Discoveries

[Topaz]

On Twilight Isle

The air hummed with voices of conversation and laughter when Topaz arrived on the isle that evening. Already two duels of magic were in progress and everyone there appeared to be in a good mood. The overall impression Topaz had was one of mild exhilaration. Even the goblins appeared to be in an above average wanting-to-please and giggly mood.

“Good evening Topaz.” Azjah was the first to have seen her. Topaz returned her greeting with a wide smile and proceeded to greet her other friends. Even though she could not see him, she felt Lucien’s presence, and that had nothing to do with her shielded senses or any magical influence.

“Good luck.” Topaz called to Azjah when she heard that Azjah was called to a ring. Topaz watched the duels for a while and enjoyed a cup of chocolate coffee. It had been very nice of Mory and ever so thoughtful to provide the goblins with the kind of coffee she liked best.

“Evening, Topaz.” Rena was sitting by herself. Good, the fairy thought, she’d been wanting to talk to her, and walked over to where she was sitting and joined her.

“Good evening Rena,” she returned the greeting with a smile, “How are you doing?” As usual, Rena avoided the question and instead invited Topaz to confide what she might.

“I’m waiting for tomorrow evening to hurry up and get here.” Took her up on the invitation in a confiding near whisper. “Lucien's supposed to be having the day off.” She hoped that was still true. “Yes, I think things are going well, too.” They certainly were, but Topaz was not immune to the little uncertainties that plaque most everyone when falling in love. “Most of the time anyway. When I'm not scared out of my mind. Good thing those moments never last long.” Rena agreed, and Topaz quickly changed the subject. “I heard you've challenged Tass.”

The change of subject had worked. Rena’s impeding challenge remained the conversation topic even after Azjah and Mory had finished their duels and joined them for a while. Topaz found her gaze drawn to a spot just behind Azjah more than once. Was that were Lucien was standing? She couldn’t be sure. Topaz only half-listened to the continuing conversation.

“Topaz, are you okay?” Rena asked into Topaz’s thoughts.

“Mmm? Yes, I'm okay. With a tendency for day-dreaming these days, sorry.” Topaz firmly pushed any thoughts of Lucien away.

“Nothing wrong with that, Topaz. And I take it your business went well last night?”

“Business?” Topaz tried to remember what business she was tending to the previous evening. “Retired Etherean, watched Jal officiate, went to sleep early.”

“Not you, Topaz...him.” Rena pointed to Mory. “Etherean retired?”

“Yes, after ten years of officiating, and he wouldn't even let me throw him a party or announce it on the boards. Rather sad, that.” That had gotten most everyone’s attention. No one seemed to like the news of Etherean’s retirement or the quiet way in which he had wished to go about it.

[Topaz]

Lucien had picked just that moment to fade into visibility, Topaz noticed with a welcoming smile and went to greet him, enjoying the way he had to appear to have eyes only for her. That was a far better compliment than anything he could have put into words, she thought.

“I did not mean to intrude.” She guessed that wasn’t what had kept him from showing himself any earlier.

“You are not.” The look with which he regarded her was searching for something.

“You left Rena.” He could just read her thoughts from her mind; she certainly wasn’t shielding her thoughts from him. But obviously he wasn’t doing so. Perhaps he was referring to that.

“Yes. Would you like an introduction?”

“If you would like.” Now his obsidian gaze slid between herself and Rena.

“I'd like for you to meet my friends. I'd also like to have you to myself.” If he wasn’t going to read her mind, she’d just have to think out loud more.

“As you like.” He motioned for her to precede him. But Topaz would have none of that and instead took his arm.

“Oh, come along. I'll introduce you.” He gave her a startled look, but did come along.
“Rena, I would like for you to meet a very special man. This is Lucien. Lucien, meet my friend and very good student, former Overlord and Baroness to be, Rena.”

Topaz watched Lucien as he bowed formally with a pleased smile and let go of his arm. “Good evening Rena. That is quite an introduction.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Lucien.” Rena extended her hand his way.

“You are a student of Topaz's?” Topaz didn’t like seeing him brush his lips across Rena’s knuckles at all.
“Yes, I am.” Rena turned in her seat and introduced Lucien to Mory. “I would like to introduce you to Moyrloch Silverwing. Mory, Lucien.”

Her timing could not have been to Mory’s liking; he had a mouth full of sausage and was in a hurry to rectify the situation. “Mory is also a good friend. We battled a picnic basket monster together.” Topaz sought to give him an extra moment to swallow.

“Och, pardon me.” The two men shook hands. “Pleased tae meet ye, lad.” A moment later everyone was seated, Lucien had slipped his arm around Topaz’s waist and she was leaning comfortable against him.

“You were correct again. The poem did have some answers. Thank you.” Topaz offered just as Lucien was waving over one of the goblins.

Topaz tried to listen to the conversation but they spoke too quietly for her to be able to make out the words. When his business with the goblin was done, he replied. “Your choice in poetry is telling Topaz.” His remark sparked her curiosity, but the goblin already returned with Lucien’s order; beer for Rena, and a glass of wine for Topaz.

The wine had a rich, golden color. The color and almost the syrupy consistency of the wine told Topaz it was of the very best even before Lucien commented, “Coffee is not as enjoyable as a fine white dessert wine.”

The fairy beamed a smile to him as she accepted the glass. “How did you guess? Would you like to test the bouquet?” He did.

“It should be a good year.” He returned the glass.

“I will let you know in a moment.” Topaz took a slow sip, then another smaller one, and generally took her time about making up her mind as to just how good a year it might be. At length she turned her light blue gaze up to Lucien and waited until it was answered by Lucien’s midnight colored one. “It is indeed a very good year, and getting better. The wine's very good too.”

“Nae t' steal ye away from company an' such, bu' I believe I owe ye dinner somewhere private? Away from th' noises.” Topaz overheard Mory invite Rena. Perhaps Jal had seen something she herself had missed when she’d assumed a few days ago that were already going out together. Then again …

“And I thought we were talking about the wine.” He replied with a small smile.

“I thought we were talking about layers.” Answered with a flirtatious wink.

