The Lions and the Lamb: A Tamlin x Rhysand x OC Story

Chapter 4: Surprise

The fire...I could smell the burning wood and the smothering flames as I ran. The men were still behind me. I heard their hungry voices yell and shout at me, like I was a deer in winter and they were trying to hunt me for precious nourishment. I tripped on a rock covered with green ivy and they seized me. Their hands...ripping my dress. My only dress. Their dirty fingers feeling my exposed flesh. Groping me...touching me...laughing at my sobbing.

"Alanna!" Said a voice in the distance. Who's voice was that? I had never heard it, yet it sounded so familiar...

"Hey, shh. Shh you're okay. It's okay. It was just a nightmare." Tamlin soothes me, his hand tracing comforting shapes on my back. I shook in his arms, feeling my tears wet and stain his night shirt.

"I've got you. You're safe now. No one is going to hurt you ever again. Breathe for me." My crying eventually ceased as I trembled in his warm embrace.

"M'sorry..." I mumbled. He leaned back to look at me and pushed my hair out of my eyes softly.

"Don't ever apologize, Alanna. Ever. You've done nothing wrong, sweetheart." Sweetheart, he called me. The way the syllables fell from his lips made my heart skip a beat and my eyes widen—why did he have this affect on me? I'd certainly had crushes, but I'd never felt the butterflies in the pit of my stomach like this before.

After he held me for minutes more, I eventually pulled back. My stomach growled. He chuckled.

"Let's get you some breakfast."

Once again, he picked me up. His large hands fit perfectly in the crook of my knee, his muscular arm wrapped around my frail waist softly but securely. As we approached the dining hall, he looked down at me and smiled. Not like how you do when you pass by a stranger, or when you see something funny, but, I'd imagine how you'd smile when you look at something you adored.

As the staff opened the big gilded doors to the dining room, a stranger was seated on the side of the table. He had long, fiery red hair, tanned skin, an almost rugged look, and as we approached closer, a golden faux eye. I thought about all the possibilities of how he lost his real eye before I realized I was being rude not saying anything.

The redhead peered over at me on Tamlin's comfortable lap and cleared his throat.

"Is this your little lost deer, Tamlin?" He asked with a crooked brow. Tamlin stiffened.

"Lucien, this is Alanna. She was hurt in the woods East of here."

I forced a smile at the faery and he chuckled.

"Shy one, hmm? You sure are lucky that the High Lord of the Spring Court found you and not some wretched bloodthirsty creature. The Bogge, for example, would have torn you—"

"Lucien! Enough. Do not scare the poor girl anymore. She's been through enough." He said in a growl. I found my voice in the midst of the two powerful faeries alas.

"What? High Lord? You're a High Lord?" I must have looked dumbfounded with my eyes popping out of my head and my heart thumping against my chest. Tamlin let out a throaty laugh.

"Indeed I am." I had heard about High Lords of the faery courts back in my village...that they were fierce creatures of no mercy. If that was true, why was this one being so kind to me? Or maybe this was a plot to gain my trust, then turn on me and—

Tamlin gripped my chin as he felt me tighten on his arm.

"Alanna, you becoming aware of this does not change anything. In fact, you should feel even more safe now that you have this knowledge. Others fear me, and would not dare meddle with you." He cooed, shoving a raspberry in my mouth. I chewed it slowly and felt the sweet juice explode in my mouth. I wanted to tell him so many things. As a High Lord, surely he had more important responsibilities than to take care of some human helpless girl. Nevertheless, he kept feeding me, and I kept eating.

Tamlin and Lucien chatted more about hunting, the wall, other courts, and more information that my ears drunk up.

He lifted me steadily like I started to become accustomed to.

"So, what do you like to do?" He asked.

"I...I never really had time to do anything I liked. But I suppose I love to read. My father taught me when I was just a girl, and when I had rare moments of spare time I read dusty old books." He smiled softly, his eyes lighting up.

"Then let me show you something."

What he brought me to next I was unprepared for, to say the least. A tall white door revealed the biggest library I'd ever seen in my life. Tall built in book cases filled with rare books, nonfiction, novels, fiction. My eyes could hardly take in the scenery as Tamlin observed me.

"Do you like it? You can come here whenever you want." He stated. I nodded eagerly, and before I was able to stop myself in his arms still, I hugged him. Not just a casual hug, but one full of gratefulness and passion. My eyes watered as I spoke.

"T-thank you...no one has—no one has ever..." I couldn't find the words to describe how thankful I was. He simply hugged me back with matched levels of passion as he expressed words of welcome.

I'd loved this place when I first arrived, but now I couldn't stand the thought of ever leaving.