¤ How You Change

Verchiel swept down the stone corridor, scattering the various students and teachers walking along there. Barely acknowledging the bows he received, he stopped in his swift passage only to turn into another corridor, his green eyes dark in contemplation.

Slowing down at the end of the passageway, he reached a pair of heavy wooden doors, and flung it open with a forceful spell-gesture, bursting into the room in a flurry of golden wings.

‘Finally you have decided to grace us with your Royal presence, milord.’ A glacial voice spoke from one of the low-backed chairs placed before the fireplace in his room. The fairy had her back facing the door, but her purple-tinted silver wings identified her as Hedwig.

Verchiel watched as his wife rose gracefully from her seat, the jewelled-combs in her deep purple hair glinting in the firelight. There was frost in her amethyst eyes as she looked straight at him. ‘Why has milord not been answering my communications? Is he that busy with his new duties as Headmaster?’

‘You know perfectly well that you can find me here anytime, milady.’ Verchiel strode up to her, not bothering to close the door. This part of the corridor was designed to be out of the way, and he had picked this as his Headmaster’s quarters because of that very reason. There was little chance that someone would walk past and accidentally overhear something before Verchiel could be aware of them.

‘You know that is not true.’ Hedwig said.

Verchiel showed no sign of hearing her. The fairy lord leant down and kissed the cheek that Hedwig offered to him. ‘As beautiful as ever, milady,’ he murmured, a husbandly compliment laced with strange overtones of politeness.

Hedwig sensed his distant attitude, and reached out to grip Verchiel’s velvet covered arm. ‘What are you hiding from me, milord Verchiel? The day that you pledged yourself to me, you also pledged to keep no secret from me.’ She looked up at him, searching intently into his guarded green eyes. ‘What are you not telling me, milord?’

Verchiel felt her send magical probes to forcibly test the mental shields that guarded his mind; frowning, he made his shields flare up in defence. Hedwig winced silently, and quickly withdrew her magic. ‘Milady, please.’ Verchiel said lazily, ‘Do you doubt your husband so much to have to resort to such pathetic methods?’

‘How can I not doubt you, milord!’ She spat out coldly now, barely masking a hysteric tone. ‘You leave me alone at the fairy Court in Orbis, and you do not answer the messages I send. Have you forgotten about our plans? How can you give up your post as Advisor to your Royal uncle to be Headmaster of this place, when you and I know perfectly well how much you detest this filthy nest for mortals!’

‘Milady, control yourself.’ A corner of Verchiel’s mouth lifted in mild amusement at his wife’s tension. His arm snaked around Hedwig’s waist and pulled her closer to him. ‘Someone might just hear you, and that would not do, will it.’ Verchiel bent his head down and ran kisses up her neck, whispering softly against Hedwig’s skin.

Hedwig’s fists clenched as she stared defiantly past his velvet-covered shoulder, trying hard to ignore the thrill that went through her at his touch. How she hated it when he manipulated her like this, dangling her at the edge of anticipation with alternating coldness and passion. ‘And you bring her into such close proximity! Do you not comprehend how dangerous she is to us?’ She said in a low angry whisper.

But the rebellious thoughts fled her mind as Verchiel started to kiss her at the nape of her neck.

‘No one will really believes that it is really her.’ Verchiel breathed into her hair. ‘And if I keep her here, it is all the better for us to keep an eye on her. I can easily make things difficult for her, much more effortlessly than when I remain at the Court.’

‘But our plans-‘

‘I have only made a few changes in our plans, some temporal sidetracks. We will get what we want, there is nothing for you to worry about.’ Hedwig shuddered now, feeling Verchiel’s fingers trail up her spine to rest deliberately at the sensitive skin between her wings.

‘How you change without warning, Verchiel… What can you be thinking.’ Hedwig said, her inflectionless voice tinged with misery as she shut her eyes, her long eyelashes almost brushing her cheeks.

Suddenly, Verchiel’s warm embrace fell away from her. Surprised, she opened her eyes, and saw Verchiel whirl angrily on a tall, lanky mortal that stood awkwardly at the doorway. ‘What is it, mortal?’ Unable to control himself, Verchiel let a sharpness emerge in his voice.

‘Uh, my teacher said to deliver this sculpture to you, Headmaster…’ The mortal’s voice shook as he answered Verchiel’s furious question. Averting his brown eyes to the ground, the youth held out an object wrapped in cloth. Verchiel took the statue from his hands, and continued to look down at the boy.

‘There is no more of your business here now.’ Verchiel said quietly to the youth, his voice calmer now. ‘You understand that you have seen nothing here.’

‘No, sir! I mean, yes, sir. Sorry for interrupting, sir.’ The youth backed away, bowing low. After a safe distance, Salmer turned and walked as quickly as he could out of the corridor. Sure, he had not seen much, but there were some very strange things that he had heard…

I must tell Aurora about this! Salmer thought excitedly as he hurried away.

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Links to previous chapters:
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When two people like Verchiel and Hedwig get together, I don’t expect they’ll have a normal relationship. This is the Hedwig before… well, before everything.

Anywayyy. How much do you, dear reader, like romance? Because somehow, I can’t continue this story without borrowing some of that old mush, and I hope the sight of it wouldn’t make you run away screaming. I personally haven’t been in love (not even a crush, mind you. No one good enough 😉 ), and I hope I don’t screw it up.

Wait! This long author’s note isn’t ending yet. I just received a PM along the lines of: where’s the first one? I assumed it was talking about my first chapter, since before twenty-three, the first chapter already toppled off the list of my ‘recent blogs’. Subsequent chapters are going to fall off to join One soon. That is why, I have been adding links to past chapters after every chapter.

So, dear Reader, the long list of link link link up there is for your reading convenience, not because I think that if I repeat the word long enough, everyone will get brainwashed into obeying my commands.

Yup.

Just in case you suspect otherwise.

Because, I repeat, the thought of taking over the world, even with hamsters, has never crossed my mind. Really.