Abnormal Little Me (Completed)

Chapter 29: The Morning Before the Duel

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I opened my eyes after what I felt to be a second. I was wrong, the sun was up. Rilos was standing next to the window, facing me. Shirtless. I quickly hid my face under the sheets. I projected my thoughts.
"Why do you do this?"
"One, because it's hot."
"You got that right."
"I meant the temperature, but honesty is a good quality. And two, because you have this cute reaction. It's a great way to start the day."
"I hate you."
"Well if you don't like it, I guess I'll have to go out of the bedroom, like this. Hopefully, people won't faint too much from my yumminess."
I growled, untucking my head from the sheets. He was sitting on the couch, his arms crossed. A smile was stretched across his face.
"So you don't hate me that much."
"I'm going to take a shower and you better be dressed when I get out."
I took a quick shower and teleported a dress inside the bathroom. I was getting better at this. I put it on and exited the bathroom warily. I looked around and spotted him talking to Satie next to the door.
"Hi, Satie. I didn't know you were there."
"Lyra! You can project your voice now."
She looked at Rilos, then me, then back to Rilos. She shrieked, running to me. She hugged and spun me around.
"I'm so proud of you, Lyra. You are finally able to look at him. You must admit that he is handsome for someone who's a thousand years old. I'm glad that you decided to open your eyes!"
Rilos shifted behind her. She looked me in the eyes, pissed.
"He forced you didn't he."
I met Rilos' eyes and grinned.

****
"Payback's a bitch."
****

"He did."
She let me go and grabbed Rilos, shaking him. He stared at me, looking falsely betrayed. He mouthed:
"How could you?"
"I am going to kill you, Rilos! How could you force her to do something she didn't want to after what those bastards did to her?"
"I didn't force her. Okay, maybe a little bit. A lot. But you can't kill me, you'll kill her as well."
"It's the only thing that prevents me from actually separating your head from the rest of your body. Maybe I'll snap a few of your bones. Or better, I'll pass you around to some of the guys who think that your butt looks nice."
I ran between them and grabbed Rilos by the waist, pulling him away. I growled at Satie, showing my teeth.
"You can't. He's mine!"
Rilos chuckled, encircling my body with his arms.
"Sorry Satie, I don't think that she likes the thought of having to share me."
She looked at us, possessively holding each other. Her eyes and mouth were wide open. A smile, then, stretched across her face.
"You little... Did you plan to do that?"
"No, and he didn't completely forced me to open my eyes. It was my decision in the end. He just strongly recommended that I do so. He told me I was ready and he was right."
"I'm always right."
"Oh yeah? How old am I? 16?"
"You looked young."
"But you were wrong."
"Fine."
"Did you also strongly encouraged her to have physical contact?
"No, she did that on her own. I was as surprised as you are."
"He thought that it had been a dream. He was in his wolf form when he came back from your meeting."
"He told you about the council?"
"She was there. She's the last person I consulted."
"I was in his head. He blurred the faces of the men for me."
"So you know about the judgement concerning Henina."
"This afternoon, 3pm, a duel between her and Rilos. One power only. I don't know why."
"It would be unfair if I was allowed to use every single one of them, wouldn't it? Me using only one gives them the illusion that they can win."
"Can they win?"
"I'm a very strong wolf, Lyra. I am undefeated to this day. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. Usually, people go to Vriany for a duel, thinking that he is going to be easier to defeat, but he isn't my second-in-command for nothing. Don't worry about this afternoon, I'll win the duel and Henina won't come near you anymore. How about eating breakfast before I go training?"
"Good idea. Satie, are you eating with us?"
"No, I already ate. I'll leave you two alone."
She winked at Rilos and exited the room.
"Why did she wink at you?"
"I don't know. She's lost in her imaginary world and she'll probably tell everyone about what she saw."
"No I won't! Your secret, you decide when you tell!"
"Can you not spy on us?"
"I'll get going, I have stuff to prepare."
When he was sure that she was really gone this time, Rilos let me go and presented his hand open to me.
"Care to join me for breakfast, my Queen?"
I chuckled, putting my hand in his.
"It would be a pleasure, my King."
He led me to the table where breakfast was already served. We sat down and I smiled.
"It's the first time that we eat together at the table instead of on the floor."
"You are right. I can eat on the floor if you're too destabilized."
"Don't you dare. I think it's better this way."
"Your word is my command."
We ate silently, smiling at each other from time to time.
"Will I be able to see the duel or will I have to wait until you're done?"
"I'll talk to Felia about letting you in her mind for the duel. If that's okay with her, I'll blur the faces of men for her. That way, you'll be able to see without getting scared. Kylanne will stay here with you."
He got up and walked to the door. I ran after him and hugged him before he went out.
"You have to let me go, sweetheart. Felia and Kylanne are arriving."
"I don't care."
The door opened and the two girls came in. Rilos turned his body towards the door with me still holding on to him.
"Sorry girls. It looks like Lyra is more scared about the duel than she would like to admit."
He rubbed my back, putting his chin on top of my head.
"Everything is going to be fine, Lyra. It's not a death match. I'm just going to beat her up, maybe rip her heart out in the process."
I raised my head and looked him in the eyes, pouting.
"Promise you'll come back."
He chuckled and ruffled my hair.
"I'll always come back. I need to go. Felia, Kylanne, distract her a bit, would you?"
He opened the door, looked at me pensively and closed the door. Felia turned towards me and squealed.
"He wanted to kiss you! Why didn't he do it? By the way, you can look at him now? And let him touch you? And you can project your voice? We missed a lot of things since we left you. You need to tell us everything."
"She doesn't HAVE to tell us everything."
"You want to know as much as I do."
"Yeah, but I won't force her to tell me."
"It's fine, girls, I'll tell you."
I told them about what Henina had done, how I fled, what happened when Rilos found me, the meeting with the Judge. The only thing I didn't tell them was the conversations Rilos and I had. These were personal and I wanted to keep them between him and me.
"A paint war in the corridors could be really fun! I can't wait for it to happen."
"I have a question first."
"What is it, Lyra?"
"What did you mean when you said that Rilos wanted to kiss me?"
They looked at each other and smiled.
"It was so obvious, Lyra. I don't know how you missed it."
I looked down.
"It's not like I have any experience with any of this."
"Shush, you've never kissed anyone?"
"She has a soul-mate. Why would she go around kissing everyone?"
"True. Well, he was looking at you like he wanted to do something, probably kiss you."
"How do you know?"
"His pupils were dilated and he was chewing his bottom lip. My question is: Why didn't he do it?"
"Next step is for me to take. He won't do something I'm uncomfortable with."
"But kissing is something you do with the one you love and you obviously love each other."
There was a problem with her logic. I remembered Sadist kissing me. I didn't like him and he didn't like me either. Just thinking about it made me gag and I rubbed my lips with my hand, hard. I wanted to make that feeling disappear. A tear fell.
"Now you know why he didn't kiss her. Does she look ready to you? Let's talk about something else."
"Yeah. What colours do you want the halls to be?"
I laughed. Felia's mind really was something. We continued to talk about random things, like our favourite colour, magic and this guy that Kylanne was interested in, until dinner.