~* How like a winter hath my absence been ...*
-Shakespeare
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She wondered if he felt like she did. If he had felt the earth-shattering tremors and seen the glow they emitted, in the split second when their eyes had locked and she had whispered his name.
“That’s Prince Caleth to you,” he snapped, seemingly shaking out of a reverie, “and who exactly are you?” Evidently, he hadn’t. Still, Leia couldn’t shake the feeling, and she ignored his outburst.
“What are you doing in here?” She breathed. He stared at her.
“I needed to clear my head before I talked to the Illyria, and this looked like a good place. I didn’t realize it was a deathtrap. Now, are you going to tell me who you are, and how I might get out of here? Do you work here? Do you live nearby? I’m sure they told you I was coming? Sorry about your basket,” he added, gesturing to the spilled goods for Elsabeth.
Suddenly Leia realized that he thought she was a servant, probably because of the simple shawl she had on over her hair, and the fact that she wasn’t waiting with the rest of the family to receive him. With a jolt she remembered that he was exactly the person she was trying to avoid, and so far he hadn’t recognized her. She pulled the shawl tighter over her head and hurriedly scooped up her spilled basket, turning away from him.
“I’m on my way to see a friend. The way out is fairly simple, just follow only the crescent moons in the hedges.” She attempted to continue, but he reached out and grabbed her as she moved away from him.
“Don't turn your back on me! Where do you think you’re going, I want you to show me the way out! That is an order.” he said with authority. Leia turned back towards him, feeling desperate and a little annoyed, but the movement jarred the shawl that Caleth’s hand gripped, and it slid off her head and pooled around her shoulders. Caleth let out a rush of air as her silvery hair fell forward and her violet tinged grey eyes met his.
“My god, Leia?”
She was caught. His hand on her arm tightened, and he pulled her towards him, his eyes roving her intently. She felt a tingling in the air around her, but she frowned as she realized it was not the same as before, but one much more familiar, and her whirling mind struggled to return to reality and remember. Simultaneously, Caleth’s eyes strayed over her shoulder and suddenly widened with what looked unmistakeably like fear. Confused, Leia whirled to see what it was, but was instead pushed backwards as a large, powerful white figure leapt between her and Caleth. The prince stumbled back against the hedge behind him as the figure snarled at him.
Eos! Leia screamed in her head desperately. Caleth struggled to remove himself from the clutches of the hedge, but seemed to be pressed by an invisible force as the enormous cat took a step towards him.
“Leia!” yelled Caleth, “what the devil is that!” A rustling on the other side of him made him to snap his head over, only to see a midnight black panther advancing on him, silently, and more slowly than the other and he began to yell again. “Leia!”
Not knowing quite what to do, as her cats had never attacked anyone before, she called out their names desperately. “Nyx! Eos!” They halted, but stayed focussed on Caleth. Leia closed her eyes and worked instinctively, mustering up the strongest feeling of calm she could, channelling it and pushing it out as an entity towards the cats and Caleth. She felt Eos relax a little in front of her, and when she opened her eyes, Caleth was looking less panicked. She felt a little surprised that it had worked, but she pushed on.
You two, what are you doing? I didn’t call you, and I wasn’t being attacked! This is Prince Caleth and he’s exactly who wasn’t supposed to see any of us, so you need to stop and relax!
Guess the cat’s out of the bag, Eos growl-chuckled at his own joke.
You’re an idiot, retorted Nyx scathingly, I’m sorry Leia but we heard you cry out and he tore off after you before I could stop him. He was sure that this shady man was attacking you.
“I wasn’t attacking anyone!” an indignant voice cut through the silence. All three of them whirled to stare at Caleth, who was still struggling to pull himself away from the hedge and looking annoyed.
“What..did you say?” Leia quavered. Caleth glared at her.
“I said, I wasn’t attacking you, you ran into me! And why was I not supposed to see you?” Grunting in frustration, he struggled against his invisible bonds. “Call off your beasts, would you? And you still haven’t told me exactly what they are!”
Leia just continued to gape at him. “What?” he snapped grumpily.
“You can hear them?”
“Well unless I’m going mad, or you have the uncanny ability to throw your voice, then yes, I can hear them. Did I miss something?” he added, glancing between Leia, who had yet to stop staring at him, and the cats, who somehow also gave off an impression of confusion and wariness.
“It’s just...well, we weren’t talking out loud.”
Caleth looked at her, puzzled.
“I suppose I knew that, since your lips weren’t moving. But I could hear all of your voices filling up my head, as if you were anyway.”
Leia moved around Eos and took a step towards Caleth. She looked back at the white cat, who rolled his eyes and stepped back. Immediately, Caleth was released and he stumbled forwards, surprised. Leia took another step towards him and peered intently into his face. “Caleth, nobody has ever been able to hear Nyx and Eos except for me. Nobody.” Caleth’s glance shifted from her face onto her cats. He studied them for a moment before shifting his gaze back to Leia.
“Those are Phantasii, aren’t they?”
Leia started to protest, but he looked at her levelly and unflinchingly, and she knew he wouldn’t believe anything else. She sighed in defeat.
“Yes.”
“My god.”
“I know.”
“How did you find them? They’re incredible,” he marvelled, reaching out his hand for Eos to consider. The snowy leopard studied it before giving Caleth a not unfriendly growl and bumping his shaggy head into the outstretched palm, clearly pleased by the compliment. Nyx remained standing nearby, watchful and dignified as always, but she had a softer glint in her eye. Leia smiled.
“They found me. They’ve never told me where they were from, but they’ve been with me ever since, and until you, I’m the only one they’ve had this bond with.” She took yet another step towards Caleth, who held her gaze, but shifted his body almost nervously. She was so close now that she could touch him, which she did. She reached up slowly and touched his cheek lightly. Her fingers started to tingle where they connected with him, and the twitch in his jaw made her think that he felt it too. She looked at her fingers, transfixed in the sensation. When she flicked her gaze back to him, she saw that he was still watching her intently, an unreadable expression shadowing his eyes. He slowly reached out and slid his finger along a piece of her moonlight hair.
“You left.” He said simply.
“I know.” She replied for the second time, unable to look away or remove her hand.
“Why?” He asked, moving a little closer.
As she opened her mouth to reply, a nearby voice startled them.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, where are you?” Leia broke out of her reverie and quickly pulled her fingers from Caleth’s cheek. What was she thinking? He was never supposed to see her or her cats, and now he had startled her into telling him too much.
Caleth swore under his breath. “I suppose I’ve been discovered. We’d better go before Ethain causes a scene. Can you get us out of here?” He strode forward in the direction that Leia had come, but she reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him back.
“Caleth, you can’t tell anyone about the Phantasii. Can you imagine what would happen if people found out about them? The army would probably march out here and try to take them as weapons. You especially cannot tell the council, or even your parents. Please,” she added as he opened his mouth to protest, “please don’t throw us to the wolves.” She looked pleadingly at him, and for extra effect, she pushed a wave of protective emotion towards him in a way that was now becoming familiar.
He straightened up over her. “That’s Prince Caleth,” he smirked, “and yes, I promise I won’t tell anyone. But only if you stop doing that.”
“Stop doing what?” She asked innocently.
“Stop messing with my emotions.” He turned towards the exit, pulling her along with him through their still connected hands. Glancing back at her with a mischievously raised eyebrow, he added, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
So he knew, she thought to herself, wondering how on earth that was possible. She would have to be careful until she figured him out, and in the meantime, perhaps somehow she would find out exactly what he was doing there. He stepped aside and let her brush past him to lead them out, her mind working furiously as they headed back towards her waiting family.