Chapter 134: 134
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I manage a disgruntled groan at Soren's words. Perhaps if we hadn't been floating mid air- and only getting higher- I might have stuck my tongue out at him. Maybe even knocked him lightly on the arm- not that it would hurt him.
Teasing bastard.
I am sure he knows all too well the difference between flying and floating, and the horrifying prospect of rising up in the air with little control over where you are going, or when you are going to plummet earthwards. Of course, being an angel, I do have wings, so my fate of doom is certainly not sealed. But the knowledge of this does not stop the nerves playing in my stomach at the notion of what is to likely come. I squeeze my eyes shut.
"Yeah, well, I always use my wings when I am in the air. This is… I don't know what this is, how are you doing it? I don't have a clue what you are doing, or if I am going to fall. I would rather enjoy the skies under my own control, thank you."
Upon hearing my stilted reply, Soren chuckles, smoothing over my hair tenderly with the back of his hand. He pulls me closer against him, enough that I can catch the scent of roses from his fine suit, smell the sweetness of it lingering on his skin. I curl further into him.
"There there, you can trust me, don't worry darling. I am not going to let you drop, I assure you. As for how I am doing this, well. I told you once before that darkness is my domain," he retails, flicking me a sideways glance as a foaming dark cloud forms beneath us. A little squeak escapes my throat.
"Manipulating the shadows of the night is just as easy as it is to manipulate any kind of darkness to aid me in my endeavours. I often do this when I need some peace and quite- the sway of the wind is quite relaxing. Don't worry, I will not drop you," he adds, noticing I have begun to panic again as the dark mass of clouds forms a blanket beneath us. Shooting me a characteristically cheeky smirk, he sinks into the mass, pulling me down onto his lap as I let out a slight yelp. Even if I wanted to, enveloped in the comforting darkness it is hard not to relax, cocooned in the inky folds of the fluffy cloud that curls around us, bringing a warmth to my body that is almost completely forgotten against the tainted chill of higher up air.
Maybe this isn't so bad after all.
That is, so long as I don't look down.
The two of us sway there, contented as he pulls his arms around me, entrapping me against his chest in a manner so sweet, that even if I wanted to escape I would be unable to from the sheer comfiness of it. My wings drape out behind me, catching on the frosty chill of the midnight air. At long last, I relax into him.
"Serena," he coos, sliding a hand to rest over my chest, pulling my ample body firmly against his own. His hands envelope me in their phantom warmth, and all at once I feel safe, as though I could forget I am floating meters off the ground in the arms of a renowned killer.
But such an assessment is an unfair one to make, especially now with all things considered. Soren should have killed me. I should have been dead a long time ago. But I suppose now I already am.
I express my acknowledgement with a murmuring hum. Soren's body shifts nervously behind me.
"You asked me not to lie to you, that I would never tell you anything but the truth," he says, slowly, mulling over the words with careful precision as each delicate note voices from his lips. Tenderly, I slide my hand into his.
"I did, yes," I reply simply, for there is no other way about it. If I am to be with him, to be his Queen, I cannot afford being kept in the dark- it would be an act that could cost me my life. As these words run through my head, a little shiver of joy trembles through me. A wan smile curves on my lips.
His Queen. I like that.
"My Queen indeed, forever and always," he says with a slight laugh, pulling me further into his lap as he presses his lips affectionately upon the top of my head, the ruffles of my dress soaking up the pale luminescence of the moonlight and the twinkling stars in reams of gleaming fabric. Absently, I twiddle with the hem of one such silky pleat. Wherever Soren found our wedding outfits from, they are positively gorgeous.
I never have been one to wear dresses- they were always much too difficult to fight in properly. That and I took great pleasure out of spiting the council, who regularly asked me to wear one daily, regardless of what sort of training I might be going through. Needless to say I burnt most of them. And the ones I didn't, I bartered off for trousers or shirts, or asked Lilyana to repurpose them for me.
But I cannot deny Soren has excellent taste, and that is does not give me at least the slightest amount of pleasure wearing something he has picked out for me.
At last I sigh.
