Flames [Completed]

(Son Of Juno)

His words catch my attention immediately, snapping my eyes to his own. "What do you mean?"

Tritan's expression turns stony. "My Lady, there are some things I must explain first, so that you may understand what I have to tell you properly."

Despite internally screaming, I patiently wait for him to continue. His fingers tighten on the shaft of the spear and he exhales forcefully as he rakes contemplative eyes down it.

"I have not carried such a weapon since my youth, Lady Scarlette," he says softly, "But times are changing, and it is no longer safe for me to travel without one."

"Why?" I ask, furrowing my brow in confusion, "I mean, no offence, what in the world would think of attacking you? They'd lose a lot of teeth, at the very least."

A tiny smile lifts his lips as he shakes his head. "You are yet young, my Lady. There is much more you have to discover - about yourself, also."

I return his smile, even if it is a bit bewildered, over his insistent use of the title 'My Lady' as well as the subdued sorrow in his eyes.

He shifts his gaze around the area, losing his smile. "There are lots of things that would, and can, attack me. But it is not myself I worry for."

With his final statement, his eyes land on me.

I recoil, feeling my heart drop inside my chest. "Me? Why would you worry for me? In fact, how do you even know who I am?"

Some birds flutter past, drawing Tritan's sharp stare. He drags a hoof in the dirt and shifts his spear uneasily.

"In my culture, carrying a spear is a sign of war. We centaurs usually wield bows of yew, used for hunting more than anything," he says, examining it somewhat sorrowfully, "It is with great reluctance that I take one up again."

Understanding rushes through me as I study his eyes. I know that feeling. I've experienced it. Not to such an extent as he, clearly, but I am familiar with the feeling. It's like being pushed back to a place you thought you'd left, back to square one.

"You must understand, Lady Scarlette," he says, looking down at me, "I may be liken to an animal in your eyes, but I am not one. I have no love for war, but I do what I must to protect my people."

"I don't see you as an animal, Chief," I say, then laugh, "I mean, I'm half Vampire half Faerie. If you're an animal I'd love to know what I am."

He seems to appreciate my joke, as some of the cloud in his eyes disperses. "Then you are very unique for your kind. Faeries aren't always...the most accepting of my people."

"But...you called me Nala'si," I say, so many questions swirling inside my head that a phantom headache is beginning to form.

"Yes. I have lived within the Realm for most of my life. I speak their language, my own, and yours. I know a lot about you, my Lady." He smiles slightly.

I scratch the side of my head. "I think it's best you explain what you need to to me without allowing me to speak. I'll ask too many questions and we'll never get to the point."

Tritan laughs - one of the deepest, most booming noises I've ever heard come from a person. Even Emmett couldn't compare.

"That is understable. Of course, I will explain," he says, re-adjusting his grip on the spear, "When my people carry such weapons, others take it as a warning for bad times to come. The reason for this is because we centaurs have, for many thousands of years, studied the night sky."

He turns his eyes to the great expanse of blue above us, stretching out for miles and miles. The momentary amusement that sparkled across his eyes has vanished, the calm turned stormy.