Changeling

Chapter 18

Cason returned to the cave carrying with him a bounty.  In his left hand he held up three headless carcasses by the rear legs. They were skinned, revealing pink fleshy meat while tufts of soft white fur were still present on the legs. Rabbit perhaps. Normally, such a sight would gross me out.  I preferred my meat to be unrecognizable as an animal, cleaned and purchased in a market, but my mouth watered at the site.  Hunger prevailed over any pretentious urban belief I had about food. 

"We need to eat." He looked at me as he spoke. 

"This is food Princess." His words as sharp as the knife he used to skin those animals. 

I knew it was food but that wasn't what he was saying.  He was answering the question I asked earlier- What do you eat?

I didn't feel bad at all about asking that question or what I implied about his character by asking it.  He was, one of the Others- and they clearly ate people, be it fey, human or otherwise. It was a fair question. 

"We need to light a fire and cook these before the sun goes down.  No fire after darkness falls.  We will stay in the cave one more night, but we can't give the Hellions any reason to come back this way.  We eat and we discuss the plan to get to the Moon's Well."

He spoke short and harsh like a drill sergeant addressing his troops.  I was inclined to follow his command if it meant filling my belly and coming up with a plan to save Ariton.

Cason built a small fire and warmed more tea for Ariton before roasting the rabbit.  The tea, though still not able to heal Ariton completely, continued to make him feel much better. It gave him enough strength to sit upright on his own.  He would be able to eat with us and help work out a plan. 

As Ariton drank his tea, Cason fashioned a spit from some branches he collected.  He placed it over the small fire then tied the three carcasses to the center piece using a leather cord he pulled from his bag. Every few minutes he carefully rotated the meat causing its juices to drip down into the fire generating an incredible aromatic sizzle through the cave.  It smelled so good.

I sat in silence, absorbed in my thoughts, doing my best to ignore how my stomach rumbled and clenched impatienetly. There was something I couldn't let go of. If what Ariton said was true, and Melrennon was manifested by Lucifer, and Melrennon was my father, didn't that essentially make me the granddaughter of the Devil?  It was a shocking notion and must have shown on my face.

"Are you alright?"  Asked Ariton.  He slid closer to me and placed an arm around my shoulder. His sudden closeness sent my heart a flutter and my mouth a stutter.

"I... I... was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"  He pressed. Thinking about how good your arm feels around me. I still struggled with the fact that everytime Ariton touched me heat spread through my core and my heart beat a little faster. My body coveted his touch but logic told me I should renounce it. He could be the enemy. I just didn't have enough facts yet... No, he wasn't the enemy, I knew better than that now.  But perhaps he had a fairy girlfrend somewhere here in Eden. What if he didn't feel what I did? What if he died?

I looked across the fire where Cason kept his attention on our meal.

"Thinking about Melrennon.  If I'm his daughter...What does that make me?  I'm the granddaughter of the Devil."  I said disgusted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ariton press his lips together to suppress a smile and Cason released a stifled laugh.

"How can either of you think that is funny!" I drove an elbow gently into Ariton's ribs as payment for finding humor in my agony. I should have done it harder but his health was still fragile and I didn't want to reallly hurt him, just get my point across. A small spiral of regret sprung in my chest as Ariton dropped his arm from my shoulder.