Rose 2-12 Bonus: Lorelei

Lorelei

     It didn't work! All that preparation and it brought me him?! This is not the one we need! He's too young! He walks like a clumsy ogre. No military bearing in him at all. They'll never trust him.

     I have to send him back. He's already looking curiously at the village.

     I get his attention, and he turns around.

     "I'm sorry I brought you here. You must feel very confused. I need to send you back to your own people." Oh my, his eyes are very blue, I think and have to look down. "I intended to bring in a military leader, and I don't know why you showed up." He doesn't understand a word I'm saying. I start to gesture back to the ruins of the temple. Has its magic waned after all these years?

    He walks over to me and starts speaking this garbled mess of words with several breaks and stops in it. I don't understand him, so I shake my head no.

     Then, he does this very primitive motion with his hand and says, "Skye."

     Oh. His name. Well, 'Skye', I need you to get back in the temple, please, so I can hopefully send you back. The magic is still fresh enough for me to use it, but we have to hurry!

      No matter what I say, I can't get him to come to the temple.

      "You must get back in the temple walls before the magic leaves, or you will be here a very long time before I can gather the ingredients again!" It's so frustrating that he can't understand me!

      He stands stubbornly outside the walls with his arms folded like a child. I quickly size him up and guess that he's probably physically stronger than me, so I can't force him to move.

     "No." I catch him saying while he shakes his head no and says more choppy words.

     "No. Skye." I say simply and point to where he needs to go like a mother scolding a child. He won't budge. No, instead, he tries to get me to tell him my name again.

      The bell in the village sounds, marking the time and telling me it's too late.

      "No!" I say in my own language, no longer caring if he can understand me. I'm furious now! He is going to stir up way too much trouble by just being here! They're going to figure out it was me! It wasn't supposed to be like this! I was supposed to show everyone that I'm not some crazed conjuror out looking to make a name for herself by creating some pretend war! They don't know what's coming, and now, since I couldn't get the help we'll need, everything is lost!

     Those glacier-blue eyes of his watch me during my rant like he's under some spell. It's very distracting. It's not his fault he's here; it's mine. I can't understand why the spell didn't work! It was supposed to bring to me the one person that could possibly save us, and it brings me a boy.

     He takes a step towards me, and I realize all of a sudden that he's no boy.

     Oh no! Not this! I think as I say 'no' in his language and run off. Of course, he tries to chase me, but he doesn't stand a chance with that ogre gait of his.

      How did this happen?! That was a mean trick, Magic, sending me someone based on our pull towards one another instead of what the village needs. Drat! The spell has backfired with that crazy side-effect. A human?! Across all space and time, my perfect mate is a human?!

        I make it back to my camp, and I realize that eventually he'll be drawn to me again. I guess I'll add more to the stew... and get the bark. His head is probably killing him.

    Just before the food is ready to eat, he shows up, almost on cue. I can hear him clumping his way up the hill, so I quickly go and check my appearance like some silly, lovestruck girl. 

     I scowl at myself in the mirror. I don't have time for this.

     I walk around my tent to see him standing there like he's about to crack. Then he does. He yells something and drops to his knees in a pathetic ball. I reach into my pocket and pull out some of the bark before I attempt to tell him what to do with it.

      Like a child not wanting to take his medicine, he spits it out. Give me a break, would you?

      I try not to let my annoyance show as I  motion to him what it's for. Thankfully, I think he gets it.

      As a reward, I tell him my name. Then he offers me his arm in greeting. I'm not a man, I think uncontrollably. Wait. He doesn't understand, I think as I shake my head at myself.
      He sits and watches me while he chews the bark. I have no idea what's going to happen now, and that makes me nervous. However, at least I have the distraction of preparing the food. He looks bored.
     His headache must be gone because he pulls the bark out of his mouth. I keep getting distracted by this funny little bit of hair under his lower lip. I've never seen a human man grow facial hair like that, and it looks ridiculously silly. Then he pantomimes asking me if he can throw the bark in the woods. His whole face looks adorably cute and funny, and I can't help but laugh as I nod my head yes.
     Stop it, Lorelei. You don't need to be thinking he's adorable, I inwardly scold myself as I bring him something to eat.
      I sit near the fire, feeling uncomfortable with those glacier-blue eyes frequently looking over at me. So, I try to just focus on eating. Then, I notice he's finished his food quickly, and I get up to ask him if he wants more.
     "Nothankyou." he says. I don't understand the 'thankyou' part of the word, but I say it to myself anyway. One of us has to be able to understand the other one, and I think I'm the smarter of the two of us.
     His stomach growls, and I can hear it all the way over here.
     "No nothankyou." I scold him. If you're hungry, you should eat! Gods, I don't need you wasting away on me, and you look like you need much more to eat than I do. What was I thinking in giving you that small amount? How can I help you if you won't somehow let me know these things?! I think harshly to him since I know saying it will have no effect. At least he looks contrite enough to accept the second offering.
      After I finish washing the bowls, I see him head towards the woodpile. The fire doesn't need to burn all night, and if the wood is left too close, it could catch. I jump up to stop his needless chore.

     "I know you must feel like you have to do something to make up for me feeding you, but you don't. It's the least I can do since you're only here because of my stupid mistake. I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm sorry I've put you into this situation. I'll do the best I can to f-"

     -fix it, I finish inside my head when he suddenly kisses me.
     I lose my ability to breathe for a second or two, and I feel completely disoriented.

    I guess happy he's made me quiet, he steps back and smiles a little sheepishly at me. He says a few of his words followed by my name spoken in question. It must just be his language that sounds choppy to me because him saying my name just now didn't sound choppy at all.
    And I like what he just did. And I wonder if he'll do it again.
    I give up on trying to ignore the pull towards him and tentatively kiss him, hoping that he'll realize it's okay to kiss me back.

     He does, and I want to faint. I've never had difficulty breathing like this, but it doesn't scare me. This feels ... right.
     He ... knows what he's doing, and I ... don't. I've never bothered with romance before. No one in the nearby village or any that I've ever visited would even consider having me. 'Disgusting half-breed' they call me, and it hurts. I can't stand to live in the village, but Dragon Valley is the only home I've known. My mother brought my father in for reasons I do not know, and he didn't want to leave. They died together in the war.

     Skye doesn't think I'm disgusting. No, he looks at me like I'm the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. He's been to the village. Surely he knows that's not true. But then again, he has no preconceived notion of how I'm supposed to look.
     I don't want him to leave. Or, if he does, I want him to take me with him. This world is doomed now anyway.