Everlasting

by W. J. May

  Considering everything they’d endured over the last few weeks, it felt like the perfect end to what had been an endlessly long day. The princess clutched her flagon of ale with both hands and leaned with a contended smile against Dylan’s shoulder. Soaking in the atmosphere. Taking in every detail of the lively party. Every person. Every song. Committing them all to memory.

  Vale was as unique in its remote location as it was in its diverse population. Just at a glance, the princess counted no fewer than twenty different species. All enjoying the same party. All living in a perfect state of coexistence. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen. A virtual poster for the benefits of supernatural integration. Dwarves building fires. Pixies garnishing plates. Shifters dolling out ale.

  It was a living fairytale. Tucked away in the shadows of the mountains.

  Of course, at every stage of the night, there had been several pairs of eyes staring right back.

  The lively city rarely got any outside company, and although the magistrate might have been the model of discretion the presence of the four beautiful strangers—found along the edge of the mysterious forest—was enough to set the youthful population ablaze.

  Katerina had almost forgotten what it was like to be in the company of other people their own age. The men looked at the women. The women looked at the men. But although the gang received many propositions throughout the night (some innocent, some with varying degrees of indecency), they turned down each and every one. Sticking close together at all times.

  For once, it wasn’t a fear-based reaction. It wasn’t done in the context of watching each other’s backs. Something had changed since that night after the storm. Something that had grown stronger with each passing day. A bond had been forged. The strength of which the four friends were only just becoming aware themselves.

  “I’m not going to lie, Cass. I thought you’d go for her.” Dylan nodded at the retreating back of a young woman who’d just asked the fae to dance. “Broken ribs or not. She was hot.”

  Katerina’s spine stiffened, but at the same time Dylan wrapped his arm around her waist with a little wink. He didn’t think so. He was only giving Cassiel a hard time.

  But it seemed Cassiel couldn’t care less. The man had an undeniable reputation with the ladies, but after a certain angelic transformation in the woods he only had eyes for one girl. A girl who had been conspicuously missing from the party for the last thirty minutes.

  “Have you seen Tanya?” he asked, oblivious to the transparent timing of the words.

  Katerina and Dylan exchanged a quick grin before he downed the rest of his ale. “She wandered off with a group of shifters a while ago—said she’d be right back.”

  The fae nodded distractedly, his eyes sweeping over the crowd before he pushed suddenly to his feet. “I’m getting another drink. You guys want one?”

  “Absolutely,” Dylan replied. Katerina shook her head.

  The two of them watched him disappear, weaving his way through the crowd, before turning back to the fire. The musicians had struck up a slower tune now. A deliciously hypnotic melody that had the people of the village swaying in front of the flames.

  “I still can’t believe what happened,” Katerina said quietly. Dylan glanced down curiously, and she stifled a quiet sigh. “I’m trying not to think about it. I mean, I’m trying to put it from my mind. But I still can’t believe what all happened...back in the woods.”

  His arm tightened again as the two of them fell silent. Playing it back again and again as they stared with troubled eyes into the fire. It wasn’t the kind of thing you could even begin to process. It wasn’t the kind of thing where you could hope to gain the mental upper hand. You simply had to wait for it to wash over you. Bit by bit. Piece by devastating piece.

  “And all because of a curse.” Katerina’s eyes were wide with wonder as she stared into the flames. “One woman’s curse, five hundred years later—it did all that.”

  “Not just any woman,” Dylan corrected gently. “A queen of the Fae. I can’t imagine a worse enemy to have. There isn’t a force in the world that could convince me to get in her path.”

  “But that’s just what I don’t understand.” Katerina twisted around to face him. “It’s easy to see why the Fae used to be in power, but how could they have ever been defeated? I’ve seen Cassiel fight, and he would have been just one man in an army of thousands. The power of that queen’s curse? Half a millennium later? How could the five kingdoms have possibly fallen?”

  Dylan stared at her for a long moment, then turned back to the fire with a quiet sigh. “Your ancestors used magic. Different magic than the Fae’s. Wizard magic.” His voice tightened slightly at the word. “There are few things more powerful and destructive in this world. It was so powerful, that once your father ascended to the throne he killed all the wizards as well.”

  “All except one,” Cassiel interjected.

  Katerina straightened up with a flush. She hadn’t heard him come back and hadn’t realized he’d been listening. She probably would have saved the question for another time. But the fae didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed unnervingly interested as he settled down beside them, pausing only to hand Dylan a drink.

  “One he kept as a slave to protect him. A royal pet.” His eyes glowed with sudden intensity as they fixed on the dancing flames. “Rumor has it that he’s still there, living in the castle.”

  A dreadful sinking feeling filled the pit of the princess’ stomach. As if she’d swallowed a heavy stone. She’d often wondered, but never asked. Like so many things in her life.

  “Alwyn,” she quietly confirmed. The fae’s eyes danced with a vengeful kind of hunger, and she stiffened defensively. “The man raised me as a child, taught me everything he knew. He actually risked his life just to save mine, to get me safely out of the castle.”

  Cassiel nodded casually, but Katerina had a terrible feeling that if they ever finally did get back to the castle and he met Alwyn, none of that would make the slightest bit of difference.

