Oaken

by Melody Robinette

  “You will be my partner. I know it,” Victor said.

  “We’ll see, I guess.”

  “You don’t think so?” he said, his voice turning dark.

  “No—it’s not that. I just don’t want you to be upset if we aren’t, that’s all.”

  “Why wouldn’t we be? You chose to be with me. You chose to accept my rose.”

  “I know, but—”

  “Are you having regrets?” His eyes narrowed and his hands tightened on her waist and hand.

  “N—No. Calm down,” Autumn said, looking around. Avery and Luke were watching them with narrowed eyes.

  “I am calm,” he growled. His pupils slowly dilated as they had before in the meadow with the unicorn. There was hardly any green showing. The chime sounded just in time. Autumn stepped back from him and he shook his head. When he looked at her again, his eyes were back to normal and he seemed slightly confused.

  When it was Avery’s turn to dance with her, she could already feel the familiar pulling sensation in the pit of her stomach. As he rested his right hand on her waist and grasped her hand in his left, Autumn felt the magnetic pull move from her stomach into the region of her chest, as if her heart was trying to move closer to his. Her breathing became shallow, and she noticed his had too. Their eyes locked and she had to tell herself to keep dancing.

  “You feel it too, don’t you?” Avery murmured.

  Autumn gazed into the gray depths of his shining eyes. She needn’t say anything for him to know that she felt what he did.

  Glancing away from him, Autumn turned her eyes on Lady Carys. The gray-haired woman was literally on the edge of her seat, watching them with her head tilted slightly to the side. She wore a look of intense interest and wonder. Autumn was curious to know what exactly it was that she could see.

  Autumn turned back to Avery to see that he’d been looking at Lady Carys as well. He had a satisfied smile on his face as he whispered, “Looks like I was right.”

  The music ceased and Autumn walked to stand beside Crystal who wore an interested look on her face. “Did you see the way Lady Carys was looking at you two?”

  “Yeah,” muttered Autumn.

  “She looked like she had never seen anything like that before.”

  Autumn shushed her when she saw that Victor was glaring at the two of them.

  Lady Carys, Atticus, and Dodge spent half an hour discussing what Lady Carys had seen when, finally, Atticus stood and held his hand up for silence. The room went quiet.

  “With the help of Lady Carys, we have come to a decision. Initiates, when you and your partner’s names are called, please make your way to the middle of the dance floor and stand by one another so that we may all witness the traditional Warrior Partner Initiation Dance.”

  The Initiates all anxiously nodded their assent.

  “Jastin Lambert and Charlotte Locke.”

  The unsurprising pair looked relieved as they made their way to the middle of the dance floor, Jastin grasping Charlotte’s hand.

  “Forrest Akerley and Cera Tillman.”

  Forrest and Cera looked at each other with amused expressions. They were definitely the clowns of the group and would work well together. When they were in position a few feet from Jastin and Charlotte, Atticus spoke again.

  “Luke Oaken and Crystal Everly.”

  Luke and Crystal looked at one another in surprise, but seemed content with this. They high-fived as they joined the others on the dance floor.

  Autumn’s heart was racing. Her partner was either Victor or Avery and she was fairly certain which one it would be.

  “Avery Burke and Autumn Oaken.”

  She was right.

  Autumn didn’t know which emotion to feel first: excitement, guilt, relief, regret, or happiness. Avery wore a sly grin as he offered her his arm. She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled in spite of herself. When she turned to see Victor’s reaction, her smile faltered. He looked murderous with his black eyes and fists clenched by his side. As Autumn and Avery moved to stand by Crystal and Luke, Atticus said, “And finally, Victor Lavigne and Kyndel Butler.”

  Victor was fuming. He kept shooting Avery looks of pure loathing and, worse, he was looking at Autumn as if she had committed some great betrayal. It was bad enough for him that she’d been matched with someone other than him, but the fact that it was Avery, his ex-best friend and current enemy, was obviously too much for him.