"Where are you going with all this talk, Soren? I assume you have something to say?"
He nods slowly.
"I want to be honest with you, Serena darling," he says, giving my hand a little squeeze as he holds it towards him, an intense curiosity on his face, as if suddenly consumed by some irresistible passion that my mortal eyes are not yet privy to. A soft breeze blows up between us. The vampire Prince sucks in a breath.
"I know why you are here," he says, softly, so softly that I almost fail to catch his voice amongst the whisperings of the night and the inconsistent haunting cries of a tawny owl. My mind stops turning. "Or at least, why you were here,"
"Oh."
Strangely enough, upon utterance of those fated words, I do not feel anything. Maybe I have simply lost all sense of reason, unable to obtain the capacity to feel any more, or maybe after all the wild events that have happened tonight, this one just falls short of all the rest. Either way, I find that no fear spikes my heart, no worry nor dread, just a simple acceptance, and the hollow whistling on the wind. Noiselessly, I lean back against him, pulling my hand back through my hair.
"I suppose I sort of guessed that you might, it was only a matter of time really. You always seem to be one step ahead of me. I suppose that sort of scraps everything I was going for, huh?" I sigh, withdrawing my hand, but Soren draws me back, turning me around on his lap to face him, cradling my hand in his as he lifts it to his lips. He plants a gentle kiss on the back of my hand, lips parted, golden eyes simmering with the sombre promise of sympathy. A tingling shiver cascades through me.
"I am not mad at you, Serena. You were doing what was best for your people. You braved coming here, facing all these vampires, facing me- and that is more that I can say for most people," he murmurs sympathetically, but sympathy is not enough.
But the council would never hold for the shallow emotion of sympathy. Nor would they accept me going back empty handed- or me not coming back at all for that matter. I suppose now is probably the best and only time I can shoot my shot at my plan then. However futile that might be.
"Soren, I-"
I barely even manage to open my mouth before I am cut off. Soren's lips press against my own, slow and gentle, filled with a passionate hunger that is restrained only by the notion that we are floating several meters above the ground, contained in little more than a puffy cloud of darkness. Then after several seconds of that heart melting kiss, he pulls away, sliding a hand up to cup my face as he watches me intently through golden eyes and long, sooty lashes.
"You can have it,"
"What?" I say, uncertain if I have heard him correctly. Does he mean..?
"The eternal flame," he adds, whispering in a low, hushed tone as he presses his forehead to mine, eyes flickering shut. "You can have it."
For some stupid reason, some part of me has the idiocy to protest.
"But… But Soren, your people, the war… Surely they will know you have given it away, they will be livid!"
Soren growls lightly.
"They will not care, nor will they be able to do anything to stop me, I will make sure of that," he growls, then easing up his voice, he adds gently: "So long as I have you then I could not care less about what the world thinks."
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I manage a disgruntled groan at Soren's words. Perhaps if we hadn't been floating mid air- and only getting higher- I might have stuck my tongue out at him. Maybe even knocked him lightly on the arm- not that it would hurt him.
Teasing bastard.
I am sure he knows all too well the difference between flying and floating, and the horrifying prospect of rising up in the air with little control over where you are going, or when you are going to plummet earthwards. Of course, being an angel, I do have wings, so my fate of doom is certainly not sealed. But the knowledge of this does not stop the nerves playing in my stomach at the notion of what is to likely come. I squeeze my eyes shut.
"Yeah, well, I always use my wings when I am in the air. This is… I don't know what this is, how are you doing it? I don't have a clue what you are doing, or if I am going to fall. I would rather enjoy the skies under my own control, thank you."
Upon hearing my stilted reply, Soren chuckles, smoothing over my hair tenderly with the back of his hand. He pulls me closer against him, enough that I can catch the scent of roses from his fine suit, smell the sweetness of it lingering on his skin. I curl further into him.
"There there, you can trust me, don't worry darling. I am not going to let you drop, I assure you. As for how I am doing this, well. I told you once before that darkness is my domain," he retails, flicking me a sideways glance as a foaming dark cloud forms beneath us. A little squeak escapes my throat.