[Topaz]

“Ah yes. The complex ambiance.” There certainly were a lot of those and Topaz suspected that there was a lot on his mind he wasn’t saying.

“I am glad you decided to show yourself.” Topaz remarked just before wishing Rena and Mory fare well. They were ready to leave for dinner.

“How could have denied your wish?” He said once they were seated again. But he had already told her he wasn’t peeking into her mind.

“I was wishing, wasn't I? The magic must have been staying then.” His dark eyes gave away nothing. “I'm glad they did.”

“They seem not to mind going to ground.” Topaz took that for a positive sign and again leaned against him.

“How have you been since the desert? I'm sorry I fell asleep.” She wondered at the flutter in her belly as he slid his fingers through her hair and tilted her face up to him. “Is it possible that anything will keep you tomorrow?”

Topaz wondered if he had heard her question and waved a greeting to the Arch mage who had just arrived, when Lucien inquired, “Will you be there?” At her positive reply he added, “Then it will be a fine evening.”

But the dark clouds forming over the rings kept Topaz from enjoying his words as much as she might have. They worried her. She had paid little heed to what Azjah was doing, but obviously Lucien wasn’t neglecting his duties, no matter how much it appeared that his attention was on Topaz alone. Though she admired his skills, she didn’t like this. She didn’t believe the deliberately innocent look he was giving her either as lightning ripped earthward from the largest of the clouds, almost striking Brigath.

“What time shall I come for you?” Though the clouds did not disappear, she was happy to let him know that she would be there by late afternoon. “I will join you then as soon as possible.” His answer suited her well, she thought as she picked up the glass.

“This is acceptable then?” He gave her a fanged smile as he indicated the wine.

Topaz took a sip before nodding, “More than just acceptable. Thank you very much.”

She was mesmerized when he reached over and touched his fingertip to the wine’s surface, and then traced her lips. “Good.” He said out loud what she was thinking. She licked the wine from her lips, still tingling from his touch.

“I have a view of all the towers from the Citadel. Why do you think Topaz wants it so bad?” Topaz blushed. It took her half a moment to realize that Will was talking about the citadel rather than commenting on her private thoughts. And there was that rolling thunder again. Topaz almost groaned. What had Brigath done now? But Lucien wasn’t looking at Brigath, he was looking at Will.

“The citadel is indeed a fine place.” She could breathe again. This man had way too much an effect on her. She whispered “You should do that again sometime more private.” Then continued in a more normal voice. “I'd love to be able to call it mine again for a while.”

“Then why do you not take it back?” He wanted to know and also promised he’d bring a bottle of that wine with him tomorrow.

“I've been trying. But Will keeps winning whenever I finally get far enough to challenge him. I can only beat him when he's having a bad day. A whole bottle? You would not try to make me tipsy, would you?”

“Are you subject to such?” She was, but not from just one bottle of wine, no matter how heady a wine it was. Not that he’d need wine, his caresses were plenty enough to make her feel light-headed.

Topaz enjoyed the light-hearted banter back and forth that followed. Until he asked if he should bring anything else, food perhaps. That question sent a warm shiver down her spine and brought the butterflies back to fluttering in an instant. She’d not had dinner yet, either. “You are making hungry.”

“You have made me hungry for days.” He looked hungry, too, she thought, or at least the way he looked at her was and she wasn’t at all sure if she should like that or not.

“Oh, look, Azjah is dueling again.” But she kept her eyes on him.

Lucien in turn leaned in closer and she felt his teeth graze her throat. “You have. Very.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She kept her mouth firmly shut to prevent herself from saying something else extremely stupid that he would only be mistaking for a further challenge, and tried hard to keep from melting entirely. She reached for the glass again and took a sip. That did not make for any kind of protection from his charms, though, especially not when he brushed his fingertips along the lower edge of her already quivering wings. She kept the glass in her hand.

“You seem at a loss for words.” Speechless was not usually a word used to describe the fairy, but it would have fitted now.

There was a lot she wanted to say, but not here. “And I wasn't even cold to begin with.”

He took the glass from her hand. “Tell me about where we are going tomorrow then.”

That she could do. “Deep into Darkenwood Forest. To lake with a mossy beach, an old willow and a little waterfall.” She took a deep breath, and tried to see her forest the way he might. “No people, fae or otherwise.” She answered his question of who else might be there before describing the place further, “Not even any of the larger game. But you will find fae magic in abundance there. It can look and feel very beautiful, it should do so even gray in gray.” He gave a shrug. “Most of the time the water is smooth, not unlike the dance floor you made for us, twinkling the stars back at the sky.” She smiled. “I am sure you will like the willow, too. She sounds like she's whispering in a strange soft language, even when there isn't a breeze to move her leaves. I like listening her and the waterfall talk with ach other, even if I can't make out a single word.”

[Topaz]

“The old willows sing with or without a breeze. They can lull you to sleep if you let them.” Topaz had allowed the old tree to do just that many times in the past. View people could comprehend why she would prefer to stay in the forest to sleeping in a soft bed. Lucien sounded like he might.

“What do you intend to do with that glass?” He was still holding it when she asked but quickly set it down onto the table now.

He kept his idea a secret with a low velvet laugh. “Nothing in public.”

“You know, I'll be wondering about for quite some time.” Topaz tried to make light of his reply that wonder had its appeal. “It might even keep you from growling like rolling thunder.” Lucien glanced up at the dark cloud that hovered over the rings. “Of course, now reminded you that you may have wanted to do that. But the temptation to tease you was just too - well, too tempting.” She chuckled softly.

“I can pinpoint hit most anything with lightening, would you like a demonstration?” That truly was not necessary, she had seen the earlier demonstration for Brigath’s benefit and she well remembered the lightning strike a few days ago when he had tried to keep her from wandering off too far along with his use of them when they had battled the liches. She let him know that much with a smile as sweet as sugar.

He accused her of not liking lightening, and though that was certainly true of lightning close by, that wasn’t the entire truth. “It is not that I do not like it at all. I very much dislike anyone or thing getting hurt by it by accident though. I have a very high respect for it. And it does come in handy in your line of work. I also do enjoy watching a good lightening show, so long as it is off in the distance.”

