Hey, I'd like to say thank you to you all for reading and reviewing my fic.
It's great that so many of you are enjoying it! In response to some of the
reviews [cause it's not nice to leave ppl hanging (] :
To Victoria Wolf- of coarse I won't stop! LoL, I love writing this...
To xAllIz4Everx- yes, the book did say that Zane had heard from someone else that Danica had sung to his brother, but another paragraph in the book contradicts that statement [I can't remember where, and honestly it would take too long to look it up right now]. But anyway, when I come to the part where he says that he heard from someone about her singing I will explain why.
To Laura- I'm honestly trying to write faster but I've got quite a lot on my plate right now. I currently have about 10 summer reading books [8 college level] to read before August 15th, and honestly the only reason I'm updating now is because I'm up late [3:45am], feel guilty about not updating in so long, and can't stand to read another word of the crap they assign us...Grrrr. And finally,
To GriffinWings- I noticed too as I was writing that I couldn't put as much feeling into the last two chapters... The truth being that I wrote the first three completely out of my head; I just made it up because the first three chapters of the book don't even mention Zane. Now I'm to the point of the book where the dialog comes into play [even more constricting my control over the tone or mood], and the only thing I'm really being able to control are the thoughts. It's frustrating, trust me, and I'm defiantly trying to find a loop whole trough the entire forced dialog, but I can't alter it because that would mean I wasn't staying true to the book. ( Just bear with me and I'll figure out how to twist it up more, I promise.
Chapter 6
The next morning I awoke to Adelina standing above my mat.
"They're gone."
"Who are gone?" I asked groggily, still not exactly remembering where I was.
"The Avains, Ignorant cowards." I stood quickly and slapped her. Not too hard, but enough to let out my frustration of her attitude lately.
"Tolerance," I whispered, my lips close to her cheek so she heard more of my voice than my words. "Is an asset, be tolerant. And the Avains in time will. Do not, and I will do much worse than slap you." Her jaw locked as her pride seemed to slam into the ground. I loved her, true, but not enough to let her ruin this, she above all shouldn't be ignorant enough to ignore the fact that my intent to stop this war is greater than any of her kisses or irritated glares.
"I apologize."
"Fine then, wake my mother and tell her that we will be leaving shortly...I have something to take care of before we go."
It had been a half month since I had last seen Danica Shardea and I was beginning to believe that this woman must live in fear. What a horrible way to exist... She was tossing and turning under her infant soft quilt as I watched from her window. Even through the look of pain on her face she seemed to give off a radiance of beauty. Pure luminosity; gold, I could get trapped in all her dulled brilliance that seemed to make me breathe slower each time I gazed upon her.
I moved to her bedside, and stared at her smooth hair entwined with, what I believed to feel soft, feathers. Her eyes opened, catching me off guard and sending a chilling thought into my mind.
"Please don't scream." I asked, my voice sounding unfamiliarly tense.
"What do you want?" She commanded rudely, and sounded quite brave compared to the two other times I had spoken to her.
"I should think you would know that," Her expression looked aggravated, what was going on? She had never been this comfortable with me, always seeming jumpy and afraid ever when I looked at her...had it been an act? Or was this an act?
"You don't seem dangerous enough to warrant my mother dragging me out of Mistari camps in the middle of the night," Now she was making me want to smile. What a brave little hawk, so forward, much more pleasing than having her shake at the move of my finger.
"I don't?" I asked egging her on, and wanting to hear more. She stood and began pacing, "Danica are you all right?" She looked more distressed now than angry; more on the verge of screaming rather than arguing.
"Is there a reason I should be?" She snapped. I winced, the last thing I needed was for her guards to come in and find another reason to hate my people. Finding me in the princesses' quarters alone with her in her night clothes surely would not please them one ounce. "I just want to sleep. I don't want to dream because all I see then are the people I've lost, I don't want to smell the stench of death and decay and rotten blood. I don't want to hear the wet sputter of someone trying to breathe past pain. I don't want to see dieing children whenever I close my eyes. But I am nearly Tuuli Thea," Her voice lowered and sorrow filled her golden eyes. "And once I am that will be my entire life. War. Death. And I don't know how to stop it." My playfulness subsided and I found that I was indeed not talking to an actor, but the true Danica Shardea. I was listening to the real woman inside who had been as tortured as I in dreams and reality. I hadn't thought it possible until now for her beauty to subsist on the outside as well as within.
"If I knew how to grant that wish," I said after a pause, "I would have done so already, before this damn war had taken so many from me, too. Friends, lovers, family; I would have saved them all if I knew how. But if we both want peace I cannot believe that it is impossible to manage." She captivated me, and my breathing once again slowed. My hand reached out and I ran my finger tips through her thick hair and over the gold feathers, smooth as I had suspected. Without thinking of who this was, other than an amazing, strong, woman standing before me I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her forward slowly until her palms pressed upon my chest. Looking down at her, whose face normally caressed by light, was now etched in the mother moon's ray I lowered my lips to hers. Calm and sweet, her lips were, as we kissed. But time was running short. I broke away from my moon goddess and slipped my signet ring into her warm palm.
"Tomorrow afternoon, Danica. I will make sure the guards on the door are loyal and will let you in safely," I said in all seriousness as she gazed at me, mouth still slightly parted in shock. "We can't meet here in the open, you guard will kill me if they catch me—but I have enough control in the palace that we can make planes there... if you'll come." She nodded, and dropped her hand from my stomach to her side, clutching the ring. My breath caught again and I ran the back of my knuckles over her peach soft cheek and walked to the balcony. She sat back on her bed and I transformed into my cobra form, sliding into the dark night. My mind anxious for her want of peace, my senses anxious for her.
