▪︎ Kaitlyn Winchester ▪︎
Like a heavy whiff of air brushing past your skin while having a stroll in the garden, a week passed away in a blink of an eye.
There was no sign of Dante yet. No news of Victor's orders.
The entire castle is abuzz in the preparation of the ball due today evening. It was an out-of-nowhere announcement Valerian suddenly dropped down on everyone. And knowing little of the king, I could say he had something up the sleeves.
Sure, there had been balls before too. But only within Raveria. This time, the invites are stretched over to the whole of Ancientriova, the four sub-kingdoms surrounding it included. The lycan queen, the vampire king, the demon king and queen and ofcourse, the sea queen. Every single one of them are invited.
The others could have been still looked upon but Queen Narcissa. Now no one would invite the person trying to kill you to a grand ball. Not right after knowing about their intentions, atleast. So if Valerian is doing this, there's definitely something he's planning.
Nevertheless, It was none of my business. I am a mere pretend king's guard who stuck to the king's side the whole day for now and I shall play my role as that.
But the task seems more and more hard when I follow behind Valerian like a shadow as he descends down the wide stairs leading to the ground floor and heads towards the library of the castle.
I have no idea why Avyanna and Julian had suddenly decided to depart from their jobs making me stuck with this man all alone, all the time. But I guess they've been busy with whatever Valerian is planning. Those two are after all the strategists of Valerian's army.
The smell of books lingers in the air of the huge library. Books upon books are stacked up in wooden shelves from top to bottom, everywhere a person's sight could take. To the left, there are rows of tables and chairs placed neatly in order for one to read peacefully.
I look around in wonder at the place while Valerian walks over to one of the many many shelves with the word 'Herbs' written on top in a white-wood hoarding.
My attention shift to the king. Valerian's fingers skim over the titles as he looked through them in careful observation before it landed on a book with leather cover and he pulled it out. The book—I notice—unlike others doesn't have a title on it.
I quip my head to the side wondering what book it would be. Was it some secret spell book? Or a journal?
That very moment, Valerian looks up from the book in his hand at me. I avert my gaze to the shelf with 'Ancient creatures' written on the hoarding pretending as if I wasn't looking at him all along.
"Miss Winchester," He says making me act like I just turned to him.
"Yes, your highness?" I ask dutifully.
"While I read this thing," he gestures at the book in his hand, "Why don't you find something to read as well? I'm sure you'd find atleast one topic pique your interest. Unless you're not into reading?"
"I like reading." I voice out without thinking.
Valerian just stares, "Romance books?"
My cheeks heat up and I look at the shelf behind him, "No, murder mystery."
"I see you why you'd like that." He mumbles under his breath with amusement lacing his voice.
"Pardon?" I ask in confusion.
He just shakes his head, "Nothing. You should pick a book. I'll just sit there." He motions to the rows of tables adjacent to the shelves.
Nodding, I walk over to the 'Ancient creatures' section as Valerian takes a seat on the chair in front of the table.
My skin tingles at the feel of his gaze prick the back of my neck as I try to find the book I was looking for. When my hands settle on the 'Royal Ancients' title and I'm about to pull it out, a warmer hand clasps over mine taking the book from my hands.
I turn around only to see Valerian in front of me holding the said book. I give the man a questioning look.
His eyes stare into mine for a moment as they flicker from the book to me before he scratches the back of his head almost seeming nervous,
"It's actually the book from the vaults which I think is I accidentally placed here last time I read. The information inside is confidential. Did you want to know something from this?"
"I wanted to see what powers royal ravens had." I lie but somehow, it kind of holds a fraction of truth.
The main purpose of picking this book out of the others was to find out about myself, about my lycan, after what happened yesterday night when I heard that voice in my heading calling out to me again. . . .
But I had been curious about his powers too. Victor had asked me before to take the opportunity of staying in the castle and around Valerian to find out every single of his abilities so that I don't get caught by surprise ever again. I hadn't got much time to act upon it but now seemed like a great choice.
