A Kind of Magic

Fifty-Three

Fiona woke up first in the pearly light of the new day, her senses overflowing with Peregrine's scent, his nearness, the miracle of his presence in her life. She had never hoped that she would meet a man like him, someone who would reciprocate her feelings, a man who would accept Freddie like an inseparable part of her.

And now he was here, so perfect... She would never let him slip through her fingers; she wouldn't allow anyone, neither her father nor Peregrine himself, to separate them. As long as he had feelings for her, she wouldn't permit him to leave her out of some misguided beliefs of responsibility for her safety... He didn't choose to be a Highlander; he was born one, and it was part of him just like her son was a part of her. She... loved him the way he was, and if his existence was perilous, then they would share that danger and deal with it together; she wasn't afraid. The only thing she feared was his leaving her behind, alone, only to keep her safe.

Strengthening her hold around his chest, she tilted her face to the overcast sky. It had been wanting to rain since they left The Gate, but she managed to keep the clouds at bay so far. She discovered that when she concentrated hard, she could just influence the sky a little... Watching the towering, lavender grey mounds of the waterlogged cumulus dissolve, she smiled. Out of all forms of magic she could have inherited, according to what Peregrine told her about the old gods he believed in, her ancestors, she seemed to be able only to influence the weather. And not for long, she would have to let it rain tonight if Peregrine found a proper shelter for them, she didn't want to risk a flood or a hurricane later if she forced the sky to behave for too long.

Having finished with charming the clouds, Fiona reached for her glasses, out of the lifelong habit rather than real need. It felt as if this world was changing her, shaping her to its liking, fine tuning both her looks and character. It was all so intriguing, but nothing was more intriguing than the man lying at her side in her embrace. She leaned on her elbow and observed his sleeping face, his features so different when they were relaxed by the sleep, while she listened to their friends beginning to stir until, without opening his eyes, Peregrine reached out and pulled her down for a kiss, making her gasp with surprise and joy.

An annoying clearing of an annoying throat made them pull apart long minutes later, and they found the annoying elf towering above their prone, tangled bodies.

"If you are quite done, can we move on, dragon? You said the vampire chateau you are taking us to today is far, and some of us," he raised an annoying, challenging eyebrow at them before he continued, "apparently, are in need of a night spent in a privacy of a room..."

Fiona hid her blushing face into the thin, chocolate brown blanket poorly covering the tangle they bodies had become during the long kiss, leaving Peregrine to deal with his friend.

"Tell everyone that we're leaving in ten minutes, elf. And if you are ready, you and Annwyn can saddle the horses today. Now leave us. Please."

Fiona had forgotten to breathe while he spoke. He sounded so regal sometimes; it was impossible not to obey him, not to love him, either as the man or the leader... Botheration... she had reached, and crossed the point of no return, her affection for him was growing by the minute, she realised when he looked at her again, luring her eyes into his, and her heart skipped a beat, pleading with her lungs to take a breath before he kissed he again the moment Leodhais was out of sight. 

Why did he have such an effect on her? How could she have fallen in love with him so fast? She mused as he helped her to her shaky legs a long while later, a content... loving smile playing on his lips. Her thoughts rushed back to her past, to her mother who had fallen for a man coming from a fantasy world, finding her, out of all women of Britain... To Lagon, who, out of all girls of London picked her, made her fall in love in him and got her pregnant, then to Peregrine himself, falling for her at first sight, at least that's how it felt to her, when it was Leodhais whom her father had sent for her, to court her and win her heart that belonged entirely to Peregrine almost from the first moment they met... It was destiny, it must be... only in Lagon's case it didn't... quite fit... He never told her any truth about himself, never cared what she would think when he left her, never bothered to come back later to check on her and his child...

Oblivious to the turmoil in her mind Peregrine pulled her flush against him, his large warm hand disappearing under the cardigan and t-shirt she wore under the black cloak, its progress upwards unhindered; she didn't even remember where her bra was at this point, only that she took it off before settling for the night. He noticed, too, the discovery followed by a whisper, almost a sigh of longing, "I promise we'll spend this night in a proper bed."

Fiona laughed softly at his choice of words-- he didn't say they would sleep.

She tilted her face up and kissed him before she removed his hand from under her clothes gently. He was incredibly tempting. She couldn't see the moment to reach the vampire chateau... That thought made her giggle. Right. Vampires. A noble family of innocuous vampires at that.

She only shook her head in explanation of that giggle before she excused herself and made her way towards the spring where they had filled their flasks last night. She needed to wash her face and brush her teeth at the very least; she would give anything for a shower.

As they rode through the thick, dark Black Forest, Fiona noticed how close Peregrine and Freddie seemed to keep. It pleased her, of course, but it also intrigued her; it looked as if something she didn't know about had passed between them, as if they shared... a secret... Sighing, she shook her head. She wasn't going to ask them. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be a secret anymore if they shared it with her. That secret seemed to strengthen their friendship, the bond she had seen forming between them since the first moment they met, and that was the only thing that mattered.

She was entirely absorbed in her thoughts, listening to the sound of voices, rather than the actual words of her companions' chatter when they stopped for lunch in a tiny clearing, only just big enough to let the sun's rays reach them through the crowns of the encompassing trees. Peregrine, who sat at her side between her and Freddie, suddenly sprang to his feet, startling her, and walked into the deep shadows pooling under the circle of the age old trees, long minutes before she perceived the sound of approaching feet-- the sound she heard didn't quite match the noise of footfalls on the forest ground, but her brain still unsud to this world failed to provide her with anything more appropriate-- from the forest.

Fiona stood up and ran to Peregrine, resolved to encounter everything at his side from now on, a split second before their group was approached by a couple of-- Were they... wizards?-- gliding towards them, their long, dark-coloured robes and pointy hats catching at the thickly grown underbrush.