The Heirs of Elysium

Chapter 6 - Riding for a fall

Raphael's PoV

Emerging from the palace, I blink in the midday sunlight. I have just spent the morning assisting Darish with the palace correspondence. Elissa chose to accompany Aurora on her journey back to Essentia, and with the queen away, responsibly for all of the royal administration falls to him.

Shielding my eyes against the sun, I spot two avian forms performing aerial acrobatics against a cerulean sky. Ethon is unmistakable with his brilliant red and gold feathers. Merlin is tiny in comparison, although far more agile as they chase around.

Sometimes, I envy their ability to transform and the freedom they must experience through flight. I was born without an ounce of magic, so that will never be my fate. Literally and figuratively, I am beneath them.

With a start I realise that I risk being late for my rendezvous. Thankfully, elven speed is one of my few skills.

The sweet scent of hay mingled with the astringent aroma of manure greets me as I enter the stables. It seems like a lifetime ago that I made my home in such a place. I have come a long way and am now accustomed to the luxuries of palace life.

I do not know who my parents are, other than that the woman who gave birth to me is one of Queen Celestia's personal guards. They swear complete fealty to her, bound to serve the elven throne to their dying breath.

If I had been a girl, I would have followed in my mother's footsteps. However, a male child was an unwanted burden. Although I was clothed, fed and taught both to read and to fight, I found more affection along the four legged creatures in the stables than with the women who raised me.

There is a clip clop of hooves behind me and a familiar feminine voice purrs, "Fancy meeting you here."

Sat astride a grey mare, Saira is looking particularly fetching in a dusky rose dress with a fitted bodice and knee high boots. There is a tantalising flash of caramel thigh as she swings one leg around to perch on the saddle sideways.

Stepping close, I place my hands either side of her waist and inch by inch allow her body to brush against mine on her way down. There is a delicious friction and the breathy sound from her lips is music to my ear.

Before I get too diverted, I make sure to see to the horse's needs. After removing the saddle, I lead the mare into her stall and feed her an apple from my picnic basket.

Saira is sat on a bench awaiting my return, her dark gaze fixed upon me. "I have worked up quite an appetite. I hope my have something good for me."

I moisten my lips. I am not quite sure what that this is between us. It started at the mid-winter ball with a slightly drunken embrace at quickly escalated and saw us spending the longest night together. I thought perhaps it might just be a one-night dalliance, but the next day, she pulled me into an alcove.

For now at least, it is our secret. A tiny amount of my fragile ego hopes that I am at least in part of the reason that she decided to remain in Avalon. However, I have little to offer in terms of prospects.

Placing a foot on the first rung to the hayloft, I hold out my free hand. "Well, come and find out."

She pushes off and skips over, taking my hand without hesitation. We scramble up the ladder, giggling like teenagers. There is a space where the bales have already been used. I split one open with a knife and spread out the spilled hay over the dusty oak floor boards, before laying down a blanket.

"Very cosy." Saira takes a seat, her back against the sweet-scented wall of hay and her legs stretched out.

I place the basket of goodies between us. Tucked away in a private space away palace and with sparkling dust motes dancing in beams of sunlight, the settling has a romantic air.