The Beastkeeper's Redemption

Seven

Seven 

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Kaede tracked her movements- stiff and unsteady- as she staggered towards him. The cobbled stones that wound through the garden were cased in ice, making her path slippery. Considering how she wheeled her arms presently, it was easy to deduce that Miss Tiffany Cotton could be rather clumsy.

Not that he cared a whit about such things.

The thick, fur-lined hood of her cloak fell back, revealing her tousled locks that flopped over her brow and spectacles in wayward curls, as she fought to steady herself. She stayed put for a moment, plunking her hands on her hips and huffing a breath that blew out her pinkened cheeks. She was, he thought, so very intriguing.

Intriguing in a shapeless grey frock that dragged along the treacherous stones at her feet. Intriguing in the way her huge eyes lightened with the most miniscule of expressions, almost as if her emotions were too uncontainable to be subdued.

He sent a few eddies of snowflakes in her direction simply to appeal to the aesthetic of the situation, studying the way the tiny particles danced and swirled about her skirts and the endearing picture she made. The brisk draft drew her gaze and she found him studying her, waiting for her, from Addilyn Holt's cleverly designed rendezvous point.

It was a secluded marquee, cordoned off with thick canvas panelling on either side with comfortable seating arranged on the inside, sconces blooming with flames for warmth nearby. Amidst the winter garden of Ravensfield, it was strategically romantic, and he made a mental note to show his gratitude for the efforts the matchmaker had made in contriving such a thing.

He would never have been able to think of such an elaborate way to romance Miss Cotton.

And he could tell she was impressed by the widening of her eyes as her gaze switched from him to the marquee, to their surroundings, and yet more colour heightened her delightful cheeks.

Her inertia came to an end then and she moved forward, towards him, and promptly lost her balance.

She fumbled before he caught her. Well, not him precisely, but his magic wove its protective coils around her, cushioning the very air to stabilise her unsteady limbs. Her heard her indrawn breath as he moved closer, close enough to release her from his unseen bindings and ease her into his arms.

Which was vastly more preferable.

She leaned into his side, such a short little thing, and craned her head back to study his face. Beneath her voluminous skirts, beneath the thick woollen cloak, she was warm, her curves soft where his arm wrapped around her back and waist. It brought forth the memory of what it was like to kiss her, to feel everything pressed against him...

"Your power is elemental in nature," she murmured, something like wonder touching her voice, and he couldn't help feeling pride surge through him. It bode well for him that she found him impressive, and his spirits soared.

For the past fortnight he had been so mired in his own inner turmoil, he doubted he would ever be able to feel one shred of happiness ever again- and he hardly felt like he deserved it.

But Miss Cotton had stumbled into his life and lit up his darkness like a flare, a guiding light, and Kaede knew she had been thrown into his path for a reason.

His mother always said that bad things came in threes, that only the appearance of something good could render a fault in the tri-linked chain- and he rather believed that Tiffany was the start of his good thing. Not that he devoted his existence to prescribing to his mother's own brand of superstitions, but it was always a point of contention between himself and Caël pinpointing the exact events that could be construed amongst the three bad.