North Merkana
Mirielle hadn't even noticed the three weeks in Randu's captivity. She was tirelessly practicing her Cordillia speech with Darschela from morning to evening. And she practiced. With Darschela - and of course, with the "monsignor"...
Breakfast and dinner together on the terrace of Nilgari became a must for Miri. More and more often the kidnapper talked to her aloud in Cordillia - simple phrases that she could understand. And gave her goosebumps with his low velvet timbre - so soft and at the same time so confident...
Day by day, Arelato was getting kinder and nicer. The slap, insults, Miri's protests - everything seemed to have been forgotten. She tried to be nice, too, to hold back the boiling nature of the fire fairy. Especially now that her anger and resentment have turned to Dale.
How many gentle words he said to her! How he swore to follow her to the end of the world! And himself... He went, but only with another. A traitor.
How did her parents get into the princely palace? Arelato said that he did not know for sure. But he thinks they filed a petition to the viceroy, having found out that the daughter had disappeared without a trace. And the wizards from the Prince's entourage advised him to take the parents of the disappeared fairy under protection.
I don't want to risk Orshava contacting the Remidian magicians," the kidnapper told her. - Try to understand me. Your demand is impossible to fulfill.
Miriel was angry, but she did not argue. Instead, she was fulfilling her part of the contract, telling the kidnapper about the fairies.
- Why are fairies combined with men? - He asked today. Aloud, in Cordillia. - You are immortal. You don't need to continue the lineage. And where did the first fairies come from? Those who were the first to choose men and give birth to a child?
Miriel shrugged.
- I would have found out in the spring. In Eleseum. If you hadn't kidnapped me. Mom says Eleseum put a piece of his spirit into the Firstborn Fae. That's all I know about them. Mom is the Firstborn. She never told me why she left Eleseum and went with my father. This secret can only be told by Light Irinel, the Queen of the Fairies.
- And fairies always have only fairy girls? What happens if a boy is born?
- Boys are stillborn. Especially for us, the fiery ones. My mother also warned about it - I need to be ready for the birth of a son. Very rarely fire fairy gives birth to a girl.
Arelato looked at her carefully.
- Why do you talk so sad about it? The birth of a son is beautiful.
- Not for fairies. He will be as mortal as his father. Fairy will have to mourn her family twice. First the husband, then the son.
With bitterness, Mirielle remembered a similar conversation with Dale. They had another fight, and Dale threw it in his hearts:
"Save the Creator, we will have a fire fairy! The second one like you, I can't stand it. The fairy of water is better, quiet and modest!
"At least now you can look for a fairy of water for yourself! I'm not holding you back. But I will still have a boy.
"Drop it, Miri! - Dale, the peace-loving Dale, went straight backward. - I won't look for anyone, you know. And the boy is great! What did you say so sadly?
Miri pretended to cough.
"Not sad. Something got in my throat.
Then she didn't tell Dale what the birth of her son meant to the fairy. No fairy told that to the Chosen One. She let me remain ignorant and proud. For mortal men, the birth of a son and heir was a triumph. For fairies, bitterness, and defeat. Because male fairies did not exist.
The boy was born a man. Mortal. He could not come to Eleseum. He could not become a part of it, become immortal. And fire fairies almost always had boys. Because they were so few. Not a rarity, but a defective copy.
The fiery fairies were too attached to the mortal world. And their connection to Eleseum is too weak. Why this was the case, her mother could not explain to Mirielle. Only a wise queen could give an answer.
So Mirielle was eager to go to Eleseum before she married Dale. She wanted not only to see the enchanted fairy homeland but also to get answers to her questions. Discover the purpose of the fairies that Arelato was torturing her about.
Why do they have to leave the beautiful forest? Why do they get along with the mortals, give birth to new fairies, if they are already born, do not get old and do not die?
With her head up, Miri met the bottomless look of Arelato, black as a nightmare. Calmly accepted that he saw, as always, a conversation with Dale, which she just remembered. He knew all her thoughts and doubts. You can't hide anything from the kidnapper.
- I'm sorry, Miriel," he said. - I'm sorry I stopped you from fulfilling your dream.
- I made it worse for myself," she muttered. - If you wanted to know more about fairies, you should have kidnapped the one you'd already been to Eleseum. Don't be a fool like me.
He reached out through the table, took Miri's palm and squeezed it.
- And I don't regret it. I'm glad Orshava came across you.
Miri's heart was beating more often. And the kidnapper suddenly got up suddenly from the table without letting go of her hand. He walked around, stood by her chair and knelt down on one knee. Black, like the abyss of hell, eyes were opposite the eyes of the fairy.
He whispered, hot and tempting:
- Now you are free, Miriel. Your fiancé did not wait for you but chose another woman. You are no longer bound by obligations. You can look for another Chosen One. Or you can not look... Maybe he's very close. Very close, Miriel...
Arelato's palm lies on the thick hair of a fairy. He put his fingers inside the ginger-haired curls, gently guided Miri through it, increasing his shiver. The kidnapper's face approached so that her lips were about to touch her lips...
- Think about it, Mirielle," burned her with hot breath. - Give me the happiness to be your chosen one. With me, you will not perceive the bitterness of your loss. I am a magician. I am mortal. But I will give you much more happiness than your craftsman could... if I hadn't betrayed you. I will let you go to Eleseum and wait for you to return. I'm ready to wait for you, Miri...
For the first time, he called her by a tender name. Mirielle felt like a drop of water on an icicle that was warming and melting under the sun. And then Arelato finally touched her lips... Gently - but at the same time powerfully. Properly. As if everything was decided for her.
Mirielle pulled away, washed her head.
- I will not choose you.
The dark flame broke out at the bottom of his eyes. He couldn't hold it together, grabbed the girl by the shoulders, pressed her tighter. Miriel tried to push him away with the power of a fairy, but the stream of magic bound her, and she froze in place, unable to move.
Her velvet voice enveloped her, penetrating every cell of her body in a masterly manner:
- Stop it. You want it. You want me, just like I want you. I know your thoughts, I feel your desires. Do not resist. Let me kiss you. Let yourself... Give yourself up...
Arelato is a prick on her lips. Miri felt his tongue powerfully sliding her lips apart, and her hand sliding behind the neckline of the dress, to the delicate skin of her nipple...
And the next second, they were both given an icy stream of water. Miri squealed, and Arelato swore fiercely. The stream of Nielgari Falls seemed to have gone mad - the water had changed direction and was no longer flowing down into the mountain lake, but was beating sideways - right on the stone ledge of the terrace.
Hurrying up, Arelato put up a magic shield. Water was beating against him, and the floor and walls were moving.
- The devil strips me! - The kidnapper shouted out. - Doramon! What the hell did they do this afternoon?! They always attack at night! All fourteen years only at night - no other way!
"Save the Creator, we will have a fire fairy! The second one like you, I can't stand it. The fairy of water is better, quiet and modest!
"At least now you can look for a fairy of water for yourself! I'm not holding you back. But I will still have a boy.
"Drop it, Miri! - Dale, the peace-loving Dale, went straight backward. - I won't look for anyone, you know. And the boy is great! What did you say so sadly?