A/N: I don't have my books on me, so the vows they swear are different. And the reason I skipped a few months is because I wanted her to turn fifteen on her wedding day. So now Namid is fifteen and both Salem and Rak are 18.
Disclaimer: The song: 'Goodbye My Lover' belongs to James Blunt. When I was listening to it, it reminded me of Rakab's POV.
Did I disappoint you or let you down?
Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown?
'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun,
Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won.
Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one.
You have been the one for me.
Quite a few months had passed since meeting Salem,from planning Oliza's wedding to another wyvern, to her sudden news of pregnancy and the birth of a daughter. The young princess was named, Chu'si, and was often visted by her 'Uncle' Salem and Namid. During the months, Namid and Rakab stopped seeing each other as lovers but as they had always been: loyal friends. Yet Namid could see how much it pained Rak to see her kissing and loving someone else and, in truth, she wished he weren't her lover but just a friend in the first place. Yet her heart had told her otherwise.
You touched my heart you touched my soul.
You changed my life and all my goals.
And love is blind and that I knew when,
My heart was blinded by you.
I've kissed your lips and held your head.
Shared your dreams and shared your bed.
I know you well, I know your smell.
I've been addicted to you.
The next morning, just two days after her fifteenth birthday, a maid hurried Namid into a gown of silver and white. She kept her face blank as they led her to the dais were Salem stood, looking stunning in gold and black. She walked up to him and she took his arm. Silver-green eyes gazed at the avian and serpiente men and women that had gathered and she sighed, wondering if her mother and father knew how she felt.
The ceremony went by quickly and soon it came to the vows. A crow turned to her and asked, "Do you swear, by the sky and earth that is your own, to remain loyal to your mate until death?"
So I took what's mine by eternal right.
Took your soul out into the night.
It may be over but it won't stop there,
I am here for you if you'd only care.
Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one.
You have been the one for me.
She swallowed hard, and turned to Rakab who stood in the crowd, he nodded slowly and Namid answered, her voice seemingly confident, "I-I swear it."
The crow turned to Salem and asked the same vows. He answered, garnet eyes revealing no emotion. She knew then, as the crow bound their union, she had to remain loyal to the prince but her mind whispered for Rakab's familiar violet gaze and his warm touch. The cobra prince was kind, yes, but he still wasn't her thief.
That night Namid felt very exposed to the cobra, as if the thin, comfortable nightgown she wore were only her skin. Around him, she felt safe but under his gaze she inwardly trembled.
Namid was organizing papers, when the prince stood from sitting on her bed and wrapped his arms around her waist, she tensed and felt him back off, "You fear me, don't you?"
"Yes" she answered.
"Don't. You are wolf and I am a cobra, yes our forms are different, but aren't we more then that?"
"I suppose," she answered. "But can I trust you?"
"You have my word, princess." He bowed mockingly and Namid frowned, "So that is a no?"
"It is a yes." Salem suddenly laughed, "You're more then I expected, Namid."
"Whatever in Ylva did you expect?" Namid raised a questioning brow.
"That you'd be one of those conceited princesses…"
Namid smiled despite herself, feeling more comfortable around him. "That, my prince," She poked his chest and met his eyes challengingly, "I am not." Why she was being playful, she did not know, but she did have to love him…
Salem took her wrist. "I realized." He replied, softly.
Namid took her free hand and tried to wrench her wrist from the snake's grip, but he hooked a foot around her ankle and made her fall into the soft sheets of the bed, still holding her wrist. "Let go of me!" she ordered in a whisper.
The man did just that, "Sorry." He said, "I guess I got carried away."
Namid scowled, "Carried away you did."
The prince smirked, "You look pretty when you scowl."
"Indeed!" "Now you go and insult me again." She turned away.
She felt Salem brush her arm and the compelling ruby red eyes grow soft. By his body language, she knew he was only trying to love her, as a pair bond should. Her instinct knew that cobras' were not to be mingling with her kind, but still, both hadn't a choice upon whom to love. This alliance was for them and them alone to form.
"I'm sorry but…I've never been—" she fought down a wave of sadness and swallowed her tears, "Never been with other kinds except wolves." She was lying, of course, but for her own sake.
Salem nodded, "This must be hard for you." He then turned away, "I understand…it's hard for me too, us being from two different cultures and forced to fall in love for our people."
