Chapter 445: Chapter 445
"Take care, my Princess... Daddy loves you." A lingering voice trailed off, making the unconscious Shelby frown.
The cold stone beneath Shelby was unforgiving, the damp air heavy with the scent of earth and decay. But even though she felt all of this, she was not cold, but unsurprisingly so warm instead. No light seeped through the cracks of her new prison ... there was no window... at least none that she saw, no torch... was there?
Shelby was not sure. Everything was mangled up so that she was not sure of what was real and wasn’t. Yet she was certain that no moonlight existed to lighten the darkness. And yet, for the briefest moment, she could have sworn there had been a warm and golden glow like a firefly? Maybe? Around a window that didn’t exist?
She awoke slowly with that ache still in her chest, as if she had been holding onto something precious... only to have it slip through her fingers the moment her eyes opened.
She lay there, unseeingly staring into the dark void, her breath shallow, trying to grasp at the remnants of the dream already fading from her mind. How she wished she was back in her room in the Thornston estate, with Ian.
She couldn’t remember the details of this dream. Not the place, not the faces. Just a warmth, an overwhelming sense of safety that wrapped around her like a familiar embrace. She only concentrated on that and nothing in her surroundings. She distinctly remembered a voice ... deep, steady, filled with tenderness.
The words rang clear, echoing louder than they should in the oppressive silence, sending a shiver through her. It temporarily blocked her sorrow from the proceedings before. A lump formed in Shelby’s throat as her fingers clenched into the fabric of her clothes, her heart aching with something she couldn’t quite name.
Had it really been a dream? Or was it something more? A memory long buried, peeking through the veil of her unconsciousness?
She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to return, to reach for that presence, that love. Anything to take her out of this misery of a place. But it was gone, leaving only the ghost of warmth in its place. And as the darkness pressed in around her, she was left with only a hint of the cold.
’Wait... am I dead?’ She thought, because she remembered falling but never hitting the floor that hard... ’What had broken my fall?’
At the thought of the baby, she reached for her middle section, as if that would have helped the pregnancy.
It was then that she saw a tiny creature hovering over her peripheries. It was cross-legged beside her.
At her prompt, his calloused hands fidgeted with a strip of cloth he’d meant for her somehow. His brow furrowed; his lips pursed in concentration as he muttered to himself.
"Ain’t right, nah it ain’t... female droppin’ like daisy petals in spring. Wh’ is a de’licte persn lik’ her he’re? She’s breathin’ still, so that’s somethin’, but blast it all, what’s a Fae to do when he don’t got no healin’ hands?"
He sighed heavily, as if in distress, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared at her, as if willing her awake by sheer stubbornness alone. He had yet to see her, it seemed. Shelby had thought that he had seen her, but it turned out that he was engaged in an internal dialogue.
Then, as if sensing her stare, he stirred. An involuntary soft groan left Shelby’s lips before she sat up, wondering how long she had really been out, considering this Fae by her. She was hazy and confused, from Roman and the dream that she did not really remember much.
’Roman!’ her mind screamed.
The new Fae shot back like he’d been struck by lightning, nearly zapping into a distant wall over in his rush. He zapped right back floating around her so fast that Shelby was starting to get dizzy.
"Ah-ha! Y’ain’t dead! Thought fer a moment I’d be sittin’ ’ere talkin’ to a corpse .... an’ that’d be mighty unsettling, lemme tell ya!" His voice cracked slightly, flustered. He reached for a water skin around his waist, but hesitated, then thrust it toward her with both hands. "Ya drink, ya sit, ya stan’, ya talk t’ yasel’f an’ ya don’t be fallin’ over like a newborn foal again, ya hear?"
Shelby blinked at him, taking in his frantic fussing, the way his rough fingers twitched with nervous energy. Her lips twitched. His outlook did not even present any danger and even though he was a stranger to her in that unlikely place, she felt him odd... but not threatening.