“We should take you flying into such a storm.” Lucien suggested.

“Into?” Topaz considered that a very bad idea. “I have no death wish stashed away anywhere.”

“As mist, you will revel in the power of the storm.” He persisted.

“Unlike what some may believe, I can't be mist.” And she very much doubted that she would revel in any kind of power.

“Yes you can, with me to guide you.” Lucien was not going to give up on the idea.

“Really?” Perhaps the experience wouldn’t be all bad. Swirling like the mist over the lake certainly was appealing to her. “I might like swirling through a tree like mist, then.”

“Think of the power of the storm, the raw energy and what it would be like to become a part of it.” That, however, had no appeal at all to her. But Lucien appeared as excited about it as she had ever seen him be about anything.

“I've been in the presence of raw power before. It wasn't all good and rather overwhelming. But I can see what of it appeals to you.” He handled a lot of power every day, and practiced restraint in its use. Yes, he certainly would love to move around in unbridled raw power.

“I wasn't all good and I was rather overwhelming? I don't know how I should feel about that, Topaz.” Will’s comment offered way too many suggestions, and all of them wrong.

“Not you, Will.” She chuckled. “And you ought to feel neutral about that.” Will might wield a lot of power, but he was no god that could create or destroy worlds with a single thought.

“He needs to be very neutral about it.” Lucien’s quiet words sounded almost like a hiss.

“He is just teasing. We're on the same dueling team. Is there dueling in your world, Lucien?”

“No.”

“But you do know how to wield a blade.” It wasn’t a question. She had seen him in action with a blade. “It might be fun to have you as a sparing partner for practice. I might be able to learn a new trick or two from you.” They talked about dueling and weapons for a while, a fairly save topic, Topaz found.

Azjah informed Lucien that she was going home. Lucien promptly rose to leave, but took the time to bow over Topaz’s hand. “I must say good night.”

She would have to ask him why he so doggedly pursued this notion that he was Azjah’s body guard. She suspected there was more to it than Azjah having helped his prince with some research in the past. “Have a good night, Lucien.” Topaz doubted that he noticed the missing smile, he was gone so fast.

[Lucien]

He woke long before the sun was due to set on this longest day of the year. He felt each slow second as the sun traversed the blue sky overhead. He laid in the welcoming earth and felt restless. That was not something he was used to feeling.

At length, he rose a bit earlier than usual, and felt immediately the stabbing needles in his eyes as he left the sanctuary deep beneath the Palazzo. Gabriel remained asleep as he prowled the darkened rooms. He could not go into the light, but he could plan his greeting to the tempting faerie.

As soon as his ancient body could bear the sun, he left the Palazzo. He traveled as the mist, blending into the clouds where he could, suffering the sun where he could not find a cloud to fly through. He followed her trail using the bits of magic that had been with him for several days now. This would be so much easier with the blood exchange accomplished, but he had so far found her unerringly using less direct means.

As they entered the forest, he felt the magic of the place, and knew it could fight him, but was not. Keeping the form of mist, he flowed through the trees with ease, snaking around the tree trunks just above ground level. The sun was quickly lowering, and the stabbing needles sensation slowly abated.

Swirling bits of magic had followed, and even congregated in his vicinity, but otherwise provided no resistance to him. The bits that had been with him seemed to communicate with the other bits that felt like Topaz, and yet did not. He slowly solidified as he reached the place he had assumed was a clearing, but closer inspection revealed it to be a canopied void in the dense forest. The great willow whispered, and the playful murmur of a small waterfall could be heard beyond the green wall of willow leaves.

His approach was silent over the mossy ground, but he left not so much as a footprint in the soft mosses. The only sounds were those of the waterfall and the whisper of the willow beneath which he now stood. His faerie lay in repose, asleep and relaxed. Her face at peace, and he listened then to her heartbeat. It sang to him. The steady beat of her heart, the flow of her blood through her veins brought a tightening to his body.

He knelt beside her, his hands hovering above her delicate collar bones, but not touching, and as he did so, he brushed past the outer edges of her aura. She woke then, slowly, taking a deep breath before opening her eyes and smiling up at him. He then took the opportunity to actually stroke her warm skin with his cool touch. His own voice sounded strangely different in his own ears until he realized he had lapsed into an earlier time, when his accent in Common was stronger, more pronounced. The ancient Romanian wanted to rule his pronunciation, and he did not fight that.

What followed was an evening of constant restraint for him. She fit in his arms as though she had been made for him alone. She tasted of spices and wildness softened by sweet herbs and flowers. And he'd made a fateful mistake. He had given in to tasting her blood. That had nearly been his undoing. He wanted more. He needed more. Every cell in his body screamed at him to say the ritual words and bind her to him…. But he could not. Not yet.

[Lucien]

His withdrawal and apology had upset her much more than she had let on. Nothing he had done to bring back her beautiful languor had worked. As he returned to the Palazzo, his mind went over and over that evenings events, but he could not see where he had given her cause for such distress. Well, other than having taken her blood. Had that been what had caused her chill shift?

She was his mate. There was no doubt about that. He saw color for the first time in over 1700 years. Only the one true mate could bring about that change for him. His body demanded that he make her his, to say the ritual words to bind them together, and yet he could not. If he did that, she would be tied to him for eternity. And that might mean making her a creature of the night, which is something she might not survive.

He could not take her blood again. He could not.

Colors flashed beneath him so brightly it hurt his eyes. She admitted she was worried about a lot of things, and then had the temerity to yell at him for taking the first risk by savoring her blood in a one way exchange. She had said, " So, let me get this straight, it's okay for you to risk going up in flames, but whatever you think might happen to me is not okay to risk? What benefit do you think one has without the other?" He smiled then.

He had tried to diffuse the situation by getting her to swim with him in the lake, but even that had not restored her easy humor. Even in his arms she had now grown more distant. He wanted to make her his and lock her away, but that would not work, and neither would making her a creature of the night. Which was a potential outcome. No one had tried this with a magical creature before. Who knew whether she would survive the conversion process; and if she did survive it, how far into his world would she be pulled?

