The panther inclined his head.“I am honored princess.”
My hand shook slightly when I tentatively reached out to touch his fur and sunk into his fine silky coat while I marveled at the dreamy texture. The giant of a cat melted under my touch, purring happily when I continued my petting from his neck to shoulder, pausing only to wonder how in the goddess I would ascend such a beast.
The shadows decided for me, wrapping around my middle and suspending me upward until I sat astride the panther’s powerful front legs. His body was so massive I was forced to tuck my feet behind me, leaning forward into his enormous frame.
“Fairy boy insists that you hold on tightly. I am in agreement.”He looked back over his shoulders.
I nodded eagerly and I grasped fistfuls of his silken fur. I exhaled slowly. “I’m ready.”
He hummed and I felt his muscle tense before he bounded forward, soaring over the expansive river that bordered Finlandia.
A squeal of delight escaped me, watching the valley and water blur beneath us in more than a twenty foot drop that left me breathless. He raced gracefully through the valley, speeding faster and faster towards the Red Cap Mountains. His powerful body and pace created a strong wind that whipped back my hair and stung my eyes, cooling my body from the burning West Isle sun.
My shadows raced with us. Blasting in front of the panther with their smokey darkness, that in turn he would plunge throughwith zero fear, transforming his body from black to gold before the shadows rippled away, parachuting behind us to start their game anew.
Laughing, I tilted my head back and released my hands from their tight grip to raise them above my head. Closing my eyes, I breathed as the world passed us by.
“Amazing.” I whispered. This…was living.
“We are both glad you approve, princess of the shadows.”The panther's voice rumbled beneath me.
Bringing my hands back down, I leaned forward again. “Why do you call me that? I am no more a princess than the blades of grass beneath us. The faerie queen disbanded monarchy within the courts many years ago.” It was her way to unite all the fae under one ruler…to bring the courts together.
It was a facade. Deirdre coveted power and saw a chance to take it. Only one court did not follow. The shifters.
“Like Emon and I. You are more than what you realize.”
I paused, giving his words more thought. Unlike my people, my sentient shadows came the night I was born and never left my side since. My brother and I’s biological father was always a mystery to us, one not even our mother could explain or never wanted to.
“What is your name?” I wondered out loud.
“Cat. Beast. Unseemingly other things the fairy boy calls me that I will not repeat.”He grumbled inside my mind.
I laughed. “You are much too celestial for me to call you such names.” I teased.
He purred.“I held many names. Many titles. None of which I can remember now.”
“How does one forget their own name?” I stroked his fur sympathetically.
“Unfortunately, I do not know the answer to that either.”His gold eyes looked over his shoulder at me briefly.“What name would you choose for me?”
I frowned at the unusual request. Like all fae, I believed a name held power. For one to know its true form was to have power over you. Bravely, and with more trepidation than I cared to admit, I ran my hands through the panther’s silky golden fur once more and turned on my aura sight, something I had been avoiding since meeting him.
I gasped at the blinding infinite shimmer of white gold that stole my vision. His aura blocked out the sky, the sun, the moons,the land before us. I was completely encapsulated within its glow. Its stretch was vast with no ending to its divine light.
The panther was power, he was godly, he was universal, he was supreme, he was—“Ethereal.” I whispered, the name escaping from my lips like a soft prayer.
His aura flashed brightly before burning away, returning my normal vision. I blinked at the renewed shimmering sparkle of his golden coat.
“Yes! That is my name. I remember now. Thank you! Thank you, princess of the shadows!”
I was stunned. “You’re welcome, Ethereal.” I said baffled. “You are most welcome.”
Chapter 57
Ipacedinsidethecat’smind. Livid, shocked, helpless.
Thousands of years I lived with the cat bastard. When I first shifted as a cub I was terrified of him and wanted to know more about the voice in my head, in my teen years I challenged him demanding that he tell me who he was, and now in my adult years I just learned to live with him, never asking again since silence was all that met me when I did.
