Princess of Faerl

*Elentari*

Alke and Hephaestus came through the portal, and I was shocked. He had made it clear he didn’t do favors for mortals, didn’t want to deal with me, and would have Alke deliver the weapon once it was done. Now he was carrying multiple weapons in hand? That was a surprise.

He showed me each one and how to use them, some having magical properties to be able to be called from and sent back to the training room. I was in awe of it all. Gratitude flowed through me. My hand grazed his at one point and I felt shocks going through my body. It was the strangest feeling ever. What was this? I looked to see if there was a line or rope between us and I did not see one. I took a breath in, slightly relieved and slightly disappointed. He is a God, he would never want to be bound to me, a mere mortal. He wasn’t extraordinarily handsome, by the standards of Gods. Quite the opposite, but he had a ruggish charm about him. He worked for what he had and didn’t simply sit around waiting for mortals to worship him. He knew who and what he was beyond being a God. I admired that.

I invited them both to join us while we ate. I watched him carefully. He seemed almost scared, and I could swear I saw beads of sweat on his forehead. He was staring down at his plate and had been for the last few minutes. “Are you okay?” I asked him, slightly concerned. Maybe he had social anxiety after being alone for so long. I mean, how would I know?

He dropped his fork. I must have startled him. “I’m sorry if I startled you,” I apologized and focused on the fork, picking it off the ground for him and floating it to a staff member’s tray. “Could we get a new fork please?” I asked the gentleman. He nodded and swiftly returned with a new fork.

“It is fine, Princess.” His voice was low and smooth like butter. How can someone with such a rough exterior be so smooth with their words? When we visited him the first time, he was gruff and difficult to get along with. Now he was like a kitten wanting to be loved. It was such a strange change. “Thank you for inviting us to the meal.”

“Thank you for the weapons. It’s a great honor. I know you don’t make weapons for mortals. I know the weapons you make are extraordinarily powerful. I know how lucky I am to be seen as worthy by you.” I swear to all the gods I saw his ears blush. I felt eyes on me and noticed my dad was looking at us and seemed to be sizing the god up. I don’t understand why though. I clear my throat, “Hephaestus, meet Lily. She just graduated with me and is an awesome fairy. Selene took a liking to her too.” I try to move the conversation away from myself. Something about all of this feels so…. Awkward. I don’t understand why. I can feel the five spirits snicker inside me. It was weird the way the other four combined with me, but I’m rolling with it. I could still hear them. Their voices combined, but I could still tell the attitudes of the words. Only this time all of them seemed to be mocking me in a playful manner. ‘He liiiiiiiiikeeeesss you….’ they rang out and now I was blushing. Asses.

Lily let out a small squeak, as she seemed a bit overwhelmed to be in the presence of a god. “Hello, your… Grace?” I laughed a bit. “I apologize, I’ve never talked directly to a god before. I have no idea how to address you, Sir.” Her words sounded a lot more confident than she looked. Her wings were trembling.

“I am just Hep. Don’t worry about honorifics with me. I’m not like my siblings or my parents’ generation. I’m simply the blacksmith.” He grunted and cut the steak on his plate, a bit brutish in his actions.

“Oh, uhm, okay. Well… I’m Lily Clearwater. I am a lover of all things nature and specialize in healing properties along with nutrition.” She carried on for a few minutes about going over the various ways to naturally increase the strength, stamina, and smarts of various species through dietary needs. I try to follow along but it kind of loses me so I concentrate on my food.

“Belle, may I be excused?” I asked. I kinda want to go to the training room and try out my new weapons. I also needed a space to clear my head. So many changes in such a short time.

“Of course, dear, is everything okay?” She looked concerned and Alaric looked towards me as well. The same question seemed to be on his mind.

“I’m fine, just a lot of changes for one week, and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.” I smiled softly at them both, “Just wanted to go into my room for a bit, maybe spend some time meditating and bonding with my weapons. I’ll be back for dessert though. I’m not going to miss my favorite Italian dessert!” I ended my statement as cheerfully as I could to throw off their concern. In all reality, I felt an odd tug in my tummy and it was unsettling. Maybe if I had been raised to know this world was real, I wouldn’t feel this way. I wouldn’t be freaked out sitting across from the gods or being the reincarnation of one. I wouldn’t be afraid of feeling a connection to someone I barely knew or terrified of my future. So much had changed but I hadn’t caught up with it all yet.

I nodded politely to everyone, taking in a deep breath. Eliza seemed to be in a deep conversation with my twin and Stacie. That was an interesting turn of events. I saw the bonds between the three of them. Internally, I laughed, having known that Stacie would be the one to end up with two fated mates. She deserved all the happiness she could muster and this way she didn’t have to pick a gender to be able to follow her heart. It was the best of both worlds. ‘Thank you for giving her that, Selene.’ I thanked the goddess within as I walked back to my room.

