Winterfall

I began to stir awake as the sunlight danced across the horizon onto my skin. I grasped at the lush grass and stretched softly against the fabric of the blanket we were laying on. Maria… his voice echoed softly through my mind. I felt his hand gently touch my face, brushing away the hair that clung to my skin due to a mix of sweat and morning dew. He turned my face gently towards him and kissed my lips. I felt him staring into my eyes as he waited for me to open them. I smiled as I could feel his stare despite my eyes remaining shut. I did not want to wake up.

He sighed and propped himself over my body, both arms stretched out as he held himself there. "I can sense that you are awake, Maria…" he whispered as he bent down and kissed my lips. I opened my eyes to see him looking down at me, the sun creating a halo around his silhouette.

"Do we have to leave soon?" I asked as I stretched underneath his form. The sun's warmth caressed my bare skin as his draconic aura seemingly balanced it out.

He looked down at me with a soft smile. "I'm afraid so," he said as he rose effortlessly to his feet. He bent down and offered his hand to me. Helping me up, he pulled me into his body and hugged me tightly. He rested his head on mine and softly said, "I love you… But we probably should have left last night." He told me with a sigh.

I pulled away from him to look into his crystal blue eyes, "But you know we could always…"

He cut me off as he hungrily kissed my lips. "Mi…" he said before kissing me again. "Amor…" he said between our lips, meeting each other. He pulled away before it went further and glared down at me with a bit of disapproval and hunger on his face. "As much as I would love to lay you back down on that blanket and consume you all over again…" He paused, collecting himself. "You and I have our duties to attend to."

He took another step back as he dared not to let himself lose control. As if he did, there would be no turning back. Despite his best efforts, I could tell he still examined my body to the fullest. I could see his eyes shift from mine to my breasts to my waist. As he examined my body, I could not help but blush. He reached for my hand, pulled me back into him, and stared down at me. "If you insist…" he said as he deepened his kiss on my lips and tightened his grasp on my body with his other hand, causing my body to cave into his as a soft moan slipped my lips.

Damn him. He knew what he was doing. My body wanted him, but in the back of my mind, I knew he was right. As he deepened each kiss and his hunger grew, I managed to speak one word through our shared bond. Stop. He pulled away quickly in a flash of a mist using another ability of his called Draconic Leap. He reappeared ten feet away from me. He stared at me. Eyes full of hunger. But he knew. He knew it was time for us to head back to our fucked up reality.

I glanced around the cove and eyed each piece of our clothing scattered about. Thankfully, the items were easily found, and none made it into the spring. He watched my eyes dart between each piece of clothing and moved to help gather them up. I handed him what I grabbed, and he slipped them on. I put my dirty dress in my bag of holding and pulled out my clean one and clean undergarments, and I slipped them on.

I raised my eyebrow when I saw he wore the same clothing. "What?" He followed my gaze. "It's not unusual for me. I have had many late nights on duty, and I often don't get a chance to change."

I sighed. "Fair enough." I stretched my arms and felt a sting of pain as I remembered he dug his claws into my back. Things got a bit rough in the night.

As he sensed the pain through the bond, it did not take him long to walk over to me. "Let me see that." He gently moved my dress off my shoulder and brushed his fingers against the wound he left me. As he did that, I felt magic soak into my skin, and he healed the wound the rest of the way. He utilized a simple healing spell called Healing Touch. He put my dress back in place and looked down at me with a bit of guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry for getting rough."

"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, apologize for that." I poked his chest.

He arched his eyebrow and smiled down at me. "Alright." He then turned his attention to the waterfall and then back at me. "Let me check to see if it is clear," he said, kissing my forehead. "I'll be back shortly."

"Be careful."

"I always am." He said as he spoke the word "usylnig" as magic flashed from his palm and soaked into his own skin. The spell he used turned him invisible using the spell Shadow Walk. I then heard him say "flyr" as another magical arcane flash seeped into his body as he casted the spell Fly. Even though I could not see him, I could feel the air shift as he lifted himself up and over the waterfall. He was leaving me physically alone long enough for me to collect anything left to be picked up, like the blanket we used.