"Manipulating the shadows of the night is just as easy as it is to manipulate any kind of darkness to aid me in my endeavours. I often do this when I need some peace and quite- the sway of the wind is quite relaxing. Don't worry, I will not drop you," he adds, noticing I have begun to panic again as the dark mass of clouds forms a blanket beneath us. Shooting me a characteristically cheeky smirk, he sinks into the mass, pulling me down onto his lap as I let out a slight yelp. Even if I wanted to, enveloped in the comforting darkness it is hard not to relax, cocooned in the inky folds of the fluffy cloud that curls around us, bringing a warmth to my body that is almost completely forgotten against the tainted chill of higher up air.
Maybe this isn't so bad after all.
That is, so long as I don't look down.
The two of us sway there, contented as he pulls his arms around me, entrapping me against his chest in a manner so sweet, that even if I wanted to escape I would be unable to from the sheer comfiness of it. My wings drape out behind me, catching on the frosty chill of the midnight air. At long last, I relax into him.
"Serena," he coos, sliding a hand to rest over my chest, pulling my ample body firmly against his own. His hands envelope me in their phantom warmth, and all at once I feel safe, as though I could forget I am floating meters off the ground in the arms of a renowned killer.
But such an assessment is an unfair one to make, especially now with all things considered. Soren should have killed me. I should have been dead a long time ago. But I suppose now I already am.
I express my acknowledgement with a murmuring hum. Soren's body shifts nervously behind me.
"You asked me not to lie to you, that I would never tell you anything but the truth," he says, slowly, mulling over the words with careful precision as each delicate note voices from his lips. Tenderly, I slide my hand into his.
"I did, yes," I reply simply, for there is no other way about it. If I am to be with him, to be his Queen, I cannot afford being kept in the dark- it would be an act that could cost me my life. As these words run through my head, a little shiver of joy trembles through me. A wan smile curves on my lips.
His Queen. I like that.
"My Queen indeed, forever and always," he says with a slight laugh, pulling me further into his lap as he presses his lips affectionately upon the top of my head, the ruffles of my dress soaking up the pale luminescence of the moonlight and the twinkling stars in reams of gleaming fabric. Absently, I twiddle with the hem of one such silky pleat. Wherever Soren found our wedding outfits from, they are positively gorgeous.
I never have been one to wear dresses- they were always much too difficult to fight in properly. That and I took great pleasure out of spiting the council, who regularly asked me to wear one daily, regardless of what sort of training I might be going through. Needless to say I burnt most of them. And the ones I didn't, I bartered off for trousers or shirts, or asked Lilyana to repurpose them for me.
But I cannot deny Soren has excellent taste, and that is does not give me at least the slightest amount of pleasure wearing something he has picked out for me.
At last I sigh.
"Where are you going with all this talk, Soren? I assume you have something to say?"
He nods slowly.
"I want to be honest with you, Serena darling," he says, giving my hand a little squeeze as he holds it towards him, an intense curiosity on his face, as if suddenly consumed by some irresistible passion that my mortal eyes are not yet privy to. A soft breeze blows up between us. The vampire Prince sucks in a breath.
"I know why you are here," he says, softly, so softly that I almost fail to catch his voice amongst the whisperings of the night and the inconsistent haunting cries of a tawny owl. My mind stops turning. "Or at least, why you were here,"
"Oh."
Strangely enough, upon utterance of those fated words, I do not feel anything. Maybe I have simply lost all sense of reason, unable to obtain the capacity to feel any more, or maybe after all the wild events that have happened tonight, this one just falls short of all the rest. Either way, I find that no fear spikes my heart, no worry nor dread, just a simple acceptance, and the hollow whistling on the wind. Noiselessly, I lean back against him, pulling my hand back through my hair.
"I suppose I sort of guessed that you might, it was only a matter of time really. You always seem to be one step ahead of me. I suppose that sort of scraps everything I was going for, huh?" I sigh, withdrawing my hand, but Soren draws me back, turning me around on his lap to face him, cradling my hand in his as he lifts it to his lips. He plants a gentle kiss on the back of my hand, lips parted, golden eyes simmering with the sombre promise of sympathy. A tingling shiver cascades through me.