She had asked him how he felt, whether her blood had any ill effects upon him. It was with a wry smile he realized that her blood had only hooked him into wanting more. That the ill effect was realization that he now saw color, and felt things he had not felt in 1700 years. He only had three options now. Which one was the right one?

In one sense, she seemed to want the binding ritual. She accepted him as a creature of darkness, but on the other, she had told him there were things in the daylight world that she could not give up. He could do his best to live in her world and lose his powers with time. It would render him useless to the Prince, and to the Marchioness. He could do the honorable thing and walk into the sun before he did any more damage. He was old. Older than most of his kind.

He needed to talk to Gabriel. As he entered the Palazzo, he reached out for his brother.

[Topaz]

Topaz had spent the night after their meeting on the isle with thinking and day-dreaming rather than sleeping, and her morning was a busy one. As soon as she had been able, and that was right around lunchtime, she had left the Beacon and went to Darkenwood Forest, dropping her in- town defenses on the way. In the woods she was better protected without them, and once she was inside the part of the forest that she considered hers, she didn't need any defenses at all.

Under the willow the air was surprisingly cool, comfortably so. She made herself comfortable against its trunk and listen to the song of the leaves, her mind on what this solstice evening may bring. When she felt sleepy, she asked her magic to wake her before Lucien arrived. Before long she was asleep.

The sentient magic decided that the fairy needed every minute of sleep she could get, she would not get any more in quite a while. And it certainly wasn’t going to hurt to have Lucien wake her up instead.

When the sun lowered toward the Western horizon the mist that was Lucien swirled through the air, gliding through the trees just above ground level. The magic that guarded the fae place would have re-directed any non-fairy’s senses to simply not notice it being there, but not so with Lucien. To him the magic guard – akin to Topaz’s magic but not of her - was a barely felt, but welcoming touch.

The mist slowed in its streaming flight and Lucien solidified at the edge of the mossy ground. He had expected to find a clearing, but it wasn’t. He had approached the place from the forest side and had found well hidden from view by trees and thick underbrush. What he had first mistaken for a clearing was canopied by the leaf-laden branches of an old, but brimming with the sap of life, willow. Though he sensed the sky overhead, he was sure he would not see it were he to look up.

But he wasn’t looking up. His black eyes found and settled on the fairy the instant he had arrived. He had paused to watch her a moment. She was wearing the same dress he’d become used to seeing her in, and her delicate wings were not hindering her in the least while she was sleeping. Now, his approach was silent. The luscious moss did not even bear his footprints as he neared her, studying everything about her in repose, the way her hair curled around her face, the gentle arch of her brows, the straight line of her nose, the gentle hint of a smile on her rosy lips, the pulse in her throat, the rise and fall of her chest with the even breaths of sleep. He paused beside her, the playful splash of a waterfall murmuring from somewhere beyond the curtain of green added music to his study.

Lucien knelt, his fingertips reached into the aura surrounding Topaz and hovered over her collar bones. The rise and fall of her breath fascinated him. Her heard her blink her eyes open and watched the change in the rhythm of movement that came with deeper breaths. When he lifted his eyes back to her face, he was greeted by a warm and welcoming smile and a soft look that was like a gentle caress.

"Good evening vision of mine" The lilt of his accent more pronounced tonight. He then lightly traced her collar bone with his fingertip. A breath caught in her throat and for a moment the movement under his finger stopped.

"Good evening, Lucien." Her voice is still held some of the heaviness of sleep and something else. His touch had gone under her skin before she had felt his fingertip trace her skin. Her senses were awake even while she was sleeping. She reached up as he slowly wrapped his arms around her and lifted her to him.

“I apologize for waking you.” His breath was warm against her throat. “You appeared to be so peaceful.”
"The magic was supposed to wake me before you arrived." More awake now, she was surprised that the magic had not acted as desired.

Lucien slid one hand through her hair, letting it slide like fine silk through is fingers. “They understand that you required the rest.”

It certainly had not taken him long to put a flutter in her belly. "You seem to know them well already."

“We are growing accustomed to one the other.” He swept her into his arms and settled more comfortably against the willow with her on his lap.

"Enough so to risk a kiss?" Her fingers found the tie in back that restrained his hair and gave it a tug.

Lucien quirked a brow at her, certain she would not have said anything like that had she been more awake. “There is danger in that.”

His black eyes held her gaze while he let her untie his hair, then comb her fingers through it.

“Yes.” Far more than he guessed, too. “But there's more to it than just risks.” She drew a strand of ebony black over his shoulder and took a deep breath. She might as well tell him what she knew. But then his lips brushed against hers, cool and soft, and the words that had just formed in her mind dissipated.

[Topaz]

“What more is there? You worry about compatibility, and how your magic will blend or harmonize or fight with my own.” His words were soft, too, part of his kiss. His lips had not left hers.

“A bond.” His lips were still nibbling at the corner of her mouth. “A link.” She found it difficult to put her voice to the answer. “It doesn't work when I want it to and it works when I don't want it to. Or so it appeared so far.”

His fingers gently stroked along her shoulder and back along the collar bone, his path paused over her pulse. He enjoyed how easily he could distract her and the changes his touches worked in her breathing and the delicate tremble of her wings against his arm. With velvet laughter he replied, “I believe you said you do not command or control it, but that you must ask.”

“Aye, and as you just witnessed they still have their own little minds. They are what keeps me alive. They will not listen to anything I say when they think I need protecting.” She had to stop to hide the really important pieces of information, as she was so used to doing, in-between lesser ones, she admonished herself.

“And so they believed you safe enough to permit my entry.” Entry to her sanctuary, but she had explained to them why it was a good idea to let him come here. It was not necessarily an agreement for more. He slid a nibbling kiss along her jaw line and, restraining himself, paused over her pulse. He listened to her heartbeat beneath his mouth with closed eyes.

“During kissing, and even more so lovemaking, they move from one body or soul to the other – an exchange of magic energy, even if it is not their kind, forming a connection. They'll only return when they think they need to in order to keep me alive." She hurried through the words and paused briefly when she had managed to repeat the important information previously hidden in what he already knew. “Then we'd both know what the other's feeling, all of it, little and big, surface and deep.” His kiss was too distracting. She knew she had forgotten to mention something else rather important.