I folded the blanket as neatly as I could but my mind flashed back to last night as I could almost feel his fingers and lips against my body again. I sighed, lamenting the fact that it was just a memory now. Maria… he said, scolding me through the bond. Our thoughts tended to intermingle with each other due to the bond, so thoughts like this made doing tasks for him very difficult.

Try to focus on what you are going to do today. He spoke to me as he was trying to change his focus. What do you have in mind?

Training tonight.

Besides that.

I'm not sure. I'm still a bit shaken from my attack. Physically I know I’m fine but…

I know, Mi Amor… I know. He allowed his soothing draconic aura to seep through the bond.

I walked over to the edge of the spring, taking off my shoes and placing my legs into the surprisingly warm water. I could sense my emotions start to unsettle as I thought about the attack—really anything to do with Marcel. As my emotions shifted heavily, I could sense Théo trying to ease them. Don't, I told him. Honestly, sometimes Theoden siphoning my emotions sucked, but other times it helped me a lot.

Maria, I don't need you… Théo began to say but abruptly stopped himself.

Don't need me to do what?

I don't need you going into overdrive and using your wild magic unwillingly.

During our training sessions we gathered that my strongest magic was charged by my emotions such as anger, hate, sadness—all of those negative emotions, and even some of the positive ones. I knew he was only trying to help. Pulling my emotions, decreasing their power, dulling even my most simple wild magic spells. I knew he did it for my safety and the safety of others around me. At times, I realized it was a good thing, but I also wondered if his pull is what kept me from being able to use my magic to its fullest capabilities all this time. I knew deep down, he wondered that too. I sighed. I'm literally like a bomb. Aren't I? I joked. Considering my instability, if something or someone triggered me wrongfully, who knew what would happen?

I could sense and hear his laugh through the bond. If you are a "bomb," then I must be a "shield". He spoke in reference to the countless times he had saved me from various dangers over the few hundred years that we had known each other.

Yes, I said, laughing at his response. Are you almost done? I asked, as at least five minutes had gone by since he had left. I could sense him before he touched me.

"I'm right here," he said, pulling me into him, allowing his invisibility spell to drop as he got distracted by, well, me. I turned around in his arms and looked up at his crystal blue eyes and smiled at him. He leaned down and kissed my lips, "We should be in the clear. I spotted a few guards doing early morning rounds, but they know better than to breathe a word about seeing us."

I rolled my eyes. "Only because you threatened their jobs." I knew that he had told his lead guards, that if any of his other guards whispered a word about our relationship or why he got the role as Captain to let him know, and he would handle it. His leads knew better than to say anything, but his underlings, not so much.

"They’ve kept it quiet so far, haven't they? Are you ready to go back up?" He asked as he looked down at me in his arms.

I sighed heavily. "I think you know the answer to that question. But yes."

He tightened his grip around my body, and I wrapped my arms and legs around his as he spoke the word "fly" to raise us up and above the waterfall. He didn't turn us invisible, as he knew what was waiting for us once we reached the top. I undid my grasp on his body, and he loosened his as we touched the ground. He gave me a quick glance to make sure we had everything, which I did.

He kissed me again before we started to walk back to the castle. It was a long walk but neither of us minded as it gave us more time with each other. "Maria," he said as he walked behind me, allowing me to take the lead. This was our usual formation when out in public as we did not hold hands, nor were we allowed to communicate too much. We had to be as professional as possible. Even though no one was around at the time, it was still a good habit to practice. "The guards are about a mile away from the cove. It looks like Quinn and Jasper." They were two of his lead guards that I knew well.

I simply nodded in response and remained quiet as we walked. It was a beautiful day out, which made me glad he got me outside of the castle for once since the attack. I quite enjoyed the feeling of the sun against my skin. "Rabbit," He said as I jumped a bit at the motion of a nearby bush as a rabbit ran out in front of us. I sighed in relief. "Crow." He said, causing me to glance up as the screech of a crow pierced my ears causing me to flinch. The rest of the walk was uneventful thankfully.

"They are just over the hill," he said. I knew he could sense them still just like he did the animals that were near us as he had an impressive sense of awareness around him. It made it hard for anyone to even get close to me. Well, other than that one time.