"Hard to imagine," She replied, hiding her surprise, "it being hard for a serpiente with royal Cobriana blood."
"It was difficult for my uncle, the Diente Zane, to accept my aunt, Danica, as pair bond…" Salem whispered.
"So what your saying is, our situation is not different then theirs?" Namid asked, falling ungracefully into the bed sheets, hair tousled.
Salem sat on the bed beside her, lightly stroking her hair with his hand, "Is there any way I may domesticate you?"
"First of all, stop treating me like a dog and using those lines. Just treat me like a human being."
Salem smirked, "That," he kissed her lips softly, "I can do."
Namid sat up, "Salem"
"Yes?"
The princess suddenly stood and walked around the room, bare feet making no noise and white nightgown swaying lightly as she walked. "Did you ever wonder what it would have been like to run free?" "To forget your troubles?" she suddenly faced him, eyes sharp.
"Many times." Salem replied.
"At what age were your childhood fantasies stolen?"
"At fifteen. Listen, Namid why are you asking me this?"
"No reason." She then sighed, and walked to the balcony, gazing at the stars.
And I still hold your hand in mine.
In mine when I'm asleep.
And I will bear my soul in time,
When I'm kneeling at your feet.
Outside the door, Rakab sighed miserably; he had heard their whole conversation and it broke his heart that his dancer was shackled to the prince and had to suffer so. Bialas turned to his comrade and managed a weak smile, which the wolf did not return.
Bialas tried in vain to cheer him up, but the thief remained as stone, Rakab would not be convinced otherwise.
"They say we will fight to protect those to whom we are loyal, and that we accept differing views like changing seasons...True on some occasions. We are rarely drawn into conflicts that do not involve us, so others think…this time however it concerns my queen." Rakab murmured, "I loved her, and I love her still…yet now she will rule upon another throne." "She is my mate, my alphess. Mana of Sheeva Intre, queen of thieves, as I am king." Rak explained, a note of longing in his voice.
"I've never seen you so downhearted before" Bialas replied.
"I've never been so miserable, that's why." "She's moved on…"
I am a dreamer but when I wake,
You can't break my spirit - it's my dreams you take.
And as you move on, remember me,
Remember us and all we used to be
I've seen you cry, I've seen you smile.
I've watched you sleeping for a while.
I'd be the father of your child.
I'd spend a lifetime with you.
I know your fears and you know mine.
We've had our doubts but now we're fine,
And I love you, I swear that's true.
I cannot live without you.
Salem wrapped his arm around Namid's waist and she felt herself lean into his embrace. She could feel him pull away to touch her shoulders so gentle was the touch she hardly felt it. He moved to run his fingers through her black hair. She surrendered to this touch, for it reminded her of the serpiente she had spoken with these few months, and of how wonderful it felt to just sleep with other heartbeats around.
Salem suddenly smiled, "You love me, Namid?"
Namid looked up startled, "I do Salem."
"Not just because I am your pair bond?"
"No, of course not!" she cried, suddenly realizing she was snuggling close into Salem's bare chest, his tunic and shirt tossed to the stone floor. She was conscious of his warmth as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles, glancing at her as he did. "I love you more then life itself, dear Namid. Now I'll show you how much a man can love his princess." He chuckled and pulled Namid into the large bed, soft sheets enveloping her, his whispered words echoing in her ear and passionate kisses lingering on her lips as they were lost in the sounds of two wildly beating hearts, the catching of breath, and the feel of lips upon warm skin. The prince left his love marks upon her bare shoulders and breasts, feeling her nails dig into the skin of his back whenever he touched her.
His mind told him to stop, told him that he would regret his decision later, for the girl was only fifteen, but he paid no attention as Namid left her own marks of passion upon his body. The three-year age difference didn't matter to them, only their love and hunger for the other.
Finally, Salem rolled off Namid, spent. The woman sighed deeply, her forehead slick with sweat and her lungs burning. "I…" she was at a loss for words.
Salem buried his face in her neck, "I love you…"
Grinning, Namid answered with a kiss.
Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one.
You have been the one for me.
Oblivious to them, Rakab bowed his head and stubbornly wiped away tears in his eyes. He felt so brokenhearted that she had just accepted this without a second thought. What about those nights? What about the days?
What about him?
I'm so hollow, baby, I'm so hollow.
I'm so, I'm so, I'm so hollow.