Fated Encounter

Chapter 1: Oberon, King of the Faeries

Oberon

I found her at a party. 600 years of her near-constant reincarnation, and I could always find Elanor surrounded by others and lighting up a room with her charm. It had taken me nearly twenty years to find her this time, and in this latest life, she was a sophomore majoring in political science. From my understanding, she planned to become an environmental lawyer, the thought of which drew a smile to my lips as I watched her dance with some fraternity boy wearing a cheap plastic knight costume. She was perfect.

Of course she'd become an environmental lawyer. Humans were ruining this planet, and the supernatural part of her soul felt compelled to do something about it.

Her movement as she danced distracted me from musing about my pride. Elanor was clearly having a wonderful time. Although whenever the boy would try to take liberties by dancing too close or touching her in a way she didn't like, she would expertly regain control of the situation while redirecting his attention and simultaneously admonishing him.

Ella was in charge. She was always in charge. Her command of a room was one of her most charming qualities.

With a sigh, I downed the rest of my beer from the cheap red plastic cup before tossing the vessel into an already overflowing trash can and stalking over to the edge of the dance floor. It wasn't that I was jealous of the man she was dancing with. My kind didn't buy into the toxic masculinity of humans. It was just time for me to make myself known to my soulmate. We didn't have long.

When Ella's green eyes met the temporarily brown ones of the human guise I wore, my heart fluttered, and for a moment I wondered if she could see through the glamour magic I wore. Then, the look she gave me told me that although she didn't see the real me under this skin, yet, she wanted me. It was already over for her and her knight in shining plastic armor.

She turned and said a few words to the human male, who looked dejected as he turned from her to find another dance partner then, as the music thrummed, Elanor abandoned the boy in favor of dancing over to me with entrancingly lithe movements. When she reached my side, I fought the urge to wrap her in my arms.

It wouldn't be right to hug her yet. She was always the Elanor I remembered, but this version of her didn't yet know me. So I restrained myself as she gave me a sunny grin.

When she spoke, she had to yell to be heard over the music. "I don't think I've ever seen a body-builder dressed as a fairy for Halloween. Half the men in here wouldn't have the bravery to wear fairy wings and a tiara..."

I chuckled low as I nodded then replied in an equally raised voice. "According to mythology, fairies are powerful and sometimes ferocious creatures. They're strong and powerful creatures. Popular culture has turned them into dainty woodland beings, but that's not what they are, and even if that's what they were, dressing as a dainty being is not anti-masculine."

Her eyes appraised me carefully before she giggled and rolled her eyes. "Oh my god. Someone is already on a soapbox. Literature major, right? That's my guess."

I replied to her question with a noncommittal shrug before extending my hand to shake hers, as was now the fashion when greeting someone for the first time. "I'm Oberon, King of the Fairies."

She laughed again, wrinkling her delicate nose which sported whiskers drawn with eyeliner. "Alright, Oberon. My name's Ellie. I'm a cat... just a cat. I'm not queen or king of anything."

I wanted to kiss her then, yearned to press my lips against hers as I stripped her out of the relatively begin blazer she wore.

We were soulmates, but my enemies had long ago doomed us by subjecting Ella to the curse of mortality, leaving me to constantly pine for her with an aching intensity that crushed my soul. Ella's soul wasn't human, but she didn't know that anymore. In fact, I still wasn't sure what my Ella of the past had been. A being far more powerful than I, that I remembered.

As for me, my kind weren't alive in the human sense. We had been once, a very long time ago, back when we lived in this world with humans. Now, we were spiritual beings with solely corporeal forms. As a result, we could only feel the joys of reality in our own realm. In Ella's world we were simply 'spirits.'

But there was one night, one time when I could leave my throne and crown and court and visit my beloved: Halloween, the night when the veil between her world and mine was the thinnest, the night when I was able to take a human form and visit her.

There had been stories written about us by those who vaguely remembered our relationships with their human ancestors. Trite fantasy tales that spoke of fairy godmothers and slippers and midnight partings where the woman had to flee her lover. But all these stories were all mistaken. I was the one who would inevitably disappear at the stroke of midnight, not my Elanor.

These mistakes in the annals of human history didn't matter, though. I didn't have time for these dark and worrisome thoughts. This Halloween, I'd managed to find her for the first time in two decades, and the look she was giving me made my knees weak.

"Want to dance?" There was more than innocent curiosity in that soft voice of hers, and I smirked as I nodded and allowed her to lead me to the center of the dance floor where she proceeded to dance with me and press her body against mine in a way that threatened to undo me already. We didn't speak much over the loud music, but we didn't need to talk as we moved together rhythmically.

Oberon

When I couldn't stand it anymore, I leaned over and spoke in her ear. "Want to go somewhere to chat?"

My words elicited a delighted shiver from her, and Ella bit her lip then grinned at me and nodded. My heart hammered in my chest as she laced her fingers with mine and led me out the front door of the frat house.

Outside, there were a few couples making out on the covered porch, and a look of adorably uncertain arousal crossed her features. "Umm... coffee? There's an all night coffee shop in the library. They're giving discounts for people who wear Halloween costumes, I think."

I wanted far more than coffee with her, but in response to her request, I grinned and nodded. "Coffee sounds delightful. Lead the way, majesty."

She laughed beautifully, flushing and squeezing my hand absently as she began leading me across the campus. "I told you, Oberon. I'm a cat. Just a cat. Not royalty."

But, she had been royalty, though she couldn't remember that fact either.

Her face glowed in the semi-dark of a human night illuminated by street lamps. Instead of responding right away, I winked at her then lifted her hand to my lips where I delicately kissed her fingers.

"Okay, but tonight, you're my queen."

"Does that mean you're going to buy my coffee?" She snorted to hide her embarrassment, and I basked in her grin instead of worrying about our inevitable end. There'd be time to mourn after this.

Right now, this night was for her.