The tip of his tongue swept once over her pulse before he opened his eyes and nuzzled her earlobe. “So they enhance what both partners feel?”

She had left out that part, too. “And though it probably eventually won’t matter, souls can actually touch, even sink into each other, rather than just being linked, at certain times.”

Topaz felt his slow smile rather than saw it. “Carpathians are in one another's mind, we can feel everything the other feels...” His hair slid over her shoulder and throat.

“It's magic of light.” She sighed softly, relieved that she had touched on every detail. Though she wondered if ‘certain times’ had been understood in the way she had meant the words.

His fingers slowly threaded through her hair then slid down along her spine as he nipped her ear lobe lightly. “Tell me what you want Topaz. The risk is something that preys upon you.”

She snuggled closer to him and guessed that she was asking for something impossible. “Insurances, I guess.”

His black velvet laugh surprised her. He did not sound concerned in the least. “Are there ever any?” He brushed his lips at her temple.

“No. But I never before cared this much.” That was more true than she had suspected, she knew as soon as she had said the words. She did care more than ever before. The realization took the blush from her face his caresses had put there.

His arms tightened slightly around her. “I brought the wine.... but I find my arms too busy to pour you a glass. So you propose to test out this insurance by testing my blood.”

“Wine - I do believe I'd like some. Perhaps I can hold the glass? Yes. Though now I'm not so sure any more that I want the answers.” She strung the words together all in one breath.

Lucien smiled a slow smile that exposed the long canines. “But you are assuming I desire to let you go in order to pour the wine.”

“T'would only be for a moment.” She gave him a flirtatious smile. It wasn’t so much the wine she wanted but a break from his dizzying attentions. “And would so like to find out what you had wanted to with the glass when no one was looking.”

“Ah yes.” He gave a low chuckle and reached for the bottle that had not been there but a moment ago, and a stemmed glass. “If you would hold this?”

“My pleasure.” He handed her the glass once she had removed an arm from around his neck. Topaz watched with curious admiration as he looked at the cork in the bottle – it actually vanished – and then filled the glass half way with the pale amber liquid.

“Trockenbeerenauslese,” he announced, “I brought the same year as what you had last evening.”

“That was the very best wine I had in a very long time, perhaps ever.” He returned her smile.

[Topaz]

“It was sweet enough to fill the desire to serve you a dessert, but last evening, I forgot that such a wine needs a bit of cheese and fresh fruit.” The infliction he put on ‘desire’ never failed to elicit a flutter in her belly.

“It doesn't really. Only if one missed out on dinner.” She answered with a soft chuckle and then tenderly brushed her warm lips over his cheek. That much she knew to be absolutely safe. She did want a lot more, though.
Lucien set the bottle down, took the glass from her fingers and dipped his finger tip into the wine, a drop clinging to him as he trailed it over her lower lip. He set the glass next to the bottle and leaned over her then, the tip of his tongue traced where he'd left the hint of the wine. His voice was soft. “This is what I wanted to do.”

“More.” The word was a breathless sigh.

He smiled and retrieved another drop of the pale amber liquid, sliding it over her top lip this time, followed by the velvet brush of his tongue. His was even softer now. “Be careful my irresistible fae one.” His warning kept her lips from parting. He trailed the golden droplet along her throat, tracing the artery there. He paused for long look into her eyes, and then slowly slid his tongue over the artery, and a tremor rippled through him as he felt her pulse quicken.

“Lucien?” She asked softly, holding absolutely still.

If he breathed, he'd take a very deep breath before lifting his head and looking at her. She slid her fingers into his hair and brought his lips to hers, kissing him fully. His lips melted against hers, slightly cool but mobile. When her lips parted he deepened the kiss, tasting her and the wine. The fluttering of wings in her belly turned into something else and much warmer altogether. He snaked a hand into her hair and pulled her closer with the other, delving into the hot velvet of her kiss. Topaz settled against his chest as if she had always belonged there. He broke the kiss then and nibbled at her jaw once more.

“Your heartbeat sings to me.”

The longer their kiss had lasted the more she had enjoyed it, for certainly it must mean that the magic agreed that they should be doing just that. “I like that.”

“It can be so much more.” He gave a soft rumbling chuckle.

“More? Can you control your magic once it left your body?”

With the blood bond, you would feel what I feel, and I would feel what you feel, and that bring about a whip of lightening racing through your body.” A slight tremble rippled through him when Topaz untangled a hand from his hair and placed her palm against his chest.

“Perhaps getting struck by that sort of lightning isn't so bad. I'm sure there are worse alternatives.” The humor was a dark, but it was humor nonetheless.

Lucien closed his eyes and crushed her to him. Rather than feeling crushed she found that was just way she had been wanting him to hold her and she hugged him back just as fiercely. He delved into a keep kiss, never letting her go for a moment or an eternity, before he slid his lips down along the column of her throat. He nibbled a moment and hovered over her artery before he sank his teeth into the precious fluid. White hot lightening arced between them, and then was followed by sheer ecstasy.

The sound she made was even softer than a sigh, and in no relationship to what was happening. His body screamed at him, demanding he claim her, speaking the ritual words - but he pulled away, closing the wounds his teeth had made in her throat. He dropped his head against her shoulder struggling for a semblance of control before speaking. “Forgive me.”

Though Lucien had spoken softly the words stunned her. She wanted to make him take them back. But he didn’t. She wondered had happened that worked such a sudden change in him. “Whatever for, Lucien?”

“For taking that liberty with you.” He raised his head. “Your blood tempted me, and I could not resist.”

She had practically invited him to, and now he was sorry – that did not sit well with her. “Would you like for me to apologize for kissing you?”

He quirked a brow at her. “NO!”

“Oh good.” She chuckled softly, but the mood had changed irrevocably. “I doubt I could make that sound sincere, even if I were to try really hard.”

“I knew you worried about being bitten, and I did it anyway.”

“I was worried about a lot of things, still am.”

