Celestial's Prayer

Acronychal

The soft heat of the morning sun woke Mina. She slowly stretched her body, welcoming the heat on her naked body. Her eyes opened and she gazed at her still sleeping mate.

Samuel Venta Aurea, she cooed in her mind.

She finished stretching her body as she turned to stare at his face, made boy-like by sleep.

Like all celestial beings, he had the markings of his beast, the jaguar, but unlike normal celestials, his markings took the bright metallic color of gold in human form that outlined his face and marked the shape of his eyes, giving him a hard look when they were open. The bold golden lines showed his lineage and the next Alpha to rule their clan. However, the color, when first born, is only a faded black, like everyone else. Only when a new Alpha is needed, as decided by the gods, will the markings of the next Alpha change to the illustrious metallic colors of their celestial form. Gold for Alpha. Silver for Omega.

Mina ran her hand across these markings swirling around his face, down his arms and back, cherishing their gold against his dark brown skin. Compared to him, she is pale because she didn’t spend as much time in the sun as he did. Her skin was still darker than most. Her silver markings shone bright against it.

His skin shivered at her touch and his eyes opened to meet her loving gaze. He smiled and grabbed her hand, stroking his body. She giggled. Pulling her closer to him, he caught her in a deep passionate kiss that made her heart flutter. They broke apart and he stroked her nearly white hair made blonde by the sun. “Good morning love,” he spoke softly, looking into her eyes, his smile never leaving his lips.

“Good morning,” she smiled back. She gave him one last kiss and got out of bed, pulling a blue robe around her naked body. She walked over to the outside balcony of their room overlooking the clan’s domain, basking in the sun’s soft morning glow. Outside it was full of humans and great cats alike. They moved about the treetops and the forest floor. It was a nice sight to see since, for many years, the clan had suffered from many deaths that the Lake Wars had claimed.

Samuel walked over to her and wrapped her in a soft hug, cradling her against his body as they both soaked in the prosperity of what has been one of the better springs in a long time. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s like the gods are promising us a new life and a prosperous year. The suffering from the wars was finally fading.” He said as she watched the Morning Glories on their balcony close, their petals waiting for the next sunrise to burst open again.

She smiled and turned in his arms to look him in his eyes, now solemn with memory, “Yes Samuel, it does. I can only hope the gods provide for us as well. Then my father can finally rest.” She rested her hands on her belly, tears softly rolling down her cheeks.

He kissed her forehead and rubbed her back hopefully, “The gods will provide for us when they see such love. Until then, all we can do is try and give them opportunities to bless us so.”

“Yes, that is all we can do, love,” she kissed him and walked back inside the room.

They got dressed and left their chambers together, walking towards the great hall for their regular meeting. Outside the doors they heard a great number of voices arguing. One person had borderline hysterics. Opening the doors, Mina was immediately caught in her mother’s embrace. “Mina, oh Mina! They took her! Those horrible beasts! Mina, oh Mina! My sweet sweet sweet daughter!” Her mother let go of her and ran towards her father, the true Alpha, withered by his old age but still strong in spirit. “Oh Praesul! What are we to do? We have to get her back! Before- Before-Before they kill her!”

“Sidus! Darling, get yourself together! I will not have this behavior in my courts!” Her father said in a stern, quiet voice. He clasped a comforting hand on her shoulder. With a sniffle, her mother sat down next to her father, still quietly crying.

“Father, what is going on? Who was taken? And who took them?” Mina blinked as she sat on the edge of her chair next to her mother.

“Oh, my sweet Mina, your sister. Your sister was taken by those heathen humans. Those Followers of Ovid” Only Mina, reading her father, could tell the immense sorrow in his voice. She could feel her heart sink and tears threatened to fill her eyes.