Fireheart

Chapter 26

Our suite was in the west wing of the palace, two floors above the meeting room. We saw several women gave Phoenix flirty eyes as we passed.
"Might need to start chasing, Fyre." Rebecca whispered to me. Phoenix chuckled.
"My concubines are kept in the east wing. These gals are hired by various men in the city."
"I seriously thought they were only used for sex." Rebecca said. "That's what Aspen made it sound like."
"I feel ya, Rebecca." I said.
"Well now you know." Phoenix said. "Though I can admit to you, that is all the Clan Leaders will hire them for. Other men will hire them for simple acts as cuddling, or talking about their day. Some men are lonely. But the thing is, the ladies here in the palace are expensive. You gotta drop a pretty penny for just a night."
"Can women hire them?" I asked.
"Got something you need to tell me, love?" Phoenix asked. Rebecca snickered.
I leaned into his ear.
"Don't act like you wouldn't complain about another woman joining us." I whispered.
"Fyre, we have a guest." He said, glancing at me.
"Oh, don't stop on account of me." Rebecca said, smiling at us.
I slowed down so I was walking with her.
"So Aspen, huh?" I asked. She smiled back at me.
"I'll explain in the suite." She said.
"Which we are arriving at." Phoenix said, stopping in front of a huge set of doors. There was no keyhole. Phoenix placed his hand on the door, and it opened for him.
"Way better than keys." He said, walking in.
The doors opened into a huge front room with a kitchen off to the side. A bathroom and master bedroom was to the right and a guest bedroom off besides that.
"Our bags should be in the room." Phoenix said. "Let me grab some money and I'll get us some food."
I helped Phoenix find the money in our bags, then kissed him before he left for town. I returned to the living room, where Rebecca was lounging on the couch.
"How lady-like." I said, sitting across from her. She smiled and sat up.
"How'd you end up the Lady of the Flame?" She asked.
"Mistress, actually." I said. "But let me hear about you first."
"Okay." She said. "Last time I saw you were in the School. I walked into the room, and a Yong'in man strapped me to the chair. I, unsurprisingly, showed no magic power. I was sent to the Villa at first. They told me I was pretty enough to be a concubine, but I refused. I thought they were just whores, you know."
I laughed.
"Since I wasn't a virgin, I couldn't be a nun. So they sent me packing here. I started out working in a restaurant. After a couple weeks working there, a woman named Vanessa approached me and asked if I was interested in living in the Neutral Palace. I mean we'd always talked about coming here. Who was I to say no?"
"I wouldn't have said no either." I said.
"And I didn't! They taught me how to clean, so I cleaned rooms. By then, Aspen had been coming in and out almost every day. Since Scarlet died, he was hiring a concubine almost every night. I thought he was just a horny ass, but now that I think about it he was likely just looking for company.
He'd strike up a conversation with me every time he saw me, whether I was cleaning a room or simply standing in the hallway. At first, I thought he was cold. But I started to warm up to him and realized he was kind. Kind and hurting. He stole me away to the Frozen Palace. Every day he came by to visit me. Ask how I was doing. We eventually kissed, then started sharing the same bed. One night we slept together. While we were laying there afterward he said to me, 'Rebecca. You make me happy. I never thought I'd be happy again. Will you marry me?'
I said yes and he married me the next day. Gave me power. After the night of the attack, he scheduled a meeting, and here we are."
"That's great!" I said. "Are you hoping to have kids yet?"
"Yes and no. Aspen wants them, but not while we're dealing with these Church attacks. So at the moment, I'm taking an anticontraceptive tonic."
"I hope it works out, though." I said.
"I hope you and Phoenix work out!" She said, smiling at me. "You guys are so cute!"
"Thanks." I said blushing. "I don't know if he wants kids though. He's not exactly careful during sex. So maybe he does. We haven't even technically married yet."
Rebecca made a squeaky noise I didn't think a human could make.
"Can I come to your wedding? Pleeeeease?!"
