believed.
“Yes!”
“And he knows all this?” Anastacia, the all knowing, was still surprised.
“Most of it.”
“What does not he know?” she gaped at me.
“How I feel about you?” I watched her close for a reaction, but she was cool as a cucumber.
“Oh! So he didn’t know your motives?”
She was so quick witted. “Perhaps. But he knew what it would gain him to have you out of the way and at the same time, safe and not dead as you would have been the other night if I hadn’t been there. But there is no question in that, because I have been there all the time and wouldn’t have missed it.”
Her mind opened unwillingly and thought , When else had he been there? Kind of creepy to think about.
“The court raised me. My sired father who raised me after childhood was just trying to protect me. In me he had awoken a fight for what I wanted. Before that day, I couldn't keep you safe enough." He was a substitute too.
“He must have been a great father.” Anastacia was guessing about things to get information out of me. Information I couldn’t give yet if I wanted her to still listen and not judge me for who I was. She hated the name I held. She hated that man before she entered my court. If she knew now, would she stomp out of here and leave me?
Above me, a bird was chittering and frantically searching for something. A distraction was a good thing here, so I went into rescue mode. The baby was searc hing for the mother and couldn’t see it up high. I cupped my hands around the small creature and lifted it.
“A baby bird. Oh, my, is it dying?” Her voice cooed like a little girl. I rose from the ground leaving her for only seconds, and went three feet up to reunite the small family. Anastacia asked me as I landed again feeling the small ache of leaving her dissipate, “I thought a mama bird wouldn't take her baby back after it is touched by human hands?”
“Myth, but I am not completely human either.”
She laughed.
“Why did you—
I sat down again waiting for her question to finish, but it didn’t. Her emotions were telling me one thing and then her mind would deny that she felt it. I reeled at just wanting to take her in my arms and never let go.
I let her fight it out and lie down to alternate watching her and the stars. “Are you ready to return?”
“No.” She said surprisingly fast. Then she was convincing herself of all kinds of things on the inside.
She started naming the stars and constellations aloud, but her mind was on the return to the Hunter school. She knew the stars well enough she could multi-task. Finally she rested the conversation about stars and asked, “What will the Hunters do when I return?”
Hunters? Plural.
“Dr. Green has agreed to cover your identity and let you stay on at the school till the term is finished. You are welcome back into your court, but danger lurks there simply because every faction knows some of your secret now. You should—
What was he going to say? Am I safe anywhere? “I don’t need protection. I don’t need anyone.”
Oh, she was so stubborn. “Perhaps. But there are others who need you.” I was running out of time now.
“I can’t go back to court. I just don’t want to. I don’t belong there.”
“You don’t have to.” I want her to stay and let me protect her austerely willful self. I want her to stay beside me and never leave. I want to fight along with her against this force pressing us together so we can win over the opposing forces that keep us apart. I want to fulfill her dream of combining the factions and creating an alliance if it means I get to keep her.
I want her everything.
I want her.
Now.
“If I go back to the school, I will be safe. I don’t need protection, and if I did, they are a school of Hunters. Even in herds, they are strong enough to ward off most evils.”
She held them in higher regard to
“Yes!”
“And he knows all this?” Anastacia, the all knowing, was still surprised.
“Most of it.”
“What does not he know?” she gaped at me.
“How I feel about you?” I watched her close for a reaction, but she was cool as a cucumber.
“Oh! So he didn’t know your motives?”
She was so quick witted. “Perhaps. But he knew what it would gain him to have you out of the way and at the same time, safe and not dead as you would have been the other night if I hadn’t been there. But there is no question in that, because I have been there all the time and wouldn’t have missed it.”
Her mind opened unwillingly and thought , When else had he been there? Kind of creepy to think about.
“The court raised me. My sired father who raised me after childhood was just trying to protect me. In me he had awoken a fight for what I wanted. Before that day, I couldn't keep you safe enough." He was a substitute too.
“He must have been a great father.” Anastacia was guessing about things to get information out of me. Information I couldn’t give yet if I wanted her to still listen and not judge me for who I was. She hated the name I held. She hated that man before she entered my court. If she knew now, would she stomp out of here and leave me?
Above me, a bird was chittering and frantically searching for something. A distraction was a good thing here, so I went into rescue mode. The baby was searc hing for the mother and couldn’t see it up high. I cupped my hands around the small creature and lifted it.
“A baby bird. Oh, my, is it dying?” Her voice cooed like a little girl. I rose from the ground leaving her for only seconds, and went three feet up to reunite the small family. Anastacia asked me as I landed again feeling the small ache of leaving her dissipate, “I thought a mama bird wouldn't take her baby back after it is touched by human hands?”
“Myth, but I am not completely human either.”
She laughed.
“Why did you—
I sat down again waiting for her question to finish, but it didn’t. Her emotions were telling me one thing and then her mind would deny that she felt it. I reeled at just wanting to take her in my arms and never let go.
I let her fight it out and lie down to alternate watching her and the stars. “Are you ready to return?”
“No.” She said surprisingly fast. Then she was convincing herself of all kinds of things on the inside.
She started naming the stars and constellations aloud, but her mind was on the return to the Hunter school. She knew the stars well enough she could multi-task. Finally she rested the conversation about stars and asked, “What will the Hunters do when I return?”
Hunters? Plural.
“Dr. Green has agreed to cover your identity and let you stay on at the school till the term is finished. You are welcome back into your court, but danger lurks there simply because every faction knows some of your secret now. You should—
What was he going to say? Am I safe anywhere? “I don’t need protection. I don’t need anyone.”
Oh, she was so stubborn. “Perhaps. But there are others who need you.” I was running out of time now.
“I can’t go back to court. I just don’t want to. I don’t belong there.”
“You don’t have to.” I want her to stay and let me protect her austerely willful self. I want her to stay beside me and never leave. I want to fight along with her against this force pressing us together so we can win over the opposing forces that keep us apart. I want to fulfill her dream of combining the factions and creating an alliance if it means I get to keep her.
I want her everything.
I want her.
Now.
“If I go back to the school, I will be safe. I don’t need protection, and if I did, they are a school of Hunters. Even in herds, they are strong enough to ward off most evils.”
She held them in higher regard to
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