Intertwined Destinies

Unknown Desires

With the moon in the waning gibbous phase, the moonlight was gently kissing everything under his reign. It was almost like a mother embracing their child with love and care. In this part of the world, most of the living beings are nocturnal when less than a third of the mammals, including humans, slept.

With the celestial body already high in the sky surrounded with an infinite amount of shiny little stars, the Elsan household already retired to bed. When Malak's parents and sister were already in a deep slumber with peaceful dreams, the teenager was tossing around in his bed.

He was not exactly having a nightmare. It wasn't something as extreme to bring out strong feelings. Yet, it was not a dream either or could it be? It was not his first time experiencing this vision, or so he thought.

It started as usual with impenetrable darkness surrounding Malak. As if appearing from it, a shadow slowly but gradually made his way toward the boy. With no lights, it was impossible to distinguish anything except for the person's blood-red irises. Instead of installing fear in Malak's heart, it comforted him. His head was telling him to run, but his heart wanted to get closer to the stranger. Something about his eyes felt familiar. But he couldn't put his finger on it.

As suddenly as the unknown person appeared, the scenery changed. The instantaneous apparition of light blinded the dark blond teenager, which made him close his eyes tightly. It was a painful experience as he gently rubbed them to soothe the pain away.

Once he could open his eyes without them being burned by the sun, Malak couldn't help but be awed by his surroundings. He never saw anything like this before. It was as if he travelled back in time.

In this part of the dream, he was living the most luxurious life in a castle. But the strangest part was the fact that no one around him seemed human. Although all faces were blurred, he could see animal ears and tail, horns, wings and a lot of crazy accessories you would find at a Halloween shop.

"His Highness has arrived," a maid with black hair and panther ears of the same colour announced politely before opening the door.

The man who entered the room was tall and had dark horns resembling a little like the horn of a ram. They started from the side of his head just above his ears before curving around ninety degrees with the tip pointing slightly upward.

The horned man walked closer to the teenager sitting in an armchair. With his fingers on his chin, he gently tilted his head up before landing a soft kiss on his lips. He wanted to push the unknown man away, but it was as if his body wasn't his own. He couldn't move as he wanted.

"How did you sleep?" the older man asked softly before sitting on the armchair in front of his.

"Good, but it would have been better if you were there when I woke up," Malak answered although he didn't wish to. He knew this was a dream, but it felt so real that he started to doubt himself.

"I'm sorry. I had duties to attend to, but I have time now. Let's eat breakfast together."

As if on cue, more maids appeared through the same door his Majesty previously used to bring in plates under a cloche, to keep the food warm, placed on multiple food carts. No matter what Malak said to himself, there was too much food for only two persons. The maids expertly put four cloches in front of the two men before revealing their breakfast.

In front of him, there were foods he never saw before. Although he found it weird, his stomach had a mind of his own. The smell was very inviting to his nostrils. With such conflicted feelings, he didn't dare to touch his food while quietly observing the horned man in front of him eat.