Dragons and Princes - [COMPLETE]

22. Marquis

In the weeks that passed, Eiran begged his daughter’s forgiveness for having betrayed her heart and striking it intentionally in his hurt and his anger, and Marquis seemed to have grown strangely protective of her. He hardly moved from her side and was not at all shy about threatening any who dared cross her in the slightest. Often, his absent touches shocked the Freyja of the court when he worried over her. He would take her hand in his and brush a kiss over her cheek, or trail her golden Freyja scars absently as though they were a tragic beauty that both broke his heart and also kept him unable to look away. Faeana learned not to flinch away as she grew used to his nearness, and she found his concern strangely comforting. In his short absences, she grew anxious and easy to upset though she had never been prone to do so before.

Marquis and Faeana had come to easy conversation just as they had since their first encounter with each other, and nothing had changed, except how often he shocked her. Anymore, he went out of his way not to tread over issues that might upset Faeana, and they learned a lot about each other’s pasts. Their people were so different, but they had so many similar facets, like a love for stories and nature. And children were considered the most precious of all treasures to both of their people, seconded only by their frey cats and their wolves.

Faeana learned of his younger sister Bethine and his mother Moira, and of his brothers and his father. In turn, she told him about her family, about her sisters, her brothers, her mother. He’d grown accustomed to the Freyja reserve though he still demanded she did not lift that wall between them, but accompanying that wish had grown much easier.

A few Fenrir were allowed access to the Den, the few who dared to venture among the Freyja, and for the first time in too long to remember, their people tasted a song of peace and the Freyja’s sorrow began to lift. Trade began between the Fenrir and Freyja, slow at first, but it began to pick up as merchants grew brave with the profits they were making.

Soon, Marquis told her, they would travel to his home, where she would meet his younger sister and his mother, and where he would introduce her to the Fenrir. She still worried over that, frightened of the danger, but she was determined not to allow herself to cower behind the protection of her people while he had risked everything to walk among the Freyja.

A few skirmishes occurred between their people, but those were easily settled by their own and before drastic measure had to be taken

Hope became the first breath of every day, but Faeana’s heart grew heavy near the close of every day, for that was when she would go to Patreos. He’d showed no signs of improvement, and recently, the last of his calm had begun to fade. His guards had given more and more disturbing reports regarding how the frey cats flinched from him. The guards were having difficulty shielding themselves or their frey cats, and today was no different. A young guard had been dismissed to recover when he’d almost lost his own calm and his cat had collapsed.

"He is lost, Faeana, you must let him go." It was her father pleading with her, as they had started seeing each other again in court. He’d seen Patreos’s decline of late, and he was concerned with Faeana’s refusal to have Patreos executed.

She shook her head, refusing as she anxiously awaited Patreos being brought up unchained, as she had commanded be allowed many times. Faeana hated to see him in chains. He had saved her from the storm only to have his frey cat torn from him and be thrust into chains because he was on the verge of turning breken. "No. He is not breken yet, and I will not allow his death unless he becomes as much!" Faeana rose from her throne beside Marquis, who was leaning lazily against it. He straightened, his palm resting against the small of her back, one of his unconscious casual touches that always made her father glare at him. He didn’t care what Faeana’s father thought.