I nodded in understanding. We got to the top of the hill and saw the two guards casually walking this way. This route was part of their rounds. As they ran across the kingdom through various paths, often pushing past the city limits in case of dangerous animals that might be lurking. "Remember, they know," he said quietly.

Quinn was the first to spot us. She was a beautiful blonde haired human woman with striking green eyes and freckled skin. As she saw us approaching, she elbowed Jasper and waved at us. Jasper was a human man with orange brown hair that never laid flat, brilliant pale blue eyes and tanned skin.

Quinn elbowed him a second time and lowered her hand as Jasper communicated with a rodent. From this distance, it looked like a rat.

"Princess Maria! Captain!" She shouted as we approached.

"Quinn," Théo said. Then he turned his attention to Jasper, and his face fell a bit. With a heavy sigh, he said, "Jasper?" He watched one of his Elite Guards talk to a rat. The Elite Guards was a group of guards that he hand selected as top tier guards due to an array of skill sets and abilities they had.He glanced back over at Quinn, disappointed. "What is he doing?"

Quinn sighed, "It's Jasper. What did you expect?" she asked with a shrug.

"Professionalism?" He replied, with a slight smile on his face.

Jasper must have heard them talk and as he pulled his attention to the conversation, "Huh? Sorry… I was talking to the rat." Jasper had used a druidic ability called Animal Speech.

"Jasper…" Théoden said disapprovingly. "We have talked about this."

"But…" Jasper got lost in his own train of thought as he got distracted by the same rat who started making noise as Jasper was talking to it. "What was that?" He asked as he knelt down to the rat so he could better understand him.

Théoden shook his head. "Using abilities before eight." he said, though he was no better. Théo himself used three spells already today but I gave him a pass. The difference was that Jasper was using his for his childlike curiosity whereas Théo used his to protect us.

Exactly. He thought through the bond.

I knew I should stay out of it, but I couldn't help it. "Is the rat saying anything interesting?" I asked Jasper, knowing all the while just how much this situation irritated the shit out of Theo.

"Not much." Jasper said as he turned his attention back to us, "He heard some noises in the night." He said. He looked at me then over at Théo and saw the disappointment on his face. "Sorry about that, Captain."

Théoden sighed and rolled his eyes. "Do we need to go over…."

Jasper responded before Théo finished—something he knew to never do. "No Captain."

"Good." Théoden responded firmly, moving us past the two guards. "And Jasper?"

"Yes Captain?" Jasper asked.

"Don't interrupt me again." Théo said firmly.

"Sorry, Captain," Jasper said, meeting Theo's firm stare.

"And Quinn…" Théo said, turning his attention to her. "Keep up the good work."

"Thank you, Captain." Quinn responded.

We continued about our way and I could tell Théoden was actively trying to listen into their conversation, which I picked up through the bond.

"He's such a hard ass," Jasper said.

"He's not that bad," Quinn responded.

"You're only saying that because you are on his good side," Jasper pointed out.

I pulled out of his mind and turned back to look at him. "Perhaps you were a bit harsh on him," I said, catching him off guard.

"I need my guards to pay attention to their surroundings," Théoden reminded me. "A rat heard weird noises in the night…" he repeated "that very well could have been us." he said, reminding me that even though we were free from human interference, nature still surrounded us. "We weren't exactly quiet last night," he reminded me.

My eyes went a bit wide in shock. "Do you think the rat told him he saw us having sex?" I asked him quietly.

He laughed. "I'm not too sure if rats have the capacity to know what sex is. They aren’t particularly intelligent.."

I sighed in relief. I knew Quinn and Jasper knew, but I did not want a little rat spilling details of our sex life to the guards. I turned and continued walking back to the castle, trying not to get startled at every rustle in the bushes.

"Fox," Théoden said, before later calling out "Squirrel." He called them before he even saw them.

As we were getting close to the castle, Théoden received a telepathic communication message with the use of a spell called Sending, to which he related to me. "Marcel wants to see us."

I sighed heavily. Even at the mention of his name got my emotions fired up.

"Remember, Maria," Théoden said gently, using his aura to soothe my nerves. "Calm."

Yeah… I thought. Let's see how calm I'll be.