  Autumn felt slightly ashamed of herself because she had been a bit relieved when she found out that Victor would not be her partner. She felt like she was abandoning him. On the other hand, though, it wasn’t her fault that she and Avery had this strange connection. And it wasn’t like it was her decision to choose him as a partner. Though, if she had been given the choice, she probably would have anyway.

  “Autumn,” Avery said, interrupting her thoughts.

  She shook her head clear and said, “Hmm?”

  “We’re supposed to be dancing.”

  She looked around to see the other partners twirling around the dance floor.

  “Oh—right,” she said, taking his hand as they joined in the dance.

  “What’re you thinking about?” asked Avery.

  “I just never wanted things to get so complicated.”

  “What’s complicated?”

  “Everything.”

  “They don’t have to be,” Avery said.

  Victor and Kyndel nearly knocked into them as the two of them came spinning by. Victor’s face was contorted into a death glare.

  “Victor’s angry,” Avery noted with a small smirk.

  Autumn sighed. “I know.”

  “So, are you still saying that you care about him?” he asked, his voice full of doubt.

  “I do. I just—I want to help him. He needs a friend.”

  “A friend, maybe, but not a girlfriend.”

  “Well, I, uh—didn’t exactly know what I was doing when I accepted his rose,” she admitted under her breath.

  Avery raised his eyebrows and said, “Seriously?”

  “I just thought he was giving me a rose for the concert. That’s what Outsiders do, at least. I didn’t realize the significance of it until Crystal told me.”

  “Well, whatever you do, don’t accept a golden rose.”

  “Yeah, I know. Crystal told me that too.”

  “You know you can still get out of it,” he said twirling her in a circle and pulling her back to him. “A red rose isn’t binding.”

  “It’s not so simple, Avery.”

  “Sure it is.” He smiled crookedly.

  The partner dance ended and, subsequently, so did the ball.

  Autumn saw Victor storm out without saying a word to anyone.

  Olympus told Autumn and Luke how proud he was of them and that they could not have found better partners. Crystal left looking exhausted, yet pleased with how many compliments she had received for the gowns she’d made. She even got a few requests from some wealthy women in need of new gowns. Luke left with a girl Autumn had seen at school before, but was unsure of her name.

  “Well, I guess this is goodnight,” Avery said, taking Autumn’s hand and brushing it with his lips. He winked at her as he walked away.

  Autumn’s eyebrows knit together as she opened her hand to find a small piece of paper. Avery must have slipped it there without her noticing. She opened it slowly, making sure no one was around. It read:

  Meet me on your balcony at midnight.

  Pegasus Ride

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Autumn’s stomach fluttered as she read the words and, ignoring her protesting conscience, moved as fast as her ball gown would allow up to her branch to change. It took her several minutes to wiggle out of the restrictive material. Once she was free, she pulled on some dark-blue pants and an ivory blouse. Curls spilled to her shoulders as she pulled her hair down from its chignon.

  For how tired she’d been before, she was wide awake now. Autumn knew this was wrong on several
different levels, but she was becoming bored of doing everything she was told. For once, she wanted to do what she wanted to do and forget about the consequences. She had been trying so hard to please everyone else that she’d completely ignored her feelings and the things that she wanted to do.

  Autumn watched the grandfather clock in her room restlessly. Time seemed to slow down the longer she kept her eyes locked on it, so she turned her gaze away. Forty-five minutes until she was supposed to meet Avery. She paced back and forth through her branch, thoughts flowing like a restless river through her head. Finally, she decided to bring a book into her room and read. For once, the words on the pages weren’t enough to distract her and she found herself creating her own story in her head about what Avery might be planning.

  The clock struck midnight just as a number of loud thumps sounded from her balcony. Scrambling off her bed, she moved cautiously forward, pulling open the double doors. Her mouth fell open at the sight before her.

  Avery was there, a dark silhouette in the shining moonlight, standing beside a gray horse, or at least that’s what Autumn thought it was until she saw a pair of long, feathered wings protruding from its back. Her face lit up, but then she remembered the unicorn incident with Victor and backed swiftly away.