To Victoria Wolf- of coarse I won't stop! LoL, I love writing this...
To xAllIz4Everx- yes, the book did say that Zane had heard from someone else that Danica had sung to his brother, but another paragraph in the book contradicts that statement [I can't remember where, and honestly it would take too long to look it up right now]. But anyway, when I come to the part where he says that he heard from someone about her singing I will explain why.
To Laura- I'm honestly trying to write faster but I've got quite a lot on my plate right now. I currently have about 10 summer reading books [8 college level] to read before August 15th, and honestly the only reason I'm updating now is because I'm up late [3:45am], feel guilty about not updating in so long, and can't stand to read another word of the crap they assign us...Grrrr. And finally,
To GriffinWings- I noticed too as I was writing that I couldn't put as much feeling into the last two chapters... The truth being that I wrote the first three completely out of my head; I just made it up because the first three chapters of the book don't even mention Zane. Now I'm to the point of the book where the dialog comes into play [even more constricting my control over the tone or mood], and the only thing I'm really being able to control are the thoughts. It's frustrating, trust me, and I'm defiantly trying to find a loop whole trough the entire forced dialog, but I can't alter it because that would mean I wasn't staying true to the book. ( Just bear with me and I'll figure out how to twist it up more, I promise.
Chapter 6
The next morning I awoke to Adelina standing above my mat.
"They're gone."
"Who are gone?" I asked groggily, still not exactly remembering where I was.
"The Avains, Ignorant cowards." I stood quickly and slapped her. Not too hard, but enough to let out my frustration of her attitude lately.
"Tolerance," I whispered, my lips close to her cheek so she heard more of my voice than my words. "Is an asset, be tolerant. And the Avains in time will. Do not, and I will do much worse than slap you." Her jaw locked as her pride seemed to slam into the ground. I loved her, true, but not enough to let her ruin this, she above all shouldn't be ignorant enough to ignore the fact that my intent to stop this war is greater than any of her kisses or irritated glares.
"I apologize."
"Fine then, wake my mother and tell her that we will be leaving shortly...I have something to take care of before we go."
It had been a half month since I had last seen Danica Shardea and I was beginning to believe that this woman must live in fear. What a horrible way to exist... She was tossing and turning under her infant soft quilt as I watched from her window. Even through the look of pain on her face she seemed to give off a radiance of beauty. Pure luminosity; gold, I could get trapped in all her dulled brilliance that seemed to make me breathe slower each time I gazed upon her.
I moved to her bedside, and stared at her smooth hair entwined with, what I believed to feel soft, feathers. Her eyes opened, catching me off guard and sending a chilling thought into my mind.
"Please don't scream." I asked, my voice sounding unfamiliarly tense.
"What do you want?" She commanded rudely, and sounded quite brave compared to the two other times I had spoken to her.
"I should think you would know that," Her expression looked aggravated, what was going on? She had never been this comfortable with me, always seeming jumpy and afraid ever when I looked at her...had it been an act? Or was this an act?
"You don't seem dangerous enough to warrant my mother dragging me out of Mistari camps in the middle of the night," Now she was making me want to smile. What a brave little hawk, so forward, much more pleasing than having her shake at the move of my finger.
"I don't?" I asked egging her on, and wanting to hear more. She stood and began pacing, "Danica are you all right?" She looked more distressed now than angry; more on the verge of screaming rather than arguing.
"Is there a reason I should be?" She snapped. I winced, the last thing I needed was for her guards to come in and find another reason to hate my people. Finding me in the princesses' quarters alone with her in her night clothes surely would not please them one ounce. "I just want to sleep. I don't want to dream because all I see then are the people I've lost, I don't want to smell the stench of death and decay and rotten blood. I don't want to hear the wet sputter of someone trying to breathe past pain. I don't want to see dieing children whenever I close my eyes. But I am nearly Tuuli Thea," Her voice lowered and sorrow filled her golden eyes. "And once I am that will be my entire life. War. Death. And I don't know how to stop it." My playfulness subsided and I found that I was indeed not talking to an actor, but the true Danica Shardea. I was listening to the real woman inside who had been as tortured as I in dreams and reality. I hadn't thought it possible until now for her beauty to subsist on the outside as well as within.
"If I knew how to grant that wish," I said after a pause, "I would have done so already, before this damn war had taken so many from me, too. Friends, lovers, family; I would have saved them all if I knew how. But if we both want peace I cannot believe that it is impossible to manage." She captivated me, and my breathing once again slowed. My hand reached out and I ran my finger tips through her thick hair and over the gold feathers, smooth as I had suspected. Without thinking of who this was, other than an amazing, strong, woman standing before me I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her forward slowly until her palms pressed upon my chest. Looking down at her, whose face normally caressed by light, was now etched in the mother moon's ray I lowered my lips to hers. Calm and sweet, her lips were, as we kissed. But time was running short. I broke away from my moon goddess and slipped my signet ring into her warm palm.
"Tomorrow afternoon, Danica. I will make sure the guards on the door are loyal and will let you in safely," I said in all seriousness as she gazed at me, mouth still slightly parted in shock. "We can't meet here in the open, you guard will kill me if they catch me—but I have enough control in the palace that we can make planes there... if you'll come." She nodded, and dropped her hand from my stomach to her side, clutching the ring. My breath caught again and I ran the back of my knuckles over her peach soft cheek and walked to the balcony. She sat back on her bed and I transformed into my cobra form, sliding into the dark night. My mind anxious for her want of peace, my senses anxious for her.
