A blur of movement and I ran into his chest. I didn't even pause. I wrapped my arms around him. "Zane," I sighed in relief.
He was shaking, his voice harsh. "Ana...Ana, you can't do something that stupid again. No walking though fires, alright? Also, I told you before. You just refused to listen or believe me." His voice grew softer, his arms hugging me to him. "I'm glad you finally realized it in your own mind though. I was getting really worried."
"How? How not dead? I saw...head, gone." I pressed my ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"I can't die. At all. I always heal, from any wounds I receive. I should have died countless times already, over the many years."
I frowned. Demon-kind were much more long-lived than humans. They were also all very skilled with magic. Or, at least that was what I had been taught in school as a young child. I had never heard of a immortal demon though. Then again...He was the Demon King. Perhaps he had earned that title because he was immortal?
I tightened my arms around him. "Why?" That one word was filled with all the anguish I had felt, seeing him die. Why would he let me think he had died? What would even be the point?
"I told you," his voice grew very soft. "I grew tired of the games you were playing. I needed to see how you really felt, and if need be, force you to face it as well. I don't have the patience for the games people like to play with one another."
I grew still.
"Besides...Perhaps your feelings were only there because you were traveling with me, because I helped you leave your village. Having another 'Knight-in-Shinning-Armor' appear, kill the villain and rescue you...I needed to see if you would prefer to stay with the knight. You had to call my name, Ana. You had to call me back to you."
I let out a cry of pain. I tried to step away, but his arms tightened around me. "No. I know you are upset with me and I apologize. But I have been waiting for nearly two months to hold you again. Be angry all you want...just stay in my arms while you are."
I started to push him away, to force him away. But I stopped. I didn't actually want to do that. I wanted to keep holding him as well. I was scared if I stopped, I would discover this was all a dream and he had really died. Instead, I slammed my fists against his chest, over and over, while angry tears ran down my face.
I could understand, at least a little, why he had done it. I really had been an awful person. Trying to look back, I had been sweet and loving one minute before changing to an angry, cold mess the next. I had been incredibly confused with myself, so I could only imagine how confused it had left him.
Still though...Seeing him die...Realizing there was no world without him...It had been too much. I had broken under the pressure of it, the heavy realization that the man I loved was no more. I was still a little broken. It would take me some time to get back to the way I once way.
And I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to forgive him for what he had done. Especially since, had I not realized I needed to say his name, had not killed the Man...I would have just stayed broken, dead inside, forever thinking him gone. Of course, I hadn't known saying his name would summon him. I had just known that, in order to save myself, I needed to say his name and begin moving on.
The Man!
I had killed another person. My breath sucked in sharply. My hands that had been hitting him curled into fists, gripping his tunic tight. I took in several fast, panicked breaths. Fighting to calm down, the memory of the crime came back. I had killed the man who had killed Zane. Slowly, after many long minutes, my hands relaxed and my breathing evened out.
I had killed Zane's murder. Even if it was only for a day, even if Zane had only been dead for a day. The Man had killed him. I had killed the Man.
I let out a long sigh. I would do it again, all over. I had no regrets. At the time, I had no memory of the Man killing Zane. Just that Zane had died and I was now traveling with the Man, broken. But he terrified me, told me I couldn't say Zane's name. Only, I had to. I had to, to move on, to heal. Besides, even broken, I had sensed that the plans the Man had for me were nothing I would enjoy or want.
I shuddered hard, recalling his words. He planned to rape me that night. If I had been a virgin, he would have forced me into a marriage. If I had not been, he would have thrown me at my parents' feet, taken his money, and left. I would have remained, a broken, used thing...
Zane's voice pulled me out of those dark thoughts. "Ana, it's late. We should go back to bed."
My hands curled in his shirt again. I was still upset with him. I was still very angry and hurt. But I was too terrified this would all be a dream to allow him to escape my grasp.
He almost seemed to read my thoughts. "I promise, I won't leave you." Amusement colored his voice. "If you want, you can sleep with me to make sure."
I glanced up into his face. For half a second, his purple eyes made me flinch. In the next instant, I was nodding. "Y-yes, please."
His eyebrows rose in surprise. "I hadn't been expecting you to go for that. Okay, Ana." His hold tightened around me. Without a moment's pause, he lifted me up a few inches. Once he had a better hold on me, he returned to his bedroll.
