by Seth Eden
A quick glance revealed her state of shock: hands pressed to her mouth, the corners of her eyes glittering, a reddened hue across her entire face. It hadn’t been perfect, no, but it had garnered the same effect.
“Are you asking... what I think you’re asking?” Samantha felt both hot and cold at the same time. She had to grip onto the side of the tub to stop from fainting.
“That depends on what you think I’m asking,” he replied quietly. Ethan was finding it hard to meet her gaze. Perhaps he was afraid of her answer, that she would outright reject him. Or that she was just trying to humor him with an answer to spare his feelings.
Samantha couldn’t help but purse her lips together; was he being this obtuse to annoy her or was he dragging things out for dramatic effect?
“... you’re asking me to marry you.”
“I am.” His wet fingers curled around her own and dragged her hand above the surface of the water. There, he placed the ring in the middle of her palm.
“What do you say? Want to make me the happiest man in the world?”
Samantha stared at the ring for what felt like forever. The possibility of a proposal had never entered into her mind, especially since she’d only been here a little over three months. The coronation of today likely didn’t help either and was likely the catalyst for… all of this.
She didn’t want to rush into this. She really wanted to think things over, and she knew how that was going to affect him. As overwhelmed as she was, as much of a dream everything had been since coming here, she didn’t want her acceptance to become a mistake.
“Ethan, I really want to say yes. Please trust me, I do. But can you give me... a week to think about this? Please?” She curled her fist around it, feeling her own heart breaking as she watched his expression melt into disappointment.
Ethan swallowed hard and rubbed at the back of his neck. It felt awkward to sit here in the tub with her. He knew she meant nothing by it and was trying not to take it personally. But it still felt like a huge rock sitting at the bottom of his gut. He shouldn’t have gotten his expectations up.
“A week. Yes, I can do that.” He was doing his best not to look upset about the whole thing, trying to be understanding about everything.
But even the smile he gave her… She could tell he was disheartened. So Samantha pressed a hard kiss to his lips to raise his spirits, to remind him that she was still there and not going anywhere. That it really was just time she needed to come to terms with such a change in her life.
They continued their bath in relative silence, save for the splashing water and the gurgling of the water going down the drain. They wrapped themselves in plush towels to dry off and strolled, hand-in-hand, towards their shared bed. Vases of simply purple flowers stood on the nightstands on either side, filling the room with even more perfumy smells to keep them relaxed and lull them to sleep.
Ethan, however, slipped under the sheets and turned his back to her. He was obviously still taking all of this pretty hard.
“I still love you.” She sidled up behind him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He accepted it, of course. There was no way he could hold her earlier answer against her, even if it had left him heartbroken in the process.
“I love you too.” His hand blindly searched for hers and when he found it, he draped it across his waist and laced his fingers between hers. Tomorrow would be strange, he knew, pretending as if he hadn’t just popped the biggest question of his life, that they were supposed to continue their day like it never happened.
But he would have to. He promised her he would give her all the time she needed and he was holding himself to that vow. Rushing the process would only bring resentment and that’s not how he wanted to start their new lives together.
2
Samantha never thought she would be out here, or that she would even have to engage in this kind of thing. The grey stone bearing Wendy’s name stared up at her, waiting for her to say something. Anything.
She only sighed as she rested the bundle of flowers before the headstone. To think that Wendy had died for something so stupid, that she’d gotten involved in something so complicated that she’d had no means of escape, was beyond Samantha’s comprehension. Life was supposed to have become simpler here, not more complicated. She could only find solace in the fact that Jen had been the one to end the twins’ lives before they could do more harm, even if that reparation had come too late to save Wendy.
Guilt was the next thing to cloud her mind. If she and Ethan had come to terms sooner, perhaps she could be transformed as one of them, taking to the skies and learned her powers so that she could have made a difference. That maybe if she’d accepted her fate in life more quickly, she could have been there to keep Wendy alive.
Wendy... She’d been a brainy woman, smart beyond her years and always looking to logic for her answers. Easily spooked by the things she couldn’t understand, she and Jen had had a falling out when she’d discovered the latter’s connection to this entire mess. Her boyfriend, one of the astronauts who’d gone an eight-month-long journey to discover new planets, had returned with wolf-like aliens hot on his and his crew’s tails because of a misunderstanding. The details were still fuzzy, even now, and Samantha hadn’t dedicated too much time to pick them apart further. What’s done was done and no amount of blame was going to undo the fact that their planet was no more.
“I wish you were here to help,” Samantha muttered under her breath and stooped down to rearrange the bouquet of flowers for the umpteenth time. She just couldn’t get them to look right.
As she kneeled another time to fix them once more, she heard the crunch of feet on the grass behind her. Not surprising, in and of itself; there were plenty of headstones here for people to visit. But it was the proximity of the steps to what she regarded as her personal space that gave her moment to pause.
When she stood and finally turned around, she was met with a tall man whose skin was tanned by the sun. Old sunburn marks lined his exposed shoulders, as did the pockmarked scars of blisters. This man obviously didn’t have an easy life.
