This is a short story companion to the Avallac'h/OC tale Dance of Flames and picks up after CHAPTER 12. For the most part, this is a stand alone but eventually it will tie in here and there. I'll try to keep it from being too confusing. I'm a big ole SMUT fan so please be aware that yup, it's gonna be in here.
I love comments so feel free to express yourself. This is all in fun!
Secret
Music flitted through the maze of hallways before dancing through the door to a room which could be found in a constant state of upheaval. It wasn't too terribly grand in size but would have seemed a great deal more spacious if not for the loom placed where one might have a wardrobe. This left all color of dresses, shirts, breeches, shawls, sashes laid across every other surface. In place of books lining shelves, there were bolts of cloth, delicate paper patterns, and no less than three baskets of pins, needles, and threads.
Occasionally a well fed, well adored cat could be found ambling through the open window and curling up in the center of a bed covered in frilly pillows and handmade quilts.
Humming along to the music, Saeve Bláithín Taevis was laid down on her stomach, her arm stretched out under her bed in desperate need to bring out the bolt of cloth she'd been searching for near all morning. Biting her lip- her humming stopped, and she nearly laughed aloud at herself.
Saeve often forgot to use the tool that was magic for anything other than weaving. Remembering the summoning spell her youngest brother Devon had taught her, she finally had the cloth in hand and sat up with a satisfied grin. She was able to again enjoy the music Art, the second to the oldest of her brothers, often could be found playing.
Sitting on the rug with her prize still in hand, Saeve looked about for her next quarry. "Finn, did you take my scissors?" She called out to her third oldest brother over the music.
The sound of swords clashing came from the hall around the corner of her room and a moment later Finn and her other sword wielding brother, the oldest, Niall, came into view. They were handsome and energetic with their chestnut hair pulled back into mussed tails. The both expertly fenced as they neared her door.
"I braved the- oof close one Niall- chaos of your room for a pair of scissors yes." Finn replied, never taking his full attention from Niall as he watched for a flaw, a mistake in the others form.
Saeve sat there a moment, waiting for Finn to continue but he had once more thrown himself fully into the fight. She rolled her eyes. "Well? What did you do with them?" She was certain to add in an appropriate amount of sisterly sass to her tone.
"Ahah! In the garden."
Saeve's jaw dropped open in disbelief and she shot a quick glance to the open window above her bed. The garden lay on the other side. "Why?" She cried out.
"I was cutting flowers for Para!" Finn yelled in his defense.
"But why my scissors and why didn't you return them!"
"Saeve! Just go get them before I end up cutting off his arm!" Niall interjected with a snap.
"I wouldn't mind that at all right now!" Saeve snapped back but moved to her feet none the less and dropped the fabric on her bed. She adored her brothers immensely, but sometimes… she wanted to push them into the river that ran through their garden.
After the two moved their sword dance out of her doorway, Saeve flounced her way through her home, past Art strumming a song in the sitting room, past Devon nose deep in a book in their fathers' study, and nearly collided with her father as he came in.
"Ah Saeve. I just came in from the stables. The ribbons in Millie's mane? A lovely touch." Rion, a man of many centuries and minor lord beginnings and through expert work, earned his place as a well-respected Lord of the Horses, supplying the crown with well-bred horses.
All irritation toward Finn and Niall forgotten in the warmth of her father's praise, Saeve gave him a pleased grin. "Every lady in such a delicate condition deserves to be pampered."
"Indeed, that is so." Rion chuckled. "And this foal will be a gift to the new queen." He gave her a quick pat on her arm and continued into the manor.
Swinging her long chestnut hair over her shoulder to fan across her back, Saeve entered the garden with a proud spring in her step. She loved pleasing her father. He was a dedicated father and worked hard to build a life after her mother disappeared.
The morning dew still clung to the grass and petals and songbirds were happily singing along with Art's song drifting through the open windows. With hands on hips, Saeve surveyed the garden in search of her scissors. She wandered around the bushes and stepped over rows of tulips.
It was as she turned from the river that a curious object caught her sight. A little rowboat painted dark blue seemed to have caught the edge of their property. None in her family had any interest in boats, surely it was not theirs. She would have remembered one of her brothers going on about such an acquisition.
With a sigh, she realized she would have to investigate. Perhaps it belonged to a neighbor and there might be some clue to help narrow it down as to which one.
She had fully approached the vessel and stood there looking down inside for a full minute before her brain finally registered just what she had found inside.
A very large, very naked, and very ill looking male seemingly passed out if not dead. Long pale hair, matted with sweat covered his face, and it was only with a shallow breath teasing the strands that Saeve realized the man was still alive, if only just.
"Father!" Saeve cried out and dropped to her knees on the grass and reached out for the little boat, pulling it closer. With a shaking hand, she brushed the dirty hair from a handsome face of perfection she only recognized from paintings and felt her horror and panic triple.
"Yes button?" Rion called back from a window.
Saeve hesitated to answer, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts.
Why was he here? He had just been declared dead and interred. They said he was murdered but… perhaps he'd survived the attempt? Then who did they bury?
"Never mind!" She answered in a shaky voice. None of that mattered just then. The dead but secretly still alive King Auberon of the Alders wouldn't last much longer if she didn't see to him. Until she could speak to him, to see if his life were still in danger by his attempted murderer, Save had to keep him hidden.
For once, she remembered magic straight away and with a spell, levitated the dying man quickly from the boat and toward her window. She winced when she misjudged the angle and knocked his head on the sill.
When she finally had him at rest on her bed, Saeve found a wooden bucket to stand on and pulled herself through the window with an inelegant roll, her misplaced scissors forgotten. With a wave of her hand her door slammed closed and she collapsed into an exhausted heap next to the still very naked king in her bed.
"What the bloody hell am I to do know?" She groaned to Nesta, the orange tabby walking across Auberon's bare chest to curl up on his limp arm.