Chapter 135: 135
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At these words, my heart fills with an insurmountable joy. After spending months fretting like a mother over how I was to acquire the flame, how I was going to bargain with Soren, or if I was even going to be able to institute a bargain to begin with, now to hear those grievances washed away...
I could not have asked for a better husband, a better mate, a better anyone. Soren truly is the perfect creature, vampire or not.
I wipe my eyes to dash away the welling pools of water that start to form there.
After all this time, I think, my eyes pricking with the soft, stinging sensation of tears that threaten to spill down onto my cheek, all this time and I had nothing to worry about. It seems almost stupid now, to think I wasted so many hours of my life lamenting over nothing.
"Oh Soren," I sniff, pressing my face tightly against his chest. His slender hand reaches round to caress its way down my back, shushing me gently as I wet his shirt with saltine tears.
"I was so scared this day would come, that you would reject me, and-"
Soren cuts me off, rocking me in his arms in an attempt to sooth my anxieties. Carefully, he presses his lips gently against my cheek.
"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to be scared any more. I am here, I have got you. I am never going to leave, or reject you, I promise. Come here, darling," he says, lifting me up in his arms, perhaps in an effort to get me to look at him, due to the fact I have been avidly avoiding his gaze for the past minute. Mostly due to the fact I do not want him to see me cry.
Reaching down, I lace my fingers in his, squeezing his hand blithely, suddenly filled with a curious mixture of lightheaded disbelief and the emptiness left by the weight that has long since been standing on my shoulders. I thought I would have to fight for this day, that I would get myself hurt or rejected at best, that I would find myself crumbling over the disdain and loathing brought about by the response of my actions.
I imagined going back to my people, to the council, empty handed and ruined, a mere figment of the angel I had set myself out to be. During the late and lonely nights in my room, when there was no Soren or Ithuriel around to comfort me, I had run over what they'd say to me so many times its practically imprinted into my brain.
'You are a failure Serena. A failure and a traitor. You will forfeit your wings for your crimes, you are no longer welcome here. '
Or worse still, they would never let me leave Illistrae again.
And I thought perhaps I would lose him. That was always by far the worst thought of all.
"I was going to make you a bargain," I breathe, my breath barely a shallow whisper on the wind that sways in gusts around us, picking up discarded flower petals and crumbling leaves in its comforting embrace and whisking them off into the night. I watch them go for a moment, still quite unable to face Soren, my emerald eyes watery and swimming with a lingering melancholy.
Soren draws himself back a little, a look of mirrored confusion echoing across his face.
"Bargain?" he asks, drawing up my hand to rest against his cheek, pulling my gaze towards him, his beautiful amber eyes meeting mine. A giddy feeling runs through me.
"Yes," I say, a little louder now, raising my other hand to twiddle with the familiar wisps of golden flames against the inky blackness, spiking the dark with a faint luminescence that is just enough to illuminate the lengthy shadows under Soren's cheekbones. The flames at my finger tips are brighter now, to the point they are almost glaring, far more powerful then they ever were before my turning. I suppose that is another thing in a long line of happenings that I have to thank Soren for.
With the amount I owe him, I should be practically grovelling at his feet by now- although I know there is no way in hell he would ever allow it. To him, that would seem much too degrading for me.
I lift my fingers up an inch more, watching blurry sparks and flames lick the shadows, dancing out around me like miniature animals floating through the sky, a form of momentary distraction.
As I do so, he watches me with a hesitant curiosity, eyes trained on the golden flames as though half expecting to see some sort of prophetic vision and find himself enlightened. But no such thing comes.
"I thought that I could offer you a bargain. I return the flame to my people, and you have me as your Queen. That way, you would not be completely robbed of what you have- the eternal flame may be a powerful relic, but I am also a soul, and with enough training and practise, I am certain I can match my power to it."
Silently, Soren closes his fingers over my hand and moves it down on his cheek to rest his mouth, presses his lips lightly against the soft palm of my hand, eyes half closed, breath billowing in cool plumes against my skin.
"My darling," he murmurs, the sweet honeyed tones of his voice rising delightfully in the air around us to elicit a shiver trembling through me. I raise my head slightly to meet his eyes. His amber eyes watch me, his sultry gaze half concealed by sooty lashes as he continues to place kisses against the palm of my hand.