I blinked and we were lying as we use to. I quickly turned in his arms, holding him closer. Snuggling against his body heat, I pressed my face against the curve of his shoulder. Closing my eyes, I breathed in his scent. Five seconds later, I was asleep.
O O O
The next fortnight passed. I refused to be very far from his side or for very long. He didn't protest though. In fact, he seemed to relish in it. He would constantly tease me, but he never took it too far. I was grateful for that. Besides clinging to his side, I was still trying to fix myself. In the manner of a day, we fell into our old routines, from before we had visited the first inn.
Every night I slept next to him. During the day, we walked side-by-side, hand-in-hand. Every day, I got better at speaking. Every day his purple eyes made me flinch a little less. Every day, my anger subsided a little more. Every day, my happiness and love grew stronger.
We were walking, the clear blue sky above us. I was gazing at the ground, spacing out, trusting Zane to guide me along the forest paths. I took in a deep breath, deciding. "Zane," I confessed softly. "Zane, I love you." I took in a deep breath. I knew he already knew this, but I hadn't officially told him. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to keep speaking all the thoughts I had kept locked away, deep inside, terrified to show, to confess, to admit.
"I was lying, that night, at the inn. Well, not completely. I do see you as a bizarre friend. But I don't want to just be friends with you. I want to be only yours. I want you to only be mine. I want to love you and have you love me back. I was just so scared...Scared to let myself be with you. You'll live so much longer than me, especially since you are immortal. And I'll...I'll just fade along with time. I'm terrified that I'm nothing but a...a passing amusement. Something for you to fill some time with. Something you can drop, walk away from, and forget at any point in time."
I started to try and continue, but before I knew what had happened, I was being held tightly. My lashes flew open, startled. His purple eyes were staring directly into mine. "Never," he said harshly. His eyes were dancing with light. Dozens of emotions, too quick for me to read, were running through them. "Never, never, never. Never," he repeated. His expression became filled with pain. "I love you so much. Sometimes it is impossible for me to understand it."
His eyes transformed as he shifted to the Demon King. "Ana...Ask for anything and I will give it to you. If I must destroy the world to do it, it will be done. If I must kill the rest of the world, sacrifice each soul on this planet, I will not pause for a moment. If doing this will grant your wish, I will have no regrets. Nothing would be able to stop me."
I gulped, slowly shaking my head. "N-No," I said quickly. "N-n-nothing that extreme." I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them, I tried to keep both my voice and gaze steady. "No, Demon King Zane...I simply want your heart, soul, and...body..." I couldn't keep the blush from my face.
His face grew incredibly serious. "As long as you understand that I will want the same from you." Slowly, I nodded, still blushing. He stared at me for several seconds. "Then we shall make the pact. It will bind us together just as strongly as the vow I made before does."
I blinked, surprised. "You're going to...make it a magical thing?"
He flashed a smile. "I love magic. Of course I will make it magical. Besides, this way, no one will ever be able to try and use any tricks to separate us. With the making of this pact, we will forever be connected, in all the ways specified." His three-toned eyes lit up. "You will belong to me and I to you."
I thought about what he was saying. "So...this sounds like a magical wedding...then?" I wasn't quite sure. But from what he was describing, that's what I was getting.
He nodded, his smile turning into a grin. "Yes. A 'wedding' more binding, more permanent, more powerful than some simple words, a priest, and a ring. There can be no backing out, no turning away, no 'divorce'." His grin dimmed a little. "So, Ana, are you completely sure? Once you are mine, I will never let you go. Mine means forever. Mine means eternity. Mine means belonging only to me."
I didn't even pause. I smiled up at him, my face filled with all the happiness I was feeling in that moment. "I've never been more certain of anything before."
He leaned down and quickly gave me a kiss on the forehead before stepping back. His face grew serious again as he began to chant softly in a language I didn't know. His hands moved about, forming more of those strange symbols and shapes, only this time they were a brilliant blue. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes. "Place your hand through here. It does not matter which hand. I will warn you though, this will hurt a little."
The place he indicated was a large blue circle, floating sideways in the air. The circle was made up of three interlocking and twisting strings of the magic. Slowly, I did as he said. My left hand went through the blue circle. He reached out with his right. Our hands held each other, pressed together, like we were pushing against an invisible wall. He paused for a second, giving me a faint, almost nervous smile. "This is a new spell I just came up with, so I'm sort of nervous."
