Strong arms were wound around me. Far stronger than the arms of my sister who hadn't snuck into my bed since she was a little child, crying because of a nightmare. These arms were so strong that when they tightened around my abdomen, I lost a little of my breath. Lips hovered over my throat, a breathy moan clouding my sleepy thoughts.

Maybe this was just a dream and I could sink back into it. Surely, I deserved a little goodness, even if it was only from my imagination. It had been so long since I had dreamed of any man, all of them tedious or frustrating or just a little simple for my taste. It couldn't be wrong to embrace this piece of fictional irregularity.

"Are you two ever going to get up?" someone demanded from outside of the tent.

Devlin. The voice belonged to Devlin. The guard who had killed someone or multiple someones yesterday.

"Oh!" I gasped, jerking myself upright so suddenly and so fast that my head collided with something hard enough to make me yelp. My hands went to the back of my head in an effort to soothe the pain.

"Fuck," Xion hissed. The arms that were around me immediately vanished.

I stared down at the man who was cradling his jaw, eyes pinched shut in pain. "What an awful way to wake up. I was having such a lovely dream," he grumbled. His fangs flashed as he spoke.

Sweet saints, that mouth had just been against my throat. And I had just been about to sink deeper into the sensation of all of it, completely defenseless. "If it involved you dragging your teeth over my neck then it wasn't a fucking dream," I snapped, covering the exposed flesh with both of my hands. The fear trumped everything right now, but just a second ago, with my eyes closed, I didn't doubt that I would have angled my head to give him better access. "Is that what you dream about? Sucking my blood?"

"What? No." Xion sat up too. "I mean, I am a vampire, there's always some kind of draw. But I can firmly say that your unwillingness is sufficient in keeping those desires to a minimum. Do you dream about eating food? Do you dream about snatching a sandwich out of someone's hands? I assume not."

"Were you dreaming about me being willing then?" I snarled.

His mouth froze open, a denial right on his tongue, I was sure. But that tongue seemed to get tangled at the last minute as his cheeks heated to the point where blush could be seen even beneath his darker complexion. He wrangled himself out of the bedroll like a tornado whirling towards an escape, but he paused when he felt the zipper.

"I didn't dream about feeding from you, Lark."

Then he disappeared outside.

Even with all of the emotions whirling through my body, I knew I could not rot in the tent all day. Xion might allow it, but Devlin would not. I was not brave enough to get between that man and his mission. I grabbed a bar of soap and a towel, knowing that I would want to meet anyone's mother looking my best. Especially my mate's mother.

"Don't go too far," Xion warned when he saw what I was holding.

I didn't need another reminder of yesterday. Even if I was worried about him catching a glimpse of my pale flesh, I was more concerned about what other threats could be lurking about. I stayed on the close side of the stream as I rinsed my skin and did my best to wash my hair. I would have given anything to feel the warm embrace of the hot spring right now instead of this water icy. I had no idea how the merfolk stood it. I was just grateful that the stream was shallow enough to prevent any...visitors.

And then when I pulled out the dress, I wished so much to have Daisy nearby. She would know just what to say to make me feel confident as I tugged on the gown. Was black really an appropriate color to wear when meeting someone for the first time? And did there have to be so many layers to the skirts? At least the skirts covered my boots which did not match in the slightest, maybe it was a good thing Daisy wasn't here after all.

The tent had been taken down in the time it had taken me to get ready and the men were on the backs of their horses. I hoisted myself onto my dusty pony, hoping against hope that the black would somehow conquer all the dirt I was throwing at it.

And to make matters worse, it began to rain. Back home, this time of the year, it would have been heavy snow that would get stuck in my hair and make the top layer of dirt mud again. Here, it was a downpour. The kind that soaked skin, that drenched clothes. Neither Xion nor Devlin complained so I dutifully kept my mouth shut.

Until Xion noticed me shivering. He eased his horse to a slower walk beside me. "I'm sorry. This would have been at least tolerable in a carriage. I wish I saved a jacket for you," he apologized.

"It's fine," I said through chattering teeth.

"That is the wretched part about this province. It is gorgeous and they don't get the awful snow like we do, but their winters feel colder because of how wet it is."

"They don't get snow?"

"Seldom, if ever. The merfolk would not reside here otherwise. Ice isn't really their thing. Cooler temperatures are not problem though. Their scales are apparently quite warm so they have adapted to it." He paused, sweeping his eyes over me. For just the briefest moment, I felt like a beautiful woman, not the drowning cat that I probably looked like. "I know this trip has been terrible, but I would love to bring you back here someday. Hydren is incredible. It's unlike anything I have ever seen. A whole city has been built amidst a waterfall."

"Right now, I want to go somewhere safe, somewhere with very high walls and lots and lots of guards," I replied.

My pony snorted and shook out her mane as if she were agreeing with me.