"While that is a wonderful idea, and certainly would have worked, I am offering the flame to you as a gift. Consider it a peace offering of sorts, you have no need to woo me over," he half laughs softly, giving me a sideways smile, eyes twinkling with a nefarious and cheeky light. I pout- half out of annoyance that I never did really get to put my plan into action, flickers of electrical light darting out from my body, spiking the darkness with occasional flashes of brightness. The sudden luminescence causes Soren to raise a hand against his eyes, pearly teeth flashing a smile under the shadows cast over his face.
"You power is becoming more expressive, I see. That is good. You need to develop your powers, it will be much better than simply relying on a sword," he says, but I barely hear him. Another thought lingers in my mind, filling me with a dread that trickles into my bones like a fine mist laying waste to the horizon in the early hours of the morning, blanketing the land with an impenetrable wall of fog. Unconsciously I draw into myself.
"Soren," I murmur, drawing his hand into mine, tracing the creases and swell of his palm, up and down his long fingers, if only to offer a distraction. He raises a brow, urging me silently to continue. I take a breath.
"I want us to change things- about Sezeria, Illistrae, the whole of Faey, maybe. You probably think it's stupid, far fetched, the most ludicrous plan under the sun. But I want to bring an end to this war, all this hatred that we share between our species, and maybe that's my duty as a soul speaking, but I know there is something better for us out there. People's opinions are hard to change, especially if they have been founded over centuries of hatred and bitter resentment, but I still want to try. I am sick of living in a world that I cannot freely live in. I know it's a lot to ask, and I am not saying it will be easy, but will you help me?"
For a moment, there is silence, a small period of processing, and then Soren smiles, a wide, warm smile as he draws me into his arms, pressing my head against his chest. His lips brush softly over the top of my head, his arms clutching tightly around my body, and I lean into him, breathing in the sweet, intoxicating scent of roses and the faint tang of blood.
"Oh Serena," he murmurs, lacing his fingers through my hair. "You out of everyone have the power to change the world. You do not need to doubt yourself. After all, you changed me- you made a heartless, coldblooded monster love, and if you can do that, I have no doubt you can do just about anything. Of course I will help you, darling. You need only ask."
My heart pounds in my chest.
"Thank you, Soren," comes my muffled reply as I lean back, pressing my lips against his jaw before pulling away to give him a small, contented smile. Soren catches me as I lean back, his fingers latching under my chin as he draws me back to him, and before I know it, his lips are on mine, soft and searching, wet tongue slipping into my mouth, causing me to stifle a faint groan. As he pulls away, a strand of salvia forms between our lips, his golden eyes catching mine with a cheeky look as he wipes away the wetness of my lips with his thumb.
"I will return the flame to you on the day of our wedding- that is our scheduled one- I think it is rather symbolic, a bit like a wedding gift, is that okay by you?"
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At these words, my heart fills with an insurmountable joy. After spending months fretting like a mother over how I was to acquire the flame, how I was going to bargain with Soren, or if I was even going to be able to institute a bargain to begin with, now to hear those grievances washed away...
I could not have asked for a better husband, a better mate, a better anyone. Soren truly is the perfect creature, vampire or not.
I wipe my eyes to dash away the welling pools of water that start to form there.
After all this time, I think, my eyes pricking with the soft, stinging sensation of tears that threaten to spill down onto my cheek, all this time and I had nothing to worry about. It seems almost stupid now, to think I wasted so many hours of my life lamenting over nothing.
"Oh Soren," I sniff, pressing my face tightly against his chest. His slender hand reaches round to caress its way down my back, shushing me gently as I wet his shirt with saltine tears.
"I was so scared this day would come, that you would reject me, and-"
Soren cuts me off, rocking me in his arms in an attempt to sooth my anxieties. Carefully, he presses his lips gently against my cheek.
"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to be scared any more. I am here, I have got you. I am never going to leave, or reject you, I promise. Come here, darling," he says, lifting me up in his arms, perhaps in an effort to get me to look at him, due to the fact I have been avidly avoiding his gaze for the past minute. Mostly due to the fact I do not want him to see me cry.
