First Kisses and Confessions
1232 Words
The sound of a knock on the door awoke me. I had returned to my room from my garden date with the prince and immediately fell asleep. My nap must have gotten away from me, as I wasn’t expecting Oberyn to come until around dinner time.
I quickly let my hair down to cover the marks on my neck, and let Oberyn into my room. He smiled at me, but it was a tight smile. Something was on his mind.
“How was your afternoon with the prince?” He asked, carefully.
“Lovely.” I lied.
Oberyn’s smile faltered, but only for a moment. “I brought your dinner, and figured we could fit in a lesson.”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “That would be wonderful. I want to fit in as many lessons before you-” I stopped.
“Before I what?” Oberyn asked.
“Leave.” I finished, looking down at the floor.
He set the tray of food down, looking grim. “You know I have to leave. You will be starting a new life. One as the queen of a kingdom, with a husband and kids. There’s no room for me anymore. You’ve outgrown me.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.” I crossed my arms.
Oberyn laughed. “You were always so cute when you pouted.”
“I’m not pouting!” I used my magician’s fist to grab a pillow and smack Oberyn in the head with it. That just made him laugh harder.
We got to work. Oberyn had brought me some more books to read, and showed me how to turn my magician’s fist into a whip. I practiced with my newly summoned invisible whip until I broke a floorboard. Next, we practiced fire magic.
We discovered months ago that while Oberyn couldn’t control any fire, I could both control it and summon it. Only a little bit though. At the moment I could light candles and make a flame burn hotter if I focused hard enough on it.
I was sitting on the floor in front of a torch, trying to make the flame turn blue when Oberyn cleared his throat.
His voice was low, breathy, and made my heart speed up. “You know, I enjoyed dancing with you the other night.”
I blushed, my face turning crimson. Oberyn wore a similar blush. It was the first time I had seen it. It turned his lilac cheeks a dark purple.
“I- enjoyed it too.” I answered, robotically. Gods, why did he do this to me? He turned me into a blubbering mess. I had known him almost my whole life, and I’d never had this problem before.
“I wish we could have danced all night.” He said, softly. His hands were in his lap, fiddling with his shirt.
I looked down at the floor, unsure of what to say. He reached out with his hand, and I took it. He looked at me, so many questions in his gold eyes. I held his hand, feeling the warmth of his skin. I trailed my fingers up his arm, brushing over his wrist. He shivered at my touch.
“Is it cold in here?” I asked.
“No, I’m just... sensitive. Sorry.” He tried to pull his hand away, but I held tight.
Holding his one hand in my lap, I used my free hand to touch his face, then his neck. I tucked a strand of hair behind his horns. His eye lids fluttered closed, as if being this close to me was just too much.
How was it that a garden picnic with a prince had felt so wrong, but sitting on the floor with my servant felt so right?
“Aire.” He moaned my name, so soft and breathless, like he was in the most exquisite, perfect pain from my touch. Like he was barely in control. He rubbed his cheek against my hand “Aire-” his eyes fluttered open. “May I… May I kiss you?”
He reached for me, his soft warm hands brushing the hair away from my neck to pull me closer. My eyelids felt heavy. I moved closer to him, almost sitting in his lap. The same way I say in Elson’s lap.
I jerked away, suddenly seeing Elson’s blonde hair and cold blue eyes. It was like I was back in the garden, alone, with Elson forcing me on his lap. I shook my head violently. “N-no!” It felt overwhelmingly wrong to kiss two people in the same day. “I hate kissing!” I lied, not wanting Oberyn to think I didn't want to kiss him.
“Whoa! Hold on a second! Aire! Are you okay?” Oberyn wrapped his arms around me. “It’s me, Aire. I’d never do anything without your permission. It’s okay. You’re safe with me.”
My head was on Oberyn’s chest as I sniffled and tried to wipe at my teary eyes.
“What do you mean you hate kissing?” He asked.
I didn’t want to tell him. He might be upset or jealous or even angry with me. But it came out, almost as if against my will. “Elson kissed me. And I didn’t like it.” I told him.
Oberyn tensed. “Did you ask him to stop?”
I nodded, tears in my eyes. He brushed them away. I moved the hair away from my neck and showed him the marks. “He made these.” I said.
His eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. “Aire, he cannot do these things to you without your permission. We have to tell the kings-”
“No!” I cried out, then collapsed against him. “They will make Avyn marry someone in my place.”
Oberyn clenched his fists. “A long time ago, my mother had her voice taken away. She was forced to be with a man she didn’t want. He kidnapped her, and forced himself on her. She couldn’t fight him. He was an archfiend, a type of purple skinned demonoid.”
I looked up at him. “That’s how she got pregnant with you.”
He held me against him, and I felt safe and at total peace for the first time in a long time. “When I was born, the other elves saw my skin and took me from my mother. They hated and feared the archfiends. She fought hard to keep me, claiming my blood was not my fault, but I was sold off as a slave.”
“That’s so sad.” I sniffled, pulling Oberyn closer to me. I was silent a moment longer. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that?”
“It’s not something I like to talk about.” he said quietly.
“It was supposed to be my first kiss.”
Oberyn pulled away so he could look in my eyes. “If someone has s*x with you, without your permission, it’s not s*x. It’s r**e. Like the archfiend that r***d my mother. If Elson kissed you without permission, it wasn’t a kiss.”
“It wasn’t?” I asked, hopefully.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t count. And if you’ve never actually kissed anyone, you can’t say you hate kissing.”
We were quiet for a few moments, enveloped with thoughtful silence. Then, Oberyn interrupted. “Who would you want your first kiss to be with?” He asked, looking into my eyes. We were so close now, I could feel his breath. I reached out and touched his ears, like I did when I was a kid. Playing with the way they curled. He always smiled and breathed softly when I did, like it felt amazing.
“Someone I trust.” I said softly. His eyes were still closed, but he nodded. “Someone I… love.”
Oberyn opened his topaz eyes. They burned into mine. He asked me again, so softly I barely heard it.
“Can I kiss you, Dy’myl?” he asked.
“Please.” I breathed.
- Writer
