Gunther remembered when he agreed to the marriage. His father demanded he marry the Tatiana, the only woman who could bear him strong heirs. Then he met her three days before their Intirmating Ceremony, as was tradition for his people. She was beautiful, with pointed ears, glowing purple eyes, and long white tresses down her spine. Flawless skin, a beautiful pale white, with long white eyelashes. She wore such innocence in her eyes, something he found agreeable since he was not interested in a woman who was not. Cathy was ethereal, and Gunther was proud he won the approval of Silas and Zion.
“Tatiana, I am honored to stand before you, a Dragon who has won mating rights.” Gunther bowed, but slipped and landed right on his face before her. “Uh…”
“Haha…” She giggled, making him look up at her flushed face, and his heart throbbed. “Are you okay?”
~~~~~
Catherine was noth
~~~~~Catherine rarely found herself impressed by someone’s consideration before. But she could not help but be in awe of her youngest husband. Though he pretended to hate every second, he still helped her to the bathroom. And maybe he thought she did not notice, but she could tell his soap was homemade. It smelled of soft lavender and reminded her of her baths back on Earth. A tear rolled down her cheek, and Gunther appeared from nowhere, making her cover her chest under the bubbling hot water. Clear panic was written all over his face, and his distressed appearance almost made up for his nearly seeing her naked. No matter if he was her husband or not, he was still a stranger to her.“Is the water too hot?!” He cried out, and she felt his Lias swell. “Sorry, I was thinking back to when you first looked at me.”“Huh?” she wondered dumbly, before shouting in embarrassment. “No! The water’s fine!&
“Silas…” Catherine started, but Gunther interrupted.“Do we need to move out?” He asked, not glancing at her. “How close are Queen Susanne and her allies?”“Gunther…” she tried, but Silas ignored her outcry.“Too close.” Zion nodded, scooping Catherine into his arms. “Gather Catherine’s things. We’re leaving.”“Zion…” But he did not spare her a glance, so she crossed her arms in a huff. “I see how things are. Fine, I’ll shut up.”Without another word, she found herself on the enormous back of Zion as the sight of the cave disappeared behind her. Catherine felt a little nostalgic as she watched the mouth of her home for the past two months disappear, but she startled when she realized it, and shook the thoughts from her head. For now, the focus needed to be on staying alive. If someone was after them, they likely not
Gunther felt it was his job to protect her, yet here she was, shielding him against Zion’s and Silas’s glares. He failed her, yet she proclaimed his innocence. Why was she always surpassing his expectations? Catherine was nothing like the Cathy he remembered. She was always crying out for help, pretending she was in danger, and acting like a spoiled child. Catherine did her best to make him comfortable, and it was for that he could find her easing into his heart. His Lias leaked, moving towards his Intirmate, but he blocked it, still unable to face almost hurting her.“While we were in the sky, he activated his Lias to make sure I was comfortable. Doing so alerted our enemies, and he took the hit they intended for me.” Catherine spoke softly, using her bare hand to wipe at the sweat on his forehead. “So, he did not FAIL you. I failed him.”He weakly opened his eyes to look into her concerned purple eyes. Even though he knew he messed
Silence met his ears first. Then the soft chirp of birds in the distance and the crackle of a fire nearby. Gunther could feel pillows under his body, and he clenched his eyes before opening them. He was on his back under the swaying branches of some tall trees. His red eyes looked around to find the back of Catherine near the fire, Silas reading some parchment in a branch on one of the tall trees, and Zion was stalking the perimeter in the distance, but Gunther could still sense his Lias. As if sensing his movements, Catherine turned to look at him before she looked up into the trees, her purple eyes shimmering.Gunther watched Silas leave, and she approached the pillows with an apologetic expression on her face. Was she going to abandon him? He failed her, so he could not blame her. But when she sat and lifted his head into her lap, he froze. What was she doing? Gentle fingertips stroked through his hair, making his horns appear. This was something only Intirmates could do.
The pain did not last long, and a few days later, Catherine was up and moving around again. After all the work to make their camp more comfortable for the four of them, she sat down to meditate for the day. Her spine relaxed, and she let her eyes drift closed after crossing her legs under her. Silas’s teachings flooded into her mind, and she found her center, her thoughts easing into her meditative state. Her source. The Lias burning bright within her chest. Since she began practice with it, it was much easier to access the Majyk of Erlias. She inhaled the scent of the surrounding woods, the sound of the birds chirping, and the feel of the breeze on her cheeks. A visage appeared before her, someone familiar yet not.“You have mastered accessing Lias, I see. I was right to choose you to take my place.” Cathy’s voice whispered, and Catherine’s eyes widened. “Your bond with Zion, Silas, and Gunther grows ever stronger. You will sa
‘Catherine, how did you access my powers to shift?’ Zion asked as she settled into his arms for the night. ‘Why did you withhold the information from me?’“I don’t know. All I did was think that I did not know how to fight, and I remembered seeing you fight once before.” She replied into the quiet night air. “So, all I did was channel the Lias into shifting and turned into a wolf, like you.”“It should not be possible.” Gunther replied from her other side, and she looked up into his glowing red eyes. “I’ve never heard of a Queen shifting to her Intirmate’s form before.”Maybe because she did it, she did not think it that strange, but seeing their response to it was unnerving. The way they made it sound like it was dangerous meant she should be careful in the future. The only one who had yet to say anything was Silas. He was standing, something already unusual, but his mutte
Silas still avoided her, but she would occasionally catch him watching her. Catherine hoped her encouraging attitude would break his silence, though nothing changed. The longer he ignored her, the more her hope diminished. As she grew used to being around Zion and Gunther, Silas seemed further away. Did his past with Cathy really bother him that much? Then it occurred to her. Perhaps he was right. He could not love her because she is not Cathy. What did that mean for her other husbands? Did they only love her because she looked like their wife? Catherine walked a few steps away from the camp and looked up at the sunlit sky. They remained in the woods, hiding out while they waited to see if anyone else located their camp, but Zion informed her their next location would be the beach. As exciting as the thought of the beach was, Catherine felt worried. There was an identity crisis right now. A bunch of people want her dead, and she could trust no one. Scared. The more she tried
Erlias came into existence on a God’s whim. This God made it so the human imagination designed the creatures of this world, even the world itself. And the strongest of all creations on this world is the Queen of Queens. The Tatiana. Fairy Queen Catherine. The First Tatiana, the Original’s Spirit, was forcibly separated from her body by her husbands who failed her, and the Queens she ruled over. Her spirit then sought the most suitable heir, the one whose wish she could grant in exchange. This wonderful world of Erlias, where there were many creatures, was also a place that made a difference between the Body, Soul, and Spirit.“Why?” Catherine wondered, her thoughts echoing back to her. “Why me?”Catherine’s soul belonged in this world, but an accident sent her soul to Earth. Though the accident was beneficial to her, this was the God who created this place trying to correct an error. The reason she never found her soulmate on e