  There was a beat of awkward silence, and Dylan cleared his throat. Then a head of cinnamon hair bobbed towards them, and they breathed a collective sigh of relief. A second later, Tanya plopped down beside them. Breathless and flushed. She wasted no time in stealing Dylan’s ale.

  “Where have you been—”

  Katerina started to ask, but Cassiel interrupted her with the far more obvious question.

  “What happened to your hair?”

  Together, the three of the leaned forward, staring with wide eyes. Tanya may have only been gone half an hour, but she’d come back an entirely new woman.

  No longer did her silky hair fall in a shoulder-length bob, but it had been cut into a delightful array of sharp angles. The sides were shaved down incredibly short, while the top cascaded down her back in a series of jagged waves. There was no other word to describe it. It was badass.

  She blushed a little under the weight of their staring but looked incredibly pleased. “I had to cut it pretty severely with my knife when I got stuck up in that tree.” No matter what she did, she couldn’t stop touching the sides. “One of the girls here helped me even it out.”

  As she spoke, Katerina had a vague recollection of her being lifted into the air with a tree branch twisting through her hair. Come to think of it, things had looked pretty rough back in the infirmary. She’s written it off as sleep-deprivation and severe bed-head.

  “So...what do you think?”

  Tanya addressed the question to the whole group, but it was clear she was only looking for one person to answer. Cassiel’s eyes swept her up and down with a twinkling smile.

  “I like it.”

  She blushed again, running a hand nervously along the edge and trying very hard to act as though she didn’t care. “I thought you preferred long nymph hair.”

  The fae shook his head, those bright eyes never leaving her face. “It looks nice. It suits you.”

  There was another awkward pau
se before Dylan pushed abruptly to his feet, pulling Katerina along with him. “I think we’re going to...go be somewhere else.”

  Without another word the two of them vanished into the crowd, weaving their way, hand in hand, through the throng of dancing bodies. Katerina flitted along behind him with a grin, stealing occasional glances back over her shoulder at the two people sitting together on the bench.

  “That was really smooth,” she teased as soon as it was quiet enough to hear. They had left the party behind, and were walking along one of the moonlit trails that circled the edge of the city. “‘I think we’re going to go be somewhere else’? That’s really the best you could do?”

  “Give me a break,” he grinned, stifling a theatric shudder. “I didn’t want to see that.”

  “Why not?” Katerina circled around in front of him, pulling them both to a stop. “I think it’s adorable. Although, I wouldn’t have thought Tanya was really Cass’ type.”

  Dylan rolled his eyes. “Cass doesn’t really have a type beyond woman. But Tanya’d better be serious about it. She’d better not just be jerking him around.”

  The princess’ eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Are you serious? You’re actually worried Cassiel might be the one who gets hurt here? I would have said for sure it’d be the other way around.”

  Dylan considered it thoughtfully, then shook his head. “Cass is casual with women. That’s his thing. There’s nothing casual about the way he’s looking at Tanya.” He stuck his hands deep in his pockets, gazing back towards town. “So, she’d better be careful—that’s all I’m saying.”

  Katerina let out a sparkling laugh, stepping deliberately in front of his gaze. “Or what?” she teased. “You’re going to beat her up? Fight to avenge your slutty best friend’s honor?”

  “So, what if I am?” Dylan’s eyes twinkled as he pulled her suddenly closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Someone’s got to do it, and who’s going to stop me? You?”

  The conversation suddenly escalated to a whole other level as they pressed up against each other. Standing just inches away. His head leaned down, bringing them even closer still, as she stretched instinctively up on her toes.

  “I could stop you,” she whispered, barely breathing as her eyes flickered down to his lips. “I could stop you whenever I wanted.”

  “Oh, yeah?” He slipped a finger under her chin, tilting up her face to his. “...try.”

  Before she could say a word, before she could pull in a proper breath, they were kissing once again. His mouth closed over hers as her arms wrapped around his neck.

  There was nothing tender about the way it happened this time. Nothing sweet, or shy, or soft. It was rough. And delicious. And completely overwhelming. All at the same time.

  His fingers tangled fiercely in her hair as he lifted her clean off her feet, walking them both off the moonlit path and into the privacy of the trees. One they were there, he wasted absolutely no time untangling the ribbons in the back of her dress. It slipped loosely around her shoulders at the same time that she pulled off his shirt...at the same time that he pressed her up against the trunk of a tree, hitching her legs around his waist as his hands slid all the way up to her thighs.

  “Is this okay?” he panted between kisses. She parted her lips to answer, and then his tongue was in her mouth, robbing her of all sense of control or reason. “I can stop—”

  “No,” she breathed, closing her eyes as her head fell back against the tree, “don’t stop.”

  The night sky was spinning around them. Her hair was full of smoke. Her eyes were full of stars. For a split second, she pulled back to look at him. Then her face lit up with a radiant smile. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Dylan.”

  It should have been one of those perfect moments. It should have been one of the best nights of her life. Instead, a gust of cold air swept between them as she slid slowly down to her feet.

  ...or not?

