“I already said I wou—”
“Inside the tent.”
Raxx didn’t have time to consider masking the emotion on his face before the princess had seen it.
“Not likethat.Get your mind out of the gutter.” Faye giggled and her cheeks flushed.
“You’re the one who just asked me to share your tent,” Raxx argued.
“Well I’m not about to shareanything elsewith you, let’s get that clear from the start,” Faye laughed. “I’ve never slept out in the wilderness before and I’m frightened. I could use the company.”
Raxx hesitated, silently deliberating his next course of action. He shouldn’t spend the night inside the tent. For starters, Zelrus wouldn’t approve. If the king ever found out about it, he would most certainly be wanting an explanation. It also wasn’t a smart move from a personal safety perspective. Raxx should stay outside, on guard for approaching danger. From inside the tent, he might not detect a threat until it was too late.
Snow began to flutter down around the campsite and Raxx glanced up at the night sky, blinking against the large, wet flakes. It would be warmer to sleep inside a tent. Though he didn’t feel the cold when he was incorporeal, his enchantment often fell from him when he was deep in sleep and he would no doubt wake up chilled to the bone, if he managed to sleep at all. There was also the added bonus of being able to keep a closer eye on the princess. Perhaps it would go some way to garnering her trust – he was keen to strengthen the faerie’s dependence on him.
“Please?” Faye asked quietly, her eyes wide and pleading.
Raxx sighed, as if the request was an inconvenience. He would forever deny that secret thrill of excitement that shivered down his spine as he got to his knees and clambered into the tent alongside the princess.
“Move over,” he instructed.
Faye shot him a wide, relieved smile and obediently shuffled her body over to make room for him. She tucked herself beneath her blankets, resting her head on her pillow. The princess offered him a share of her blanket, but Raxx raised a hand in a polite decline. This was risky enough as it was, hereallyshouldn’t be under the covers with her as well. Raxx tucked his wings in tight to his back as he lay down. He raised an arm, tucking it behind his head and using it as a make-shift pillow. Once comfortable, he sighed again and a moment of tense silence enveloped them.
When he could resist no longer, Raxx glanced over at Faye. She was wrapped up beneath the blanket, just her eyes peeping out over the top, watching him intensely.
“What?” he asked with a frown.
Faye didn’t reply, just shook her head.
Raxx lay still and tense in the silence, listening to the fire crackling outside the tent as the snow continued to fall harder and faster. When he glanced back at Faye again, her eyes were closed and her breathing was already deep and steady. Raxx sat up onto his elbows and tugged both his gloves off, being careful not to knock the sleeping princess. Just as he had before, he reached forward with a palm and snuffed the fire out in one smooth motion. He breathed a sigh of relief as darkness cloaked him and he flopped down onto his back.
Faye’s sleeping form lay beside him, lighting the inside of the tent with a soft ethereal glow. She wriggled, rolling over onto her back and her lips parted. Raxx chuckled to himself as the princess began to snore softly.
He watched her; eyes fixed on a strand of hair that was caught at the corner of her mouth. Before he had a chance to consider it, his hand reached out and smoothed the strand away. His fingertips brushed against the soft skin of her cheek and a bright spark lit the inside of the tent like a firework. Pain like he’d never experienced erupted from the touch and Raxx jerked back with a hiss, scrambling away.
Faye snuffled softly, rubbing her face with her hand, before rolling over with her back to him. Raxx held his aching hand tightly. His fingertips felt like they had been burnt. Residual pain tingled in his flesh and he rubbed them, eyes wide with shock. What was that? He glanced between his hand and the sleeping faerie with confusion. Raxx felt a determined frown form on his face as he reached through the darkness for the princess once more. His fingers hesitated warily for a moment, before he stroked them gently against the delicate point of one of Faye’s ears.
Whilst the faerie showed no signs of discomfort, just sighed sleepily, another spark erupted from the contact. Raxx’s hand shot away. He sank a fang into his lip and a pained grunt escaped him. His fingers, where they had touched Faye’s skin, stung. The burning sensation ebbed into his forearm, causing the muscles there to ache. Raxx flexed his hand, willing the pain to recede. His healing majick bloomed in response but there was no injury to repair. He rubbed his shaking hand, massaging his palm, and stared at the sleeping faerie.
His mind turned to the fortune crystal in his pocket, the one that had burnt his skin as it glowed. If there had been any doubt in his mind that the gem’s mysterious fortune related in some way to Faye, it was quickly diminishing.
He may have been the majborne with the most training and expertise between them, but Faye’s innate majick was potent. It seemed she had been correct in assuming there would be some unusual side-effects to their opposing elemencia, but the power balance had not swung the way Raxx had been expecting. Raxx stared at his hand in bemusement. He had never experienced anything quite like this. The pain began to dim and Raxx felt exhaustion wash over him.
He lay down and tried to silence his curious mind. Thoughts bombarded him from all sides. He had met many majborne people in his time, but never one he’d had such a violently unpleasant reaction to. It was ironic that he should be especially drawn to Faye. He had always had a talent for making things difficult for himself.
It appeared that he was able to touch her through clothing, but not skin-on-skin – maybe he would never be able to. Her skin scalded him like a hot iron at the merest brush. Why did that realisation give him such a sinking feeling in his stomach?
Disappointment in droves? No shit, Tabitha.
Chapter Six
It was still dark outside the tent when Faye awoke. She rubbed her eyes, squinting through the dim light. Her body ached from the cold, despite being wrapped up in a blanket. She was confused for a moment, gazing around vacantly. She was alone.
“Raxx?”
No answer was forthcoming, but that was no surprise. With a scowl, Faye squirmed free from her bedding and shuffled on her knees to the edge of the tent, peering out into the wilderness.
It was dark, but dawn was fast approaching. The grey sky was glowing with the first rays of morning. It had snowed again through the night, leaving the campfire almost completely covered. Just the very tips of charred black wood stuck up through the dense white snow.