Once inside, I took a deep breath again, looking into the mirror. I wiped the makeup off my face, letting my natural glow come through. I took all the pins and barrettes out of my hair, letting it fall down. I didn’t bother removing all the small braids, instead making them into one bigger braid. It was well past my waist. Getting used to the heaviness of the hair was a task in and of itself. I changed out of the 4” heeled boots and the dress into a black sports bra and spandex workout pants. I decided I wanted to stay barefoot.

Earbuds in place, cell phone in my pocket, I enter the training room. I smiled seeing the pouches in the middle of the room. The silver against the deep red leather was perfection, in my opinion. I don’t know what I did to deserve such nice items. “Thank you, Hap.” I said out loud, “I don’t know what I did right, but thank you for this priceless gift.” My fingers traced over the leather.

‘We are the Others’ started blaring in my earbuds. Stretching my limbs, I reached up as high as I could and then went down to touch my toes, singing the song softly to myself. If I could call anything my therapy and reason for not killing people, it would be music. It gave me words to describe all sorts of emotions I couldn’t otherwise.

I move into various yoga positions, my body stretching and pulling. This felt good. It had been a long time since I’d done anything that could be conceived as physical activity. Lyssandra forbade me from doing anything that would be considered combative, she said it was unladylike. This meant nothing down to softball was allowed for me. Hand-eye coordination was apparently part of combat.

Once I stretched out, I set the Sai on the ground before me, calling for the claws, daggers, bow, and arrows. Sitting back on my feet, I opened my mind, allowing for my energy to flow into the weapons. The five spirits flowed forward. Selene wasn’t adding her essence, though. I didn’t understand why, but I figured she would tell me later. For almost an hour, I let the energy pour through me into the items. Music helped me keep calm and steady.

“You should stop before you lose all your energy and faint, Princess.” His voice was still like velvet. My eyes snapped open to see Hap standing before me, a smile on his lips. I nodded, calling for the weapons to sheath themselves within their cases and placing the Sai back into their holster. I stood, looking up at Hap. I was damn near six foot now, but he still towered over me. I felt absolutely tiny.

“Thank you again,” I said quietly. He nodded to me, I could see the rhythm of his rising and falling chest increase. He was nervous. “Why are you so nervous around me? I’m just a mortal girl. I’m not dangerous to you, or anything important to you.” I met his eyes with mine. He looked almost hurt by my words.

“If only it were that simple, Princess.” Sorrow seemed to lace his words. I couldn’t understand what was going on. I felt like I was missing something. I didn’t have a fate bond with him, so why was he so fixated on me? Why did he have an effect on me like none other?

“Explain it to me?” I took a step forward, my hand reaching towards his. He backed away and wouldn’t let me touch him. I didn’t understand this at all! What was I missing? My chest felt tight and breathing was a bit harder.

“You deserve better than the blacksmith, Princess. The lame rejected child of Hera and Zeus. I may be a god to some, but I am still their rejected son. Destined to live alone in my forge, surrounded by soot, heat, and weapons. I’m not material for a Queen’s fated.” My head snapped up, stepping toward him. This time I didn’t leave him the option of moving away from me. My tiny hand laced fingers with his. “Please, I don’t know that I can keep myself from wanting you if you do that.” His voice quivered, almost as if he were in pain. I noticed his legs weren’t quite right, but it didn’t bother me.

“You’re saying you’re my fated?” I asked him. I needed to know. “I can’t see the bond. I can see everyone else’s, but I can’t see one from me to you.” I bit my lip, not letting go of his hand, “So I need you to speak plainly to me. I feel sparks when I touch your hand, I hear velvet when you talk. I see a man, not a god. I don’t mean that to be insulting, I just…” I struggled to find the words, “I just see you. A hardworking soul struggling to find their place in the universe.” I was now standing toe to toe with him, looking up. He was almost two heads taller than me.

“Yes, Princess. I am your fated. Not your mate, like how your mother and father are mates that were paired together by Selene. But your Fated. And I’m you’re my Destined. It’s different. The God of Gods, creator of all universes, made this bond. I don’t understand why I wasn’t meant for this. But they did.” That was all I needed to hear. My other arm was wrapped around Hap and I hugged him.

“You’ll have to teach me all about all of this. I’ll do my best to keep up. I can’t promise I won’t annoy you from time to time with my lack of knowledge. You’ve experienced more history than I could ever learn.” Tears fell from my eyes. They were happy tears. I had a bond that was stronger than a mate. This was completely unreal.