The Immortal | Prequel Story |

Chapter 57 ~ What Could've Been....and What Wasn't

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"Katlyn?"

Katlyn turned at the sound of a familiar male voice coming from the high grasses in the meadow, just a few distances outside the human establishment in the East fortress. Wrapping her shawl more tightly around her, Katlyn watched as Mallen slowly stepped out of the tall grass, which nearly towered him. His raven hair was long and loose, slightly disheveled with a stray blade of grass on it, indicating he hid crouched down in the grass to keep from view, before rising to meet with Katlyn.

The early dawn sky was blurred with clouds to keep the sun from shining too brightly over the landscape. The summer air was cool and afresh with the scents of nature. As Mallen climbed out of the grass, Katlyn couldn't deny he was attractive, rivaling her husband's attractiveness, though she supposed his vampire nature allowed more attractiveness than humanly possible.

She watched him as he slowly approached her, all the while cautious of his surroundings. He was inside a human establishment, after all. Though they were far from guards and soldiers, away from the main part of the human establishment where most of the land's people lived, there was the chance another person might want to seek privacy in the meadows as well. If a vampire were caught inside the fortress, mayhem and chaos would ensure within the establishment. Mallen wanted no such thing to occur, not wanting any trouble, simply a moment to speak with the woman standing before him.

Katlyn's elaborate long oatmeal cream white, dark olive green, and dark red dress blew gently in the slight wind, tossing her long thick dark brown hair, and her scent, towards Mallen, but he was very self-controlled and felt no such inclination to indulge in any vampire instincts, especially towards the woman he loved.

"Iérti will kill you if he sees you," Katlyn warned him, her sharp brown eyes wary of his intention.

"I know," Mallen said softly, almost sadly. "I had wished we would become good friends, maybe brothers. But such fantasies are impossible, given his strong hate towards me."

"You know very well the reason for that hate," Katlyn told him in a low voice, as if reminding him.

Mallen glanced at her wearily. "What am I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry for loving you?' Because I'm not sorry and I do love you, Katlyn. I understand Iérti's anger, but – "

"You should leave," Katlyn interrupted, taking a step back. "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't share your sentiment, nor do I feel any anger or hate towards you."

"Do you feel anything for me? Anything at all?" Mallen inquired, needing to know.

Katlyn regarded him for a moment, taking in his handsome appearance, his fine stylish clothing, the wooden stakes in the brown leather sheath at his side, his sincerity. At last, she said, "When I look at you, all I see is a man in need. You're like a stray cat who comes begging at my door, wanting to stay with me, but alas, we do not belong together. I belong with my husband, and you belong with a woman who is suited for you. The woman truly meant for you."

"Such a woman might not exist but in mere fantasy," Mallen said ruefully. "I don't believe in destiny nor in the notion of soulmates nor the idea that there is someone meant for every person. What I do believe in is reality, in what I know is real and does in fact exist. What I feel is real, and try as may be, I cannot ignore what I feel."

Mallen cautiously took a step closer, as though he were trying not to scare away a rabbit. Katlyn felt his cold vampire hand gently grasp her warm human hand. She looked up to see Mallen's beautiful olive green eyes gaze deeply into hers. Dangerous eyes. Eyes that have led many women astray, eyes that have seduced some to their deaths, she thought. I don't see seduction nor malice in his eyes, just....pure sincerity and honesty.