A Mirage Of Milk And Honey

Chapter 19 - First Impressions

Turns out, Aedis wasn't joking when he said that they weren't finished. By the time the two had stepped out the palace, the moon was making its first appearance in the sky and the creatures of the night were stirring from their sleep.

Under the cover of moonlight, the two moved swiftly and silently with Honey copying Aedis' movements, following in his steps.

She crouched when he crouched. Bent her knees when he did bent his, and stilled when he did, listening to the surrounding forest. The way the birds whistled and the insects chirped.

Aedis stopped his smooth movements to crouch down beside a fallen tree, his figure sheltered by the leaves and bush of the forest.

Honey crouched below him.

"What's the plan?" She whispered, her voice surprisingly silent even to her ears.

Aedis heard her nonetheless, tilting his head in her direction. "We've got to wait until the right time." He said, voice low and eyes trained on the clearing before them.

The area was cloaked in the darkness of night, but unlike the rest of the forest, the lacked the shadows the trees cast over the landscape

"And when is that?" Honey asked.

"When everything goes quiet." He replied.

It didn't take long for the twittering and clicking of insects and animals to become white noise at the back of Aedis' thoughts.

Neither him nor Honey spoke as they waited, crouched by the edge of the clearing, shrouded in shadows.

With the sounds of the forest becoming a constant backdrop to his thoughts, Aedis' mind kept lingering on the woman beside him.

Her fingers on his skin.

His on hers.

The feel of her pale hair in his hands as he clipped the strands together with silver and gold beads, braiding some strands, looping others with thin, dyed leather straps, the excess string hanging from where he'd knotted it. He'd tied half of it back, keeping it out of her eyes, but left two braids on either side. As a finishing touch, he'd placed some thin, long feathers in her hair—behind her ears. They fluttered each time she shifted, the two braids swinging with the motion.

Now, Aed was regretting the choice of braids, because every time that Honey shifted or turned her head, he felt the offending strands of hair stroke across his bare back from where she crouched behind him.

The thought then sent his mind to the feeling of Honey's hands threading through his hair. Brushing it with her fingers, working fast to braid small pieces, or clip on pieces of jewellery and feathers. The tug she gave him when she pulled the top half up and out of his face, a couple of strands escaping to tickle at his forehead.

Now, the two wore almost matching headpieces. They were made of leather, and went from their forehead around and up, curving into horn-like shapes. Honey had two beaded chains that hung from the centre of the headpiece down and back up behind her head to create a chain that stroked her cheekbones on either side of her face.

Aedis was so distracted by his thoughts and the heat that rose to his cheeks, he almost didn't feel Honey tap him on the shoulder.

His head snapped in her direction, as though he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have.

When his eyes met hers, his mind went blank and he couldn't do anything but stare at her dumbly. The patterns accentuating her bone structure, the way her eyes flitted over his face, the scrunch of her brow, furrowed. The sound of her breathing—hot air blanketing across his face from how close she was.