When I woke up this morning, the last thing I expected to happen today was to get an invitation to the Starfall celebration at the House of Wind. From Prince Rean himself, no less. I did not expect to do anything but cut cake after tedious cake until I could stop and watch what I could of Starfall from my bedroom window. I certainly did not expect to be flirted with by a prince.
I should really start setting my expectations higher.
Because here I am, dusting off the only gown I’ve ever owned, and stressing about how I’m going to fix my hair. Because I’m going to the House of Wind. With Prince Rean. My heart flutters even just thinking about him, with his mussed hair and flustered small talk, so un-prince like and yet still so charming.
My mother had come home just after he left, going on about this and that, completely distracted. But I could hardly contain my excitement for what had just happened.
“Mum, listen, you’ll never guess what just happened.” I follow her up the stairs to the apartment we live in above the shop.
“Did you meet a wise old woman who told you your future over a cup of apricot tea?”
“What? Mum, no. Even better. Prince Rean came here, to our shop, and bought all our cakes then invited me to go with him to Starfall at the House of Wind tonight!”
“Oh that’s a funny one, dear! I’ll have to get more creative next time.”
“Mum, I’m serious!”
She finally looks at me.
“Buttercup, you’re really going to Starfall with one of the princes?”
“Yes, Mum,” I say with no small amount of exasperation. I love my mother, but she can be a true piece of work sometimes.
She instantly worked herself into a frenzy, darting about the apartment, acting as if she were the one going to a party with a prince, not me.
Now, I step into my gown and stand in front of a floor-length mirror as she laces it up for me.
“Oh Mila,” she breathes, “just look at you. Fit for a prince.”
I snort. “A pretty dress doesn’t make me any more fit for him.”
I examine my reflexion, wondering if it really could. The dress certainly is pretty, with flowing gossamer skirts the same navy blue as a twilight sky. Gold embroidery decorates the bodice in a swirling design of flowers and stars. The dress may make me look more fit for the most powerful family in Prythian, but I don’t feel like I am.
I turn as I hear the front door of the apartment open and click shut behind my father.
“What’s all this?” He asks, noticing my dress and the general mood of excitement in the room.
“Your daughter,” Mum starts, “is going to the House of Wind with Prince Rean tonight.”
He stops dead in his tracks, eyebrows raised. “She is, is she?”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I insist.
But it is a big deal. I can hardly keep my thoughts straight and I almost feel like I’m going to faint.
Get yourself together, Mila.
“Actually, Papa, I need your help.”
“Do you need me to threaten him if he ever hurts you?”
“No!” I jokingly scoff, “I need you to teach me how to dance.”
Rean
The room is already crowded with bodies, the air heavy and scented with jasmine. I stand near the door, waiting for her to arrive.
My friends and brother are already off dancing and drinking, likely raiding the food table. But I stand at the door and wait.
I can’t believe I did this. I probably scared her off, and she’s not going to show up.
I begin to pace, the movement calming my restless nerves.
How long until I’ve officially been stood up?
The door opens again, and I brace myself for the disappointment of seeing another stranger enter the room. But to my disbelief, it’s Mila, with her eyes wide and cheeks flushed, clutching the skirts of her dark blue gown. Her eyes find me in the crowd and a small smile of relief spreads across her face as she makes her way towards me.
“You came,” I say, still not quite believing it.
“You invited me. I didn’t think it right to refuse.”
Up close, I can see the golden detailing on her gown. Flowers and stars. Perfect for a daughter of both Spring and Night. I’m careful not to stare too long this time, but I can’t help but admire her.
I’ve never felt like this before, never been so instantly possessed by someone, and the feeling throws me off.
A word crosses my mind but I instantly brush it away. I’m getting ahead of myself.
“Come,” I lead her out to one of the balconies with fewer people occupying it. I’m thankful for the fresh air to cool my burning cheeks, to clear my muddled mind.
We stand at the railing, looking out over Velaris. At least, I’m looking at the city. I follow her gaze to the mountains in the distance with the rest of Prythian beyond them.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” She sighs, resting her elbows on the railing.
“You should see it from the sky.”
“Is it a date?”
I chuckle. She’s bold, I’ll give her that. “If you want it to be, I’d be happy to take you. Perhaps even later tonight.”
She nods, her eyes are still on the horizon. She looks totally at peace, and I see that she is longing to be out there. I know exactly how she feels.
Something moves across the sky, and I see the first of the beautiful display of falling stars, or spirits, or whatever they are.
Mila watches in awe, her lips parted and head raised to the starry sky.
“This is my first time seeing it this clearly,” she explains.
A few moments pass as we both admire the beauty of Starfall.
“Everyone deserves to experience this view at least once in their lives, don’t you think?”
I hum in agreement.
She pulls her gaze from the sky and turns to me, still leaning on the railing. “Do you want to dance?”
I was supposed to ask her that, I think. But I only say “I would love to.”