What black hair wasn’t shaved on the sides of his head were pulled back into a short and messy ponytail, all covered with a hat. A scar interrupted the growth of hair on his left eyebrow and another warped the once-smooth line of his nose bridge. Thin lips remained steady, bearing no emotion whatsoever, but his eyes were a bright yellow that told her what he really was.
A shifter.
“Excuse me, do you know where Ethan Harken’s house is?” The tall, gruff man definitely stood out from the usual people that lived in the city. Where they were usually adorned in beautiful clothes and simple, sparkling jewelry, this man was clad in browns and blacks. Samantha’s best guess was that he was from out of town.
“If you follow the promenade that way, you’ll find a house on the right. Large circular windows with some purple flowers at the front. I can’t promise you he’ll be in right now, though.” She pointed some distance to her left, keeping an eye trained on him. She wanted to ferry out his intentions, to see what he could possibly want with Ethan. But she was sure that if he asked, he would tell her that it wasn’t any of her business.
“Ah. I take it you’re bonded?” The man removed his hat and punched the inside of it to get rid of a dent. The thing looked beaten up to high hell, like it had been run over a few times and then put through the wringer still. It was a wonder he even continued to wear the ratty thing.
Samantha was taken aback, both by the question and how he pieced together so easily. It wasn’t as if she wore a ring on her finger or bore any mark that indicated she and Ethan were together. Yet...
“We’re friends,” she replied curtly. “If he’s not there, you can find him at the center of town where the council meets. You’ll have a long wait, though. Good day.”
Her curt reply was enough to put him on guard. Sensing her annoyance, he silently tipped his hat to her and left. Earning more of her ire wasn’t something he wa
nted to deal with.
Watching him leave, Samantha was aggravated that her time alone with Wendy was ruined by such a rude man. His questioning into Ethan didn’t bother her so much - he could take care of herself - but it was the insinuation that he somehow knew they’d had sex...or were at least together that put her on edge. It was a strange topic to bring into any conversation, by a complete stranger at that.
She was definitely going to ask Ethan about it later once she was sure the man had left. He wasn’t the kind of person she wanted to meet ever again.
She was still stewing in her anger, ready to leave when she heard a voice that stole her thoughts away.
“Samantha...”
The familiarity of it took them a second time as she came face-to-face with her supposed “queen.”
“I didn’t expect to find you here.” Jen was gripping her own bouquet that was rather large and expensive-looking. Samantha guessed such extravagance came with the territory of her status.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Samantha stepped back with a smile to give her room. She felt some obligation to bow to her like it was deserved for everything she’d been through and the person she married, but she was so frozen with indecision that she could only watch Jen bend down to rest her flowers next to Samantha’s.
“I don’t know. I just...” Jen shrugged lightly and stepped back beside her. The longer they both stared at the gravestone, the more awkward the air grew between them. Jen was the first to break it by slipping an arm around Samantha’s shoulder.
It felt weird at first but she didn’t want to question it. Their original “friendship” had been based only on the need for survival; after that, they’d grown apart, buried too deep in their own concerns to dedicate much thought to the other. Coming to Cendarth had been confusing enough and they’d all needed time and space to make sense of it all.
Samantha eventually slipped her arm around Jen’s waist.
“It really is good to see you again, Samantha. And I’m glad to hear you’re settling in nicely with... Ethan, was it?”
“Yes. I’m glad things have worked out for you too. How is it being a shifter now? Everything you expected?”
That seemed to be enough to break the tension, as the air filled with Jen’s melodious laughter.
“Hard to say, since I had nothing to compare it too. It’s quite liberating, in a sense. All this power coursing through me... it’s like nothing anyone would ever be able to expect.” To emphasize her point, she turned her hand over, palm towards the sky, and made her fingers disappear.
Samantha jumped back in surprise. She’d never seen anything like that before, didn’t know that Jen was even capable of such a thing other than turning into a dragon and breathing fire. She hadn’t even thought to ask Ethan about what the whole thing entailed.
Jen chuckled quietly at Samantha’s response and returned her wiggling fingers to view.
“It took a while for Dominic to teach me that. It’s harder than it looks, really, if you’re not concentrating enough.”
“And… you should be having your firstborn in another six months, right?” Samantha cast her glance downwards… yet saw no protruding belly. Had it just been a rumor or were Jen’s powers altering her pregnancy somehow?
“Another six, yes.” Jen happened to follow her gaze and shook her head. “Dominic said I shouldn’t worry about it, the appearance. He’ll start showing soon enough once it’s...” She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.
“Oh! You’re having a boy!” Samantha nudged her hip against hers; Jen wasn’t the best at keeping secrets.
“Shh, don’t tell anyone I told you. We’re trying to keep it a secret for as long as possible. I don’t need people, especially the council, making plans for my son before he’s even born.”
That was understandable. Even with the dissolution of the monarchy and the throne, there might still be some people who held onto the past and wanted to continue following those traditions. Jen was only trying to protect her child from all that.
