir.
My intent was to find some scandalous dress that wouldn’t let my nipples get frost bit but tempt my cleric into certain desires.
Instead, I found a block of ice hiding everything by a single gown hung from the door.
My heart skipped a beat. The pearlescent gown that delicately dangled in front of my face stole my breath away.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I studied it.
Its design was simple; bell sleeves, high in the front, low with a train in the back, a lace trim just under the bust. It was high waisted, with a massive column skirt and an embellished, floral designs delicately woven into every inch.
The kind of dress I told Daphne I’d love to make for my wedding day.
A daydream—nay a lifetime before—a simple utterance that I made off-handedly while sitting on the floor of her family study.
Where a very nosey Lunar Cleric may have listened to the conversation of prior to coming to collect me.
A tiny note hung from a silvery cord around the neck of the hanger.
To my lovely Melrose,I told you that one of these days I’d make a dress for you, instead of the other way around.
May it make you feel like the prettiest flower in the garden.
Or, the brightest candle in the candelabra?
Whatever, you understand what I mean. Love forever and always,Daphne OliphantePs.
Stop crying and put the dress on already, I’m dying to see it and I’m currently outside your door.
I gasped for air, rushing across my room in nothing but a thin, silk robe to rip my chamber door open. Daphne beamed from ear to ear, bullying her way into my chambers. “I knew it! You like the dress, don’t you?”
“It’s perfect,” I croaked, wrapping my arms around her. She squeezed me tighter than an improperly laced corset then whisked me back to the boudoir.
“Well, come on now! Put it on! Let us see! I bet those knucklehead clerics several handfuls of gold that I could make your father cry with just some fabric, so you’d best get dressed already.
” Daphne cackled as she helped me lift the gown off the hanger.
It fit like a glove, slipping into place and falling down around me.
Daphne even helped me pin my hair so the flower crown would sit snugly on my head.
Six little silver ribbons fell down through my hair with moons at the bottom.
I stared at myself in the mirror, tears welling up in my eyes.
She really…she really did all this for me?
“How long?” I whispered, glancing at Daphne.
“How long has she been planning this? Since early spring.”
“That long!” I blurted out, spinning to face my best friend.
“Honestly, should have occurred to her sooner. She ought to have married you last Wintersdark! She’s only been in love with you for seven years now.
” Daphne threw her hands out to her side with exasperation.
I snickered, letting her guide me away from my bedroom and out to the balcony of the second floor.
I stared down at a sea of clerics and paladins, all patiently waiting in pews.
A few glanced up at me and their smiles broadened.
Daphne whisked me away before I had a chance to spoil it for anyone else.
Marry me? This was a wedding, was it not?
I blinked rapidly in confusion as Daphne led me down the winding steps to the hall of the cathedral.
An organ played through the stoney building.
My heart kept in tune with it as the world slowed down.
Even though it was morning, and the sun should shine through the windows, it was a dark.
All the windows were covered in shadow. Each cleric held a candle, each paladin holding two.
But there were five lit in a circle at the front altar, just in front of Keida and Leonardo.
Daphne put a singular, matching candle in my hand and kissed my cheek.
“May she grant your every last desire, Melrose.”
I spared Daphne a tearful smile that she returned before stepping away to sit at the end of a pew.
My gaze returned to the fluttering winged woman in heavy clerical robes holding a match between her fingers.
With one step, the match ignited in a deep blue flame.
As I grew closer, it grew into an amber glow that she then tipped onto the candle in my hands.
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you spent nearly a year secretly plotting a wedding.” I gasped through the tears welling in my eyes.
“I am a creature of habit,” she murmured. “If your father would allow me a year to prepare for the Wintersdark ritual, I would.”
I wheezed, shaking my head. “You are, by far, the biggest stick in the mud I’ve ever met.”
“And I will be the biggest thorn in your side, swatting your hand and reminding you to behave for the rest of your life, Trouble,” Keida led my hands to the table where we completed the circle of candles.
Then two fingers slipped under my chin and led my gaze back up to her face.
“Melrose St. Augustine, will you marry me?”
My throat threatened to close as I licked my lips nervously. I glanced at the candles again, fresh tears pouring down my cheeks. “You know, I prayed for you, last year. Prayed that you’d be mine… Light six candles, and a prayer for each god. I gave them all the same prayer.”
I trailed off, returning my attention to her.
Her features softened as she slipped an arm around me, pressing her palm to the small of my back.
The sharp zap of cool was exactly what I needed to calm my rapidly beating heart.
Her voice was a soft, rasp, “Light six candles to honor the gods. Avaris for good rest, Eluvia for good health, Bo for a good harvest, Vien for strength, Lucien for wisdom, and Davros for peace of mind. Light each candle and make a wish. I could ask for guidance or strength or wisdom or patience from the gods. But I lit each one of those candles and made the same wish. I wished for you, Trouble…I prayed to each and every one of them and asked you to be mine, Melrose. All mine.”
I choked on frosty air as the words flooded out of me, “I love you, Keida.”
I’d said it over a hundred times since last Wintersdark and it never stopped the butterflies filling my chest.
Keida brushed the tears away with the pad of her thumb. The droplets turned to snow flurries that danced around us. Her wings glittered in the amber candle light. “I love you too.”
And sure…I was still a horrible flirt. But I only flirted with Keida.
No one else quite gave me the same ‘watch your mouth or I’ll make you rue those words, Trouble’ expression that Keida does when I catch her off guard.
And I still loved to flounce about in dresses despite the weather.
I love when she wraps me up in her cloak more because it always smells of her.
I refused to wear small clothes all year.
Keida would deny it, but she likes it. My beloved cleric loved me, even though I’m trouble.
Avaris preserve me, I’m going to love this woman till I die.
“Make a wish,” she teased under her breath, tugging me in for the first kiss of the rest of our lives.
I smiled into it, curling my fingers around her.
Wings fluttered in my ears as she lifted me an inch off The Cathedral’s hard, stone floors.
Make a wish? I don’t need any other wishes, I have everything I’ll ever need now.
The gods have already blessed me with everything I desire…
And with a hiss…all the candles went out.