I laughed and nodded my head.
"Of course you can! Our plan was to have you sign as a witness."
"Yes yes yes yes yes!" Rebecca said, shaking her hands. "Tomorrow me and you are going shopping for the perfect dresses!"
"Its a date." I said, grinning.
"Ohhhh tell me what happened between you and Phoenix. I thought you hated him."
"I did at first." I said. "But he made sure to pick me up from my room when we first got to the mountains. During my first magic class, I used a power called inmora. It basically meant that I had to be personally trained by Phoenix."
"Is it when your body becomes magic?" Rebecca asked.
"Yeah." I answered. "Can you use it?"
"Oh no." She said, shaking her head. "But Aspen can. I can do some pretty cool things, like make swords and shields. But nothing like Aspen. He can form an entire blizzard over a battlefield! I saw him do it when the Church attacked."
"That's impressive." I said. "Phoenix and I haven't really had to fight, so I don't know what powers he has."
"He seems powerful." Rebecca said.
"He's the only other Yong'in that can do inmora."
"Nice! Let's get back to your story."
"Ok." I said. "He also taught me how to import and export supplies to the villages. So I got paid to spend time with him. Between training and working, we started getting close to each other. We would sleep in each other's beds, but never get more romantic than occasional hugging. It was like that for about five weeks. Then Fire Festival came. Well preparing for it. A man named Bruce attacked me and forced me to Shift. Phoenix was mad at me for not telling him, but he forgave me. Even bought me a dress for Fire Festival. During the party, he stole me from my group of friends. We celebrated Fire Festival together. Then he took me his house and said he loved me."
"You sound a little sad." Rebecca commented.
"I didn't think I was good enough for him. That he deserved an amazing woman that would make him happy. I left his house and was attacked by Bruce. He tried to rape me. I Shifted. Killed him."
Rebecca gasped.
"Phoenix rescued my wolf. Took me to his house. Even though I rejected him, he still protected me. I realized that I did love him. We made love that night and well. I've been by his side ever since."
"You forget to tell her that it was actually my charm and looks that won you over before my protectiveness." Phoenix said, walking through the door. He was carrying a couple great smelling bags.
"Or was it my charm and looks that won you over, dear?" I asked, smiling at him.
He stuck his tongue out at me.
"As romantic as this is, I'm starving. Bring that food, Phoenix." Rebecca said. Phoenix laughed and set the bags on the kitchen table.
"You always this crazy over food?" Phoenix asked.
"Yes." Rebecca and I said in unison. We laughed as we stood and walked to the table.
"You don't get between me and my food." Rebecca said, sitting and pulling a box of food towards her. I sat next to Phoenix and pulled my own box towards me. I opened it, and it smelled heavenly.
"How do they cook this?" I asked, carefully pulling some meat off the bone.
"This weird process they call frosting." Rebecca said between bites. "They freeze it as it cooks, which dries it out a little, so then its boiled in a beef broth. After all that, its slow cooked for another hour or so. Makes it soooooo tender."
I popped the chicken in my mouth and moaned. It was so good. A hint of chicken mixed with ungodly delicious spices and a beer aftertaste. Before I knew it, I had devoured my entire portion, leaving only the potatoes. I looked around and seen that Rebecca and Phoenix had done the same.

Hours after we had eaten, and Rebecca had said goodnight, Phoenix and I laid on the bed, cuddling and talking.
"Did you know that I've never seen the Frozen Palace?" He asked, teetering on the edge of sleep.
"Hmm?" I replied, sleep pulling me under as well.
"Rebecca's talk of the Frozen Palace." He said, his words slurring. "I've seen Jimmin's Den of Wind. But never the Frozen Palace."
"What do they call our house?" I asked, yawning.
"Heh." He said something of a chuckle. "They call it the Palace out of Hell."
"That's actually cool." I said. He didn't speak but laid his arm across my stomach. We fell asleep, and I when I woke up, I couldn't at all remember the name of our home.