Nicon

XIX

XIX

    AFTER DINNER, WHICH in Elysie's opinion took a turn for the worst, Nicon walked her back to her room in silence.  Her arm was tightly wrapped around his, but he could tell her coordination was better and she seemed more adjusted than before.  They were both hopeful.

    "Thank you for walking me back, Nicon," she said kindly.  She didn't know why she was able to walk back, seemingly in the open, but couldn't roam the castle.  Surely they would pass people on the way back to her chambers?  Her thoughts ran rampant as the sound of their scuffling feet and mingling breaths surrounded them. 

    "You're welcome, Elysie."

    "How did Killian lose his mate?" she asked as they reached her door.  She could hear Nicon push the thick wood open and felt the air released from the room.

    He placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her through the doorway.  Through her dress, she could feel the heat radiating off of him, his fingers, the sparks that were dancing across her skin.  For a moment, she thought he would leave her without giving an answer.

    "She was a warrior," he told her, an indifferent sounding tone.  "She died in battle protecting her protégé, a young Shifter who had run from her pack and found shelter here."

    Elysie frowned.  "Is that why women seldom become warriors, now?"

    "Killian scared off anyone who tried, and I wasn't opposed to the idea.  After all, women are the saviors of our race.  They will make sure we survive.  They are hardly allowed to leave the castle anymore.  Most of them choose so."

    "For such a fearless man you seem to be frightened by the idea of this," she said.

    "I am the King, if I am not fearful for the survival of our race, what would that title mean?  Now, little mate, I know how those men feel.  I know what it is like to worry."

    Elysie grinned and turned her back on the man, her fingers trailing over the wood delicately as she passed the large door.  Soon, her fingers ran off of surface and were left surrounded by air.  The thick lavender scent was something she was always glad to be greeted with as she entered the room.

    She liked the lavender because it smelt like home, he liked it because it smelt of Elysie.

    "Will I live here in secret forever?"  The question on her mind for the passed week was finally blurted from her lips, but Elysie hardly wanted to contain her curiosity on this matter.  He had not given her an answer when she last questioned him, and she surely did not expect an answer this time around.

    "Hopefully not, Elysie."  He sighed. She figured his answer would be cryptic.  "It's not safe for you, especially because you are not mated yet."

    "Mated?"

    "Yes.  I have to mark you, and you me, and once we completely give ourselves to each other we will be fully mated, and you will be my Queen."

    She appreciated the way he said it.   She wasn't naïve, she knew he meant they had to have sex, but he didn't sound anxious in anticipation for it.  All men she had known were eager to rush into it, not that she had ever fallen for their bold attitudes before.

    "I have to bite you?" Elysie was more concerned with this.  How would she bite him when she didn't have long canines as she imagined he did?  He was a Shifter!

    "Yes, but that would happen after you turned."

    "What?"

    "After my bite, Elysie, you will not remain fully human, but you will not turn fully Shifter, either.  You will remain in your human body, without the privilege of shifting, although you will develop Shifter-like senses.  Sight, hearing, touch."

    She breathed a deep breath from her mouth.  "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

    "Would it have changed anything if I had done so?"

"No," she said.  "I imagine not."  She seemed calm, but deep down, the petite human girl was terrified.