Reaching down, I lace my fingers in his, squeezing his hand blithely, suddenly filled with a curious mixture of lightheaded disbelief and the emptiness left by the weight that has long since been standing on my shoulders. I thought I would have to fight for this day, that I would get myself hurt or rejected at best, that I would find myself crumbling over the disdain and loathing brought about by the response of my actions.
I imagined going back to my people, to the council, empty handed and ruined, a mere figment of the angel I had set myself out to be. During the late and lonely nights in my room, when there was no Soren or Ithuriel around to comfort me, I had run over what they'd say to me so many times its practically imprinted into my brain.
'You are a failure Serena. A failure and a traitor. You will forfeit your wings for your crimes, you are no longer welcome here. '
Or worse still, they would never let me leave Illistrae again.
And I thought perhaps I would lose him. That was always by far the worst thought of all.
"I was going to make you a bargain," I breathe, my breath barely a shallow whisper on the wind that sways in gusts around us, picking up discarded flower petals and crumbling leaves in its comforting embrace and whisking them off into the night. I watch them go for a moment, still quite unable to face Soren, my emerald eyes watery and swimming with a lingering melancholy.
Soren draws himself back a little, a look of mirrored confusion echoing across his face.
"Bargain?" he asks, drawing up my hand to rest against his cheek, pulling my gaze towards him, his beautiful amber eyes meeting mine. A giddy feeling runs through me.
"Yes," I say, a little louder now, raising my other hand to twiddle with the familiar wisps of golden flames against the inky blackness, spiking the dark with a faint luminescence that is just enough to illuminate the lengthy shadows under Soren's cheekbones. The flames at my finger tips are brighter now, to the point they are almost glaring, far more powerful then they ever were before my turning. I suppose that is another thing in a long line of happenings that I have to thank Soren for.
With the amount I owe him, I should be practically grovelling at his feet by now- although I know there is no way in hell he would ever allow it. To him, that would seem much too degrading for me.
I lift my fingers up an inch more, watching blurry sparks and flames lick the shadows, dancing out around me like miniature animals floating through the sky, a form of momentary distraction.
As I do so, he watches me with a hesitant curiosity, eyes trained on the golden flames as though half expecting to see some sort of prophetic vision and find himself enlightened. But no such thing comes.
"I thought that I could offer you a bargain. I return the flame to my people, and you have me as your Queen. That way, you would not be completely robbed of what you have- the eternal flame may be a powerful relic, but I am also a soul, and with enough training and practise, I am certain I can match my power to it."
Silently, Soren closes his fingers over my hand and moves it down on his cheek to rest his mouth, presses his lips lightly against the soft palm of my hand, eyes half closed, breath billowing in cool plumes against my skin.
"My darling," he murmurs, the sweet honeyed tones of his voice rising delightfully in the air around us to elicit a shiver trembling through me. I raise my head slightly to meet his eyes. His amber eyes watch me, his sultry gaze half concealed by sooty lashes as he continues to place kisses against the palm of my hand.
"While that is a wonderful idea, and certainly would have worked, I am offering the flame to you as a gift. Consider it a peace offering of sorts, you have no need to woo me over," he half laughs softly, giving me a sideways smile, eyes twinkling with a nefarious and cheeky light. I pout- half out of annoyance that I never did really get to put my plan into action, flickers of electrical light darting out from my body, spiking the darkness with occasional flashes of brightness. The sudden luminescence causes Soren to raise a hand against his eyes, pearly teeth flashing a smile under the shadows cast over his face.
"You power is becoming more expressive, I see. That is good. You need to develop your powers, it will be much better than simply relying on a sword," he says, but I barely hear him. Another thought lingers in my mind, filling me with a dread that trickles into my bones like a fine mist laying waste to the horizon in the early hours of the morning, blanketing the land with an impenetrable wall of fog. Unconsciously I draw into myself.
"Soren," I murmur, drawing his hand into mine, tracing the creases and swell of his palm, up and down his long fingers, if only to offer a distraction. He raises a brow, urging me silently to continue. I take a breath.
"I want us to change things- about Sezeria, Illistrae, the whole of Faey, maybe. You probably think it's stupid, far fetched, the most ludicrous plan under the sun. But I want to bring an end to this war, all this hatred that we share between our species, and maybe that's my duty as a soul speaking, but I know there is something better for us out there. People's opinions are hard to change, especially if they have been founded over centuries of hatred and bitter resentment, but I still want to try. I am sick of living in a world that I cannot freely live in. I know it's a lot to ask, and I am not saying it will be easy, but will you help me?"
