The Beastkeeper's Redemption

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Two
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Her wrist was on fire.

It was the first thought that flitted through her mind, stirring her to consciousness, and she turned onto her side with a groan.

Izzy cradled her limb to her chest, aware of the pain and of the fact that she was cushioned upon a soft, familiar mattress and the covers pulled tight over her body. She was warm, in bed, and... marked.

Her eyes popped open, alarm shooting through her at the memory.

Cassie.

The room was dark, but she could make out that she was indeed within her own personal chambers. She sat up, pain streaking through her wrist, which she noted had been bound in a clean wrap, though spots of blood had stained the material. She'd been marked...

That realisation stilled her, a rush of sensation flowing through her body as she stared down at the bindings that covered the sacred black welt that would encircle her limb for an eternity, linking her to... Kaede. Only two other beings of her acquaintance, that she knew of, bore the same mark- Lady Mildred Adams and Blayne Leowyn.

Rare, never before heard of occurring in this realm... yet there it sat, glaringly obvious, upon her flesh. Unnerved by its import, she caught sight of glimmers slowly drifting from the ceiling, gently chirruping in greeting.

Pixies.

Their soft, ethereal glow illuminated the dark shadows of her room.

Had she slept the day away? Izzy swiped a hand over her forehead, compelling her hazy thoughts into compliance- which was odd. A foggy memory wasn't something she was used to, her thoughts normally blaring with their clarity at the best of times. She knew her sister had left... her demeanour upset... her friend- Eloise Grant.

That concerned her... not that she knew of Miss Grant personally, but she had heard of her father, and her brother. Often, the two Grant men would frequent establishments of a faster set, places of licentious natures- Izzy knew well the type, and the relations they had tendered with women were... concerning. If gossip was anything to go by.

But she put it from her mind, endeavouring to trust her sibling to act without reproach and surely not to set her cap for one of the Grant men.

"Iz."

She snapped her gaze away from the pixies, two having settled on the edge of the mattress by her toes. He came towards her, his brow etched with concern, carrying a tray laden with steaming food and drink. A shirt covered his broad shoulders, his hair neatly bound at his crown, his jaw cleanly shaved. Her body thrummed at the sight of him, the mark seeming to burn hotter than before.

Hers.

"My sister," she said, finding her voice cracked and parched.

Kaede came to sit beside her, placing the tray on the mattress carefully. He caught her marked wrist, bringing it up to his face for examination and frowning when he noted the stains of blood. She couldn't help but be drawn to a similar bandage that wrapped around his own wrist- matching.

Belonging.

She swallowed audibly. "Is Cassie..."

His eyes switched to hers, shadowed and churning mercurially. "She hasn't returned, no," he told her, the deep, calming timbre of his voice washing over her skin and engulfing her with a sense of comfort. His presence, his nearness, seemed to make her feel at ease, filling her with an unerring yearning and contentment simultaneously. Sensations that weren't wholly new, but seemingly exacerbated. Was the mark... the cause?