"I am not mad at you, Serena. You were doing what was best for your people. You braved coming here, facing all these vampires, facing me- and that is more that I can say for most people," he murmurs sympathetically, but sympathy is not enough.
But the council would never hold for the shallow emotion of sympathy. Nor would they accept me going back empty handed- or me not coming back at all for that matter. I suppose now is probably the best and only time I can shoot my shot at my plan then. However futile that might be.
"Soren, I-"
I barely even manage to open my mouth before I am cut off. Soren's lips press against my own, slow and gentle, filled with a passionate hunger that is restrained only by the notion that we are floating several meters above the ground, contained in little more than a puffy cloud of darkness. Then after several seconds of that heart melting kiss, he pulls away, sliding a hand up to cup my face as he watches me intently through golden eyes and long, sooty lashes.
"You can have it,"
"What?" I say, uncertain if I have heard him correctly. Does he mean..?
"The eternal flame," he adds, whispering in a low, hushed tone as he presses his forehead to mine, eyes flickering shut. "You can have it."
For some stupid reason, some part of me has the idiocy to protest.
"But… But Soren, your people, the war… Surely they will know you have given it away, they will be livid!"
Soren growls lightly.
"They will not care, nor will they be able to do anything to stop me, I will make sure of that," he growls, then easing up his voice, he adds gently: "So long as I have you then I could not care less about what the world thinks."
I manage a disgruntled groan at Soren's words. Perhaps if we hadn't been floating mid air- and only getting higher- I might have stuck my tongue out at him. Maybe even knocked him lightly on the arm- not that it would hurt him.Teasing bastard.I am sure he knows all too well the difference between flying and floating, and the horrifying prospect of rising up in the air with little control over where you are going, or when you are going to plummet earthwards. Of course, being an angel, I do have wings, so my fate of doom is certainly not sealed. But the knowledge of this does not stop the nerves playing in my stomach at the notion of what is to likely come. I squeeze my eyes shut."Yeah, well, I always use my wings when I am in the air. This is I don't know what this is, how are you doing it? I don't have a clue what you are doing, or if I am going to fall. I would rather enjoy the skies under my own control, thank you."Upon hearing my stilted reply, Soren chuckles, smoothing over my hair tenderly with the back of his hand. He pulls me closer against him, enough that I can catch the scent of roses from his fine suit, smell the sweetness of it lingering on his skin. I curl further into him."There there, you can trust me, don't worry darling. I am not going to let you drop, I assure you. As for how I am doing this, well. I told you once before that darkness is my domain," he retails, flicking me a sideways glance as a foaming dark cloud forms beneath us. A little squeak escapes my throat."Manipulating the shadows of the night is just as easy as it is to manipulate any kind of darkness to aid me in my endeavours. I often do this when I need some peace and quite- the sway of the wind is quite relaxing. Don't worry, I will not drop you," he adds, noticing I have begun to panic again as the dark mass of clouds forms a blanket beneath us. Shooting me a characteristically cheeky smirk, he sinks into the mass, pulling me down onto his lap as I let out a slight yelp. Even if I wanted to, enveloped in the comforting darkness it is hard not to relax, cocooned in the inky folds of the fluffy cloud that curls around us, bringing a warmth to my body that is almost completely forgotten against the tainted chill of higher up air.Maybe this isn't so bad after all.That is, so long as I don't look down.The two of us sway there, contented as he pulls his arms around me, entrapping me against his chest in a manner so sweet, that even if I wanted to escape I would be unable to from the sheer comfiness of it. My wings drape out behind me, catching on the frosty chill of the midnight air. At long last, I relax into him."Serena," he coos, sliding a hand to rest over my chest, pulling my ample body firmly against his own. His hands envelope me in their phantom warmth, and all at once I feel safe, as though I could forget I am floating meters off the ground in the arms of a renowned killer. But such an assessment is an unfair one to make, especially now with all things considered. Soren should have killed me. I should have been dead a long time ago. But I suppose now I already am.I express my acknowledgement with a murmuring hum. Soren's body shifts nervously behind