FicWad

Chapter 9 ● POINT OF VIEW • Jace
Dinlas seemed genuine, but I had grown up in a cruel world that taught me hard lessons in how never to take anyone at their word. The realities where everyone was out for themselves. I had a hard time believing that Dinlas could be doing this at no benefit to herself. That’s simply not how life worked. Life was cruel, insensitive and ruthless. You did things that were far from kind in order to survive. You lied, cheated and stole if necessary. All was fair in love and war. This was war!
I gave Dinlas one of my best I won’t be bamboozled looks then forced a fake smile on my face while I started scoping out my options. If it was the queen that orchestrated this fiasco then I would have to be at the royal palace. The room décor however said differently. No way would any room within the royal lands be decorated like this. Not even the dungeon would dare to have so many vibrant non sanctioned colors. The queen would likely have the owner beheaded on site for the using one unnatural color nonetheless the four very distinctive non-sanctioned colors I could see from my position on the bed.
Color prohibitions were sanctioned more than fourteen years ago. It was one of the many ridiculous and self-serving decrees made by our current Unseelie court queen Hekuba. Basically she deemed all non-essential Unseelie court colors as illegal. She said bright colors and nontraditional Unseelie court colors were evil and helped the Seelie court members to defeat us. She had everything painted and forced us to burn any clothes that were not one of the four basic Unseelie court colors; Forest Green, Aqua Blue, Sunflower Pale white and of course Blood Red.
I had to think that even the queen wouldn’t go to these kinds of lengths to fool me. The bedding my heart’s desire and I were resting on was pale lavender. The curtains that hung across the window were light green and the carpet appeared to be some kind of orangey brown. The most distinctive color however was the bright pink fluffy towel that was hanging over the bathroom door.
My mind was razor sharp and comprehend that Dinlas wasn’t working for the queen and quickly shifted directions. In order to keep her occupied while I came up with a strategy I decided I would pump her for any information she was willing to share. I knew much of the information she would share would be contrived to keep me off balance. That was fine with me. My mother taught me much of the games of war and I understood psychological warfare better than most. I could use her propaganda to my advantage. Besides, I needed to understand the implications of my blood bond. I needed to find a way to survive that most likely now included her survival as well.
“So Dinlas, if this is an evacuee camp how come you’re the only person I’ve seen? Who else is here? Can I meet them? I’m sure you would understand why I might have a hard time accepting and digesting your remarks as truth.”
Dinlas gave me an ‘I’ll show you look’ then cleared her throat.
“I see you come from the ‘prove it to me’ side of town. I suppose you wouldn’t have survived this long on your own if you just took every one at their word. I have no problem with proving it to you. I do however have a counter request. I would hope you want to do it out of love but have found much resistance from other Unseelie court members, so I must insist on an oath that you will comply. When I prove to you that we are a harmless evacuee settlement, you will agree and have a wedding ceremony with your heart’s desire. The blood bond was enough to connect you but she’s draining necessary life energy through her soul.”
I considered her words and I understood why many other Unseelie court would have resisted. To wed my Jinn would make me vulnerable to her. She would have instant access to all aspects of my past. I would never be able to lie or hide anything from her. She would feel and sense all of my thoughts and feelings. Nothing would ever again be private. That however was a two edged sword.
On the flip side, if we didn’t marry she would continue to lose energy and probably fade into the next life. Since my Jinn and I were already blood bonded we would live and die by the same chronometer. The fates would cut both of our strings at the same time. I wasn’t sure giving up my privacy was worth losing my life. I had nothing in my past to be ashamed of and nothing in my heart that was dishonorable. I was a worthy heart’s desire and found my Jinn to be worthy as well. Honestly I didn’t think I had anything to lose by completely the ceremony and forging a complete soul bond with Hestia.
I ran the details of the wedding ceremony through my mind and recalled that it ended with us have sexual relations. I felt my groin twitch with delight at the thought of being with my heart’s desire, Hestia. My people are a sensual and open community and sexual relations are considered everyday life. It doesn’t require a commitment for two Unseelie court members to enjoy each other’s company and bodies. I however had never slept around. I always felt it was something that should only be shared with a precious few in life. I also rarely ever found a woman of the Unseelie court or Seelie court for that matter overly attractive.
Hestia however was different. For some reason I loved the idea of running my hands down her body. Feeling her muscles tighten beneath me and knowing that I would caress and touch her in places hopefully no one else had ever touched. I felt my manhood twitch again between my legs and decided that marrying Hestia would likely prove to be very enjoyable for both of us. If the medic could prove that her words were honorable and true I would have done far more than wed my heart’s desire.
Before I blurted out something that I would later regret I used a stalling tactic and reached over and touched the side of my Jinn’s face. I hadn’t meant to do anything but delay my agreement. When Hestia’s essence flared beneath my fingertips I felt my own soul quiver. The medic was right, Hestia was leaking energy and her life force was draining quicker then it could regenerate.
I was suddenly scared that the medic had led me to believe she was healthier and in far better condition than my own senses told me. Her injuries might be too severe for us to even complete the wedding ceremony. The more I hesitated the more concerned I became for her condition. Before I thought it through clearly or could even consider stopping myself I pushed away the sheet and started to remove her bandages from her midsection. I heard medic Dinlas in the background warning me to be gentle and careful.
I pulled the last strip of cloth off of my Jinn and took in a deep gasping breath. It was beyond a miracle that she was still alive. It was clear that her Marchioness had intended to cut her clean in half. It looked as if the only thing that held the top and bottom together was my Jinn’s spine. I had always been told a Jinn's skin veneer were unbreakable and impenetrable.
I knew that to be a lie now, because Hestia skin veneer were completely cut in two. There was still a good amount of blood seeping from the four inch wide wound. I swallowed hard and found myself becoming fearful that her injury was too severe for him to ever heal. I had to wonder if it would prevent him from ever taking her Jinn form again. I realized at that moment that Hestia might possibly be paralyzed and unable to ever leave a bed.
I suddenly had thoughts of my suffering mother floating through my mind. I would not be weak and selfish. I would not force her to endure a lifetime of pain and suffering so that I could continue to survive. At that moment I started to think her life was just as precious as mine and if both of us could not have the freedom of movement then I would relinquish my time on earth and set us both free. When push came to shove that was exactly the sacrifice Hestia had been willing to make for me. I could do nothing but the same for her.
Dinlas had been silently watching me take in Hestia condition. This changed everything and nothing. I would do as Dinlas requested and marry Hestia. Part of me felt guilty that I would have to delay the wedding until I returned. I had fears that every second her essence continued to leak took her one step closer to death.
I made myself promise that the moment I came back, regardless of what I learned I would marry Hestia and feed her my energy and life essence. I would push myself to the brink of exhaustion in order to provide every ounce of energy I could for her. I would continue to feed her my energy until she could no longer absorb it. I would do what I could to restore her to a condition fit for the living then I would find a way to live with her.
If my best wasn’t good enough then I would do what had to be done. I would never again allow someone to suffer the way my mother had. With my newfound goals clearly front and center of my mind I decided I would cooperate and participate in whatever game Dinlas was playing. The benefits to Hestia outweighed any dangers to myself at this given time. I smiled up at Dinlas and said in a voice that sounded far calmer and far less interested than I really was
“Dinlas, I would be very happy if you chose to prove to me you intentions. If you can do that, then I promise to marry Hestia despite how repulsive the idea is to me. If and only if you can prove everything you’ve said then you have my word as a Slaugh.”