Twenty-One

Darby was grateful for Seth trying to help her through her hard time. And in return she was trying to make it easier on him; she didn’t cry in front of him anymore, only alone in his room. After a month it had become a routine for her, spending all day with Seth then cry herself to sleep at night. She had a feeling that he heard her, but he never said anything about it.

Until one night he stopped her before she closed the door, “Look, I want to help you, is there anything I can do to make it so you don’t cry tonight?”

She was surprised by the question, “How did you know?”

He smiled sadly, “I could taste you weren’t happy.”

“I don’t want you to suffer from this,” she finally said, looking at her feet, “I think I should leave.”

“No,” he shook his head, “that’s not going to help anything. Soon I’m going to take you somewhere where you’ll forget about the memory.”

“Where?”

There’s no place I’ll forget him.

“The Light Kingdom. I would’ve taken you earlier but I wanted to make sure you’d be up to it. It’s beautiful there, you’ll love it.”

“If you think that will help, I’m up for anything,” she told him. She didn’t want to disappoint him, but she doubted that a kingdom was going to make her feel better.

He nodded before stating, “I won’t be able to stop tonight’s tears.”

Her cheeks pinked, “Probably not,” she admitted.

He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped like he changed his mind.

“What?” She prompted.

“I know how to stop the tears,” he looked at her.

“How?” she asked, growing interested.

He leaned in gently an pushed his lips against hers. In an instant her body felt lighter and she was surrounded by sun. When he pulled away the heat still pulsed through her body.

“Light is a wonderful thing,” he murmured, stepping away, “sleep well tonight, Darby.”

That was the first night since she arrived that she didn’t enter the dream world with wet eyes.

“You excited?” Seth grinned, his wings flapping around him enthusiastically.

“Yeah,” she giggled. She couldn’t help but feel weightless when she was around Seth. After that night’s pleasant sleep the days had become much less tedious and she was enjoying herself again. In fact, she found herself getting excited for the visit to the Light Kingdom weeks in advance. She didn’t cry anymore, but when she was alone the days of being with Kellen played in her mind. 

“Then let’s go,” he ran a hand through his short gelled mohawk that showed off his natural golden highlights when the sun shone down on him.

The warmth radiating off of him relaxed her enough to nod, “Alright.”

Seth took off, his flying was just as beautiful as Kellen’s but in a completely different way. His was dream like, slow and elegant. A silent beauty to behold, reminding her off a sun rise. Kellen’s and his contrasted deeply, but both had the breathtaking affect that only a monarch could achieve.

She kept up a steady speed beside him, realizing how easy the flight was. Comfortable enough to be her second home. 

They reached the kingdom around noon and she was blown away by it. She wasn’t sure what she pictured the Light Kingdom to look like but it was beyond anything that she could even imagine. It was huge, with towers and walls made out of opal and gold. Light faeries were everywhere and she could hear their quiet song as they grew nearer. Grass grew over the rocks along the waterfall and spread throughout the kingdom, the most lush and greenest she ever saw. And when the sun shined through the water the whole kingdom glittered. 

They landed in the main field where there was a platform holding a brilliantly resplendent opal and gold throne.

“What do you think?” He asked her.

“It’s gorgeous!” She exclaimed, “I love it,” she hugged him.

He beamed and she could tell he was pleased.

Then she paused, “You don’t have to leave to work do you?”

He laughed loudly, “I took you here to make you feel better, I’m not going to just leave you alone,” but then he turned a bit more serious, “I want you to remember though, dark faeries aren’t the only bad ones, not all light fey are good either. You need to be careful.”

“Like Scarlet,” she scowled.

His face briefly darkened, “Yeah, like her.”

The sudden mention of her brought Darby back to the club and the confrontation she had with her. That was when something she hadn’t originally thought of sunk in.

With me gone she’ll be with him.

“Darby?” Seth questioned worriedly, “Are you okay?”

“She’s with him,” she stated.

