Mare

Evangeline entered my room in a huff, not even bothering to knock or anything. Her face is bright silver, her walk is quick and stompy. Everything about her seems flustered and furious.

So, normal, I guess.

"You alright, Eve?" I ask peacefully.

She snickers under her breath. "Yeah, but can you do me another favor?" She asks me acrimoniously.

Part of me is happy she is asking me favors like this, part of me isn't. I already have a lot on my plate with the wedding and other miscellaneous things.

I guess sometimes you have to put away your tasks and joys to sacrifice for others, even though sometimes it doesn't make you happy.

"Anything, Eve," I tell her charmingly.

"Would you mind controlling your fiance?" She questions me, her hands going wide out, fanning out. I raise my eyebrow inquisitively.

"Yeah, why?" I question her hesitantly, each word I speak strung out.

"He didn't tell you what he was going to say today?" She heightens her inflection. I rushedly shush her and raise my eyebrows swiftly to Coriane, looking at her sleeping face with my eyes. Eve's face goes pale.

She blows out her breath. "Right," She pinches the bridge of her nose. "I know, I know, I have to change for Coriane, but," She chokes on a sob, then grits her teeth. "Sometimes it's really hard."

I blow out as well. "I get it, I'm trying to change too," I mutter, only audible enough for Eve to hear. She looks at me, her hands go back to her sides.

"Change? For what?" She copies my enunciation.

"Maven," I whisper stilly. Eve looks at me dumbfoundedly and surprised, shocked. She clears her throat and sits next to me down on the bed lightly, trying her best not to falter the mattress too much to wake Coriane.

"You are changing yourself for Maven?" She asks me rigidly. I never really knew I was doing it until now, more absentmindedly. But I was, I noticed that I wasn't myself right after what happened with Cal. The old me, me who lived back at the stilts would never allow that to happen. But it did, suffice to say that I was drunk.

I slowly nod, feeling a tad ashamed.

Eve exhales sharply, hardly audible but intense.

"For real?" She examines my body and my facade.

I nod again, only slower. I have a bad feeling that this might end poorly.

"Mare, you know if you change yourself for Maven, then he doesn't love the real you, he loves who you are trying to be," Eve says with a motherly tone, vigorously and strict.

My face fires up. I know she is correct, it's just hard to admit that she is, I suppose. I am trying to adjust and revert to my normal, old self, but it's hard, like my time as Mareena and running from Maven erased my memory of who I was, and this incident with Cal was my wake up call.

I exhale again, my sigh was shaky and unsure. I close my eyes tightly to flutter out the tears in my acorn-colored eyes.

"What was it that Maven said today?" I attempt to change the matter at hand.

The expression on Evangeline's face goes from cumbersome to rile quickly. "He didn't tell you?"

I shake my head, moaning as well to go along with it.

"He is forcing me and Cal to wed," She says with anger and depression in her tone. My eyes turn into saucers and my jaw drops.

"Wait, really?" I fumble.

"Yeah, he is, he claims it's for Coriane," Both me and her turn to face her. Coriane is so peaceful and delicate when she is in slumber.

"I see his point," I claim, standing by Maven. I do see his point, he cares for Coriane as much as any other person, but the bond between an uncle and a niece is a special one.

But this does seem sudden, and out of the blue.

"Do you have any details?"

"No, we don't, Maven seemed clueless when he announced it,"

So much for his announcements being nothing special.

We both focus on Coriane, who is now tussling in her sleep, her eyes slowly as she yawns slowly, gasping a bit.

"Hi baby," Eve says daintily, she crawls up the bed to the pillows where she is laying. I scuttle along to follow.

I look at Coriane, her dirty blond hair growing in and her golden-brown eyes shining. She yawns again, making a kitten sound as she closes her toothless mouth.

Eve and I both "aw" at Coriane's gesture. I revert my attention to Eve, whose eyes are glossy. I reach out my hand to touch her shoulder, Eve looks over it and smiles weakly at me.