“You tasted a little too good by the way.” His smile regained some of the warmth. “It was very, very hard to stop. I will not do so again until you are prepared and willing.” Lucien scooped her up in his arms and stood. “Show me the waterfall please.” Then he froze.

“I believe we'd both know by now if I had been unwilling.” She wanted to be angry at him, as angry as his reaction had hurt, but she couldn’t. Something in it all struck her as amusing, though she could not explain to herself what should be so funny.

[Topaz]

“Topaz?”

“Yes, Lucien?”

“Your eyes are blue.”

“Of course they are.” She had told him what color her eyes were.

“No, I am seeing them as blue.” He touched her lips, “pink.”

“Really? That is wonderful!” But he didn’t appear appropriately excited about being able to see colors. “It is wonderful, isn't it?”

His black eyes locked with hers. “I never thought to find my other half, the missing half to my soul.”

So that was it. He really had not guessed. Stubborn man, blind to so much more than just colors until a moment ago. Topaz chuckled quietly, “I hope you are thinking of me when you say that.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “This explains a lot.” Then hugged her tightly to him. “But, now what do I do with you? I cannot take you to ground with me.”

He looked to expect an answer, but Topaz could not think of one. “What would you like to do with me?”

“Bind you to me here and now, and lock you away somewhere safe!”

Why did he have to mix a marriage proposal with something so horrifying? “I'd not be happy locked away. And I'm sure someone would send a search party after me if I'd just disappear.”

Lucien gave a black velvet laugh. “But, they would never find you, and I knew you would not like that idea. But these do not solve this. He walked toward the sound of the waterfall.

“What isn't solving what?” Topaz was confused by more than just what he said.

“My people would simply bind their mate to them using words that are instinctual rather than learned, and yet, I cannot do that to you.” He kept walking, right into the lake, then simply pushed the willow’s branches aside and stepped through the curtain of leaves.

“I was rather looking forward to vows that cannot be undone.” Topaz still was trying to comprehend what he was trying to say.

He lifted a black brow at her. “I cannot foretell how the blood exchange will work between us.”

“I cannot foretell that.” She repeated his words. Of course neither of them could. He knew that before this evening.

He stopped walking. “Come swim with me.” Topaz slipped out of his arms and into the water. “That is why I cannot bind you to me.” He reached for her before she could swim off. “I meant as a fish.”

Topaz turned her bright blue eyes on him with an old fashioned look. “You didn't perchance loose your mind along with gaining the sight of colors?”

He gave her a slow smile. The man was really trying her patience. How could he be smiling when he was telling her reasons for why they could not be together like they should be? “Take my hand.” Topaz automatically placed her hand into his. “Keep the image of a fish in your mind, picture the scales, the gills, picture the tail and fins pulling you through the water. See every detail in your mind's eye.”

He really was trying her patience. This was definitely not the time for a magic lesson. On top of that she hadn’t yet made up her mind yet if to be hurt or angry at all these ups and down of the last half hour. “So, let me get this straight, it's okay for you to risk going up in flames, but whatever you think might happen to me is not okay to risk? What benefit do you think one has without the other?”

Lucien paused and studied her for long moments. “Topaz, I am a creature of the night. What if by binding you to me I take that away from you? Are you willing to bind yourself to me and risk everything?”

“Take you away from me? Wasn't that exactly what you just risked?” Of course she had no particular wish to die, not any more than she wanted to see him go up in flames.

Lucien pulled her into his arms again. “You fit here like you were made only for me. You taste like nothing I have ever had before, and cannot get enough of, you brought color into my world after 1700 years, but Topaz, what if I take the light away from you by making you mine?”

She took a couple of deep breaths before answering. Perhaps all that was enough for him now, but it wouldn’t be for long. And she’d much rather that he think things through, preferably with her, as opposed to just acting the next time he found restraint more elusive. “I’ve never done this before,” obviously, “so I can't know an answer for that. But it strikes me as awfully stupid and highly unlikely for the powers that be, and considering what the word Carpathian means, that may well be Mother Earth, to go through all the trouble to send half a soul this way however many hundred years ago, then allow you to find it, to then only laugh at you and tell you that you can’t have it.” That sounded very logical, she thought with a satisfied smile. “Fairy's are about fulfilling wishes, not about denying them.”

[Topaz]

Lucien buried his face against her neck and shoulder with a groan. “You tempt me Topaz, to make this the time and place to bring you into my world.”

Tempting him had not been her intention. “I do agree with you that right this moment may not be the wisest choice,” It would have been, in fact, a rather stupid moment, “but I can't let you get away with making it sound like it'll never happen.”

Lucien crushed her to him and his lips met hers. “How can I stay away knowing this?”

“Silly, you're not supposed to stay away. Obviously there's something more to this that you've not told me yet. I'll race you to the waterfall, as soon as you let me go, of course. You have that long to think of how to tell me.” She finished with an impish wink.

Lucien accepted the challenge with a slow smile. “You cannot win. “ He dropped her abruptly, shape shifted into a barracuda and made for the waterfall.

Topaz dove beneath the surface with a chuckle. It didn’t matter that she could not win this race. Even if he didn’t need the time to think, she certainly did need the time to sort through her mixed feelings. But though she took her time swimming across the lake, the lake just wasn’t big enough to sort through everything on the way.

When she got close, she saw the Lucien-fish swimming circles around the foaming base of the waterfall. The water was crystal clear, and the star light reflected in the silvery scales. It looked a lot like impatient pacing to her.

When she finally stood up on the ledge under the waterfall, the Lucien-fish darted out from behind the foaming base of the fall and nipped her, behind the knees first and when she was reacting at her toes. Now Topaz went after the tryst fish. As soon as she got eye to eye with the fish – it had black eyes just like Lucien – it kissed her, shifting back into Lucien before she could pull away.

They surfaced next to each other in the spray of the fall. “What? No kiss for the fish?”

Topaz laughed. “It's frogs that turn into princes, not fish.”

“Ah, you have been robbed my lady.”

“I never kissed a frog either. Only narrow minded princesses do that.” With a wink she added, “If one is to believe a story, that is.”

“You have been kissed by a fish, and not even gotten a prince.” Lucien laughed.

