The Beastkeeper's Bride

23: Respite

23: Respite

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Have you faced a challenge with the Valkyrie before?

Blayne gritted his teeth and sank lower into the water, causing Millie to cluck her tongue at him. She was tending to the wound on his back, ensuring the exposed flesh was well and truly sanitized, and though her administrations had been tender and soft, the burn was consistent and stung to high heaven when she swiped the cloth over him just then.

"Yes," he answered, giving her a pointed look over his shoulder. She was submerged to her waist, steam pluming about her and condensing in droplets against her skin that caught the light from the oil lamps he had placed for them on the rocks and shore respectively. The Llaelleanoid clung to the shadows of the forest, lurking close to Millie and ever vigilant. He sensed its presence, though it was difficult to ascertain its location precisely, but seeing as it posed no threat to his wife, Blayne allowed it to linger on the premises. It had proven itself a noteworthy ally that day, its loyalty to the human woman strange and welcome. As an adversary, the Llaelleanoid was untested yet though there was a reason that he chose to avoid the beast entirely. The capabilities of the spectral creatures were unknown and purportedly brutal in his world- and since the few of them that existed in this realm preferred isolation to interaction with other creatures, they were best left simply alone. "But only once- and that was before any of us realised the beast could be trained to obey one solitary command. Aëghan won the right to keep the creature, and we all agreed it best that such a thing was kept contained in this world."

He felt her fingers slide against his flank, the faint splash of the water as she slipped her hand under the surface. I need to clean your injury, Blayne. Unless you are able to self-heal, this will need suturing. Her voice was prim and commandeering, making him grin faintly. His brave little duchess.

"I cannot. One of your many talents, not including snaring wild Valkyries, is a neat suture, I suppose?"

Of course. She stepped closer to him, mindful of his injuries, and her lips were soft against the skin of his shoulder. Her fingers danced lightly against the muscles at his sides, settling and splaying flat close to his heart. He made a gruff sound before spinning to her suddenly, drawing her against him and sinking them both low into the heated water. Amusement lit her starkly blue eyes. And what of yours, husband? I feel as if you have not been forthcoming with your limitations, or lack thereof.

"What you witnessed today is the extent of it," he told her succinctly. "It is never... overused. To a large degree."

So you are unable to, say, fly or control the weather?

Her voice was teasing and he couldn't prevent the smile that tugged one corner of his lips up into his cheek. Pointedly, he glanced at the night sky- clouds massed and loomed overhead. "Perhaps it will snow on the morrow," he mused, raising his brow.

You can do that?

He snorted, looking back to her. "No, wife."

She gave him a peeved little glower and he chuckled. She felt warm and soft in his arms, his hands finding the silken skin of her lower back and dipping lower to the softly rounded curve of her bottom. So arson mainly, she said with a little smirk that he longed to kiss from her lips, and incredible fighting strength.

"All Draëllian's are superb warriors," he said pointedly. "It is why our kingdom prevails over all others in our world."

Insomuch as I understand it, the only records you have of this history is oral and therefore unreliable.