For a moment, there is silence, a small period of processing, and then Soren smiles, a wide, warm smile as he draws me into his arms, pressing my head against his chest. His lips brush softly over the top of my head, his arms clutching tightly around my body, and I lean into him, breathing in the sweet, intoxicating scent of roses and the faint tang of blood.
"Oh Serena," he murmurs, lacing his fingers through my hair. "You out of everyone have the power to change the world. You do not need to doubt yourself. After all, you changed me- you made a heartless, coldblooded monster love, and if you can do that, I have no doubt you can do just about anything. Of course I will help you, darling. You need only ask."
My heart pounds in my chest.
"Thank you, Soren," comes my muffled reply as I lean back, pressing my lips against his jaw before pulling away to give him a small, contented smile. Soren catches me as I lean back, his fingers latching under my chin as he draws me back to him, and before I know it, his lips are on mine, soft and searching, wet tongue slipping into my mouth, causing me to stifle a faint groan. As he pulls away, a strand of salvia forms between our lips, his golden eyes catching mine with a cheeky look as he wipes away the wetness of my lips with his thumb.
"I will return the flame to you on the day of our wedding- that is our scheduled one- I think it is rather symbolic, a bit like a wedding gift, is that okay by you?"
At these words, my heart fills with an insurmountable joy. After spending months fretting like a mother over how I was to acquire the flame, how I was going to bargain with Soren, or if I was even going to be able to institute a bargain to begin with, now to hear those grievances washed away...I could not have asked for a better husband, a better mate, a better anyone. Soren truly is the perfect creature, vampire or not.I wipe my eyes to dash away the welling pools of water that start to form there.After all this time, I think, my eyes pricking with the soft, stinging sensation of tears that threaten to spill down onto my cheek, all this time and I had nothing to worry about. It seems almost stupid now, to think I wasted so many hours of my life lamenting over nothing. "Oh Soren," I sniff, pressing my face tightly against his chest. His slender hand reaches round to caress its way down my back, shushing me gently as I wet his shirt with saltine tears."I was so scared this day would come, that you would reject me, and-"Soren cuts me off, rocking me in his arms in an attempt to sooth my anxieties. Carefully, he presses his lips gently against my cheek."Hey, it's okay. You don't have to be scared any more. I am here, I have got you. I am never going to leave, or reject you, I promise. Come here, darling," he says, lifting me up in his arms, perhaps in an effort to get me to look at him, due to the fact I have been avidly avoiding his gaze for the past minute. Mostly due to the fact I do not want him to see me cry.Reaching down, I lace my fingers in his, squeezing his hand blithely, suddenly filled with a curious mixture of lightheaded disbelief and the emptiness left by the weight that has long since been standing on my shoulders. I thought I would have to fight for this day, that I would get myself hurt or rejected at best, that I would find myself crumbling over the disdain and loathing brought about by the response of my actions. I imagined going back to my people, to the council, empty handed and ruined, a mere figment of the angel I had set myself out to be. During the late and lonely nights in my room, when there was no Soren or Ithuriel around to comfort me, I had run over what they'd say to me so many times its practically imprinted into my brain.'You are a failure Serena. A failure and a traitor. You will forfeit your wings for your crimes, you are no longer welcome here. 'Or worse still, they would never let me leave Illistrae again.And I thought perhaps I would lose him. That was always by far the worst thought of all."I was going to make you a bargain," I breathe, my breath barely a shallow whisper on the wind that sways in gusts around us, picking up discarded flower petals and crumbling leaves in its comforting embrace and whisking them off into the night. I watch them go for a moment, still quite unable to face Soren, my emerald eyes watery and swimming with a lingering melancholy.Soren draws himself back a little, a look of mirrored confusion echoing across his face."Bargain?" he asks, drawing up my hand to rest against his cheek, pulling my gaze towards him, his beautiful amber eyes meeting mine. A giddy feeling runs through me."Yes," I say, a little louder now, raising my other hand to twiddle with the familiar wisps of golden flames against the inky blackness, spiking the dark with a faint luminescence that is just enough to illuminate the lengthy shadows under Soren's cheekbones. The flames at my finger tips are brighter now, to the point they are almost