You just came up with this? I thought in amazement.
Before I could respond, his voice began to resonate around us. "Our two hearts, souls, and bodies shall be bound together for all time. I, Zane König, agree to this." He glanced at me.
I quickly followed his example. "I, Ashna Sangini, agree to this."
He smiled for a half a second before continuing. "We shall be as one, for all of eternity, until the world crumbles away. Fate shall bring us together, love shall keep us, and time shall walk along beside us." He took in a quick breath. "First, our hearts, brought together with love."
I barely stopped myself from jumping in surprise when one of the three rings of blue magic shifted. It began to spin around our hands, the other two rings remaining still. After a few seconds, it split to form two much smaller rings, still the same color. Slowly, the rings wrapped themselves around my left ring finger and his right. I hissed at the sensation of slight, burning pain. It wasn't very intense, but it was uncomfortable. Two seconds later, the ring disappeared. What was left was a very thin, black mark on my finger, with the same tiny symbols that had been in the ring.
Zane's face stayed expressionless against the quick pain. "Second, our souls. They shall forever be connected, brought together." Another ring began to spin, this one a little faster. After another few seconds, it stopped, and rolled out. Instead of a circle, it became one very thin, very long blue string of magic. It slowly positioned itself. One end started at my heart, ran up my chest along my collarbone, my left shoulder, down my arm, over the black ring, and then followed a mirroring path over Zane's body. Once it reached Zane's heart, it sank down, into our skin. I watched, slightly worried for how much this would hurt. Surprisingly, it didn't. It did leave a bright blue tattoo, of sorts, along the path it had created though.
I blinked up at Zane, amazed. He had honestly just created this, not even five minutes ago? No wonder he was so powerful. How could you even create magic?
"Lastly, our bodies, joined together as well." I felt my face flame at his words, but his gaze stayed steady. The last ring followed suit with its brethren from before, only this time, it went to our necks. I flinched at the contact, but it only acted like the second one. A large, elaborately designed tattoo formed around Zane's neck, the bright blue very noticeable on his light skin. I could only assume the same was happening to me. The tattoo looked exactly like the large blue ring had, before it began to split. I closed my eyes around the strange sensation of the magic seeping into my body. This one had been...heavier than the string version had. Almost as if a solid choker had been placed on my throat, instead of an ethereal one. After two seconds, the feeling of heaviness dissipated. I opened my eyes back up.
Zane was watching me with a hooded gaze. "Et pactum signati. Ut in nuptias sit plenum," he said firmly. Slowly, he pulled me forward, with the hand he was still holding. Once I was pressed against him, he leaned down and kissed me.
It was a long, slow kiss. I used my free hand to wrap around his neck, standing on my tip toes to reach him better as I kissed him back. When he pulled away to let me breathe, I smiled shakily. My head was spinning from that kiss. "I love you," I whispered warmly. "I love you," I murmured, pressing my lips over his heart, where his new mark was. "I love you."
He let out a low groan. "Playing with fire, I see. I love you too, Ana," he said firmly, before taking me into his arms completely. I pulled his head down to kiss him, hoping to make him feel as he had made me before. I wasn't sure if I was very successful, but when I pulled back, my vision was very uncertain indeed. My breath was coming out in little pants. How could just two kisses leave me feeling like this?
His lips lifted into a smirk, as if he had heard my thoughts. "Oh, I have much more than kissing planned. Though, there will most definitely be plenty of that." He leaned down to kiss me again. My toes curled and I felt my knees give out. His beard tickled my face, as he let out a deep laugh. His arms adjusted to hold me securely, keeping my body from collapsing into a steaming pile of mush.
"I love the taste of you," I murmured, before completely registering what I had said. Blushing a deep red, I dropped his gaze. What did I just say?!
A hand cupped my cheek, forcing my eyes to look at him again. "My thoughts exactly." His eyes were filled with many things. I could only recognize love, lust, laughter, and an intensity that left me a little breathless. Slowly, he let one of his hands run down my side. I shivered at the contact. Just as slowly, he cupped my left breast in his hand, through my dress.