They soon took their leave of the cemetery and headed back into the more public space of the streets, wandering aimlessly as they talked. They discussed the finer points of how things had changed, how they would continue to change, and what was going on in their personal lives. It was a time to catch up, after spending so long apart.
“I’ve heard Beverly’s going to get married too in the next few months. Her husband is definitely something, isn’t he?”
It was hard for either of them not to flush at the mention of him. Roldan Berson was a shifter, of course, but one of the most famous painters in the area. His works weren’t created with magic; that would be the easy way. No, with centuries under his belt, he’d worked on and perfected his craft that it was hard to tell his paintings from real life.
Beverly hadn’t been interested in an artist at first until she’d seen his first painting of her. It had left her in tears to the point that she couldn’t say no when he’d proposed to her a month ago.
“I wonder what kind of dragon she’ll turn into...” Samantha wondered aloud.
“I’m really vested in how many children she’ll have. You remember what she said about leaving Earth, having nothing behind to remember her by...”
“Oh my god, you’re right. They’re going to make quite the brood, aren’t they?” Samantha winked and elbowed Jen in the side.
At the back of her mind, she wondered why they hadn’t gotten together like this sooner. It was almost normal to talk with her like this, as if they’d lived here all their lives.
It was then that Samantha realized she should have come to Jen first with her conundrum instead of talking to a gravestone.
“Jen... can I talk to you about something...?” Her voice wavered, though she didn’t know why. There wasn’t really anything to be nervous about, nor did she think she was going to be judged for not knowing the right answer. Yet, there was an unease within her that made it difficult to keep her voice steady.
“Of course. Anything.”
But when Jen turned to smile at her, she got the feeling that everything was going to be alright, that she had nothing to worry about.
A strange noise in the distance interrupted their pleasant conversation. At first, it was difficult to make out what it was - a minute thoom! that was nothing louder than a door being slammed - but something soon rose into the atmosphere that drew their eyes away from each other.
Smoke. Smoke meant fire.
“Samantha... isn’t that the direction of your house?” Jen whispered, still wrapped in confusion and shock.
Samantha didn’t wait to contemplate that answer and was sprinting in that direction. A sixth sense or intuition, whatever it was, told her that something was very wrong, yet she couldn’t make her legs move any faster. Everything around her slowed to a crawl, and the sounds of her own heartbeat and breathing filled her ears.
She had to get there on time. She had to get there before... Ethan!
Soon, she realized she was moving faster than she’d ever imagined before... and then her feet weren’t touching the ground any longer. Magic?
No. She whirled her head around to find her in the grasp of a large white dragon, the scales flecked with purple. Intelligent golden-brown eyes stared down at her, eyes she knew the color of.
“J-Jen?”
“Yes, it’s me. Just hold on and we’ll be there in a matter of seconds.”
Jen pushed her wings to work harder. The wind whipped at Samantha’s hair as their speed grew until she could barely keep her eyes open. The harsh wind dragged tears across her cheeks and whistled in her ears until she was sure they would burst. But there was no room to complain; Jen was getting her there faster than she would on her own two feet.
But once the place Samantha called her home came into view, she wished she hadn’t gotten here so quickly. The entire building was in rubble and charred black. Smoke still rose from the craters that surrounded the place, and the usually smooth paved walkway
was splintered with cracks the width of Samantha’s arm.
She buried her face into her hands and willed back the sobs she knew were coming. It was too early to be mourning, she knew; she hadn’t seen hide or hair of Ethan, but just the prospect of the worse happening...
Jen must have sensed her discomfort and pressed the small woman against her neck to hide her from the rest of the view. The air was filled with the thick smell of burning and magic, but what Jen didn’t smell was blood. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
Once she landed, she helped Samantha to the ground and remained outside. If there had been a struggle here, she didn’t want the other woman to be caught unaware and unprotected. Her large head swiveled around as she tried to get a sense of where the shifters could have gone.
Samantha toppled over the rubble in her attempt to get inside, ignoring the fires that continued to burn. She screamed Ethan’s name in an effort to gain his attention if he was still conscious. If not, then at least it helped her to release all of this pent up anxiety.
Room by room, she searched, stumbling over half-ruined furniture and crumbled walls. The very same couch they were on last night was overturned and no more, the soft, plush fabric reduced to cinders. The tub where they’d had their soak was no more: the porcelain was cracked and half of the tub itself was missing. The elaborate gold feet that held up the whole thing were entirely gone.
“Ethan!”
She heard no reply and started to fear the worst. She checked every closet, underneath everything she could lift, and for the rubble she couldn’t, she employed Jen’s help in the matter. Ethan was nowhere to be seen.
3
To conceive of the notion that just yesterday, everything had been perfect. Her life here with Ethan, going about each day together, doing chores, cleaning their home... it wasn’t perfect but it was as close to paradise as Samantha could imagine it to be, given the circumstances.
A paradise transformed into hell, in just the blink of an eye. How were they going to be able to put any of this back together?