Bluey Ember

Episode 5: Just a kiss

A knot formed in my stomach. I felt nauseous at the thought of that. Standing up dramatically, I rushed out from the dinning room to my own room. Then I wanted him to call me back, to tell me that it's not what it seems. But the call never came. He sat there, glaring at me. I just disgraced myself!

My thoughts were hazy. So many things were just rushing in. I needed answers, someone to talk to and he will tell me it's fine with my mother's voice. Someone knocked, interrupting my thoughts. I thought it was him, my heart raced.

"Come in" I ushered in.

It was Anabella. My nerves calmed at the sight of her. It seems she has been doing that a lot, calming my nerves. But right now I could possibly need her companion.

"I heard you ran out from the dinning room?" She asked. How could I have forgotten how silly the maids can be especially with this type of gossip. I really disgraced myself!

"It's not like you put it"

"Milady" Ana called. "It's fine, so fine to feel all these. The anxiousness and anxiety and all of that. We all felt same"

"But Ana..."

"Princess" she halted me. "Do you want to know how trivial it is?"

She stared at me straight into the eye. I nodded in affirmation. "It's just a kiss"

I sighed as if that wasn't the sentence I was expecting. But I really could use that help. Why am I tensed anyway? It's just a kiss.

"Feel any better?" she asked again.

"So much better Ana, thank you." I appreciated. "So tell me" I crossed my legs. "How is it here? What's the routine?"

Ana carefully explained everything to me. At some point we laughed and at some point, we sigh and hiss and do all of that. But something was so significant. Throughout the conversation, the beast had no place. It really confirms how much indifferent he is towards them as Ana had said. For no just reason, I felt sad.

"I should get going" Ana informed. As she was walking out, I felt the emptiness. With each leg she placed in front of the other, it returned heavily. The knot formed again.

After she left, Sapphira came in to ask if I needed anything. With what I've heard, the maids only do that when the day is rounding up and they need to retire to take care of themselves. Only then did I realize how long I've spent with Ana, discussing the things of this lair.

"This place is really a wonder". I mumbled sarcastically.

"No Sapphira" I replied. She turned and left, slamming the door behind her.

I made the bed and laid on it, trying to force myself to sleep. It wouldn't come. I went and opened the curtains, the moon was shinning the brightest, night have finally come. I admired the heavenly bodies till my thoughts drifted to the blue ember, the ancient wolfmoon. The mystery behind it has been so confusing that I decided to ignore it my whole life. Now it's important, I need to know about it, the power it gives. Why the fate stone rejected her and everyone who was taken for not transforming. What's the beast's role in all of this?

At the thought him, a knock came. "Sapphira I told you ..."

The words where caught up in my throat as the door opened with force. It was the beast, the Lord I mean. But does it matter what he is now? What matters is that he's here for the ritual! Just a kiss? A kiss? Ana's words failed to comfort me.

This night he looked different. His eyes had this blue color that could match the color of the sky. He kept coming closer, looking at me like this is him just seeing me for the first time. The knots in my stomach returned. I felt nauseous again.

"My lord" I called. By now he was standing close to me. The rays of the moon shone through his face. Those blue eyes bore wickedness!

I feared. What's actually this ritual? Can he kiss me and be done with it and gone from here? I wanted everything to happen fast just like it did the day he came to take me.

Without a word, he pressed me against the window. Now, he moved closer to the moon's rays. I could see him clearer. There is still wickedness and yet, a prayer. I could see a desire. At this thought, I got the wildest and yet most plausible idea. Yes, what I had failed to realize. A mate. He might be looking for a mate and if that's the case, everyone of them, those maidens have been rejected. Instantly, I murmured a prayer in my heart. For me to be rejected like others were. If I would spend the rest of my life here, I would prefer doing so like the other ladies—carefree and less worries. But even if my thoughts were wrong, I could sense that there's more to this than what he's about to do. He came closer. Now I could feel his breath on my face, warm.

He reached out for my face. My heart raced faster. I could feel it wants to run away from my chest. The weirdest part is the silence that existed in all of these.

I had thought it to be an actual ritual just like the one with the fate stone. Where everyone will gather and there will be someone, a moderator just like my father and he would say when and how everything is going to happen. Calling it a marriage would make more sense.

But no. It's just here, at least to what I'm understanding now. Now I realize why Ana referred to it as "Just"

But for me, a ritual with such loquaciousness to it. It meant more things than "Just", This is personal, to him, I guess and I hope I find out what it's all about.

Now he's pulling closer, leaning to ensnare my lips with his. I closed my eyes, tightly. "Just get on with it" I said in my heart.

Then I felt the contact. It was soft. Nothing like that of a beast. This lord is really defeating all the ill descriptions that's been attached to his personality. Then it became deeper, for the first time, I had this burning sensation. I never realized when my hands held his head, pressing his lips closer, the moon mirroring my pleasure. And for no just reason, I renounced my initial prayer. I would swear that in that moment, what overtook me was more than desire and lust. I do not know how to feel rejected. The rejection by the fate stone was still hitting me hard. For an awkward reason, I do not want to be like the others. I craved his acceptance. I hoped that after this kiss, I will remain significant to him.

We were lost till a howl came. He withdrew his lips with sudden urgency and my heart skipped as I awaited his verdict.