"Mare? Do you mind if you could watch her for a little longer so I can decompress?" She asks me defeatedly, she always hated asking for help or favors.

"Of course I can, you don't need to be ashamed to ask me," I tell her, she looks happy at what I said, but she still looks defeated and hopeless.

"Eve?" She looks into my eyes, her metallic gray eyes focused. "It'll be okay."

***

I've been watching Coriane in my room for about an hour. She napped again for about 15 minutes before waking up again and wanted to play. I gave in instantly, of course.

I'm standing up and cradling her, I tickle her stomach through her silky lace dress every once in a while, making her implode in a high pitch giggling fit that made me beam.

She sneezed again, only this time a little metallic red flame came out into the air, but it fizzled out almost instantly.

I am taken aback. I look at Coriane, her white dress has some ashes on it, but Coriane herself starts laughing.

Coriane is a burner, just like her father.

She continues to laugh at the fire she made, even though it's long gone. It's hard to think how easy fire will be to her, how natural it will be to conjure her fire. Even without a spark, she is so powerful.

I wish I knew what it was like to have my ability of lightning since I was a little girl.

I guess that is something I will never know.

I hear the deadlock of the door click, I turn to the sound to see who is coming in. Everyone else knocks, except for Evangeline when she is feeling down or Maven since this is his quarters as well.

Maybe it's Eve coming to get Coriane.

Maven opens the door.

He paces in the room back and forth, breathing heavily with his studious face on. His right hand is resting on his forehead, pushing his lubricious hair back away from his face.

"Maven?"

He jerks back a tad, looking at me like some paranormal figure like he didn't acknowledge that I was in here.

"Oh, hi," He says, removing his fingers from his hair; it falls back into his normal part, on his left side. He scans me and hesitates when he sees Coriane. "Both of you."

I force a grin, but it doesn't catch on with him.

"How was your broadcast?" I ask him. He doesn't answer me. An expected response. "Why didn't you tell me about the engagement that you're controlling?"

He exhales sharply and runs his fingers through his hair slowly and smoothly. He walks past me and Coriane before sitting down at the foot of the bed.

"Yeah, about that," He says awkwardly.

"Why didn't you tell me, Maven?" I demand, raising my voice a bit too much for Coriane.

"I just got the idea this morning, and I jumped on it," He fumbles with anger in his inflection.

"And didn't come to me to explain about it?" I sit down next to him and turn to the opposing side and set Coriane down near the middle of the bed, praying she doesn't fall.

"I got the idea after I left, right before the meeting," Maven looks down at his lap.

"But why?"

He breathes out, closing his eyes before he speaks. "It's for Coriane," He says, looking at her over his left shoulder. He smiles faintly then goes back to his forward-facing stature. He rested his shoulders on his knees and runs his fingers through his hair. "And to put Cal in his place."

There it is, the missing piece.

"It was necessary, in my eyes," He continues.

I don't see the point in arguing, not here, not in front of Coriane.

"Well then, that's fine, you do you," I say timidly.

Maven looks up at me and scootches toward me. "Now, I know that isn't what you want to say, or that this- incident- isn't what you'd like either, is it?"

I smile wobbly before nodding. He takes his left arm and wraps it around me, tugging my body to him. My body gives in, longing to feel his warmth. I fall into his shoulder and take a deep inhale. "No, it's not."

"I know, I know, Eve told me that you haven't been acting like yourself and that I need to help bring the Mare Barrow out again," He comforts me, rubbing his hand against my left arm soothingly. This comfort could lull me to sleep.

Eve told Maven about me not acting like myself, and I can't tell if I am upset about it or thankful.

"And it's not that I don't love you, I'll love you no matter who you are," He whispers in my ear, making a shiver slightly. I bury my face in his shoulder as my face heats up.

Maven chuckles. "You are adorable."

I chuckle as well. "I love you too,"

Here is some weird Mareven crap, idk, I ship.

I really don't like the car we are loaning but hey, it's my fault about me crashing our car. hehe oops. (I have no regrets)