I was in the province of the merfolk. Further from home than I had ever been, further than I had ever dreamed. The air was thick with moisture here and almost sweet when it hit the back of my throat. Just back through the veil, the world was yellow and ugly, struggling to restart life. Here, life was continuing on as if winter had just been a blip in the plans, yet somehow it was so similar to what I knew.

Xion and Devlin set up camp tucked into a small crop of trees, too few to be called a forest, but close enough to the main road that we could make a quick getaway if needed. Back home, I would have felt awful for standing around watching others work. Here, I leaned against my stout little pony for support, my stomach still rolling and feeling sickly. I almost wished I would vomit so the feeling would pass, but I knew it wouldn't help.

A small tent was pitched before I could even fully comprehend what had happened and Xion was in front of me, gaze soft on my face.

"Lark," he whispered, extending a hand toward me. But he didn't touch me. He waited until I put my palm against his to gently tug me away from the weary pony. "Are you alright, my little dove?"

I stumbled after him, letting him pull me around like a gangly puppy until he sat me in front of a small stack of wood. I felt marginally better sitting down, like the world wasn't just a giant rug that was about to be pulled out from beneath me.

And then Devlin crouched near the fire and snapped his fingers. And flames leapt from his hands onto the kindling.

I was on my feet in a second.

"Lark, darling, you should sit down. You've had quite a fright," Xion soothed, reaching towards me again.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded; my words hurled at Devlin like an accusation.

"Uh, magic," he said, frowning.

"You can do magic?" I screeched, my voice so shrill that even the level-headed driving horses stirred.

Devlin blinked up at me, utterly baffled. "I just cut open your wrist to draw blood that was not intended for me. Did you think that a full-blooded vampire would be able to do that?"

"Xion did it," I choked out.

"Yes, because he is your mate and the consequence of feeding on you without your consent would probably far outweigh the reward of sating a little bit of his hunger," Devlin explained. "Honestly, I have seen vampires around humans and their mates and while I'm not going to tell you to consider yourself lucky, I will tell you that it takes one hell of a strong vampire to not feed from an already bleeding mate when bloodlust is imminent."

"You're a witch," I said, ignoring his praise of his king.

"Warlock," he corrected, "And though I hate to admit it, I'm not a very good one. I'm a far better soldier and an even better lady's man."

"Come here," Xion suggested from the ground, his arms open. I don't know when I had decided that his arms were even a remotely safe place for me to be, but my wobbly knees and rolling belly convinced me to ease myself back down onto the earth. Xion rubbed my shoulder once, then immediately released me as if he were afraid that I would bite him.

"It is insane how little human settlements communicate about the other creatures in the realm," Devlin grumbled.

"Enough," Xion ordered, onyx eyes flashing. "I'm sorry, I should have realized that you wouldn't know. Vampires are probably the only creatures that you have been exposed to, but the reality is that there is a reasonable amount of mingling between different species. Devlin and I grew up together. When I moved to the vampire kingdom, he came with me."

"I was never going to make it as a warlock with a minor grasp on basic spells," Devlin added.

"So, you aren't from the vampire kingdom or the vampire province then?" I asked. His darker complexion made sense, certainly not fit for our colder winters with limited sunlight. Of course, he had come from the tropical magical lands of the witch kingdom. I should have seen it, should have known.

"No. I grew up at Mount Hexe with my mother and my three sisters. I only came to Bayforte when I ascended the throne. Seraphina and Devlin opted to come with me while my younger sisters stayed with my mother."

When he killed the previous king and the woman who owned the silver cuffs that I had worn at the ball.

"So because your father was the king, it gave you a right to his throne when he was killed, even though your mother is not from the province?"

"Yes, I was his only heir. He and his wife were not able to have any children. The kingdom had to come to me when the time came."

He had killed his father. I knew that and it had horrified me, still horrified me in fact. But knowing that he had not been raised alongside the man he slaughtered was a small relief. When I had first learned of what he had done, I had assumed he had the same relationship that I had, that his father smiled the same, taught him how to fish, and which mushrooms to pick.

