Waiting For Apricity

Chapter 4

Small talk

I felt the blood drain from my face, the realisation heavy as a stone in my chest. He pulled back slowly, savouring the moment, and an unexpected surge of anger burned alongside the undeniable vulnerability he'd exposed in me. "Jerk," I whispered, barely finding the breath to speak, even as my cheeks flared with heat. I took a small, defiant step back, fighting the flustered embarrassment that lingered over me.

His laughter filled the air, rich and mocking, though a faint trace of charm remained, woven into every note. "Not a warning, love," he said, his smirk widening as he studied me with that unnervingly intense gaze, "just a casual observation." He flashed a grin, his sharp teeth catching the faint light, and something in his gaze glinted with danger. "And there's so much you don't know—so much I'm not inclined to share."

He stepped closer, erasing the careful distance I had created, and his gaze burned into mine with a heat that left me breathless. "Not now, anyway."

My heart pounded, caught between dread and fascination. I swallowed down the fear and managed to speak, my voice steadier than I felt. "Tell me," I urged, a spark of bravery flickering to life. "Tell me everything."

His hand moved toward me, large and calloused, and I held my breath, every nerve on edge as he reached out. His fingers brushed a lock of my hair, twisting it gently around his finger as he regarded me, his face unreadable in the shadowed moonlight. Then, just as slowly, he let it fall, his hand retreating as my breath hitched, caught in my chest.

"No," he whispered, his voice a smooth, dangerous purr against the cool night air. His gaze lingered on me a moment longer, filled with something dark, almost haunting, before he turned, "wait! What's your name!" Looking back at me he almost seeming pleased that I had asked.

"Karlaious."

He sighed deeply, his piercing silver eyes meeting mine, unreadable and distant. His usual sharpness, that fire and fury I'd come to know, was dulled, replaced by a chilling calm that sent a shiver down my spine. "Fine," he murmured, his gaze lingering on me, weighing something unspoken between us. "I'll tell you the truth about what happened."

His lips twisted into a smile, but it was hollow, a shadow of real warmth, as if forced by some painful memory. He paused, and I could feel the gravity of his words gathering in the air between us, thick and raw. "Humans... they were committing genocide." The words fell like a stone, heavy and jagged, the enormity of them crashing down on me. His voice, once just cold, now simmered with barely contained rage. "They were corrupted—poisoned by their hunger for power. They destroyed everything in their path."

His eyes darkened, a storm brewing beneath his calm facade, and I felt that rage reach out, coiling in the space between us. "They hunted the fae," he continued, his voice edged with bitterness. "The humans believed that by stealing their magic, they could achieve eternal youth, eternal power. It was selfish. Twisted. And they didn't care what it cost." He clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening as he continued. "Elves were enslaved. Once noble, free beings, reduced to shadows of what they once were. And the creatures of our realm—innocent beings, who had never harmed anyone—were burned alive, treated like vermin to be exterminated. The destruction... it was unimaginable."

The weight of his words pressed into me, suffocating and thick, but he wasn't finished. His voice dropped to a whisper, hoarse with the depth of his anger. "And Julian..." He spat the name, his tone laced with venom. "He was the leader of them all. He killed my mother—Ilaria." His voice broke, just for a heartbeat, and I saw his jaw tighten, his face hardening against the memory. "He took her life without mercy. Without remorse."

A cold lump formed in my throat, a painful knot that refused to go away as his words settled in. Tears blurred my vision, the shame and sorrow overwhelming. Somehow, I managed to whisper, my voice a faint tremor, "Karlaious, I... I can't believe what my kind did. It's... disgusting."

Karlaious reached out, his large, calloused hand brushing away the tears I hadn't realised had fallen. His voice was softer now, filled with an unexpected tenderness. "Don't blame yourself, love. You aren't responsible for what others did. The darkness that consumed them... that was never your fault."

His gaze softened, unwavering as he spoke, his voice a low, gentle murmur that felt like a weight settling deep inside me. "Your existence, Apricity..." He paused, his eyes never leaving mine, as though searching for some unspoken truth. "It's the last act of mercy my father, King Amorphous, gave the humans. A chance for redemption. A chance to change. Your life is a symbol of forgiveness. Of hope."

A shiver swept through me, one that settled deep in my chest, as his words unfurled in the silence between us. A symbol of hope? The thought was foreign, dizzying. "I had no idea," I whispered, my breath shaking with the enormity of it all. "Lunaria... she only told me good stories. Her warnings only reached as far as these woods, and they were always of creatures that could harm me, of dangers lurking in the dark."

Karlaious's expression remained steady, but I could sense a flicker of something beneath his cool exterior, something softer. "Do you know what your name means, Apricity?" His voice had shifted, no longer laced with bitterness or detachment, but with something deeper, as though he were speaking to me and not just at me.

I lifted my gaze to meet his, my curiosity piqued. "No... I don't. Do you?" The words left me in a whisper, barely audible against the night, yet my heart thudded in anticipation.

Karlaious studied me for a long moment, his silver eyes tracing my features with an intensity that seemed to pierce straight through me. The world around us faded, leaving only the two of us, suspended in the weight of this quiet revelation. Finally, his lips parted, his voice softer now, almost reverent. "Apricity," he said, his tone lingering in the air, "means the warmth of the sun in winter."

The words hung between us, their meaning sinking into me like a soft caress. "It's a name that embodies your essence. You bring light and warmth to the coldest of times, just like the sun breaking through winter clouds."

I couldn't breathe for a moment, caught in the depth of his words. My name—my name—carried such meaning, such weight, and yet I'd always thought of it as something simple, something innocuous. But in that instant, it felt like a gift, a profound truth that resonated deep within me.

I blinked, my throat tight, struggling to keep the tears at bay. "I... I didn't know," I whispered again, my voice trembling, not from fear, but from something else—a rawness I couldn't quite place. "I didn't know any of this."

Karlaious's gaze softened even further, and for the first time, I saw something vulnerable in him—a glimpse of the burden he carried. "You were never meant to," he murmured, his voice gentle but firm. "But now you do. And it's your choice, Apricity. What you do with it... that's what matters."