He caught on in a moment, “I’m sorry.”

“No,” she shook her head trying to force this newfound information into the back of her mind, “we’re here at this amazing place and we aren’t going to talk about the Dark King,” she looked at the other faeries around her, “let’s dance.”

Surprised, he followed her into a more secluded corner and as the melodic voices of the sultry female singer joined in with the thunder of the waterfall he twirled her into his arms.

“How long do we get to stay here?” She inquired, gazing up at his peaceful face.

“As long as you want.”

“Why don’t you live here?”

“Sometimes I do. But I also want a life without being king. My house is where I feel normal.”

“Was that the first thing you did when you got thrown into all of this?”

He thought a moment, “No, that came in later. In the beginning I was doing the best I could. I didn’t need much help getting started, I knew what I wanted and what was needed. The only help I really valued was Anthony, whenever I needed him he was there. The only problem with his leadership is he thinks that killing Kellen is the answer, so light won’t have to keep fighting against the dark. But we were created with both halves, we equal each other out, even if at times things would be a hell of a lot easier without him.”

“Murder isn’t a very light thing,” she acknowledged.

“I know. But light isn’t all happy, fire can cause immense damage, it’s light though. And if murder has to be done, than it is, but killing without a reason is wrong.”

“But still, a light faerie shouldn’t be thinking about that.”

“I get the feeling that you’re thinking that the light fey are good and dark fey are bad. That’s not always the case. Some light faeries that you’d be shocked were light, they have horrible tempers and are very difficult to get along with. Dark faeries are normally more relaxed and even tempered. It’s based mainly on personality, not on good or bad.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Trust me, Sorus took deep consideration when he put this together.”

“What would happen if you did get in a war and killed him? What would become of the dark fey?”

“If you kill a king than the empire will die too. Our faeries need us. We have gotten in wars before, but there’s never been anything worth risking our lives over. We fight until one surrenders, normally we get into it over some issue that escalades. But there’s never been a time when we put ourselves at risk, losing a king results in the loss of an empire. We haven’t gotten to the point where we were fully okay with that.”

“And Sorus. How do you know all of this about him? Is there some type of Bible or does he contact you in your mind or what?”

He smiled, “We don’t have a Bible. At the Temple of Eclipse you can talk to him, it’s like the door to him. But sometimes he does relay a message in your head. It’s just like a thought, but you know that it’s not yours. When he wants to speak to Kellen or I about important matters he’ll do that.”

“What kind of important matters?”

“Well, you were one.”

“Me?”

“Yep. He said that you were special and would change everything. You were chosen for this, the last transformed mortal.”

She laughed, “How am I special? I didn’t do anything but date the Dark King.”

He shrugged, “That’s all I was told. But if we were talking in my opinion I think you’re pretty special.”

She smiled, “I don’t deserve to have you as a friend. You’re so sweet to me.”

He was quiet a moment, “You deserve more than a friend,” he finally said.

She faltered.

That’s not what he means. That can’t be what he means.

“Darby, I know this is to soon but I have to tell you how I feel,” he took a breath, “I’m starting to fall in love with you. I was head over heels when I first met you and when I found out you were under my care I was thrilled. But you were with Kellen, and you were in love with him. I wanted you so bad after you left him, but first I had to fix what he had broken. I was so happy when you started to smile again, and I couldn’t hide how I feel for you anymore. Let me make you forget that he even exists, I’m prepared to wait for however long that it takes,” he stood still, watching her reaction.

She wasn’t able to respond. She loved Kellen still, but she knew that wasn’t going to help her much. And she could so easily see herself staying here with her king, her friend. 

That part of her ached to say yes, to give up on Kellen and move on with her life as much as that pained her to do so.

“I can’t, it’s to soon. But I will, you just need to wait for me.”

What is it that I’m waiting for?

He kissed her gently and shortly. That same half of her wanted more, but she couldn’t allow that of herself.

“We have eternity,” he promised.