“Of course I have. If I understand correctly what you have told me so far, you've turned into my fairy prince one thousand and seven hundred years ago. And yes, that would explain a lot.”

Lucien looked surprised. “My Lady, there is no prince here, but now and then I might be convinced to sprout wings.”

“And fulfill wishes, and understand sentient magic.” She finished his list with a giggle.

“Well, they stick around even when I go to ground. They can't be all bad.”

“No, they can't be. How are you feeling?”

“Not as fine as you feel. “He pulled her into his arms, and for a moment she leaned against him. But it was a short moment.

“No signs of going up in flames anytime soon? Not the least bit sick?”

“I do not feel impending immolation.”

“So you can handle running around with sentient magic inside you, and you obviously restrained yourself from bossing them around.”

He gave her an indignant snort. “I never boss.”

Topaz chuckled. “Of course not.”

He chose to ignore the hint of sarcasm. “Better,” and kissed her lightly.

“So, why is it you think the magics can get along in here,” she tapped her finger to his chest, “but would not in me?”

Lucien linked his arms around her waist, this time she did not resist his embrace but leaned against him. “I did not know when I bit you what to expect, but I could not restrain myself. It was a risk I could take due to my age, and the fact that we are not yet bound. Topaz, for those who are the life mates for others of my kind, their lives are changed forever. If I bind you to me, our souls are made whole. We cannot be apart, we cannot survive without one another. We survive on blood, and cannot be about in the daylight. If those changes work on you, despite your magic, how will you react?”

“I'd be as likely to die as you were likely to do for taking the magic into you. Only, you do not appear very dead to me just now. Are any of those life mates magical beings?” Obviously she had given this some consideration.

“No, they are not. We move into unknowns here Topaz.”

“Did you not also tell me, that once such a soul mate is found and then lost, you'd die just the same?”

“Yes. Are you prepared to exchange blood with me? Are you prepared to share my world as one possibility?”

[Topaz]

“The best educated guess I can make is that the magic energies will fight each other. Either one or the other will win, or they reach a stale mate or compromise. Am prepared for any of it? For myself, yes. But I do have responsibilities that cannot be discharged only at night. To give those up without chaos ensuing, such requires planning.”


Lucien nodded. “I would take you tonight if I thought I could.”

“That is, I can still have chocolate and coffee, it just would make me a little sick?”

He laughed softly. “It is possible it would make you very sick initially, but with time, you gain the ability to ingest them and not reject them immediately. But, we do not know how far you will be changed.”

“I have a feeling you still have not told me all.” He also had not mentioned how he’d feel should absolutely nothing happen.

Lucien nuzzled her neck lightly and whispered. “The sex is phenomenal, and needed all the time. You cannot bear for me not to be around.”

Topaz chuckled softly.” That didn’t have the ring of a secret. But if that was though then – she blushed, “Your mates should be child all the time.”

“There are many ways, including protection for the men, herbs and teas, we are children of the land Topaz. You seem surprised by that.”

She was. “How long are your mates pregnant?”

He gave her a warm smile. “About nine months, give or take.”

Topaz sighed. “Well, maybe your magic can fix that.”

“Topaz? If you desire children, we can try. I would never deny you.”

Topaz smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “The reason having Tormay was so difficult, best as I can figure out, fairies are supposed to be pregnant for six months.”

Lucien lightly stroked his fingers through her hair. “We will work things out, I know we will.” They were quiet for some time. “Now I can find you faster.” She felt a light caress, but Lucien had not moved. “And touch you at distance.”

“Just like that?” She was surprised by that, and not all sure if she should like that.

“Think of the fun I can have now.”

She did think of that, and decided she did not like it. “You will not.”

“You would take away my fun? We must begin to head back, the sun is approaching.”

“I believe I will stay here.”

Lucien lifted a brow. “Have I angered you?”

“No.” She wasn’t happy about him having to leave, but she definitely wasn’t angry either. In fact, there were a lot of things to not be happy about.

“Make no mistake Topaz. I want you with every fiber of my being, but I cannot promise you that you can remain a creature of light. I simply do not know.”

“I know that. You should go before the sun harms you.”

Lucien brushed a kiss at the corner of her lips, but he had faded from sight before she could react say anything else. Though she had the sensation of being held tightly, she found she could move easily.

Topaz swam back to the willow at the other side of the lake. The rising sun had shifted through the colors from deep red to golden yellow before she arrived under the willow. The wineglass still sat there. It would be a waste to just leave it there. She picked up the glass and found the cork. She pressed the cork into the bottle neck before flying up into the willow’s branches with the glass.

[Topaz]

Topaz had spent the first part of the morning sitting in the tree, looking out over the water, putting her efforts into emptying her mind and fining that surface free of rippled thought. When she had found it, she wove her shields, wrapped them tightly around her, returned to the Beacon and immersed herself in work and activity.

There was a lot she wanted to get done this day. The next time, if there was a next time, Lucian asked her if she was ready for any of the possible consequences, she would be. When it was time to meet Julian at the practice arena, she was finished updating the papers in the folder marked ‘Do not open until after Topaz’s death.’, had added two sealed letters to it, had re-arranged her entire schedule and written out the necessary orders to go with that.

She had requested that Julian make the practice a field fighting session. Topaz had wanted to prepare Julian for what might come to pass. Telling him was not option, though. He would feel it necessary to keep her from taking the risk. So she had decided that her asking for a field training session (he usually had to talk her into those) and the shift in her schedule would just have to be enough. Julian had raised his brows but was agreeable. He had not even waited for her to be ready, but had pulled a staff from the wall rack and charged her the moment she had entered the arena.

True to his teachings, Topaz did not make the mistake to reach for her rapier first, but dodged the attacks until she found an opportunity to draw the blade without getting her sword arm smashed for doing so. Meanwhile a chair made for an acceptable shield.

Julian was dressed for the occasion in armor. She’d not have to soften her blows so long as she was hitting the armored parts. Still, she was looking for an opportunity to switch weapons. But Julian was defending the weapon rack well.

