Some Fall By Virtue

Chapter Twenty-Eight: I feel it in my bones

Sakura wondered how many of the others saw it – the unnaturalness of the entire situation before them. The eerie way she and her soulmate were drawn to each other and how they always tried to follow each other with their gazes alone, each of their stares so very burning and piercing. Like a dragon's flames, her mind whispered. Her stomach twisted, whispered words and echoed reminders coming to haunt her then as she walked down to breakfast, hand in hand with the one she hated to love. She would ruin him, she knew with every fibre of her being. There was no way she couldn't ruin her perfect soulmate. And yet she couldn't let him go. She had her claws sunk into him, and they refused to budge, and she was basking in such a sensation. She would bask in that sliver of happiness she seemed to have found for as long as she could before being ousted as the monster she was.

Ever since Elrohir had confronted her, eager to reveal and free Glorfindel from her dreadful clutches, she had pondered on how many saw their relationship for the unnatural one that it was. A relationship forged from the binding between two souls fated to be together. Not that any would think of such a thing because Ancalagon was dead and dragons were not meant to reincarnate as elves seemingly did. None could possibly come to such a conclusion that she was Ancalagon. Besides Elrohir now, that was. And the reminder of that elf who had the secrets in the palm of his hand and the weight of her empty threat being the only thing keeping them concealed in the dark where Sakura longed they would stay for a while longer had her feeling that terrible dread which always felt as though it were dogging her footsteps with an unnatural eagerness. Those secrets had to stay buried. So that the promises whispered to her in the eaves of her mind didn't come to pass far too soon. There was that deep, dreaded fear which rose up to swallow her whole at the thought of that. The fear of something inevitable, she knew, no matter how she wished she could lie there in that blissful warmth and happiness she had found.

"Are you quite alright, Lothien?" Glorfindel asked, tilting his head then, staring down at her, curiosity and concern marring his brow. "You look quite pale... Did you not rest well?" he enquired, and Sakura felt only nervous at those words because of course she hadn't slept well, part of her fearing Elrohir would let slip her secrets and her threat would be revealed for the empty one it was. And the many consequences such a reveal would bring to the semblance of a life she had started to carve out for herself there.

A smile found its way onto her lips, plastic, fearful, and brittle as per usual. Pathetic. "I am fine," she said, fingers twitching at the long, soft, oddly fond sigh her soulmate let out at her admission. "There's no need for you to be concerned," she remarked, hairs on the back of her neck standing up on end at the pointed look he sent her way. You've ruined him, the voice whispered, and Sakura felt sick to the core at such a thought. For him to show concern over a dragon of all things, part of her explained, and Sakura pulled her gaze away from those grey eyes she longed to lose herself in.

"I find with you," Glorfindel said pointedly, "there is always something to be concerned over..."

Sakura smiled still, hating the way her soulmate's face fell at her continued smiling. Like he could tell how very fake it was. Her stomach growled, but her appetite dwindled – more so as they arrived at the communal dining area and she felt the stares settle upon them. Unlike the passing, curious glances from before their latest dragon hunt, they felt piercing and cutting. Dragon, they whispered in her ear, and fear and paranoia drowned out most other noises.

A hand closed around her upper arm, and Sakura blinked, meeting those grey eyes which peered down at her with, what by that point was an almost characteristic concern. "Lothien?" Glorfindel questioned, brows drawn together as his concern grew into something far more palpable. "We can return to your rooms or perhaps go somewhere a little more private should you wish it so?" he offered, ignorant of the way those words had her stomach twisting as those other stares bore into her. But if she vanished then and there with her beloved soulmate, then she could imagine the rumours and the whispers upon how strange their relationship was. The thought of that happening was like a punch to the gut, because her world – the world she had tried to build for herself in that place – was slowly beginning to crumble down around her.