“Fire. Everywhere. Floating through my body. Burning through me. Within me. A few seconds of flames and I was atthe base of the mountain, safe and unharmed. That was the first time I lost my memory. I am still missing three days, even with the gaps my family tried to fill,” he pressed his lips together with regret.
“What do you mean?” I sat straighter in the tub, uncaring that my breasts were hanging out. That I was willingly revealing myself to him.
“My power comes with punishment sometimes. If I don’t follow the rules. I felt the effects especially when I was discovering my abilities. I think I am missing over four years of my life, broken down into pieces.”
“Your power costs your memory?” I gasped. I hadn’t read anything about faeries with his sort of power, especially one that was supposed to descend from a god, so I was truly in the dark when it came to this type of faerie lore.
“When its use is not directed properly,” Dahr nodded. He’d finished washing my hands but, probably because I had shown so much interest in his story, he did not want to break the connection, so he proceeded to wash my back. His hands started caressing down my shoulders in a massage-like movement as he continued.
“I made many mistakes until I learned to control and direct. I only asked for a camp five years ago. I couldn’t get more people around me until I was certain I knew what I was doing.”
“When was the last time you lost… time?” I asked, not wanting to open wounds but extremely curious to discover more.
“The last time I tried to channel my power without directing the presence of an offering,” he said earnestly. My body tensed under his words, but he continued. “Contrary to your beliefs, Nora, I hate what I have to do. I hate killing innocents or sparing some in the detriment of others. So I tried. Many times. Last time I did it, around two years ago, I could not remember anything for weeks. I went into the town square by myself,and I unleashed my power, but it took control over me. Three surrounding towns were destroyed by my flames, at least that’s what Markos said but honestly, I think he gave me a smaller number in his permanent attempts to protect me” He took a long pause to release a sigh, his hands frozen over my skin.“We tried to get a halting stance from Xadom until I recovered enough to know who I was, but he ordered me to be sent there with a note, since I had no clue who I was and what I was supposed to do. Markos stood by me, risking his own life. That’s when we all agreed to play it by the rules.”
“So why should I believe that you are all trying to save me when you just admitted you can’t control your own power?” I retorted and stood from the bathtub, his immobile hand trailing my back and down my legs as I did so.
“Because I didn’t know I could reach my full power back then. I didn’t know how to channel it. I’ve been practising Nora,” he copied me and stood as well, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Right. So I’m supposed to follow you to my hometown and bring death to everyone I know because you might be able to do something different...” I scoffed. “I’m sick of your lies, Grannicus.”
I truly was sick of this. Of everything. Of trying to understand, of wrestling my own mind and my feelings. Of his presence and the way he kept taunting me. I was sick and tired.
And I desperately needed some fresh air.
Only, when I put a new dress on and wanted to go outside, Dahr stepped in front of the entrance flaps, covering the exit. The warrior crossed his arms over his chest in an imposing stance and looked at me with raised brows, expectantly.
“I need to get some air,” I muttered and stepped to the right, wanting to skid around him. One step to the side from Dahr, however, blocked my exit again.
“Seriously,” I snapped, “Get out of the way.”
I looked up at him to find that challenging smirk he had me used to. His brows remained furrowed and questioning, but the playfulness in his eyes told me that he enjoyed this more than he needed to.
“Dahr…” I pressed his name in a threat.
“Little flame…” he grinned at me with the exact same tone of voice.
I sighed and tilted my head back theatrically. “Fuck this.” I released the words slowly, almost ashamed to say them out loud, but hoped that the effect was the same. I then moved back, taking steps away from Dahr and heading towards the centre of the tent, hoping that he would follow me and remove himself from the exit.
Just as I had planned, Dahr started stepping to me with that obsessive need for closeness and when I calculated enough space to sneak through and escape, I started running towards the exit. For a moment. Strong arms caught me in a tight hold, pressing me to a taut chest that kept inhaling quickly as laughter escaped from within.
“How stupid do you think I am, Nora?” Dahr laughed out loud while I struggled to get myself free from his grasp. I did not care for propriety any longer, all I needed was to be free of him. Using the full strength of my legs, I pushed myself into the floor and jumped, trying to lift myself up and loosen the tightness of his arms around me. When that didn’t work and only caused Dahr to laugh harder, I started wiggling my feet and jumping up and down, struggling against him like I was a deer in a trap.
“Let me go!!” I shouted with all the strength that inhabited my lungs. “Let. Me. Go!” I said again and again, as Dahr continued laughing and pressing me tighter into him. My desperation becoming his game. One that I had no possible chance of winning.
“Can we please just come in to say—” the tent flaps opened to reveal a visibly worried Karisha and an upset Markos, who stepped in carefully, as though they were terrified to disturb.
I hoped Dahr would stop, that he would finish this nonsense and let me go, but he continued to press me tightly against him. And I was not one to lose a battle, so I continued struggling against his body, uncaring that the tribe lord and lady looked at us as though we had both gone mad.
“Do you…
require some privacy?” Markos furrowed his brows in both surprise and amusement.
“Yes,” Dahr replied at the same time I shouted a definitive ‘no’.
I was determined to fight him until my last breath if I had to, and by the looks of it, Dahr did not plan to ease his hold on me or to even pause this battle in front of the couple. Who remained frozen at the entrance, unknowing what the best way to proceed would be.
After around a minute or two of fighting against the mountain of muscles that Dahr proved to be and seeing that I had no way to escape his hold, I finally released a defeated breath and settled down enough to place my feet back on the floor. Like heeding a command, the warrior’s arms relaxed around me and softened their hold until I was once again free to move.