"Royal ravens?" Valerian's voice gets my attention back on him as a sliver of a smile pulls at the side of his lips, "You're curious what kind of powers I have?"
When I nod, his head quips to the side in wonder, those green eyes staring at me. He takes a step ahead. My breath labours as he takes another step making me take an involuntarily step back myself until my back is plastered against the shelves.
Feeling myself flustered all of a sudden at the close proximity, I stare down at my feet. Those are definitely beautiful pair of boots I'm wearing, right? Simple plain black leather boots, very pretty indeed.
Bringing his hand up, Valerian places a finger under my chin raising it so that I'm looking at those green pools again, "What about them, Kaitlyn?" He asks softly, so softly that it feels like a caress against my skin.
My heart hammers against my chest as I realize how sensual my name sounds from his mouth. This is the first time I've heard him call me that, well if you ignore the parting words from a week ago which still has my heart racing everytime I think of it or those blurry moments in the woods when my body was aching, I feel like he did call me by my name. But this time I heard loud and clear and he didn't run out after saying it.
I try to focus on his words but nothing makes sense as his fingers moves from my chin to hold my face. They softly glide against the parameters of my face, sending tingling sparks run through my entire body. His sturdy gaze drops down to my lips making my breathing grow shallow all of a sudden.
"I. . .uh. . .wanted to know the-their ab-abilities because th-they seemed. . .interesting?" I stutter along as his fingers moved behind my ear holding my face in a gentle grip and his thumb ran along the softness of my lips.
"Mind manipulation." His voice lowers down an octave and something about the calm and smoothness in it sounds so sensual, so sexy. . .
"Huh?" Is the only sound I'm able to get out of my scrambled brain trying to make some sense.
"Mind manipulation," He says again, those green eyes seeming a shade darker, "We have the ability to manipulate the minds of any living creature."
Through the haze, I try to speak the words in the deepest pit of my head somewhere amidst this buzzing electricity in my veins, "That day, in the woods, you made the trees move around to make a shed."
He smiles, a sweet lovely smile as if even the thought that I notice things about him warms his heart, "Trees are living creatures, Miss Winchester. And they're much easier to manipulate since they have no resistance. Human minds are a lot trickier. But I guess everything becomes much easier when you're a royal."
"Oh, right." I avert my gazes away from his before suddenly another thought pops in my head, "Wait, why does it become easier with a royal?"
"Because we're born with gifts unlike the others and these gifts also grants us the ability to control other of our powers better. If that didn't happen, every royal in sight would've been a psycho on the loose with the amount of power they carry. There's always supposed to be a balance for us to remain sane. Also," he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear as I stare at him with full attention, "Pure ravens can shift into their raven form completely."
My eyes widen in surprise, "So you can shift into a crow?"
The smile on his face widens as if my reaction was comical before he shakes his head, "No, I can't 'shift into a crow'. I'm not a pure raven. My mother was. She could shift into complete raven form. Pure ravens are the ones born my two raven parents. In my case, my father wasn't a raven. So, when I shift, I'm still partly in my human form with the wings, claws and feathers. And the abilities, ofcourse. It doesn't affect the abilities, but the form. That's all, I guess."
"All those assasins who attacked us, when they fell to their knees screaming. . ."
"I was inside their head when it happened. I made their mind think that their worst fears were coming true. A person's mind is more fragile than you think. They believe in illusions without any reasoning. It takes a really strong mind to actually fight the compulsion. Other times, it just makes our work easier." He completes.
"So, you can like make a person do anything you want by 'getting into their head'?" I was too far gone to conceal the flabbergasted look that takes over my entire face.
"You could say that," Valerian's soft smile turns mischievous as his gaze settles on me and the unbelieving look on my face. Inching so close that I could feel his breath fan my face, he leans towards my ears to whisper, "I could make you kiss me and then make you forget about it."
I could hear the hard thudding of my heart and I'm pretty sure he could hear it too as I stared at him with my mouth hanging like a fish. The sound of my heartbeat only seems to make a small smile pull onto his lips.