  There was really no describing the look on his face. She didn’t know that anyone could fly through so many emotions so fast. First there was passion, then there was surprise, then there was a kind of longing she didn’t understand. And he ended on...fear?

  “Dylan?” She gazed up at him with wide eyes in the dark. The front of her dress was hanging dangerously loose, and she fought the sudden urge to cover up. “I’m sorry, should I not have...”

  A flush of red hot humiliation colored her cheeks, as her eyes stung with forbidden tears. He had yet to say anything. In fact, he had yet to even move. He simply stared as if he had never really seen her before, unable to catch his breath.

  The longer the silence went on, the more unbearable it became. After another moment the princess lifted her hands tentatively to his chest, feeling the pounding, uneven heartbeat below.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it,” she whispered, too scared to take her eyes off his face. She had the strangest feeling that if she looked away, she might never see him again. “If we can just—”

  He took a deliberate step back. Out of the reach of her hands.

  “We should get back to the party.”

  Chapter 13

  I think I’m falling in love with you...

  ...we should get back to the party.

  Katerina was having trouble hearing anything beyond those words. She was having trouble not bursting into spontaneous tears every ten seconds as well, but that was a different story. She didn’t remember the walk back to the party, only the careful barrier of distance that was between them. She didn’t remember re-lacing her dress but she must have, because later she discovered that she’d cut her finger on one of the hooks. She didn’t even remember what she’d said in response.

  Words had failed her, but she must have nodded. Either that, or she was simply shaking so hard that he took it as an affirmative. He’d picked his shirt up off the ground, slipped it quickly over his head, then gestured awkwardly back to the road. She’d followed without a word. Floating. Numb.

  It wasn’t until they neared the bonfire that her senses started to come back to her. The sound of laughter and music broke through the ringing in her ears. The heat of the flames warmed her pale, frozen skin. She took a step to join the others, when he suddenly caught her by the hand.

  “Katerina...”

  For the first time, she realized that he looked just as lost as her. His beautiful eyes were wide and dilated, his fingers were trembling nervously against his coat, and from the way he kept glancing back down the trail it was as though he’d left a part of himself back in the forest. The second he’d gotten the nerve to speak, he’d trailed off again. Now he was simply standing there. Quiet as a grave.

  Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, a moment that seemed to last forever and was gone in the blink of an eye—then the princess turned abruptly on her heel.

  “We should get back to the party.”

  The others were still deeply engrossed in conversation when they returned. It wasn’t like they were being too obvious about it, but there was an intimacy in the way their heads bowed together under the guise of ‘hearing each other over the music.’ There was a little something extra in the way they smiled. Smiles that implied many, many more to come.

  But they pulled apart quickly when Katerina and Dylan came back. Not so much because they were embarrassed, but because it was clear that something was wrong.

  “Kat?”

  Tanya sprang to her feet immediately, looping an arm around the princess’ shoulder while casting a threatening look at Dylan over her back. Cassiel didn’t stand but he tilted his head curiously to the side, gazing at his friend with a silent question. Dylan looked deliberately away.

  “Are you okay?” Tanya asked in a hush, pulling Katerina down beside her on the bench and tilting her body in such a way that it was clear the men were not invited to the conversation. “What’s wrong, what happened?”

  A detached part of Katerina was surprised. The two girls had gotten quite close over the last few wee
ks, but not over anything like this. Not over anything normal. For a split second, she almost felt as though she was back at the castle. Talking with one of her childhood friends.

  Except that I’m not. Except that those friends are dead. These people don’t know me.

  And I clearly don’t know them at all.

  “Nothing. I’m fine.” Katerina wiped her face quickly, forcing an admirable smile as she reached out quickly and downed the closest flagon of ale. Tanya watched her with concern, and was about to try again, when the princess looked quickly over her shoulder and found an escape. “Mr. Chambers, this is a great party! Thank you so much for inviting us!”

  Despite his insistence, ‘Henry’ was never going to take. The gang had been programmed with an instinctual deference to elders, and this man commanded more respect than most.

  The man’s eyes flickered with a quiet contentment over his subjects before turning back to the four friends with a smile. “I’m happy you decided to come. We don’t get visitors very often in these parts, and I’m afraid you four have caused a bit of a stir.”

  As if to illustrate his point a group of giggling girls rushed past, pausing only to cast lusty stares at both Dylan and Cassiel, before vanishing quickly back into the crowd. Under the present circumstances, it couldn’t have been more awkward. Dylan dropped his eyes with a quiet sigh.

  “We’ve arranged for some rooms to be prepared for you at the village tavern for the duration of your stay,” Henry continued, oblivious to the sudden shift in tone. “It’s close enough to the infirmary that the doctor can continue making daily check-ups, and once some of those broken bones start to heal—”

  “Actually, we’re going to be leaving in the morning.”

  The others turned to Katerina in surprise—both at the sentiment, and at the sudden air of authority. Even Henry knew to hold his tongue. But no one was more surprised than Dylan.

  “Kat,” he began uncertainly, “it might be better to wait a few days—”

  “It’s a generous offer, but we didn’t come here by chance,” she interrupted briskly. “We came here for a reason—not a party—and it’s time we get back on the road.”