glaring, far more powerful then they ever were before my turning. I suppose that is another thing in a long line of happenings that I have to thank Soren for.With the amount I owe him, I should be practically grovelling at his feet by now- although I know there is no way in hell he would ever allow it. To him, that would seem much too degrading for me.I lift my fingers up an inch more, watching blurry sparks and flames lick the shadows, dancing out around me like miniature animals floating through the sky, a form of momentary distraction.As I do so, he watches me with a hesitant curiosity, eyes trained on the golden flames as though half expecting to see some sort of prophetic vision and find himself enlightened. But no such thing comes."I thought that I could offer you a bargain. I return the flame to my people, and you have me as your Queen. That way, you would not be completely robbed of what you have- the eternal flame may be a powerful relic, but I am also a soul, and with enough training and practise, I am certain I can match my power to it."Silently, Soren closes his fingers over my hand and moves it down on his cheek to rest his mouth, presses his lips lightly against the soft palm of my hand, eyes half closed, breath billowing in cool plumes against my skin. "My darling," he murmurs, the sweet honeyed tones of his voice rising delightfully in the air around us to elicit a shiver trembling through me. I raise my head slightly to meet his eyes. His amber eyes watch me, his sultry gaze half concealed by sooty lashes as he continues to place kisses against the palm of my hand."While that is a wonderful idea, and certainly would have worked, I am offering the flame to you as a gift. Consider it a peace offering of sorts, you have no need to woo me over," he half laughs softly, giving me a sideways smile, eyes twinkling with a nefarious and cheeky light. I pout- half out of annoyance that I never did really get to put my plan into action, flickers of electrical light darting out from my body, spiking the darkness with occasional flashes of brightness. The sudden luminescence causes Soren to raise a hand against his eyes, pearly teeth flashing a smile under the shadows cast over his face. "You power is becoming more expressive, I see. That is good. You need to develop your powers, it will be much better than simply relying on a sword," he says, but I barely hear him. Another thought lingers in my mind, filling me with a dread that trickles into my bones like a fine mist laying waste to the horizon in the early hours of the morning, blanketing the land with an impenetrable wall of fog. Unconsciously I draw into myself."Soren," I murmur, drawing his hand into mine, tracing the creases and swell of his palm, up and down his long fingers, if only to offer a distraction. He raises a brow, urging me silently to continue. I take a breath."I want us to change things- about Sezeria, Illistrae, the whole of Faey, maybe. You probably think it's stupid, far fetched, the most ludicrous plan under the sun. But I want to bring an end to this war, all this hatred that we share between our species, and maybe that's my duty as a soul speaking, but I know there is something better for us out there. People's opinions are hard to change, especially if they have been founded over centuries of hatred and bitter resentment, but I still want to try. I am sick of living in a world that I cannot freely live in. I know it's a lot to ask, and I am not saying it will be easy, but will you help me?"For a moment, there is silence, a small period of processing, and then Soren smiles, a wide, warm smile as he draws me into his arms, pressing my head against his chest. His lips brush softly over the top of my head, his arms clutching tightly around my body, and I lean into him, breathing in the sweet, intoxicating scent of roses and the faint tang of blood. "Oh Serena," he murmurs, lacing his fingers through my hair. "You out of everyone have the power to change the world. You do not need to doubt yourself. After all, you changed me- you made a heartless, coldblooded monster love, and if you can do that, I have no doubt you can do just about anything. Of course I will help you, darling. You need only ask."My heart pounds in my chest."Thank you, Soren," comes my muffled reply as I lean back, pressing my lips against his jaw before pulling away to give him a small, contented smile. Soren catches me as I lean back, his fingers latching under my chin as he draws me back to him, and before I know it, his lips are on mine, soft and searching, wet tongue slipping into my mouth, causing me to stifle a faint groan. As he pulls away, a strand of salvia forms between our lips, his golden eyes catching mine with a cheeky look as he wipes away the wetness of my lips with his thumb. "I will return the flame to you on the day of our wedding- that is our scheduled one- I think it is rather symbolic, a bit like a wedding gift, is that okay by you?"
