Beneath Shadows and Secrets

♔ 𝕿𝔥𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔶 - 𝕺𝔫𝔢 ♔

"I think it is more fitting for me to ask that question." He pulls away, running a chaste hand down my cheek. "I saw you die."

"Did it look incredibly dramatic?" I joke, hoping to evade the conversation. I have no desire to regurgitate Zaire's betrayal.

"Quite." He grins, eyes scanning over my stature. "Even bloodied and beaten, you still managed to stay on your feet when he stabbed you, right until he Scered you away." His visual search pauses at my shoulder, where once was the bite of the Umbra Demon. He cannot see all of the other scars I have lost beneath the fall of my clothes.

"I survived. Returned as one of your kind." He rolls his lips to fight a grin, and his eyes rove over me once more.

"I can see that. Has turned you even more devastatingly beautiful." He looks around, investigating our privacy, before turning back to me, a step closer than before. "I can assume your relations with the Lord did not survive, however."

"I think I have threatened to murder him several times since then." He laughs, and I refuse to bite down the smile at the noise. "Now, answer me. How are you a Guard now?"

He straightens the tunic he wears with pride. "When I returned with my winnings – thank you, for that – I only planned to move my family into the Rich Quarter. Except, I was called on by the King, and he congratulated me on surpassing the expectations of a poor Fae from Xandara. He offered me a position in his Guard, and with the pay I was promised, it wasn't difficult to accept."

"How becoming of you." I muse, stroking a hand down his sleeve, refraining from grimacing. How different this encounter would have been if he had been one of the several to come to murder me. "I hope you didn't doubt me when I was crawling around on the floor in the duel circle."

"Not once," he claims, offering me his arm to accompany his rounds. "You have a brain far too clever for you to have not had a plan. I should know – you stole my cloak with that same mind, and released a wyvern to gain it's egg with it too."

"It is funny you should mention the wyvern." I murmur, looking up to meet his curious expression. "Would it see you disciplined if you were to abandon your post and accompany me to the outskirts so that I might speak to it?"

"Speak to it?" He echoes incredulously. I only nod. "Well, lucky for you, I am off duty." He leans in then, as if to whisper a secret. "It wouldn't have stopped me, even if I were on Guard. Much like you, I find it most tedious to play by the rules."

♔

Thankfully, the wyvern has not moved far from where I left it. Further into the safety of the trees, but it can still be spotted from the outskirts.

Roman stalls, and with my arm still linked with his, it pulls me to a stop too. "What?" I ask.

"You might be brave enough to approach that beast, but there is a reason why I wasn't the one to be in that duel ring. There isn't enough courage in me to even dare attempt it." I roll my eyes, grinning all the same, and pull him forward, despite his resistance.

"Would you believe me if I told you I have the power to control animals?" I say.

He answers resolutely. "No."

"So little faith. She listens to me, because I am her saviour. It is another alias to add to several that already follow me. The Wyvern Tamer." The words sound as though I am gloating, and frankly, I am.

He hums, still not quite sure, though he stops resisting my lead quite so much. "So she will only eat me if you ask her to?"

"I think so." The corner of my mouth quirks when he jostles me.

"You do very little to instil confidence – has anyone ever told you that?" He jokes.

"A fault of mine, I suppose. I expect that everyone is as confident as me." He laughs loud as we weave through the trees.

At the sound of our approach, the wyvern perks up, a low growl reverberating across the ground and trembling the leaves on the trees. I raise a hand in surrender, and upon recognising me, her growl stops and she settles herself back comfortable, craning her neck around something on the ground. Beside me, Roman releases several breathy expletives, and I can hear the thundering of his heart within his chest.

I pull my arm away from his, taking cautious steps forward. "Hey girl." I whisper. She huffs a deep breath. "Stay calm for me, won't you? I have a friend I would like for you to not scare off."

She shifts, but shows no hostility, and so I beckon Roman forward. He inches closer with far more trepidation than me, but soon he is at my side. He breathes heavy, and then looks at me as if for some instruction. I grin and stretch my arm forward to stroke down her neck.

"You can. She won't hurt you." He seems far from sure, and so I take his hand in mine and lead it towards the wyvern. With my hand on top of his, his fingertips skim the leather of her skin, and he breathes out a laugh.

"This is unbelievable." I smile, pulling away when he becomes more assured. I move to her front, pausing when I notice the heap of dirt that she has curled herself around. In it, two beautiful eggs, not unlike the one she was guarding at the Equinox.

"Hey girl," I crouch beside her, her eyes rolling to view me. "Is this what you were worrying over earlier? You were being a protective mama." I can feel Roman watching me, but I do not take my eyes from the beast. Instead, I hush her as I let my hand skim over the cold surface of the egg closest to me.

"Daenira." He hisses out, his petting hand faltering.

I ignore him. "Tomorrow, when I rise to the sky, you must too. Must fly beside the one with wings. You will come back with me. I will keep you safe." She shifts, moving her huge head until her nostrils flare against my shins. I grin, running my hand down her bumpy snout. "You understand, don't you? You must do as I ask – I will bring your eggs too. You can nest in the Night Court."

Cradling her head in my small hands, I look back at Roman, who watches me with disbelief. "Wyvern Tamer, indeed." He muses. "Well, if she is yours, I suppose it is best you give her a name."

I sit myself completely on the floor, stroking my hand over the gristle and scars of her hide, comforted by her steadying breaths. "I hadn't thought much on that."

He moves to step closer, but when she grunts and twitches, he second guesses his actions. "You will need one for when you call her. Will likely need two more, if you intend to raise her young alongside her."

It doesn't take more than a moment for me to have a response. "Vasami. Her name is Vasami."

He smiles at me. "It suits her." He comments, but I already know that.

Vasami was the name of the heroine in all of my mother's stories. No matter the tale, she was a formidable character, destined for greatness as she won battles and stormed kingdoms and bested warriors. No matter her hardships, she always remained victorious. The story always finished with her triumph. My Vasami, the wyvern beside me, will reach the same potential. Both of us together, we will be as formidable as the woman in my mother's tales. Except we will not just be a story, we will be the terrifying reality.

———

I can't explain to you guys just how excited I am to see everything coming together. It's the most incredibly relieving feeling to see all my scribbles of ideas get a check mark next to them when they've finally been used.
I have shit written down that I want to include in book 3, and it was set in stone before I'd even drafted up a first edit for book 1😂