The 100 Things and Such.

Float or Fall: II

"Skai Prisa.." Titus offered as he entered my corridor one afternoon, I was feeling much better and I had been walking around my room, pacing between the balcony and the rest of the huge space.

"Heda had requested your presence.."

I was nervous and giddy all at once, I had never met the commander, but her reputation perceived her to be ruthless.

My tutor had warned me of how fearsome the Heda is and how radical her behavior could be.

I had developed feelings for one of the women who had taught me of her culture, the way she spoke of her people, of their livelihood, and history, I was wildly attracted to her, to her passion for life or at least, living.

It never hurt that she was beautiful, and although I could see the fire and anger in her eyes, I could help but swoon at even the simplest of kindness from her.

I had advanced on her, I leaned in for a kiss as she sat incredibly close to me, just finishing braiding my hair with the most gentle touch, but she turned away.

I apologized, and she rambled something about the commander in her language that I didn't quite understand yet. I was nearly fluent in her language but slang terms or odd sayings were harder to decode at the time.

She apologized as well, she'd had a lover, and although she'd had eyes for me she couldn't betray the other girl.

Then, she made it a point for me to fully understand, that although I was a godsend in the eyes of most of her people, I was still property of the commander and to fraternize with me would be to commit treason under their law.

I hadn't been extremely knowledgeable on Trikru laws yet, but I knew that there isn't necessarily a crime to commit that's not punishable by death.

Which made me feel oddly at home.. That's beside the point.

The commander at the time of my arrival was named Anya, upon meeting her, I had recognized her as the older woman who I'd met after waking up, although she had been pretty bad at translation then, she had a lot of wisdom to offer, such thoughtful words from a woman with such calloused hands.

Her love was not sentimental and it was not kind, but it was a solid foundation based upon trust, honesty, and pure equality.

She swore to me once that from the moment she laid eyes on me she knew our fates had been intertwined forever.

It only took a month or so by her side for her to trust me with the secrets of the commander. I knew things even the cowardly Flamekeeper did not know about the history of the great Heda.

I knew far more then even Leksa, who acted as the Commander's second..

She hadn't told the commander that I'd made a move on her, she and I both knew that it would have been her head no matter what my testimony would be.

Anya had been kind enough to make me an offer, a way for me to always be protected by her and her people, a pact with the gods.

We were married in front of her counsil, only it wasn't what I thought it was.. In order to protect me, she had made me the Commander's wife, which she didn't inform me carried on through spirit rather than body.

I had to learn that the harder way.

I'll admit that I lost attraction to her after the conclave, not that I'd meant to or done so consciously. She just seemed like a different person after that.

I fell for something behind her eyes that just wasn't there when she opened them again and when she ran, it didn't hurt like I thought it would.

I was never a fan of Costia, even as one of those tutors, not that there had been anything wrong with the girl.

I had felt death in her presence.. From the moment I'd met her, she'd always been followed by the slight aroma of something very dark looming.

I warned Leksa of this just as I had warned Costia herself, just as I had advised Anya before the even began conclave, before the cowardly night blood ran for the hills from her own lover.

One may run but one simply cannot hide from inevitable death and Costia's death had been just that.. Inevitable.

The Ice Nation hadn't as much to do with Costia's death as Leksa thought.. The Commander told me themself in a dream.

A voice of wisdom from the heavens and slight visions of a brunette girl I'd simply never seen before, whispering sweet history lessons as I slept became something of routine for me, not always the same tone, not always the same point of view, not only the strange girl but dozens of faces or more, always spouting off about the same message.

I was undeniably connected to the commander, with no idea of how or why.

I knew it had to be something with the scar.

Anya had a little scar on the back of her neck, hidden by a tatoo of our sacred symbol, a tatoo that Leksa didn't until after the conclave.

It took longer than expected to confirm my suspicion of a small scar on her neck, just where Anya's had been, I highly doubted it was a coincidence.

I don't remember her having a cut or scratch or wound of any kind there, but then again I never really felt or touched the back of her neck until we got romantic.

It didn't take but a few moments to fall in love with Leksa after Anya ran, but I held back.

I was inclined to believe that my love was for her spirit, and her spirit had yet to call for me, but through a tiring night alone together we discovered each other spirits and then some.

I don't know what brought me to do so, but as I ran my finger gently over the soft scar tissue on my newfound lover's skin, I'd brought a hand up to rub the same spot on my neck.

I was shocked to find a scar, the same size as Anya's and Leksa's, at the time I couldn't have even imagined what that meant..