  “Is that—?”

  “A pegasus,” Avery said. “You don’t have to be afraid. They’re gentle creatures. He was my father’s.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “My father?”

  Autumn laughed. “No, the pegasus.”

  “Oh. This is Knight.”

  Autumn gazed wonderstruck up at the magnificent creature. He was thinner and sleeker than a horse, but much larger in proportion. Definitely not as intimidating as Victor’s unicorn. Knight’s feathery wings waved as if he was anxious to get back into the air.

  “Hey, Knight,” Autumn said, rubbing his snout. The animal turned his head her way, his electric blue eyes peering at her with a calm and trusting look.

  Avery smiled as he said, “So are you ready?”

  “Ready?”

  “To fly,” he said. “You should probably wear a coat, though. It’s going to get pretty cold up there.”

  Autumn put on a brave face as she left the balcony to retrieve her coat. It wasn’t the animal that was making her heart pound violently against her sternum. It was more of a combination of being so close to Avery—and the height. She’d nearly had a panic attack on the flight to Ireland. Her favorite part about that plane ride was the landing part simply because that meant they were back on solid ground.

  “Ready,” she said, pulling on her thick, green coat.

  “Need a lift?” Avery asked, offering his hand.

  “Nope,” Autumn said, climbing effortlessly onto Knight’s back. “I’m from Texas.”

  Avery raised his eyebrows and shrugged, not appearing to understand how that explained anything. He climbed onto Knight’s back, sitting in front of her.

  “Why do you get to drive?” Autumn said.

  “Because I know where I’m going.”

  “And where’s that?”

  “It’s a surprise. You’re going to want to hold on,” Avery said as he lightly patted Knight’s side. Autumn gasped as Knight shot into the air. She wrapped her arms tightly around Avery to keep from falling backwards, his laughter ringing out over the wind that was whistling in her ears. Once they’d reached a certain height Avery touched Knight’s side again and the pegasus leveled out.

  “Whoa,” she breathed, looking down below.

  They flew higher than even the top of Arbor Castle. Most of the tree houses below were dark, their inhabitants fast asleep. Avery touched Knight’s right side with two fingers and the pegasus changed his direction, moving to the right over the forest.

  Autumn sighed contentedly as they glided over the treetops. Everything was so peaceful and quiet. She definitely preferred travelling by pegasus compared to airplanes. Absentmindedly, she began humming A Whole New World.

  “You’re hypnotizing me, Autumn,” Avery said drowsily.

  “Oops.” Autumn ceased her humming.

  “You don’t have to stop. I like how it feels.”

  “You insisted on being the driver, so no hypnotizing. I can’t imagine that would be very safe.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “It’s so beautiful,” Autumn said. “I could stay up here forever.”

  “Fine by me.”

  He placed his hand over hers and, though she knew she probably shouldn’t, she let him.

  “I’m sort of surprised you agreed to come,” Avery said.

  “Me too.”

  The crisp night air stung her nose and cheeks so she buried her face in his back. He had a musky smell about him that was slightly intoxicating, and she only pulled away when Knight began to descend.

  “Close your eyes,” Avery said.

  Smiling, Autumn let her eyes close. Knight landed and Avery climbed off, grasping her hand and pulling her into his arms before setting her feet gently on the ground. She could feel warm light on her face and had to force herself to keep her eyes closed until told otherwise.

  Avery grasped Autumn’s hands and pulled her a little farther forward.

  “Open your eyes.”

  Autumn’s eyes slid open, blinking in the dazzling light, and she gazed at her surroundings in awe, revolving in a slow circle. They stood in the middle of a clearing that Autumn assumed was in some sort of forest. Thousands of small twinkling lights filled the air, moving here and there from flower to tree to bush. The lights bounced off the leaves and petals, making everything glow. A literal fairyland.

  “What are they?”

  “Fay fairies. This is where we get the fay light for the Kingdom.”

