Mythic (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 12 - The Heart of a Moment

Dedicated to Axela1998 for the awesome picture of Rena ^_^ 

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Chapter 12 - The Heart of a Moment 

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It wasn't long before someone came to collect Rena. 

Cayden had recognised her need to do something she knew as normal and as such, had allowed her to groom his hair as he continued to coach her through everything he could think of that she'd need to understand to bluff her way through. While the initial brushing of his lengthy hair had been painful, he'd almost started to enjoy it as she fished out various things people put in hair from the seemingly bottomless drawers beside the bed. 

As such, she was just finishing tying his hair back in a high ponytail when the knock came at the door. 

Her hands froze on his head. He heard her draw in a deep breath, steadying herself before her fingers resumed their work and she called out, "Come in!" 

The door creaked open. Cayden went to turn his head and was rewarded with a smack for it. He drew breath to protest before he caught himself: in front of everyone else, he was her thrall. 

Instead, he had to content himself with watching through the mirror. 

"What is it?" asked Rena, her voice polite. 

"Qariinn let you keep the defiler, did he?" said the girl in the doorway. She was stocky in build, with broad shoulders Cayden guessed would be partly due to her Mythic. Light blonde hair flowed from not just her scalp, but the back of her neck and her tailbone, the same place as Rena's tails. Centaur in her half form. "I heard rumours, but I didn't think they'd be true."

Rena finished pulling Cayden's hair through the final time and snapped the elastic around the ponytail before she turned around. "I thought it was a fitting punishment for a defiler," she said, moving to put everything away. "He abused the ley, and now the same ley keeps him bound to me. He's even giving back what he owes."

The centaur Mythic frowned, considering the idea. "Pretty poetic, honestly. I wish I had that kind of power. I'd enslave so many humans I'd have an army."

"More than one and they just get in the way," said Rena with a careless shrug. "But I doubt you're here to discuss thralls with me."

"Qariinn requested your presence as soon as you were able," said the centaur. "I'm to escort you to his office when you're ready to leave."

"Well, now that Cayden's presentable," said Rena, running her eyes over him to ensure the fact, "I'm probably as ready as I'll ever be. What's your name?" 

The centaur beamed. "Allegra, Emberheart."

"Rena is fine," said Rena with a grin. "It's nice to meet you, Allegra. Shall we be on our way?" 

It was with that the two practically linked arms and skipped off down the hall, Cayden following close behind and Allegra asking why she didn't need to give Cayden explicit instructions for him to know what she wanted. They'd decided it'd be easier to continue the pretense that way, so Rena wouldn't forget or Cayden accidentally counter an instruction. 

He was surprised at how easily Rena fell into the casual conversation with a complete stranger like she'd known them her whole life. He envied it in a way. It generally took him years to build up the kind of relationships where he felt comfortable enough to talk about anything, and that'd been before he'd become Nazine's full time bodyguard. Outside of Nazine, the only other person he'd seen occasionally and considered a friend had been Andre.