I gulped. Suddenly, I felt all my nervous uncertainty and embarrassment bubble to the surface. This is really happening! my mind panicked. I'm really about to make love with this man.. I'm about to become one with him. I'm about to let him touch me in ways no one ever has. I'm about to...touch him too.
As if sensing my confused feelings, he paused. "Ana, I promise, I won't do anything you won't like. Also, if you really must, there is the vow, but I beg you...Don't deny my touch. I've been waiting for this so long. I need you, Ana. I need to love you. I need to see you. I need to feel you. I can't keep going without you, love. I can't keep living without your touch."
His words made me feel embarrassed. But at the same time, I could at least partly understand what he meant. I wasn't sure if it was just my suppressed feelings for so long, or if it was caused by some of the magic earlier. Either way, I felt like I wouldn't be whole until he was touching me, loving me, kissing me. "O-okay, Zane," I nodded.
I had barely blinked and I found myself on a bedroll that hadn't been there before, Zane above me. I let out a soft breath of surprise before pulling his head down and kissing him again. My hands ran along his back, his sides, up his chest, knotting into his hair. When he pulled back, his eyes were nearly completely black, the orange and purple almost gone. I let out a low moan at the new, strange sensations that began to fill me.
He lowered his head to my neck, sending shivers all along my body. I closed my eyes, tilted my head to the side to give him easier access, and let myself give in to what he was making me feel. He pulled back, just long enough to warn me. "Ana, I'm going to remove our cloths." I squeezed my eyes shut before nodding. Half a second later, I felt the brush of air on my skin. Within the next second he was kissing me again and my lashes fluttered open. I was too coward to let myself look lower, but the first thing I saw was his hesitant smile. "You're beautiful...breathtaking," he whispered.
Slowly, I let myself take in his chest. My fingers lightly ran along his tattoos, following their intricate patterns. His breath came out sharply at my touch. My fingers ran along the hard feel of his body, his chest hair tickling my fingers. I glanced back up. "Your body is so different from my own...I..." My face flushed, but I forced myself to continue. "I love the feel of you," I confessed very softly.
His eyes became completely black. He let out a long, shuddering breath. "Love, we seem to be of one mind today. You speak the words of my heart." Before I could respond, he lowered his mouth to my right breast.
I let out a loud, startled gasp. Heat in my belly pulled low, with the rhythm of his tongue along my nipple. I barely stopped myself from shrieking when his other hand came up to play with my left breast. "Z-Z-Zane," I stuttered. "Ooooh," I moaned around another wave of drowning pleasure.
He chuckled, but I could barely focus on that. My hands were digging into his hair, holding him close. I shifted restlessly underneath him. "More," I groaned. "Zane, I need you now."
His lips left my breast and returned to kissing me, taking away any sense I might have claimed to have a moment before. "Yes," he whispered. He forced me to look him in his eyes. "Ana, it's going to hurt, this first time. But I promise, the pain will go away and it won't hurt again, after this."
Swallowing, his words chilling some of the heat in my mind, I nodded. "O-okay." I closed my eyes.
This might get...tricky. If I didn't focus, I might accidentally push him away. My hands moved to his shoulders, squeezing tight. "I-I'm ready," I said, trying to sound brave. Truthfully, I was terrified. I had overheard other women talk about how much the first time hurt and it didn't sound pleasant.
Zane was very careful, moving slowly. As he slid into me, my hands gripped tighter. I bit my lip to hold back a hiss and sob of pain. It hurts so bad...I blinked, struggling to keep my focus. If I let myself only feel the pain, I'd push him away. Which I didn't want, in the slightest.
As soon as he was past my maidenhead, he froze. I grimaced, taking in deep gulping breaths. Think of better things, I told myself. Wincing, I moved my gaze up to his face. Leaning forward, I brushed my lips across his. "I love you, Zane. I'm glad. It hurts...a lot. But I'm glad I'm with you. Always with you. Only with you," I murmured against his mouth. Lightly, I kissed him.
He let out a groan, that was somewhere between lust and pain. "You make my good intentions disappear, with words like that."
I nodded absently. The pain was beginning to recede. Taking in a deep breath, I managed a shaky smile. "I...It doesn't hurt anymore, Zane," I told him. "I think...I think we can keep going now."
His voice sounded relieved. "Thank the gods," he muttered. "It has been hell trying to hold myself back." He moved inside me and the rest of the world began to melt away.
All that remained was Zane and I.