"I-" She started to speak but stopped, stifling a chuckle. He looked so worried and utterly adorable in his blustering concern that she couldn’t help but be reminded of her youngest child, Gabriel. His presence alone made Shelby remember those kids that she had grown to be so fond of in those few weeks past. He was determined, serious, and absolutely out of his depth.
Shelby’s laughter came then, soft and warm, and although her head still throbbed, the weight of her worries eased just a little.
The petite Fae’s breath hitched something fierce, like he’d taken a fist to the gut. Shelby’s smile was too much for his little heart to handle.
’Weren’t no sense to it .... none at all!’
He’d seen pretty things before, sure he had, but this? This weren’t just pretty. This was somethin’ else. Somethin’ a male could lose his damn mind over. He mused to himself, his eyes resting on Shelby’s face. He was gawking!
His hands, rough as old tree bark, fidgeted at his sides as he continued to gawk, jaw slack like a fool. Ain’t right, his thoughts scrambled. Ain’t no female got the right to look like that... not ’round these parts, not ’fore a man’s had his meal proper. However, he couldn’t help it.
Her skin had caught the dim firelight from the fireflies that had started floating around there. It didn’t strike them as odd as this though. It was like moonshine kissin’ river water on a still night. Short hair fallin’ in soft waves, bright as the golden sun, but with glints o’ somethin’ rich ... like the deep heartwood of an ancient tree. And them eyes? Stars ain’t never shone half as bright.
He gulped, felt his ears go warm.
"Well, hell," he muttered under his breath, invisible hat in hand now, twisting it like it owed him somethin’.
Shelby turned to look him straight in the eyes in amusement.
’...them lashes flutterin’ ever so slight,...’ that singular line popped into his head and his knees nearly gave out even though he was still flying around, his wings holding him off the ground. He was a grown male... a guard and warrior .....fought battles, broke bones, walked through ’fire’ ...but Lord help him, he weren’t sure he’d survive lookin’ at her much longer.
He sputtered and averted his eyes, bowing. "Now what in blazes is funny, female?! Ya nearly met the Reaper an’ now ya gigglin’ like I told ya the sun done got stuck in a tree!"
She waved a hand at him, still chuckling. "It’s just... you’re very sweet."
His face turned a spectacular shade of red, and he huffed, crossing his arms. No one had ever dared to tell him that he was sweet but with Shelby, he felt grateful instead.
"Bah! Ain’t no man likes bein’ called sweet. Sturdy! Dependable! That’s what I am."
She smiled, reaching for the water skin, but stopped before she sipped. She handed it back to him and brought out another vial to sip from instead, "Of course you are."
He grumbled something under his breath but couldn’t quite hide the way his ears burned as he sat back down beside her, arms still crossed, but the worry in his eyes never faded.
He never asked why she was there or even questioned why she did not sip from his waterskin. He was now a prisoner for suggesting what he thought was the best for the Fae-land but he, a warrior, found himself there instead.
He scratched his hair, feeling self-conscious instead.
"You’s wanna be gettin’ back, don’tcha? Good thing ya ain’t gone an’ touched my water, then....."
Shelby stared at him surprised,
"...Course, there’s ways for ’em Fae’s to use this to them ’vantage when dealin’ with ’ya... There’s those that says no dealin’s with a Fae’s a good one. They’d pro’lly be right, them.’
"Thank you for saving me,"
Shelby suddenly said. She understood that she had probably not hurt herself during the fall because of him. He had also made sure to stay there till she woke up. She was curious about how a warrior like him ended up in the dungeon too, but Shelby did not ask.
"Ain’t no trouble, nah."
The two sat in silence for a while till a movement told them that they had company. Different guards stormed in this time. Shelby had never seen these before and their aggression preceded them.
The cute warrior was shoved aside and two of them approached Shelby menacingly,
It took Shelby just a quick moment to understand what they wanted to do, especially when the fourth approached with a tray of that looked like soup,
"You... what are you doing?"
The leader did not look Shelby in the eye, nor did he respond,
"Force it down her throat!"
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