“I believe you’re getting faster with age instead of slower.” Julian only growled back. Topaz knew to take it as a reminder not waste energy on conversation. Indeed, she was better off concentrating on the fight at hand. She knew Julian would take advantage of every little distraction she’d allow herself. Once she had managed to get past him and grab a practice blade Topaz dropped her rapier and caution in regards to what damage she might inflict on Julian along with it.

“Stop!” Julian called a halt to the fight when they both started showing signs of waning concentration.

Her muscles were burning and she sank down to sit where she had been standing to catch her breath. But her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks aglow after the furious exercise. “Thank you, Julian.”

“You did well today.” Topaz smiled at his rare compliment. “But next time, put a halt to it sooner.” Julian was setting his staff back on the rack and straightened some of the furniture they had upset during their fight. After a while Topaz got up to help him and retrieve her rapier.

“I might be gone for a few days sometime soon.” Topaz made as if to head for the locker room and tried to make that sound like nothing out of the ordinary. “So hold off on sending a search party for a week instead of the usual forty-eight hours.”

“Where to?” Julian sounded merely curious, not concerned, Topaz was pleased to note.

“The woods and maybe Drachen Walde.” With that she slipped through the door before Julian could ask anything more. Now Julian had all the information he might need, she thought, and put a mental checkmark to that item on her to-do list for the day. The next item on the list was tying up loose ends in Beacon town.

[Topaz]

Maelin's message

Topaz was on her way back to her office from a short trip into Beacon town, when a golden feather swirled across her path and landed at her feet. Something about the feather or the way it swirled when no breeze was stirring the muggy summer air struck her as familiar. She crouched to pick it up, but her fingers had barely touched it when it suddenly flew up into the air, hovered in front of her face for a moment, and then flew slowly off. It paused a few times, waving back and forth, as if it was issuing a challenge.

Odd, Topaz thought, but curiosity won out and she followed it. The feather darted here and there, up far into the sky and back down close to the ground. It never moved out of the fairy’s sight, but neither it allow her to catch up. The chase had taken Topaz quite a ways from her intended path when it suddenly darted behind a tree.

Topaz followed around the tree, and there it was, lying on the ground. Was that a spark or the reflection of light that she just had seen from the feather? She approached slowly, as if trying to avoid scaring it off. But again, once she was close enough to touch the feather, it took off again. It darted around the trees, with more violence to its flight this time, and it picked up speed.

Then it darted down, straight as an arrow, right into a luscious bush, which was enveloped in flames an instant later and rapidly was reduced to nothing but ash. Something more than mere curiosity drew Topaz to poke at the pile of ash. Something was sparkling in it – a piece of gold cord. Another of those sudden breezes that wasn’t really there whirled up the ashes. Someone was impatient with her taking time for caution, thought Topaz, and she had a strong suspicion who that someone might be.

Topaz reached for the cord and gave it a gentle tug. It pulled free from the ashes without any resistance. A silvery medallion hung from the end of the cord. Topaz whipped the ash that still clung to the medallion and noted a sense of calm emanating from it as she studied the runes around the edges. She didn’t know the meaning of any of the runes. Most amazingly, a golden feather was embedded in the center of the medallion. The was only one person she knew of who counted a phoenix among his friends.

She tucked the corded medallion into her skirt pocket and resumed her way to the Beacon while wondering about Maelin’s message. He had never sent “just” a gift before. It was not likely that he would start doing so now.

[Topaz]

Change of Scenery

Thankfully the sensation of being whirled around head over heels and sideways had stopped and the dizziness was subsiding. Topaz checked her limbs and wings and found them to be working. Not even a bruise, so far so good, she thought to herself. But the general sense of danger and the impression of evil pressing in on her only gained in strength and urgency. She should not be having that impression. Her shields were still in effect, she had checked those, too.

It was dark, a pitch black dark, utterly devoid even of the faint lights of the kind of magic in the air that she could use, too warm and difficult to breathe. Her stomach was protesting and for a moment she had to fight down the beginnings of panik. She knew it might be a rather stupid thing to do, as it may give away her location to someone or something she didn’t want to help inlocating her, but she had tried to cast a little light anyway. Only it hadn’t worked. But there was actually a less depressing darkness when she closed her eyes. So it was actually just dark and she still had sight, for all the little good it did her here, wherever here was.

Topaz tried to reason out what just had happened and where she was. The ground she was sitting on was hard, not unlike a stoney cave floor, she noticed when she ran har hand over the surface –but warm. No cave she had ever been in had been warm. This was wrong. She should be on grassy ground and the air should hold the fragrances of a summer evening and the Atrebla Lake. It had been a warm and busy day, and she had intended to go for a swim. That did not match where she found herself now.

Topaz searched her memory of the moment just before she had felt like being cought up in a violent but small whirlwind as she rose to stand. Whatever that whirlwind was, it was not something nature had come up with. Yet, there was nothing in her memory that suggested that it was the form of an attack, physical nor magical. But it had to be. Such things didn’t happen on their own.

She slowly stretched out her arms, searching for walls and a ceiling. But she only found empty space. The impression of vile danger around her and imminent threat had increased further and she checked her shields again. There was nothing wrong with them, she finally had to admit. That didn’t bode well. She found herself reminded of her encounter with the chaos demon several years ago and knew it would be absolutely crucial that she would keep those shields as strong as she could manage if she wanted a chance to get out - provided she was inside somewhere to begin with.

Suddenly she knew – chaos magic had brought here. Ancient chaos magic at that. It was near the only kind undetectable to her.Even knowing what she was searching for in the darkness and that it had to be there, she could locate not even a trace of it. Very ancient then, she thought to herself. This was worse than just being surrounded by vile evil. Evil at least was predicatable to some extend. Though, as magic energies went, she could make use of neither. It was worse than that though, she knew and had to fight down another moment of panic – not only was she limited to the magic she had within her, but she had to be careful how she used it. Chaotic energy had a way of making everything unpredictable. And should she loose her shields – well, that did not bear thinking off.

She needed to find a way out, preferably before the situation got worse. At least here didn’t have the feel of a different plane to it. She tried to think positive as she took small carefull steps in whatever direction she had been facing, taking care to set them in as straight a line as possible. Sooner or later there would have to be a wall in her path, she reasoned logicly.