But when those green irises connects with mine again, a sharp pain shoots through my heart at the sadness brewing in them as they search for something within my eyes.
Valerian places the book back in the shelf behind me before looking down at my hands. His eyes flicker to me as if asking for permission and when I don't make a move to stop him, he takes it as his cue to go on.
Gently taking hold of my hand, "Don't you feel it, Kaitlyn? Don't you feel the bond?" He asks entwining our fingers.
I just stare at our hands, his large ones clasped around my smaller ones, wondering what in the world he's on about. Feel what? The sparks when his skin touches mine? The unusual spike of my heartbeat when he's around? Or the constant worry gnawing my insides whenever he's not in sight? Or the desperate need to be around him all the time?
Ofcourse, I feel it. Each and every single one of them. But what bond?
"What bond?" I voice out my thoughts.
Those eyes grow sadder making something in me hurt, "What have they done to you, Kaitlyn?" He murmurs tucking another strand of my hair behind my ears, "But I guess it doesn't matter as long as you're safe. Sometimes ignorance can be a bliss."
I stare with a confuzled mind as his words sound more and more confusing. His eyes grow more and more sadder but there's something within them, something deeper which I can't figure out.
"He's.....our....he's....." The weak voice in my head tries desperately to convey something.
My eyes widen in alarm as the familiar rush of dizziness I've been experiencing in the last one week
whenever I hear the voice after engulfs me.
I had stopped taking Victor's potions as ever since Dulcamara gave me the liquid that day in her house, I've never felt the pain in my bones. So I didn't see why I needed to take Victor's potion. But it's moments like these where I realize what a dumb decision it was.
My senses grow heightened, so heightened that I can hear Valerian's heart thudding in his chest in a frenzied mess. I can hear the air flowing around us. I can hear the distant footsteps of someone approaching. I can hear the chatter of the guards on the basement floor. I can hear the sounds of the birds chirping outside the castle.
The sounds grow so overwhelming that I pull my hand out of Valerian's and cover my ears with them.
Valerian's own eyes flash to mine in confusion only for them to widen with fear and worry dripping in them.
"Kaitlyn-" he tries to reach out but I duck down and get away from him.
The buzzing grows louder making me look around in panic. I don't know what is happening! I'm feeling paranoid and I don't know why.
"V-A-L-E-R-I-" Marilla's spelling letters gets stuck in her throat as she stops at the entrance.
Her ocean eyes takes a quick glance around the library before scrutinizing Valerian from head-to-toe. When they finally shift to mine, they widen in the similar way Valerian's had, with fear and worry.
Valerian tries to get to me again but I run away from him as if I'd explode from his touch. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I did. . .
"No....they....he...." The voice tries to say something again as I feel a trickle of sweat slide down the side of my face. My entire body feels like it's lit up on fire.
Before anyone could do anything, I run past Marilla and rush down the corridors in an unnatural speed. I hear Valerian calling out for me but someone stops him—I don't bother to see who—midway telling something akin to 'give her some space for now'. I could feel the wind brush past my skin as I whisked through the empty hallway straight towards my room.
The moment I got into my room, I shut the door behind me and lock it firmly.
Trying to calm my panicked nerves, I take in a deep breath and exhale. The crow perched at my windowsill caws maddeningly, distracting my attention but I simply ignore it and continue taking long breaths and exhaling.
After repeating the action for a few more minutes, the frenzied rush of adrenaline lessens, enough for me to not feel overwhelmed but still strong enough that I could feel it in my veins.
With my heart thudding in my chest, I walk over to the mirror. My eyes fleets from the reflection of the amulet around my neck to my face and I gasp at what I see.
My eyes. . .
They're golden.
The eye colour of a royal lycan. . .
So, there you go.
Seems like Kaitlyn's lycan is calling out for her. Do you think she'll tell Kaitlyn that Valerian is her mate once she's able to completely connect with her?
Any idea on what Valerian might be planning for the ball?
I really love writing party scenes although I, myself never enjoy going to one lol.
Okay, enough chatter for now. Until next time!
Have a nice day! ^.^