And yet another... R&R
~Crews~
Alys couldn't believe that Selendrile was flirting with yet another tavern girl. She sighed. Alys knew that she couldn't complain or voice her opinions on the subject because she was supposed to be playing his sister. Of all things. She could have played his wife, but no. Selendrile wanted to be able to flirt with whomever he wanted and he didn't want her in the way. There was also the possibility that he didn't see her that way. Depressed, Alys swallowed the remainder of her ale, slamming the mug down loudly.
"I'm going out," she told Selendrile. He had looked over at her with an annoyed expression when she had slammed the mug down. There was no way he saw her as more than a sister, or better yet, his property. She would just have to get over it.
"Fine," he replied immediately turning back to face the girl. "Where were we?" The whore giggled. Without another word, Alys got up and walked out the door.
"I'm so stupid!" she whispered as she tromped through the tall grass towards the barn they were spending the night in. "How could I love a fey? A dragon!?" Angry with herself, she marched through the big double doors and headed straight for the ladder that led to the loft. Once there, she curled up in the hay that served as her bed for the night.
How could anyone think that Selendrile was human? His long, unnaturally golden hair, his amethyst colored eyes and the way flashed different colors in the sunlight? Even the way he spoke gave him away as not human. Her kind were extremely stupid, Alys realized. Including herself.
She had fallen for the dragon that should have been her executioner, when she had thrown a rock in his general direction. At the time she had thought he hadn't seen her and the naivety of those thoughts made her laugh still. Of course he had seen her. He just hadn't cared. When that rock was thrown, she had peaked his interests and that was the first time she had seen Selendrile human.
In the stories she had been told since she was young, dragons were ruthless, and arrogant creatures who always wanted young maidens to snack on. True, Selendrile was mostly ruthless and arrogant, but he had saved her life. He had even helped her to retract her revenge on the people who had accused her as being a witch. Then she had helped save his life, and they had been even. Cutting that silver manacle off his wrist had been hard, but she had done it, and had pretty much blatantly told him that she would sacrifice her life for his.
Then he had ended up saving her, again, from more or less the same circumstances. Instead of waiting for a dragon to eat her, this time her town had decided to burn her for her witchcraft. But Selendrile had swooped in and saved her and had even asked that she stay with him. That's why she thought that maybe he felt something for her, that maybe something more than sibling love could manifest between them. But no.
Alys rolled over in the hay in disgust. No, all he liked to do was flirt with other girls every where they went. Every tavern, every inn. He never looked at her that way. Well, she amended, that's not entirely true. There had been that time when he had kissed her. Her heart had been beating so fast, she had thought that she would faint, but no. He broke it off quickly and had pretty much openly admitted that it had been an experiment. She really shouldn't have been so jumpy around him when he gotten so close. She knew that it had provoked him.
"Alys, why did you leave?" Selendrile's voice questioned in the darkness. Alys jumped and quickly spun around so that she could face the area were his voice had come from. She was used to Selendrile being able to move without making any noise, but she had been distracted. He knew she didn't like it when he did that and he also knew the answer to his question. He just wanted her to say it out loud. Sometimes she wondered just how much he hadn't known those first few days. Something about his ever calculating eyes just screamed that he knew more than he was willing to admit.
She didn't answer him, turning back over in her makeshift bed.
"Alys," he sighed. Sighing was definitely a human trait that he gotten from her. He purposefully shuffled his feet in the hay, letting her know where he was, as he made his way towards her. She curled herself into a ball, knowing that he would be able to see it. He kept coming towards her, stopping only to sit in the hay next to her.
"You know the answer," Alys mumbled in the dark. She felt his hands on her back and she suddenly wasn't curled up in the hay anymore. Instead she was now in a sitting position, facing what she could only guess was Selendrile's face. His hands holding her in place by the shoulders.
"Yes," he admitted and she could feel his breath on her face, realizing that he was closer than she had expected.
"Then why ask?" He hesitated.
"I want to hear you say it," he responded. His face seemed closer.
Alys sighed, closing her eyes. "Because," she began hesitantly, "I'm jealous." Once the word had forced its way passed her lips, she couldn't stop. "I'm jealous because you always flirt with other girls and treat me like your incompetent sister. I thought that when you asked me to come with you, you…" she abruptly paused, embarrassed by how much she had said.
Selendrile moved his left hand from her shoulder to her face, gently caressing her cheek. Alys felt her heart stop and rapidly start up again. What was going on? What was he doing?
She felt the proximity of his face as he moved closer, gently kissing her on the lips. She returned the kiss with more energy and she felt him tense with surprise. It took a lot to surprise Selendrile. Taking advantage of his shock, she threaded her fingers through his long hair and deepened the kiss, gasping when Selendrile also became more fervent. His hands left her face and shoulder, travelling to her lower back, pulling her closer towards him.
Sooner than Alys liked, he broke the kiss, but didn't move his hands from her back. Taking in a deep lungful of air, she tried to quiet her breathing as she stared at the place where she thought Selendrile's face was. It was still pitch black and she realized it couldn't be later than one in the morning.
"Go to sleep," Selendrile whispered softly. His breathing didn't seem to be affected. "I'll watch over you." He leaned back in the hay, pulling Alys with him until she rested in the crook of his arm.
A few minutes passed before Selendrile felt Alys' body loosen up, indicating that she had fallen asleep. He relaxed his own body as well, knowing that dawn was on the way and that he would have to leave her then so that he could change back into his natural form. But for the moment, he was content to have this intriguing human asleep in his arms. He let out a sigh of content as he closed his eyes.