As if on cue, the musicians inside begin to play a slow, flowing waltz.
We move in time, her hands on my shoulders, mine on her waist.
I feel like I’m flying, the same rush filling my head.
There are many things I am unsure of in my life. But this–being with Mila–isn’t one of them. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.
Milena
We dance for what could have been years, hardly speaking, but not needing to. We are perfectly in time, bodies pressed together, minds synced. Like two parts of a whole.
I’ve been with males before. That is, I’ve been on awkward dates with them. But never anything like this. I’ve never felt such a deep connection with someone, and certainly not so soon after meeting them. And now, dancing with Rean, I feel more connected than I ever have with anyone in my life.
I lean my head against his chest, and his hands tighten on my waist.
“Do you want to go on that flight?” he whispers in my ear.
I meet his eyes and nod eagerly, unable to suppress my smile. He smiles back and in one smooth motion lifts me into his arms, one arm under my knees and the other around my back. Glorious wings appear on his back, dark and membranous.
And then we are shooting towards the sky, the ground far below and the wind on my cheeks. My stomach drops and I burst into a terrified laugh, clinging tight to Rean, who laughs in amusement. As Rean slows to a more leisurely pace, and I get my first real look at my surroundings, I am both terrified and in awe of the new world around me.
Lights flicker in the streets and homes below, but up here it is dark. The air fresher and cleaner than it is on the ground, and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to stand to breathe the air down there again.
I see why he loves it up here.
And the view–the glorious view he said I just had to see. Though the actual event of Starfall has ended, the sky is more than worth the terror of getting up here. The mountains rise like sleeping giants on the horizon, visible only because they block out the stars and leave the sky an endless black.
“Speechless?”
I drag my eyes from the horizon and look at Rean. “It’s… glorious.”
He smiles at me, but then it fades and red blooms on his cheeks.
“I want to kiss you,” he whispers.
“Then do it.”
We are close enough to share a breath, to feel each other’s heartbeats.
He presses his lips to mine, pulling me tighter against him.
My hands trail his chest, his shoulders, his neck, tangling in his hair.
A string between us pulls taut, and we both pull away in surprise.
And then the bastard drops me.
Wind rips around me, pulling my hair from its pins and lifting my skirts around me. A scream tears from my throat, my limbs thrash in search of purchase.
It is as I’m falling that I realize what just happened. A mating bond snapped into place between us.
I have a mate.
I only fall for a second before he catches me again.
“Oh my gods, Mila, I’m so sorry.”
Rean is frantic. I mean, he did just drop his mate. His mate. The thought makes my heart flutter. I’m his mate.
“Are you alright?”
I burst into a roaring laugh, much to his confusion. I manage to get out a few words telling him that yes, I’m fine, but I can’t stop the laughter. I think I’m overwhelmed, and this is the only reaction I can manage.
Rean brings us back down to the ground, and we both sit.
Eventually the shrieks of laughter subside to a giggle, but my head feels just as light, and this all feels no more like reality.
I have a mate. And it’s Prince Rean.
And he dropped me when he found out.
Should I be offended?
“Mila,” he says, now smiling and doing his best to not laugh with me. He brushes his fingers on my arm, and the bond between us tenses. This is going to take some getting used to.
“You’re my mate,” I state, fighting the fit of giggles that threaten to start again.
He looks at me seriously now, and I no longer have such an urge to laugh. Good, because we really do need to talk about what this means.
“We don’t have to decide anything right now,” he says. “We can take things slow, get to know each other. That’s not to say I don’t want to be your mate–believe me, I do, more than anything–but we can take our time with it. It’s not as if the bond will expire.”
“I think that’s a good idea. I don’t want you to be with me just because of some supernatural bond, and I don’t want to be with you because of it either.”
He pulls me into a hug, squeezing tight. This, I’d be happy to get used to.
“My parents,” I realize, “we should tell them. And yours.”
When I imagined meeting the High Lord and Lady, I did not imagine it being under these circumstances. A passing parade, a dinner party, maybe. But certainly not as their future daughter-in-law.
“We should go to yours first. I’m sure mine are… preoccupied.”
“Now?”
“Why not?”
I shrug and stand. “Let’s go, then.”
He lifts me back into his arms.
“Try not to drop me this time,” I tease.
Rean
I’m holding my mate in my arms. I’m actually holding my mate.
I thank the Cauldron for the hundredth time tonight. Not only do I have a mate, but I found her after only one hundred years. Few are often so lucky, sometimes waiting a thousand years or not finding them at all.
But here she is, and here I am, off to meet her parents.
We are nearing the street the bakery is on when I notice a smoky haze in the air, and it only gets stronger the closer we get to her home. I quicken my pace when I see the first of the flames.
I touch down in front of the bakery.
The bakery that is on fire.
I’m not quick enough to catch Mila as she falls to her knees.
foxboylucien 