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Ch. 23: The Talk
Last Updated:
2022-08-27 08:11:50
Dahlia MoonHey everyone! I'm working hard on the book again. Please let me know if you're reading by giving me a comment and a review. I really appreciate it.
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Catalyst Ch. 24: Get Comfy
Hayward patted the bed next to him, then slowly scooted down until he was lying on his back again. She did as requested and climbed in next to him, lying on her side to face him. Her eyes still held a degree of worry to them. She could see he was in a good amount of pain, but at least there weren’t arrows sticking out of him; and her father didn’t want his head. She said nothing. Her blue eyes just stared at him, the events of the day washing over her like a wave.After a few moments of silence, Elissa finally broke it. “You scared the shit out of me today...” the whole day had been the craziest of her entire life. She’d never felt so many emotions all at once, and even looking at him... she wanted to cry. Of course, she refused. She refused to have anyone, least of all him, thinking she was weak.“I’m... sorry,” he said again. “For scaring you, for putting you in danger, for making you think I was about to leave—though, to be fair, it wasn’t true and you weren’t meant to hear it,” he
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Hayward was not nearly as well behaved as he should have been. The wine had kicked in, dulling the pain a little and weakening his inhibitions as well. Her, in that dress, fondling him a bit while helping him change pants? He was going to react, at least a little.Perhaps more than a little. His good arm reached out and grabbed the front of her dress. He pulled her into another deep, passionate kiss. For once, though, it was brief. He let go and followed directions, groaning a little as he scooted back onto the bed. “Ooh... that hurt. Worth it, though.” He winked playfully at her and settled down.Feeling more comfortable, he once again patted the bed next to him. “So, you said the mines are more interesting than the town. That doesn’t take much, I suppose, but I always think of mines as, well, just deep holes in the ground. What makes them so interesting?” he asked. He was still thinking of going to see t
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Sometimes Hayward needed the reminder that setting aside his pride was worth it. In this case, being willing to beg a little had paid off marvelously. “Dear god, Elissa... that was amazing.” He patted the bed beside him again. “C’mere. I feel... very relaxed. I’m gonna shut my eyes for a while.” He reached over to the nightstand and took another drink of his wine.She smiled up at his praises, “I know...” she was rather confident in her abilities, even if she was a little out of practice. It wasn’t exactly something you forgot.Then the princess crawled up next to him and wrapped her arms around his good one, laying her head against his shoulder, just touching him. She too closed her eyes, soaking in the moment. She wasn’t sleepy, but the day had been exhausting. A little nap wouldn’t hurt anythi
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Elissa nodded and disappeared down the stairs, taking a hard left turn when she saw one of her sisters to avoid them. They appeared to not take that as an answer and followed her toward the kitchen. “Not interested, Aeris...” she called behind her.Aeris wasn’t the beauty that Elissa was, but she had an adorably round face. She was only two years behind Elissa in age, but sometimes her ‘baby face’ as many had called it, made her appear much closer in age to the twins. It also didn’t help that, unlike Elissa, she had barely developed a chest. All of her extra weight laid in her hips and bottom, and while she was sure someone would find that attractive, it wasn’t the hourglass figure men drooled after (which, of course, Elissa had).“I’m not stupid. I know there’s something going on with you and that prince...” she double stepped to catch up to her. “Why can’t you be normal for once in your life and want to tell your sister?” They had never been close, and Aeris had been more of the pes
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What good is it going to do to even ask it? Let it be a game. Let it be fun. Don’t ruin it...Then she looked straight at him, and despite her inward pleas, her mouth opened anyway. “Why not? Why wouldn’t I?” She raised an eyebrow, looking at him, her heart feeling like it was going to beat out of her chest. At least she had a decent poker face on, she hoped.You don’t want to ask that. Why in the hell did you ask that?He blinked a few times. “Why wouldn’t you what?” He furrowed his brow, thinking back over what he had said, trying to figure out what she’d be responding to. “Oh. That. Well, I guess I just assumed... I mean... you don’t want to come live in the desert with me. I guess I could come live in the mountains, but...” he shrugged. He didn’t have a suitable answer. He’d mostly been saying it to avoid the opposite, given that, just the day before, she’d seemed rather uncomfortable with the idea.He smiled playfully at her as a better answer came to mind. “Because it would give
