Cruel Fates
Chapter 7
By: Kiana Darkk
AN: ...No scary Author's Note this time. Sorry for disappointing you. I'm just going to notify you that we are making a time jump here. I am also introducing a new futuristically-speaking-important character! *Everyone clap and cheer.*
Ages:
Silvara-18
Damien-20
Jade-18
Sarai-19
Alex-21
Disclaimer: I do not own....yadda yadda yadda. I do own....blah blah blah. (Yanowatimsayan?) ((Hehehe. Try and decode that!))
~Terreille, Realm of Light~ *Silvara's POV*
Okay, so I'm eighteen now. So what? So I'm eligible to make the Offering. So what? It doesn't mean I have to. Since the threat of being broken right out of your Birthright decreased, most women have been taking their time in doing so. The only reason they made the Offering so quickly before was they were afraid of being broken.
Now there was hardly any threat that way. Occurrences like that are rare. Only one in every hundred girls got raped nowadays. So I had time, right? Wrong.
For me, time was running out. I had two years left until the countdown ended and I had to return to Kaeleer. To the Dea al Mon. If I wanted to be in control of myself and my powers when I arrived there the best thing to do would be to make the Offering now. Then take the two years left to adjust to my full power and to mentally and emotionally prepare myself. I knew that was the logical course of action.
But to follow through on this plan I would have to do one thing I was absolutely dreading. My Virgin Night.
Ugh. Just the words sent a chill down my spine. I did not want to do that. I was soooo not ready. Besides, who was I going to get to do it? Alex? May the Darkness be merciful if that ever came up in a conversation with Sarai. She'd probably kill me. Or at least try. No. Not him. Such a thing required knowledge and experience, and some measure of trust. I needed someone who knew what he was doing. That's when Sarai brought up the subject of visitors.
We were all sitting around in the sunroom of our newest domicile. Jade was sprawled on a lounge chaise, curled up contentedly with a book. She was, as usual, dressed in black pants, black heeled boots, and a black shirt. Sarai was sitting at the patio table, playing a game of solitaire. Her hair was still blond, except she and Jade had found some way to put in blood red streaks. Myself, well I was sitting on the window settee, picking at the fuzz on my pants and staring at the beautiful garden outside of the window. Which by the way, had been planted by our Circuit, and currently had a little bee sitting on a honeysuckle's petals.
Suddenly Sarai set down her card, and cleared her throat. Jade and I both looked up from our activities, and found Sarai with the most curious expression on her face. It looked like a cross between hesitant and the kind of happiness you get when you play a trick on a friend. "Ladies, I just thought I'd warn you...Tomorrow we are going to have another Circuit staying with us for a time-"
I interrupted her. Totally subconscious on my part, really. "Ah, so that's why you got a bigger place than usual."
"Um...yes," She looked a bit annoyed at the interruption, "Anyway, they'll be staying here for a bit, so I just thought I'd warn you."
"Well, who is it?" Jade asked impatiently. I knew she didn't really care if people came to visit. She just wanted to get it over with and get back to her book.
"Oh...Nathaniel's Circuit." At this Jade's jaw dropped open, and her eyes went wide and unblinking for a moment. Then the shock faded and her face became blank, neutral. That's when I realized what Sarai's glee had been about. Jade obviously knew this Nathaniel-- whoever he was-- and had some sort of history with him. What kind, I couldn't tell. I reminded myself to ask about this later.
"Oh." Jade said, then went back to reading her book. The look in Sarai's eyes was nothing but malicious glee.
I just shrugged and went back to picking lint and bee-watching. Who wants to watch birds when you can watch bees?
Later, after returning from practice, Jade and I sat in my room, being lazy bums. It was what we usually did in our free time. I realized this was the perfect time to bring up the subject of Nathaniel...But before I could, Jade started talking about my Offering.
"So are you going to?" She asked.
"Going to what?" I replied, furrowing my brows.
"You know, make the Offering." Jade had already made hers three months previously. Another vigil, another dark Jewel. Jade walked away wearing the Gray, a very good feat indeed. It matched her color scheme at least. Haha, get it? She wears all black, white, and gray? Her Jewel was the Gray? ...Nevermind.
"Yes. I am, but first I-" Jade finished off the last part with me. "Need to have my Virgin Night."
"-Need to have your Virgin Night." She smiled at me, "I'm sort of glad I got it done early. I didn't have to deal with that little preliminary beforehand."
We were both silent a moment, thinking. "So who are you going to get to pop your cherry?" She asked first. I was silent, not answering. Finally I just said, "I don't know."
"Hm..." Jade seemed to be thinking, "Nathaniel would be a good choice." I almost choked on my own spit.
"Are you kidding me? I don't even know this Nathaniel guy!" I cried, flinging a pillow at her. She caught it with reflexes that surprised even me, one of the Dea al Mon, the Children of the Wood, the hunters.
"Well you'll get to meet him tomorrow and you can decide for yourself. However, I can vouch, that he has had experience doing this sort of thing, because as the Circuit leader it is his job to see to it that the needs of the females in his group are met. And you know, sometimes there wasn't another male with a dark enough Jewel to take on some of the other chicks."
