His Divine Queen

The Soulmates

The wind was relentless and biting across his bare flesh as he forced himself onwards. The orange sand in front of him was endless, just like it was the way he had come. Yet he couldn’t go back to what he knew, his home, because he wasn’t welcomed there anymore.

His throat was dry, tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as it sought for the smallest hint of moisture it would never find. This was the burning heat of hell, a monster that had formed itself from his worst memories. But then it shifted – orange fading away into the dark grey of the dungeon stone walls. A figure materialised in front of his bowed body, a man, large and imposing as he had always been in life.

His father leered at him from his wooden chair, moving his mouth, yet he couldn’t tell what he was saying as the ringing in his ears was deafening and both his eyes were nearly crusted shut from his own dried blood. He knew what he would be saying though, because it had always been the same thing every time.

Then his father stood up, and a smoke filtered in until it clogged up his nose, throat, eyes and all he could see was the black mist of death as it engulfed his body. His mother was in front of him, a pyre from which would be the last place he would ever see her. The flames were high in the night as the cries of the mourners pierced his ears. The Queen was dead.

A woman was standing beside him, a stranger, yet also familiar to him. He should remember her; her name was on the tip of his tongue and her smell was so strong. Fresh, like daisies - just like his mother.

But the moment shifted again as the smoke curled around him. This time, he was on fire, another punishment for his disobedience. It curled around his legs, burning off his hairs and tearing through his skin.

“It’s your fault! It’s your fault!” His father would scream, and maybe he was right. Maybe it was his fault.

And then the fire would rise.

- - -

Lorcan awoke with a scream lodged in his throat. The room was sweltering, his skin sticking to the sheets beneath him, yet it took him a moment to realise where he was. The nightmare followed him into reality, yet only one second went by before she was there. Just like clockwork every time. Her cold hand resting on his bare chest, her sweet mutterings in his ear, and her warm breath at his neck.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Arabella crooned softly, “I’m here.”

His heartbeat began to slow, the constricting feeling in his chest dissipating as he looked down at her beautiful, concerned face. She looked as exhausted as he felt, dark bags sitting beneath her eyes and dry, crackled lips that were wettened when her tongue flicked out subconsciously even as he watched her. Regardless, she was still mesmerising, a sight that he could never get bored over.

He wanted to tell her he’d missed her, that his night had been unbearable without her and that he’d needed her to stay. The words were on the tip of his tongue, yet there was something there stopping them from leaving his lips. Maybe because his thoughts were selfish, or maybe because he was a grown man that shouldn’t have to rely on someone else to keep his demons at bay. Either way, she was a Queen now – and she would always have to think about her people first, which was one of the things he loved about her, coincidentally.

“Did you get some sleep last night?” Lorcan finally muttered, moving up to lean his back against the headboard.

“No, I was up with Kylia and Demetri in the library,” she replied quickly, moving away from him to sit cross-legged on the sheets. His heart lurched painfully as she moved away from him, yet again he knew how to act as if it didn’t hurt. He had learned to hide his feelings long ago.

“Did you find anything?”

“Some things,” she shrugged, head dropping to watch her hands fiddle with the bedsheets. This made him smile, instantly recognising the absentminded trait she would return to when she was stressed.

She eventually sighed, “we’re not sure how much of it to believe though. We thought we’d found something, but it could be nothing.”

“What did you find?”

“That we’re possibly dealing with demons, vampires as they’re called. But that same book had some rather… inaccurate depictions of our kind as well, so it could just as well be a myth.”

“Well, what did it say about us?”

“Apparently,” she started sceptically, “we only shift into wolves that stand on two legs. We have human-like hands, and this weird soul-mate connection with one specific person that we’re meant to be with for the rest of our lives. Oh, and we can only shift with a full moon.”

Lorcan hummed, pondering Arabella’s words, but only one thought stuck out to him. “Well I don’t know about everything else, but I quite like the idea of a soulmate.” He joked.

Arabella stopped her ministrations, looking up to smile cheekily at him. Her expressive brown eyes twinkled mischievously, ever so easy for him to read as they gave her next actions away. And he was right, because she pounced on him only a second later.

He grunted as her small, sharp elbows connected with his ribs, but his arms still wrapped themselves around her anyway. Her fingers came next, reaching up to poke at his cheeks.

“Let me see those dimples you buffoon!” She exclaimed, pressing her weight onto his body to try and keep him there.

It was easy for him to shift away, though, and then he retaliated. Pushing his fingers into her sides as she let out a sudden squeal at the surprise tickling.

“Stop! No please, please, El no!” She cried, her arms flinging around, with one hitting him square on the jaw. A groan slipped out at the impact, but he still continued his torture until she fell submissive beneath him.

“All done?” He muttered, face leaning over hers and finally letting his dimples appear with a small grin.

Her doe eyes looked up at him, wide and happy, as her thumb lifted again. This time to run smoothly down his face, resting quaintly in the dip of his cheek.

“Yes,” she breathed, moving quickly to peck at his lips.

He mumbled in agreement, and then shifted to lie next to her on the sheets. She curled into him, and Lorcan took the time to think of his nightmare from earlier. How his past had finally caught up to him and how long it would take to finally leave him alone again. Until she said, “soulmates are a strange concept. Should there be one person that we are destined for? Or can we not make our own destiny?”

He thought about her words, mulling them over, despite the sharp ache that pierced his heart and left again just as quickly. “We can always forge our own destinies, but maybe it’s nice to know that you won’t be alone forever. That there will always be someone out there for you.”

His words were met with a silence again, so long that he thought she must have finally fallen asleep after her long night. But she was still there, like she always was.

“I suppose,” she agreed, her head coming to rest on his chest.

The Sun was rising up from the horizon, still early in its daily journey. They had the whole day ahead of them, but Lorcan wished that he could stay in this moment all day. The quiet was peaceful and soothing to him.

“I’m at my wits end, El.” Arabella interrupted, “I just don’t know what we can do anymore.”

He thought of the attacks, the victims, and the perpetrators. He thought back to his dream, the fire, the destruction, the harsh actions of his father. The strange woman who was familiar to him somehow, her name on the tip of his tongue… He knew her, he did. Yet those were only memories of his previous life, something that would do him well to attempt to forget. The future was ahead of him, if only they could stop these strange beings who were terrorising the Kingdom.

“Maybe we need help from someone that’s more knowledgeable than us.” He said, an idea forming in his mind brought forward from his dreams. “Someone who is wise and has lived a long time.”

“But who?” Arabella perched up on her elbows, turning her head to look at him. He could see her out the corner of his eye, yet his eyes remained fixed on the ceiling. She continued regardless, “Who could that possibly be, El?”

Lorcan took a deep breath in, let it rest there for a moment, and then blew it out. “The Witches. We’ll have to go and see the Witches.”

Maybe they could help answer their questions about the attackers, and maybe – just maybe – he could also get some answers to the questions that had been tearing him apart.