Born in the Flame

Chapter 34

      Honestly, the nature of my birthday being special didn't carry in my mind. I wanted to be home for my birthday. I wanted to feel my mother's hands brutally braiding my hair and weaving in a gold bead. I wanted a pint of mead and to feel the congratulations of my father. These were things that would be dulled by where I was. It would happen when I arrived back home, but the specialness would be dulled by the fact it was not on my actual birthday.

As Uzlos zipped up my dress, I knew he could tell I wasn't exactly thrilled to be thrown a large party. Today would be the day that I reached elven maturity. The clock on the aging process would slow and little by little I would begin to grow old. Though I loved him and I would face that as it came, the knowledge of my aging still lingered in my mind.

"When gods reach their maturity, they finally gain their godly powers. I shifted in the middle of my 25th party, taking down an entire ballroom ceiling." He softly chuckled.

"Mmm... Too bad part of that ceiling didn't land on your family's heads."

"Yes, very unfortunate." He whispered into my ear.

Thankfully, he wasn't wearing the all-black suit he wore when meeting with Gabris. Instead, he wore another emerald suit that seemed to make his hair shine bright. He wanted me to braid his hair again, but we settled on the left side of his hair braided back with the remainder being loose. The ends of those braids were tied off with a similar emerald-colored ribbon that matched the rest of his suit. I tried to be gentle, but he really was tender-headed; nearly cursing me the entire process.

"Are you sure you want to keep our mating bond a secret?" He asked, taking in the sight of me in my thigh-length black dress.

"Yes. I want to wait until we're back in Yaanlian, on familiar grounds." I said, "I've been getting a sinking feeling about today, so I'm a little on edge. I love you, but being mates gives anyone out to get us an edge over us."

"Mm.. fine." He said, "So calculating."

"You're sure you're not feeling a sinking sensation?" I double-checked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Try to relax for me?"

"I'll try." I gave weakly.

When we stepped out of the room, Kirdan met us in the hallway and stuck himself in the elevator with us. I hadn't seen him in weeks. His hair and long ponytail had also grown quite a bit. Our elven genetics were a curse if you liked your hair shorter.

When we were in the elevator, Kirdan observed us quietly. I could feel his light brown eyes watch me like a hawk.

"Why do you have bruises on your neck?" Kirdan asked bluntly, narrowing his eyes on the both of us.

I coughed out of surprise. My eyes darted to Uzlos who was conveniently not looking at either of us.

"Someone forgot to heal them." I responded. A very small smile tugged up at the corner of Uzlos' lips.

"Animals." Kirdan mumbled under his breath.

Before the elevator reached the bottom of the spire, I could feel the music pulsing at my feet. Gods, they really needed an excuse to throw a party if they had this much music playing. The rhythm of the music pulled us closer to the entrance of the spire. Moving closer, the chatter and laughter of the cholarians could be heard. Opening the doors made the sounds nearly push us back.

The local cholarians danced and chatted amongst each other as a band played on a stage that seemed to curve in to naturally amplify the sound. The music reminded me of home. It was upbeat and lively. I couldn't help but feel a smile creep up.