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“I’m curious. Why do you dance? Is it a ritual? Or a way to commune with people?” “That in particular?” She asked, her eyes temporarily closed as she enjoyed the sensation of his hands roaming over her body. “It’s a ritual. One that if you asked about it, you would promptly be told doesn’t exist. Just like you’d be told no one used magic... if you asked...” she opened her eyes and looked back at him over her shoulder. “But the two things are very much related. It’s both an initiation and a celebration.” She was scanning his face to see how he would react to her words, and then her mouth opened and the words that came out surprised even her. “It marks you as a witch.” Her own family didn’t even know. It wasn’t something anyone spoke of, and it certainly wasn’t something that would be condoned. Hayward listened to her, though he was more that a little distracted as his hands moved over her body. He raised an eyebrow at her, thinking that she was just messing with him. “A witch, hm
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He didn’t have to tell her twice. She moved quickly to break away from him, lying down on the bed. “Done,” she said back with a playful smile. Hayward licked his lips as he followed her more slowly, climbed onto the bed, and crawled toward her. He made it until he was on top of her and then stopped and shut his eyes. “Ooh... ow. Dammit.” He slowly laid down beside her, rolling onto his back. “I’m sorry Elissa. I would love to mount you right now and fuck you senseless... but that’s gonna have to wait.” He groaned in pain and pointed toward his empty glass. “Get me a little more wine, and I’ll be fine, but you’re gonna hafta be on top again.” He flashed a playful grin. “I hope that’s alright.” She shrugged, leaning over to the nightstand and refilled his glass. “You know as much as I want to do this, we don’t have to,” she looked pointedly at him while pouring and then handed it to him. “Because I do really want to do this—but—I don’t want to hurt you.” Some of the intense lust had dw
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Elissa awoke the next morning to light streaming through a window and hitting her face. She instinctively groaned and covered her eyes with her hands. “Damnit...” Her head was pounding. She could smell the bits of food still in the room, and it made her horribly nauseous. She then turned her face away from the window and was face to face with Hayward. She groaned, rubbing her temples. Had she fallen asleep in here? Had that been intentional? How much did she drink? She turned back toward the nightstand and saw a little wine was left in the glass's bottom and downed it. “I need water,” she groaned, looking at the pitcher across the room. Determined, she sat up and the entire room spun, and she gagged. “Uh-uh...” she mumbled, falling back to a laying down position. “I’ll just die. It’s not worth it.” Hayward was resting just on the edge of sleep, having already been partially awakened by the morning light. He couldn’t help laughing. “Good morning to you too, beautiful,” he teased her
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Catalyst Ch. 67: Goodbye for now
She changed into her brown riding britches and the forest green dress that split up to the thighs for riding along with her boots. She then grabbed one of her arrows, blood still on the tip for him to bring to his father, and finally, she quickly penned a letter to take with him:My dearest Hayward,I hope you open this when you miss me most. You’re not even gone yet, and I already miss you. This is going to be hell, but I promise to write to you daily. I am keeping said letters ransom so you will need to return to retrieve them. You take with you my portrait and my heart. Don’t lose them. I love youEShe found some dried crushed rose petals that could be used for rouge and added a few drops of water, painting it onto her lips before kissing the bottom, leaving the print of them. Blowing it dry, she then wiped the color off her as best she could. She rolled the parchment small as possible and tied it with a ribbon, attaching the kumquat sized portait to it and tucking it in her pock
Catalyst Ch. 66: The Final Morning
She felt the first few streams of light bleeding through the window and stretched, still in his arms. The last thing she wanted was for it to be morning. She wanted to close the curtains and pretend it was still midnight, but it wasn’t. They’d slept peacefully, and now dawn had come. She wanted to cry again, but instead, she stared into his sleeping face, cupping it in her hand, and gently kissed his lips. “Good morning, love…” she whispered as she tucked a stray hair behind his ear.He groaned and squirmed and stretched before his arms rammed into her. His eyes flew open for a moment, but he stopped short as he realized what had happened. He smiled and relaxed back into the bed. “Hey beautiful,” he replied softly. He slid his arms around her again and hugged her warmly. “Did you sleep well?” He was still enjoying the fuzzy feelings of just waking up, and he really didn’t want to
Catalyst Ch. 65: Our last night
Back in his room, Hayward had quickly shed his clothes and drawn a bath. Shortly before Elissa returned, he sank into the hot water. “Oooh, that feels good.” He sighed and rolled his shoulders, relaxing as best he could. At the sound of the door, he looked up and smiled. “Hey beautiful,” he greeted her, then beckoned for her to join him.She came into the room, laying her things over the dresser after locking the door and stripping down to join him in the bath. “Saw your friend in the hall,” she commented, climbing in with him and sighing contentedly as she let the water creep up around her. “He now seems to regard me in much the same way he regards you: shaking his head and rolling his eyes.” She laughed and leaned forward, giving him a quick kiss.The prince laughed. “Shaking his head and rolling his eyes… yeah, that’s Dantares.” He shrugged, t