"Is there anything I can do, Lark?" Xion asked, voice so quiet it was almost trampled by the hoofbeats.

"No."

"If you think of anything at all, know that I will do my best to make it happen."

We rode in silence. The landscape didn't seem that different from my home province at first, aside from the frigid rain of course. But then I began to realize why the merfolk had chosen to settle here. It felt like every time we descended a hill, there was a bridge or a creek crossing. Water zigzagged all over the lands, creating marshlands, lakes, and raging rivers that could swallow a man whole. The air was thick and wet, even when the rain let up and most of the vegetation here had to be resilient enough to have constantly soaked roots and little sun.

We saw no other souls on the trail, but once, while crossing a bridge, I thought I saw something or someone move below the water's surface. I kicked my pony into a trot until we were a safe distance away.

It felt like a relief when the sun was allowed to shine through the clouds, but it was short lived. My attention was snagged on a dark cloud, impossibly black. I had seldom seen clouds like that and when I had, my mother usually ushered us all inside after the animals had been safely tucked away, and we hunkered down in the kitchen, away from the doors and windows.

Xion and Devlin fearlessly trekked on. And the closer we got, the more I started to notice that this was not just any storm. Stormclouds did not extend all the way to the ground. Stormclouds did not move so tightly, or against the direction of the wind.

"What is that?" I asked. I would have pulled my horse to a stop if I could have, but her little lead rope was secured to Xion's saddle.

"That is my mother," the king replied.

The blackness loomed closer and closer. My pony threw her head up, nostril's flaring as she tried to scent the air for danger. Somehow, I doubted she would be able to smell anything. There would be no smell of rain or smoke in the air. This was not a natural sort of thing. It was something else entirely. The blackhole neared, gobbling up everything around it. My eyes ached, trying to understand what I was seeing.

"Xion," I squeaked.

His eyes stayed focused straight ahead. "You are going to be fine, dove. I would not be leading you into danger."

I bit my tongue to silence my protests, but it didn't stop me from fisting the mane in front of me. The blackness came closer and closer with every step. My chest got tighter. The air seemed to stop moving in my lungs.

Then, there was nothing. It was all darkness. I blinked twice just to be certain I could feel my eyelids moving, to be sure that they were open. It was just black. An unholy, soul sucking, madness inducing blackness.

"Xion," I cried.

"I'm right here," he soothed, his voice like silk. "Trust me, darling."

And then the darkness fell away. It was like we were surrounded by shadows, but when I looked up, I could see a cloudy sky. We were just in...a tube of blackness. And we weren't alone.

There was a small army before me and despite the fact that my dark attire matched theirs, I only felt intimidation brewing within me when I looked at them.

The carriage was an awful menacing thing, big and black and pulled by a team of four midnight horses. I counted at least five guards on equally black mounts, all of them decked out in black uniforms, their expressions so grim it was as if they were arriving at a funeral.

I was a fraud as my stocky pony stopped alongside Xion's horse. All of us looked like fools, bareback atop a mix of horses, clothes disheveled and soaked to the bone. Maybe it was a good thing all the guards wore the same expression; I truly did not want to know what they were thinking of us.

We all sat in complete silence as a single guard dismounted one of his horses, immaculate boots getting sucked in by the thick mud. He remained entirely stoic, even when his shoes caused comical squelching noises. And watching him trudge on and tug the carriage door open without even the bat of an eyelash, made me understand Seraphina more than I had in months.

A stunning black gown dripped out of the carriage, layers and layers of fabrics I couldn't even begin to identify. Daisy would have certainly fallen over and died at just the sight. The next thing I saw was a crown. An awful thing with massive black stones on it, sweeping upwards to the heavens, each stone surrounded by gold or platinum that caught the light just enough to swallow it whole.

Royalty. She was royalty.

Xion swung down from his horse, but I stayed firmly planted on mine as the woman straightened, her nose wrinkling when her fine shoes touched the mud.

I had heard stories about her. We all had. Even knowing as little as we did about the other species, we all knew about her. Her cunning tactics, her cruelty. It was said that she lived in the very heart of the volcano, that her favored steeds were not normal horses like these ones, but something awful, like a creation from the devil.

I saw it. I knew what was going on, but my mind didn't allow me to believe it. There had to be some other explanation. I wasn't seeing things properly. I was missing some key component.

The witch queen lifted her head. The grey unseeing eyes scanned the surrounding area, not able to focus. It was said that she had given her vision up when she cast a spell that allowed her to see her enemies in the most vulnerable moments.

A chill ran down my back.

"Not one for being discrete, are you mother?" Xion sighed, already moving forward despite the fact that the guards stayed close to their sovereign.

"Sweet Xion, when you have as much power as I do, you don't use discretion. You announce your arrival and watch the others cower." 

~~~Question of the Day~~~

Do you listen to any podcasts?