me."You asked me not to lie to you, that I would never tell you anything but the truth," he says, slowly, mulling over the words with careful precision as each delicate note voices from his lips. Tenderly, I slide my hand into his."I did, yes," I reply simply, for there is no other way about it. If I am to be with him, to be his Queen, I cannot afford being kept in the dark- it would be an act that could cost me my life. As these words run through my head, a little shiver of joy trembles through me. A wan smile curves on my lips.His Queen. I like that. "My Queen indeed, forever and always," he says with a slight laugh, pulling me further into his lap as he presses his lips affectionately upon the top of my head, the ruffles of my dress soaking up the pale luminescence of the moonlight and the twinkling stars in reams of gleaming fabric. Absently, I twiddle with the hem of one such silky pleat. Wherever Soren found our wedding outfits from, they are positively gorgeous.I never have been one to wear dresses- they were always much too difficult to fight in properly. That and I took great pleasure out of spiting the council, who regularly asked me to wear one daily, regardless of what sort of training I might be going through. Needless to say I burnt most of them. And the ones I didn't, I bartered off for trousers or shirts, or asked Lilyana to repurpose them for me.But I cannot deny Soren has excellent taste, and that is does not give me at least the slightest amount of pleasure wearing something he has picked out for me.At last I sigh."Where are you going with all this talk, Soren? I assume you have something to say?"He nods slowly."I want to be honest with you, Serena darling," he says, giving my hand a little squeeze as he holds it towards him, an intense curiosity on his face, as if suddenly consumed by some irresistible passion that my mortal eyes are not yet privy to. A soft breeze blows up between us. The vampire Prince sucks in a breath."I know why you are here," he says, softly, so softly that I almost fail to catch his voice amongst the whisperings of the night and the inconsistent haunting cries of a tawny owl. My mind stops turning. "Or at least, why you were here,""Oh."Strangely enough, upon utterance of those fated words, I do not feel anything. Maybe I have simply lost all sense of reason, unable to obtain the capacity to feel any more, or maybe after all the wild events that have happened tonight, this one just falls short of all the rest. Either way, I find that no fear spikes my heart, no worry nor dread, just a simple acceptance, and the hollow whistling on the wind. Noiselessly, I lean back against him, pulling my hand back through my hair."I suppose I sort of guessed that you might, it was only a matter of time really. You always seem to be one step ahead of me. I suppose that sort of scraps everything I was going for, huh?" I sigh, withdrawing my hand, but Soren draws me back, turning me around on his lap to face him, cradling my hand in his as he lifts it to his lips. He plants a gentle kiss on the back of my hand, lips parted, golden eyes simmering with the sombre promise of sympathy. A tingling shiver cascades through me."I am not mad at you, Serena. You were doing what was best for your people. You braved coming here, facing all these vampires, facing me- and that is more that I can say for most people," he murmurs sympathetically, but sympathy is not enough.But the council would never hold for the shallow emotion of sympathy. Nor would they accept me going back empty handed- or me not coming back at all for that matter. I suppose now is probably the best and only time I can shoot my shot at my plan then. However futile that might be. "Soren, I-"I barely even manage to open my mouth before I am cut off. Soren's lips press against my own, slow and gentle, filled with a passionate hunger that is restrained only by the notion that we are floating several meters above the ground, contained in little more than a puffy cloud of darkness. Then after several seconds of that heart melting kiss, he pulls away, sliding a hand up to cup my face as he watches me intently through golden eyes and long, sooty lashes."You can have it,""What?" I say, uncertain if I have heard him correctly. Does he mean..?"The eternal flame," he adds, whispering in a low, hushed tone as he presses his forehead to mine, eyes flickering shut. "You can have it."For some stupid reason, some part of me has the idiocy to protest."But But Soren, your people, the war Surely they will know you have given it away, they will be livid!"Soren growls lightly."They will not care, nor will they be able to do anything to stop me, I will make sure of that," he growls, then easing up his voice, he adds gently: "So long as I have you then I could not care less about what the world thinks."