Catalyst Ch. 64: The Gardens (part 3)
“Not yet, at least,” he replied. “I hope that someday it’ll be safe. The desert… has its own beauty, and my people… well, when we’re not being murderous barbarians or treating women like chattel, we’re inventive and resilient.” He scooted a little closer against her side. “But if we can secure peace, then I’m optimistic. I would at least like to take you to see the badlands. It’s an old mountain range, I think, that was stripped of life by the desert sun, leaving only bare, wind-carved stone behind.” “That sounds kind of... pretty…” she admitted, sounding surprised. “I mean, hot and harsh but...pretty…” she nuzzled her face into his neck, kissing it gently. “Come back soon, but more importantly, come back safe.” She nipped a little harder at his neck. “I don’t want to have some sort of long-lost love backstory. It makes me too romantic and desirable, and I have to marry someone, eventually. Otherwise, my siblings aren’t allowed to. So I really don’t want to have more emotions and fe
Catalyst Ch. 63: The Gardens (Part 2)
She cleared her throat and wiped her face once more. “Sorry. So. Yes. Gardens…” she took his hand in hers once more and moved forward. “Don’t know how you feel about flowers, but we have hundreds of varieties. Roses, lilies, vines, carnations, impatiens, zinnias, dahlias…”He smiled again as they walked, but only barely took his eyes off of her to glance at the flowers. “They’re pretty… beautiful even… fleeting… water hungry…” he stopped and shook his head. “This is a lovely garden. There’s only one that’s even like it in Aasleagh, and those idiots have to risk drought and starvation to keep their garden green. This is incredible, and I think I would love to see it again when I get back, because right now…”He sighed, smiled apologetically, shrugged helplessly. Then he grabbed her and pulled her into another de
Catalyst Ch. 62: The Gardens
He stood and followed Elissa out the door. “Well, that was… interesting. Your brother seems to enjoy playing with fire.”“If he ever finds a girl,” she sighed. “I shudder to think what sort of hellcat she will be.” Elissa laced her fingers in his. “It’s actually a little surprising he hasn’t ever found anyone who he even fancied enough to take to bed.” Her brother was a rather private person despite his penchant for exposing others’ secrets. However, she felt sure she’d know if he had actually had his way with someone. “I don’t think he’s quite romantic enough to be waiting for the one, or whoever mom deems is going to be the one.” She shrugged, looking at him as they exited the castle and walked into the gardens. There was an archway covered in Ivy that marked the entrance and boxwood hedges making walls around it
Catalyst Ch. 61: You're Family Now
She laughed at the two men, then drank hers as well. Through dinner, she ate more than she should and drank more than she should, but Elissa was thoroughly enjoying herself. Aeris, who was seated across from her, pointed to her neck as she moved her braid absentmindedly.“What’s wrong with your neck?” She asked, scrunching her nose up.“A tree branch scratched her…” her mother replied for her, but Elissa’d had just enough wine to embarrass her sister.“Kohl, would you like to repeat your performance, or shall I tell her?” She laughed, and her mother shot him a glare.“It’s a love bite…” Elissa snapped her teeth at Aeris, who still looked confused.Kohl, in turn, leaned over to her despite his mother’s warning glares. “It’s a hickey. Prince ‘can’t keep it in his pants’ and our eldest sister are fucking.”“Kohl Cyrus Sylvari! Don’t think you’re too old f
Catalyst Ch. 60: A toast
Apparently this was a going away dinner as her entire family plus Dantares and Deker appeared to be in attendance. She sat down next to him and smiled at everyone a little awkwardly. Elissa wasn’t particularly a fan of this many people at the table, all staring at her like she had two heads. She wasn’t sure if they were staring because of her now open connection with the head next to her, or if they were staring because they’d downed a beast with two heads earlier. Either way, it was uncomfortable, and she smiled awkwardly, drinking some of her wine to calm her nerves out of habit. Hayward straightened up a little as they entered the great hall. Oh. Well. Hmm. There’s people here. He smiled politely and did his best to look at least slightly regal, like he actually belonged there and hadn’t just snuck in the back when no one was looking. He offered a gracious nod to the king and queen as they sat down. “Hopefully, this is only a brief farewell,” he remarked. “But I appreciate the sen
Catalyst Ch. 59: Victory
“Oh, you’re probably right.” She said, laughing. “Do you need me to help you with that?” A sly smirk appeared on her face as she followed him up the staircase to his room. “Or are you a big boy and can do it all by your lonesome?” She teased. “Ha! I don’t neeeed anything.” He waited until they were out of sight in the stairwell, then grabbed her and kissed her and pressed her up against the wall. “But I want you.” He kissed her again and then slipped away, jogging up the stairs. “Hey!” she called back after him, running up behind him. “That’s not playing fair! You can’t do that and just run off!” She caught up to him just as he was exiting into the hallway, and content they wouldn’t take a tumble down the stairs, jumped onto his back and nipped his ear, laughing. “I just did, didn’t I?” he shot back before she jumped on him. “Ack!” He turned his head and growled, but did not try to dislodge her. “Now, now, princess,” he chided her, lowering his voice. “If you wanted me to carry