She wasn't done talking yet. "He's also very nice, and trustworthy. In a sort of guy-type fashion, he's attractive. He's also very professional. I think he'd be a good choice, darling. But it's up to you. Just meet him though and see what you think."
I thought about it and nodded slowly, carefully. I might as well consider it. What could it hurt, right? I remembered my question for her. I figured since we were sort of on the subject, I might as well ask.
"Say, how do you know Nathaniel?"
She squinted her eyes as she thought of how to explain things. To fill up the silence I babbled. "I mean, are you friends, are you enemies, do you like him, what?"
"Nathaniel and I are sort of...demi-friends. We... I can tolerate his presence, he can tolerate mine. We share a lot of the same views and opinions. He's a good conversationalist and is very respectful.That's the best way I can summarize it." While she'd been saying all this, she'd been gnawing at the corner of her lower lip, indicating some nervousness. Maybe there was more than she was saying?
Oh well. It didn't matter. I wasn't going to push her. I was going to consider this Nathaniel though. Tomorrow, I'd get the chance to meet him.
Jade left my room and tomorrow came all too soon. I was on my way downstairs for some breakfast when I heard a commotion in the hallway. Up until then I'd forgotten that another Circuit was coming. I followed the sound of voices only to see other members of our Circuit carting away bags and people, and showing them around. In the middle of it all were Sarai and Jade, standing next to whom I assumed to be Nathaniel.
Sarai was looking like herself, radiant and lovely. Jade, however, looked out of the ordinary. Oh, she was still wearing all black. What was weird was that her arm was entwined with Nathaniel's and they were smiling and talking animatedly.
Nathaniel. Jade was right, he was attractive. Hell, I'd even go as far as to say hot. He was a little over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a body to match. Straight burgundy hair was worn long and unbound, falling around a face that looked like it had been carved from marble. Strange chartreuse eyes looked out from the middle of it. Somehow, those odd eyes made everything come together and go from 'hot' to 'extraordinary.'
I also noted the Jewel he wore on a plain silver chain. Gray. Just like Jady's. Perfect.
I walked up to the trio and stood next to Jade. Pausing in their conversation, Nathaniel held out a hand in an informal greeting and said, "You must be Silvara." The smile he flashed was wide and jovial, filled with pearly white teeth. That's always nice to know. I didn't want to be sucking face with someone who had bad teeth.
"Well...yes, and you must be Nathaniel. It's nice to meet you," I said while shaking his hand.
That was just the beginning of my day, too. Well, it was a hectic day. We had almost twice as many people joining us for exercises, so I had to help out more than I got to learn. (Major suckitude.) I found that I actually did like Nathaniel as a friend, and thought he was quite attractive. But just in a friend way.
Every time I looked at him, visions of Damien would start to dance in my head, but I knew that was *so* not happening. Hey, you take what you can get. Just as we were about to go to bed I told Jade that Nathaniel would be perfect. She said 'I told you so,' and informed me that she would talk to Nathaniel about it. My answer was a meek 'okay.'
The next day Jade pulled me aside and said he'd do it. His only condition was that it be done tonight. Something about not wanting time to get nervous and think himself out of it. I asked her if he would be able to get it up if he were nervous. She just dismissed this with a wave of her hand and said, "Silvara. He was kidding."
So after a hectic day I went back to my room, took a shower, and got ready. Or was it unreadied? I had already done a spell to make sure that I wouldn't get pregnant, so I was all set.
Anyway, by the time Nathaniel came I had worked myself up into such a nervous flurry that I almost tripped over my own feet as I went to answer the door. I opened the door to see Nathaniel looking so cutely rumpled. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower, but he showed no outward signs of being nervous. In fact, his smile was relaxed and boyish.
"Silvara," he said in greeting and nodded his head.
"Hey, Nathaniel." I decided to just get some things off my chest right away. "Listen, I'm really nervous about this. I mean, obviously this is the first time that I'll be having sex, so it's a little weird. Especially with someone I just recently met. But if Jade okay's you, then it's got to be a great decision."
He chuckled in a friendly manner. "Believe me, there's nothing to be nervous about. After the first five minutes, it's all just instinct. Piece of cake. And I'd just like to say that it's an honor to be your decision. I know that it's weird sleeping with someone you hardly know, but trust me when I say, you're in good hands. ...Not to compliment myself or anything." He smiled at his own bad joke.
I laughed inside my head, while outside I just smiled. I was too nervous to do anything else. "Look," Nathaniel began, "Everything..." He paused, and I noticed that he was leaning down towards me, "Will be fine." After that he gently laid his lips across mine, and when I responded eagerly, he applied a little more pressure.
Come on, I'm eighteen. Did you honestly think that I hadn't been kissed by now? Just 'cause I hadn't gone all the way, doesn't mean I was totally chaste.
Happily, I took what he had to give, and when the pain came of him being inside of me, I hardly even minded it. I knew that there were worse things to experience, and he could've made it worse. But he didn't. Nathaniel was very careful and gentle throughout it all, but when I told him that I wasn't made of glass, he let himself go a little.
I ended up being glad that I'd let Jade talk me into this.
AN: ...Wow. I did a tasteful love scene. Applause for me. I mean, I've done love scenes before but usually they're sort of...graphic. This was more emotional. I'm so proud. So what did you think? Review please. The next part should be up soon.