Enchanted Love

Chapter 2: Macosna

"Would you like an apple?" Nimbus held the enchanted fruit out to me, kneeling in front of me on the dirt.

"No thank you."

He looked me up and down before scoffing. "You're sickly. Have an apple." It was an order this time. I sighed heavily, already tired of the way he felt his relationship with the Prince made him untouchable.

"I just want to go home," I whispered, lowering my gaze to the dirt; not because I was scared, but because if I looked him in the eye it would make it easier for him to control me.

"This is not your home. It will never be your home. You will never be one of us," Prince Rovaki spoke as if I hadn't been aware.

"I don't want to be one of you," I forced out a chuckle, but it was everything I had to keep myself from snapping.

"Please," he chuckled as he and Nimbus switched places, "Who wouldn't want to be immortal with immortal friends? You'd never lose anyone important to you again." The air shifted and he earned a new glint in his eyes. Almost sympathetic but scheming at the same time. His voice softened as he spoke again, but I couldn't help but hear lingering mockery in his words. "You must miss her. Your mother." A sting of fresh grief struck my heart, heating my blood and freezing my thoughts. Next, if I wasn't careful, he'd tell me the apple would ease my pain and I'd become desperate enough to believe him.

"Death waits for no man," I murmured ominously, finally looking up to meet his gaze. His clear, whitish blue gaze.

"We are not man," Miliko hissed.

"Death waits for no man," I repeated, louder, "Once Death decides to claim you, he will find a way to claim you. Immortal does not mean you will never die, it means you will not die of old age. But you still get sick, you still get attacked. Once you decide to dance with Death, he will take it to the end of the song of life."

"And if we refuse to dance?" Prince Rovaki titled his head in interest.

"He will ask again and again. And you will agree because you will not recognize him." Did he not see that I was trying to warn him? Warn all of them?

"What do you mean?" A shadow appeared in his eyes, as if he could finally hear the apprehension I intended.

"He can appear in many forms. Recklessly climbing a tree. Trusting a stranger to bring you a drink. Signing up for the army. Trudging through a snowstorm. Sitting on the throne and having children. He will appear as someone you trust. And he will become your greatest friend through conversation. By the time he shows his true face, it will be far too late."

"Why are you even talking to her?" Disarray asked, arms crossed over her chest, "She's human, she's mortal, she's bound to have a few screws loose."

"You say I have screws loose yet I am the only one in this circle who has successfully turned Death away many times. All of you have entertained the idea of his dance. Seems to me you're all more mortal than you think."

As soon as I was finished speaking, Rovaki took the apple from Nimbus' hand and shoved it into my mouth, a smirk on his face. I met his eye and held it as I bit down and chewed, resulting in him slowly bringing it to his own lips and taking a bite off mine. "Thanks for starting it," he whispered. "Now, let's see you swallow." He spat juices onto my nose.

I scowled as I fought to block out the effects of the sweet, serotonin-filled fruit. My throat rolled and I opened my mouth to show him that the pulp was gone. He and his friends watched me intently, all waiting to see the reaction that would never happen. It's not that I was immune to this fruit like they were, but I had spent my first few years here building a type of immunity to its poison. Once I learned what it would do to me if I ate it, I didn't want to take any chances so I got Malice to teach me mithridatism. However, I wasn't able to build a big enough immunity to fully protect what I just bit off...my bite had always been pretty big...

I blinked hard as the lights in the forest slowly became brighter, colors more vibrant, and the air lighter. I roped my conscience into coherency as Rovaki grinned at me. "Must be your fathers blood, delaying the effects," he commented. I wanted to bare my teeth at him in a snarl, but the apple made me smile at him instead.

"You're beautiful," my voice said, light and dazed. I lost control of myself as my hand floated up to stroke his cheek. He took my wrist and examined my hand, some sort of laughter in his eye.

"You'd like me to eat one of your fingers, wouldn't you?" he guessed. I watched with wide, wondrous eyes as he slowly placed my pointer finger between his teeth. The skin bent as he bit down, but the fruit blocked my pain receptors. Suddenly, the bushes started rustling and thunderous hoofclops filled the air. He let go of my finger as Kindred rode onto the path, on top of his feather winged horse. The animal's nostrils flared and its eyes glowed with fury as it charged toward us. Rovaki slipped a charm ring off my finger before following his friends into the trees.

Kindred's steed slid to a stop by me and I forced myself to my feet. "Kindred," I huffed as I stumbled toward him, forcing my mind to work. "I need to get back."

"You think?" he muttered as he reached down and pulled me into the saddle in front of him. I squeezed my eyes closed to help myself stay focused as we rode through the forest. "What did you do to them?" he asked in aggravation as he helped me climb off the horse and walk into the stronghold.

"I exist," I mumbled as I made my way to my lair. "What more do I need to do?"

"You are not taking the stairs right now. You tell me what you need and I will get it for you," he ordered aggressively as he pushed me into a chair in the foyer.

I rolled my eyes at his protectiveness. "Moonjeb. It should be in a cup on my desk, I need Nora to boil it into a tea." He nodded before running for the door and skipping down the steps into the basement. While I waited for the tea, I rocked back and forth in the chair, trying to keep my eyes open and my mind awake. If I let this put me to sleep then I'd wake up in the morning, not wanting to eat anything but faerie fruit.

"Macosna, there you are," Malice said as she came down the stairs and sat in the chair at my side. "What happened? Are you okay?" I looked at her, still rocking. Her golden hair shone brighter than ever and her cat eyes had a gem stone pattern. Her moss colored skin looked soft as cotton and her teeth glinted in the light as she smiled at me.

"You're so pretty," I whispered to her. Her eyebrows knitted together as she processed what I said.

"What happened?" she asked again.

"Oh, beautiful Prince Rovaki let me try his apple as a treat," my voice giggled gleefully as my mind remembered the sweetness in the nectar.

"What?!"

"He's such a grand creature, isn't he?" I asked. "A fitting appearence for a Prince, don't you agree?"

Anger flashed through her eyes. "No. No, I really don't," she muttered as Kindred came back up to me with a cup in his hand.

"Malice, I thought you taught her mithridatism," he commented as he handed me the cup and I tilted it back against my lips.

"I did," she defended. "Not my fault she has a horse bite." I chugged the tea and ignored the heat as I put the cup on a side table, already feeling my senses coming back.

"She did teach me, Kindred," I added as my voice returned to my control. "I think I just forgot to watch how much I took." He looked at me with steely eyes and crossed arms.

"Are you feeling better already?" he asked.

"Moonjeb works fast," I told him as I pushed myself to my feet. "I just need to sleep the rest off." I was about to walk toward the stairs to go to my room, but turned back to Malice. "Wake me up before you leave, I wanna see how your outfit turns out." She nodded before I made my way up the stairs and walked down the hall. My room was the last one on the left and as I opened the door, my nose was filled with the scents of fresh jasmine and lavender. I had the flowers hanging scattered about the room, from hooks on the walls and ceiling. The scents helped me fall asleep easier than a cat in a pool of sunlight. I swung my door closed and walked toward my bed before falling face first onto the comforter, my legs giving out beneath me.