"Now I'm even more terrified to meet your mother," I confessed.

I expected a comforting smile at the mention of the woman who raised him, but his brows only furrowed further. "We will do this for her, then we will return home. Her reach cannot extend that far. Even she has to know her limits." he stated.

"Wonderful, so pleased we hashed out all of these things. Now, you need to sleep," Devlin said. "You cannot exhaust yourself any further and Lark needs her rest."

"You need your rest as well," Xion pointed out. "I will take night watch."

"Have you forgotten that we were just attacked because someone was looking for you? Both of you?" Devlin pressed. "We only have one tent anyway, far too small for three people and you two are the ones they are after, not me. The less chance anyone has of seeing you, the better. Besides, you can't honestly tell me that you would let me sleep beside Lark."

Xion's dark eyes flashed up to the even darker sky. A muscle ticked along his jaw.

"Lark--"

"He has a point," I interjected. I eyed up the canvas tent. Small indeed, but I was not a particularly large woman. I was sure I could curl up on my side and be able to shrink just so I would not have to touch him. It was the safest option, after all.

"I don't want to push you," Xion whispered. "We left the other tents behind, but we will find a way to accommodate this if we have to. You are doing me a great favor by just being here. I can't ask for anything else. And it's not like my face has been stamped on coins or anything yet. Someone might not recognize me from first glance."

I could have made him suffer then, probably should have. The girl who had been kidnapped and ripped away from the only family she had ever known certainly would have. She would have fought like hell, probably would have stolen a horse and ridden as hard as she could until the sun had gone down and her legs had gone numb.

But that was before. Before what exactly, I didn't know. I just knew that it was different now. Not completely. But enough.

Or maybe I was just really fucking exhausted now.

"I just want to sleep and if Devlin thinks that this is the best option, then I have no choice but to trust him."

"You have choices, Lark."

"Then I choose to sleep. You can decide what you would like to do."

We had left behind much of our belongings, but I had thankfully snagged something soft and simple to sleep in as well as a gown for tomorrow. Something that Daisy had said would wow the woman I was meeting. I had been too frightened to look at it before I had put it away. For now, I slipped into my plain cream coloured sleeping shirt and my black sleeping tights in the privacy of the tent.

I had closed my eyes once I was fully clothed, feeling the rocks and roots beneath the bedroll that had been previously set up for me. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear leaves rustling, water flowing. It should have been peaceful. But every time I closed my eyes I saw blood. I heard the scream of the horse. I saw the body falling. I rolled over onto my side in case I was going to be sick.

Only the sound of a zipper being tugged could stop my thoughts.

"Lark," Xion whispered into the dark. "Can I come in?"

"I already told you. Yes, of course."

"I changed outside so you don't have to--"

"Xion, you are letting all the cold air in," I snapped, but my traitorous mind flashed an image of what he looked like shirtless, how the water of the hot springs just clung to him. Though the idea was not a welcome one, even I could admit it was better than the slaughter that had been plaguing me.

And when I felt his heat enter the tent, felt his body shift onto the bedroll beside mine, the rough edges of my mind softened just a little bit more. With each breath he took beside me, my muscles released, just a little bit. They shouldn't have. I had just seen what he was capable of, had just been shown how out of my own depth I was, but I relaxed a pinch nonetheless.

"I'm sorry about all of this, little dove," he whispered, his words captured by the night.

It was that simple statement that made my lower lip tremble. "They came after me, Xion. They wanted me."

"I know." It was so quiet; I could barely hear it.

"How did they even know I was there? Why would they even want to come after me?" I whimpered.

"I don't know," he admitted.

There was no comfort there, but at least it was honest.

"I don't know how to fight."

"You don't need to. I will always, always protect you."

I wanted to believe him, and I think that after today I did believe him. I had seen him live those words. It didn't matter as much as I had hoped.

"You will not be with me every second of every day," I said softly. "I can't be defenseless for the rest of my life now that you have put me into this position. Even after the three months are up and I return home, I fear that I will be a target."

"Then I suppose we need to teach you how to fight, don't we?"

"I suppose you do."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What is the most exotic place you have visited?