The Mark of Arella(Book One of the Dragonfly Chronicles)

Chapter Twelve

Lilly woke up with Rhylan's arms wrapped around her. She moved slightly so she could look at him sleeping. His beautiful face looked peaceful and calm. He was so different than the brooding man she met all those weeks ago. He was thoughtful, sensitive, protective, and funny and she was happy they had been given the chance to spend more time together. She raised her hand to his head and ran her fingers though his hair, down his cheek, over his lips. His eyes slowly opened and he smiled at her. "Good morning", he whispered and he kissed her lightly on her forehead. "Did you sleep OK? Are you feeling better?" Lilly nodded and smiled back. They stared at each other for a moment longer when she said, "I leave today with master Aeron. Rhylan, I, I wish you could go with me." She looked down a bit embarrassed that she was saying this to him. Letting him know what was in her heart felt right though.  Rhylan kissed her forehead again, then her cheeks, her nose, her chin and then her lips. She breathed in and took in the taste of his tongue on her mouth and kissed him back. He pulled away, a bit breathless and said, "I will think of you every day you are gone Lilly, I don't want to be separated from you, but master Aeron can teach you how to use your magic and how to protect yourself. I know he will keep you safe and protected."

Lilly was overwhelmed with what was happening. As she looked into his warm eyes, she knew she was falling in love with this beautiful Prince and it felt wonderful. They kissed again and suddenly a bright light shot thru them and out of their hands. They both pulled away a bit shocked and then looked down at their hands. The tattoo that Rhylan had seen develop all those weeks ago was showing up on his hand and arm, more vibrant than before. He grabbed her hand to look, and it was the exact mirror to his. She looked up at him. "What is this? Did you do a spell on us?" "No, I didn't do this but I have seen it before Lilly, when I came to visit you a few days after your abduction and I held your hand. The same light appeared and our hands had this tattoo on them, then they disappeared, but why did they re-appear just now?" he said. "What does the tattoo mean?" she said to him, looking at the beautiful spider web design with little intricate diamonds in between the webs. "It is beautiful but, wow, it takes up our whole arm." She marveled at it. Rhylan breathed out as he thought more about their connection, their experience as children and all that has happened and said, "I think this is a bonding tattoo." "You mean like the ones mates have? Like Arella and Baelin?" she said.

"Yes" is all Rhylan said as he stared at the tattoos. Lilly blew out a breath and said, "This makes sense now, it explains why I feel so drawn to you, why I had dreams about you every day, and why despite your rudeness I still wanted to be around you". Rhylan looked up at her with a pained expression. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved before. The minute I rescued you from the attackers, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I wanted to sit by your side while you recovered and didn't understand. You were a human and how could I be so drawn to you? I was frustrated and then when the tattoo formed and then disappeared I couldn't stop thinking about what it meant. Then, your true identity was revealed and you were suddenly Princess Lillianna, the lost daughter whom everyone mourned. You were safe and with your family. My role as protector was done. There was no reason for me to hang around. Yet, I still couldn't stop wanting to be around you even though we fought most of the time. It was so frustrating. I just feel drawn to protect you Lilly, to be at your side and yes, these tattoos explain it all. We are bound by them, I see that now."

Lilly's heart stung when she heard him explain his thoughts. She started to feel a pain in her stomach, like holes were being ripped into it. Was he telling her that he is staying with her out of duty to protect her? Did he care for her at all? Here she was, thinking they might be developing feelings for each other when in fact, he was only acting on the instinct from the bond. But he had kissed her so tenderly and passionately. Why would he do that? Maybe he kissed her in those moments because they were so close to each other and the physical attraction took over? Suddenly she felt like a stupid idiot. Of course he wouldn't be falling for her. His tenderness was likely the bond causing him to act out of duty. He was a soldier after all. Duty binds him. She wanted to cry. What if he never developed feelings for her? According to what she knew of the mating bond, they could never be with another and what if he grew to resent her for it? She knew he cared for her in some way, he was at the very least a good friend and that was comforting in some way. "Lilly? Are you OK?" Rhylan said to her. She couldn't look at him, not while her heart was ripping apart. She moved to get out of bed and he grabbed her hand. "Is something wrong? You look sad". "I'm fine," she said. "It's nothing, we should get up and have some breakfast".