Arlan and Drayce, who were still discussing inside the drawing room, heard the petty quarrel between Oriana and Rafal. Arlan was amused to witness Oriana growing irritated, and by the ti she finished treatnt, the grin on his face widened.
"Are you proud? Drayce comnted. "You got a fierce one."
"Fierce is good. Interesting to ta."
"I wonder if you will end up tad instead."
"I am not like you."
"Do not forget she is your mate."
"Not mine. I am a human and we don’t have your concept of mates."
"We will see." Drayce smirked at him mockingly. "I will wait for the day when you eat your own words."
Arlan sneered at him. "All I want is her presence."
"And her scent?"
"It cos with her presence."
"Does it?" Those red eyes seed amused at his denial. "It’s a scent only unique to you."
Arlan threw a cautious look his way. Drayce had little to no humor. For him to be like this, it seed like a trap.
"Hmm," Drayce nodded. "Do you want to know the secrets behind why males are tempted by a potential mate’s scent and why they are only unique to you?"
"Sothing that has to do with a unique scent, since you so kindly ntioned it earlier."
Drayce nodded. "Why are you initially attracted to her? It is because her scent is specifically only for you, the kind you want, the kind you need. What does her scent remind you of?"
Arlan did not even have to think about it. "Honeysuckles. She slls like honeysuckles in sumr."
"How does it make you feel?"
To such a question, Arlan took a while to collect his honest thoughts. "Gives a feeling of sumr, I guess. The kind of sunny sumr where there is no darkness and just bright light everywhere. Like the warm refreshing breeze of sumr that takes away the chilly coldness I feel in the darkness..."
"Exactly what you need," Drayce comnted. "That’s the kind of unique scent that pulls you towards her. Our mate’s scent is tailored by the world on what brings the greatest comfort to us. That is what it ans to have a destined mate."
Arlan continued, "Those flowers were what my mother liked the most. I grew up always having them around . After her death, I forgot as no one seed to like those flowers in the palace. That scent brings comfort from my childhood, back when I was with my mother, how protected and comforted I felt with her."
"You got your answer then," Drayce comnted.
Arlan sighed, his gaze distant. A bitter smile hung on his face. mories about his mother, no matter the good or the bad, had never failed to evoke pain in him. He changed the subject, "What does Seren sll like to you?"
Drayce answered, as if expecting this very question, "Do you know of white variety of plum blossoms?"
"I’ve heard of it. Isn’t that a kind of flowering tree that grows in the northern wilderness of garis?"
Drayce agreed. "They are flowers that bloom amidst the snow, their sweet fragrance creating a sense of calm and peacefulness towards travelers who often climb the dangerous rugged peaks of the snowy mountains in the North. They are tenacious yet fragile flowers, symbolizing purity and resilience. That’s what I needed the most. One so pure, she won’t be corrupted by my darkness, and her sweet fragrance leading the way for a lost traveler in a dangerous terrain like . A white plum blossom and a snow, as pure as one can feel it. I hated the darkness inside , maybe that is why I longed for purity."
Both kept quiet for a while as they thought about the unique scents of their mates that captivated them.
"Now you seem to be interested in mate stuff," Drayce comnted as he smiled lightly.
"Don’t try to get into it. I was just curious as you raised the topic."
"My advice is for you to start accepting the truth as soon as possible."
"You an offer her to that creature? Never. I am the one who found her. That vile thing has no right to claim what is mine. She is mine. Mine alone."
Drayce chuckled as he leisurely leaned back in the chair. "Can you hear yourself? You don’t sound like you think of her as a re servant— like what you always claim. The way you are talking now is that of a beast laying a claim on his mate. You are slowly becoming him."
"Are you having fun?" Arlan glared at him. "It wasn’t long ago when you were cursing your dark side, that Erebus, for having a claim on your wife?"
"Situation forces you to change. You will understand that as well. No need to hurry. Take your ti." Drayce stood up. "I have to go to my wife. I am sure you must be dying to personally check if your mate is hurt sowhere."
Arlan frowned as he watched his friend disappear.
"This Red Dragon is talking too much these days. I kind of miss the old him who barely opened his mouth. It was so fun to tease him back then...Tsk, how the tables have turned."
-----
After Oriana returned the dicinal supplies she borrowed, she went to the servant quarters to change out of her dirty outdoor clothes. The familiar fabric of her attendant uniform gave her a strange, calming feeling.
’That was not a dream, right? That really happened, right? Right?’ She stared at the small rips on the dirty linen on the table. ’A group of mysterious people attacked us. They wanted to get Queen Seren, and they would not mind spilling other’s blood.’
Inside the safety and comfort of her room, accompanied with nothing but the sound of her own movents, the fear she suppressed ca rushing back. It was the first ti she experienced being surrounded by a hostile group like that, each of them with the intent to kill. The events inside the temple made her shudder.
’Those assassins...’
She felt confused, powerless and helpless.
She recalled how Rafal received a deadly attack. How the knight vomited blood as he slamd against the wall. How those robed people were thrown off the ground when she accidentally called forth that tornado.
’Has it always been this easy to hurt people?’
Though she did save her group, she had also inevitably hurt other people in the process as well. When the wind raged outside of her control, even Seren and Xena were affected. Her body shivered at the mory of the temple nearly collapsing on them. If Yorian and Slayer did not pull them to safety...
’The world of magic and witchcraft is dangerous. Do I,’ she hesitated, ’do I really want to be a part of this world?’
Oriana didn’t know. She wished soone would answer that question for her.
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