"Have you got more blueberry jam?"
"Of course, here you have it."
Aranel smiles delighted taking the jar I'm handing her and she spreads a generous layer of sweet jam on top of her toast before biting it and sighing satisfied. The sun light comes through the entrance door, it smells of freshly cut grass and flowers, Luna is sleeping at the foot of my bed after wolfing down her breakfast, we haven't got any unexpected visitor, summer is coming... everything is perfect. I sip at my tea absentmindedly while looking at my princess out of the corner of my eye licking jam from her fingertips, she looks happy living here and has learnt a lot of things about how to take care of my garden, how to walk safely through the forest, how to handle a small knife without injuring herself, how to avoid the fairies' bite and how to get rid of a goblin if he tries to mislead her and force her to get lost in the long paths... My keen student has learnt how to drive me crazy with her hands and mouth very fast and she likes to practice every night... But she hasn't told me that she loves me again, not since that day...
I lean back on my chair remembering the fear, my heart racing, my hands shaking while I left the basket full of mushrooms on the table... I've never had a panic attack before. I came back to the cave later than I expected because I found some dryads taking care of some oak trees, they weren't the same ones who live on the other side of the forest and helped my mum and me but I am nice to all of them in return for their kindness, so I stopped and offered my help to discover what kind of disease was affecting the trees leaves. We managed to find a cure soon thanks to my knowledge in botany but, even if the dryads filled my basket with spring mushrooms, it was getting dark when I arrived home... and she wasn't there. I looked for her in the bathroom firstly and in the garden later, I called Luna but she didn't answer with her signature meowing and, suddenly, a gust of wind coming from the corridor that leads to the deepest area of the cave, brought me Aranel's perfume.
I've never been so scared in my entire life, out of all the places she could've visited in this damned enchanted forest, she had to choose the most dangerous. I tried to convince myself that she was taking a bath in the thermal lake, probably, she disobeyed me but the route to get there was safe, at least, although something inside me was telling me it wasn't the case. My princess and I have a very powerful connection, even if she doesn't know it: my mum's moon pendant that warns her when she's in danger matches the ruby ring my father used to wear, he left it behind when he abandoned us and it's hanging from a chain around my neck. My dad's betrayal burns my heart every time I remember it and I absolutely refuse to wear it in my hand but I carry it with me since the day I gave Aranel the protection charm because I thought I could need it in a situation like that... both pieces of jewellery try to find each other, it's an infallible tracker in case someone tries to kidnap my girl.
I found her just in time right before three goblins jumped on her, they weren't the smartest members of their race, luckily for Aranel, and they had instructions to take her to Malizia, most likely, otherwise she'd be death. I enjoyed striking them down with a lightning with perverse joy and all that negative energy boiled inside me when I dragged her back to my cave, fear turned into uncontrollable rage and that pissed me off even more since I hate losing my temper, I consider it a weakness and it was her fault. I didn't want to hear Luna's explanation, I was unable anyway because my fury was forcing me to clench my jaw hard and I heard an annoying whistle in my ears. My only goal was to show her who was in charge there and that I wouldn't tolerate her disobedience. I hated every spank, the pain in the palm of my hand, the fear in her eyes when I tied her up, her body shaking under my torso, her sobs... I hated myself because I was punishing her harshly but I didn't want to stop at the same time... She needed to understand she'd made a huge mistake, actions have consequences and she wasn't going to get away with that because she was a damned spoiled princess.
