The Dreamfarer

39

She ran at him even as he ran at her. He must have realized right away that it was really her this time, because he swept her into his arms and spun her through the air with a laugh of jubilance and disbelief. When he set her down, she tucked her head under his chin, breathing in his scent like she had been starved of it. She had been deprived of him for too long; it felt like an eternity that they had been apart from each other, and between the two of them, feeling was everything. 

After a long moment, Folco pushed her back so that he could meet her gaze. His eyes were the same as she remembered; soft, sparkling, a rich mint green that looked into her as no others could. They saw in her things that no others could see, silently gave her promises that no others could keep.

Then his expression shifted from tender to desperate, and his hands were suddenly on either side of her head, her face being pulled towards his. The instant their lips touched, Mae reached up to grip fistfuls of his shirt, pulling him as close as she could. Their kiss was needy and passionate; all of their fear, all of the worry they had both felt while thinking about the other's plight, it was all there, releasing itself into their shared air of Galatea as their mouths moved against each other as one.

Mae had no idea how long it lasted, but eventually, Folco pulled away slightly - only enough so that he could breathe more evenly while keeping his forehead pressed up against hers.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, staring into her eyes. His pupils had dilated and the green of his eyes had darkened, saturated with desire for her. She knew that the reason he was looking at her as if it was the last time he would be able to was because of what Viv told him, and it caused the already-broken pieces of her heart to throb with pain.

"Folco, do not do it," she commanded, making her voice as stern as possible. "Do not surrender yourself to Dael."

Folco's lips parted, but he did not deny that those were his plans, did not argue with her right off the bat. He allowed his eyelids to droop, as if he could not look at her as he replied.

"I have to, Mae," he murmured, his voice cracking even with it being as soft as it was. "It's the only thing that--"

"No, it's not," Mae argued. "We can think of something else, Folco. At the very least, it doesn't need to be you sacrificing yourself--"

"Mae, this is your life on the line!" Folco interjected, his eyes snapping open as he tried to convey to her through them just how important it was for him to do this. "I think Dael has made it fairly clear to us that he won't stop until he has you in his clutches, and then what will he do? Nothing pleasant, I'm sure. I'm not going to risk your life and the lives of all the warlocks I lead if all I have to do--"

"Is kill yourself!" Mae snapped, and she blinked rapidly as her eyes began to sting. "We don't know that my father would kill me, Folco, and either way, it wouldn't be worth you dying over! I'm not going to let you do it."

"It's not your choice, Mae," Folco snapped back. He leaned his head away from hers and turned his back to her. Galatea was bright and clear; it held no indication of an upcoming storm. Mae wondered if she could just keep him here somehow; that way, he would be unable to tie a rope around his neck and leap off the crate that was his only chance at salvation. 

Mae blinked again, and she felt her bottom lip trembling. "I don't know what Vivienne told you, Folco, but I'm sure that something in there was a lie," she said, grasping at any straw of conversation that might convince Folco to change his mind. "She's a Dreamfarer, Folco. She hid it from everyone her entire life, but it's true. And she told me that I'm not the one my father created with the spirits from Hell - she is!"