  One of the fay fairies flew close by Autumn’s face and she saw that they looked like miniature elves with wings, only their ears were larger in proportion to their bodies, and they put off a glowing light that pulsed with energy. They smiled and waved at Autumn. Apparently they were friendlier than Petalsies.

  “They’re beautiful,” Autumn said, smiling back at Avery who was watching her with an unreadable expression.

  He moved to a nearby tree and leaned against it, watching her. Slowly, she approached him, mimicking his stance. Their shoulders touched and Autumn realized that, once again, the magnetic sensation they shared had moved from her stomach to her chest. Perhaps it was a permanent change. She’d grown so used to it now that it no longer bothered her. It had not only become tolerable, but welcome. Its presence meant that Avery was near.

  The fay fairies put off warmth and Autumn found that she wasn’t so cold anymore. Avery’s close proximity didn’t hurt either.

  Two fairies flew in front of them, twirling through the air together as if they were dancing. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful before,” Autumn said in wonder.

  “Me either,” he said, but rather than watching the fairies, his eyes were on her.

  Autumn turned to face him and he fixed her with an intense gaze.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  He paused, apparently thinking something through and then took a deep breath and spoke.

  “I’m not used to…feeling. For the past few years I’ve just kind of been numb. But then you come along and I’m feeling things that I can’t explain and it sort of terrifies me. But it also makes me feel like I’m actually alive.”

  Autumn listened with wide eyes, her heart pounding erratically in her chest.

  “I know we’re forbidden to be together, and I know you’re with Victor, but I just can’t ignore this anymore. I know I have nothing to offer you. No gold leaves, no diamonds or jewels and I’m in a completely different class of elf than you, but I know you feel the same way. I see the way you look at me. I see the way your breathing changes when I’m near you.

  “You’re afraid. So am I. And I don’t know about the Outside, but down here we call this fate. When two people are as drawn to one another
as we are. It isn’t just chance or an accident, it’s destined to be. Written in the stars. And if you tell me you don’t feel the same way, I’ll take you home right now and never speak of this again.”

  He stopped and took a slow, shaky breath, waiting for her answer with a tortured expression.

  Autumn tried to collect her thoughts and say something somewhat logical when she did the last thing she should do. She grabbed his face with both hands and pulled him fervently towards her. Their lips met and the feeling in her chest spread like a current throughout her entire body making her skin tingle with electricity. She pushed him up against the tree and ran her fingers through his golden hair as he wrapped his strong arms around her, pulling her closer. She could feel his heart beating against her chest, as if it was searching for her own. And, in that moment, nothing else mattered but Avery. He kissed her hungrily at first and then a little more softly until they slowly pulled apart, their breathing shallow.

  Avery leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, his chest heaving. They stayed like this for some time until Autumn pulled back and slid down the tree, resting her head in her hands.

  Avery sat beside her, his hand on her back. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Because of Victor?” His tone was dark.

  “Yes, because of Victor. And because of you. I don’t want to hurt anyone, Avery.”

  “It’s a little too late for that, Autumn. Besides, you don’t want to be with him. I can see it in your eyes.”

  “I know,” she said, finally admitting to him what she’d been trying not to admit to herself for so long.

  “Then return his rose. Just—just give it back to him. We can keep us a secret until we graduate and I’m not a castle worker anymore. Just leave him. Not for me, for you.”

  “I can’t,” Autumn said, lifting her face to look at him with a tormented expression.

  “Why?” he asked, his eyes darkening.

  “Because. Because then he’ll be alone again and it’ll be all my fault. I promised myself a long time ago that I would help him. I just thought that if others could see that if the princess could accept him for who he is, despite where he comes from, then maybe they could too. I’ve been making progress, not a lot, but enough. People aren’t as afraid of him. Some even talk to him now, or try to anyway. I know how it feels to be alone and I even had Luke. Victor has no one. No family. No friends. No one. Everyone needs someone, Avery, even an Atrum.”