Duality

by Layla Heart

  “Any of the kingdoms?” Litha’s eyebrow shoots up. “Why?”

  Phoenix turns to Litha a little. “Witches do not have their own kingdom, they live wherever. We used to have our own kingdom, but...” She shrugs. “We’ve not had one for centuries. We just live where we can.”

  “Why?”

  Phoenix looks uncomfortable, like she doesn’t want to answer it.

  “Because witches aren’t restricted to just mating other witches.” The words slip out of me and I pull a face. That sounds way too much like something my dad would say, one of his justifications of why he treats witches a certain way, why he doesn’t trust them. “Sorry.”

  The whole table falls quiet, until Bane’s father speaks up again. “Finn is right. Witches live everywhere because they can integrate into any community. Which is also why it’s a little harder to figure out where this threat is coming from. For now, I want all of you to be extra careful out there. No more sneaking off the campus.” He pointedly looks at Rune and Kit, who simply grin. “Or staying out way past midnight.” He glares at Bane, who shrugs, not looking very impressed. “I also want to get you new trainers for your combat training, and get both Phoenix and Litha started at them.”

  “Why?” Phoenix rolls her eyes. “I’ve got my magic.”

  “So did the dragons when they were attacked and almost wiped out.” Bane’s dad’s voice is cold, sending shivers down my spine. He looks at her and Phoenix goes bright red, her eyes wide, surprised. He’s not taking any chances here. “You can’t always rely on your magic.” He looks at the rest of us. “That goes for everyone. I need you to be able to protect yourselves without shifting or using abilities.” His eyes fall on me. “Right?”

  I nod, slowly, a heavy feeling in my stomach. My dad has been perfecting his experiments, and many of them involve ways in which he can disable the magic of the other races so that his troops always have the upper hand. A dragon or a wolf or even an incubus in their shifted forms are scary as hell, and often much bigger than most fae, so he wants to ‘tip the balance into his favour’ by developing ways to disable the magic and abilities of other races.

  “What about me?” Litha’s voice is small, almost inaudible. “I don’t have anything. I’m just...” Phoenix and I both reach out to her, taking her hands, trying to comfort her.

  “We’re getting you a teacher for your magic too, on top of everything else. We’re not leaving you behind, I promise.” Bane’s dad looks over the table, a fire in his eyes. “We’ve not been protecting you for almost two decades to let this all slip now. We’ve not put all our energy into protecting you to fail you now.” He smiles with something akin to pride. “Now, everything we’ve been fighting for finally comes to fruition.”

  Protecting us for almost two decades? What? What’s he talking about? Who have been protecting us? How?

  5

  I almost smile as I look at Bane’s dad, shaking my head. Of course. Of course, he’s been part of it. I know that our friendship is unique, how the hell do four princes become friends when they’re from such differing kingdoms? Kingdoms who’ve often been at war with each other, the last one still fairly fresh in some people’s memories. We shouldn’t have been friends, not so close anyway. But if you want to protect four princes from harm, from an early death by the hands of those who’d like the prophecy to fail, there is no easier way to protect all of them than to put them all together. Keep them as close together as possible. Maybe we would have become friends anyway, but probably not as easily as we have now.

  Bane frowns as he looks at his dad. “I thought it was just...” He looks in Litha’s direction. “I thought you and the others were just about protecting Litha.”

  His dad lets out a soft laugh. “I guess we were able to keep at least something from you. That hasn’t been easy.”

  “Why?” Bane frowns more. He hates not being in the loop, especially when he thinks he knows everything.

  “Because you’d have rebelled even more than you have now.” His mum smiles and stands up. “We’ll get your new schedules set up in the next days. The extra activities will be on top of your classes, so we may have to work around a few things.”

  I groan. Even more things on top of our classes we already have? Like we’re not busy enough, but when I look up, I know that we won’t be able to get away from it. Previously, they could make us take these classes because they’re good for ‘future rulers’. That was the excuse they always used, ‘you’re going to be ruling a kingdom at some point, you better learn how to protect yourself’. And, of course, Finn already had to take combat classes and stuff like that from his dad anyway. It makes sense, even when it’s no fun knowing the reason now...

  “I guess.” Kit sighs. “It’s not like we’re not already taking a full load of classes. It’s not like we’ve got so much time to spare anyway.” He leans back. “So, what? You’re going to keep us busy around the clock in the hopes we won’t get ourselves in trouble because we won’t have any time for it anyway? We won’t even have time to sleep.” He’s upset, really upset, starting to lash out.

  Bane’s dad looks at him, shaking his head slightly. “No, I’m doing this in the hopes that you’ll survive the next four years and maybe the next forty too. Prophecy or not, the bond you all have, this friendship, this connection, it’ll change the world, no matter what.” Then he smiles. “The ‘keeping you too busy to get into trouble’ is just a bonus.”

  The smile doesn’t go over well with Kit as he rolls his eyes and stands up. “Is this the end of the breakfast? Because it seems I may need to celebrate the last couple of hours of freedom before it’s all over.” I feel the frustration in him building, his anger. His anger at me hiding things, which I’ve been feeling since last night, but also his anger at Bane’s dad for doing this and just his general frustration at our situation.

  Bane’s mum nods. “You’re free to go, if you wish to.”

  Kit nods, inclining his head. “Thank you for the great breakfast. I’m off now.” Without looking back, without even glancing at Litha, he stomps out of the apartment, closing the door behind him a little louder than strictly needed, and everyone falls quiet.

  I hate that he’s angry at me, but I know that talking to him, trying to get him to change his mind or something, won’t help right now. I can only give him time, let him deal with things in his head on his own, even if that means shutting me out and even if that hurts.

  “Thank you.” Litha breaks the silence. “Thank you for helping and protecting us.” The sincerity in her is so strong and when I look up at her, she’s got tears in her eyes again. “I understand that it can’t always have been easy. Thank you.”

  “Oh, dear.” Bane’s mum goes over to her, pulling her close. “Of course we would have helped. No matter what. Your parents were very important to us and there is nothing we wouldn’t have done for them. I’m just...” She sighs. “I’m sorry that they’re in hiding now. But I promise you that we’re doing everything we can to get them back here safely.”

  Sadness floods through Litha. “Thank you,” she chokes the words out, starting to sob uncontrollably in Bane’s mum’s arms.

  I look at Finn and then at Bane before finally glancing at Phoenix. We need to make her feel better, we need to help her, protect her. Because seeing her this upset is breaking my heart.

  It doesn’t take much longer before we all leave the apartment, going back to our place to hang out for the day. There aren’t many things we have to do today and with the prospect of a full schedule ahead of us... I’m already dreading what next week will look like.

  We stop in front of our halls, and I look over Litha and Phoenix, considering asking them inside. Kit is up in his room and he’s still in a bad mood, but it’s also one of the few places where we can just hang out without everyone staring and bothering us. Where we can just be students.

  “Want to come inside?” Bane smiles softly as he looks at Litha. “We can play games or something, something fun
. Not thinking of anything.”

  “Ehhh...” Litha’s cheeks start to colour and she looks at Phoenix. I feel the desire flow through her at the thought of spending time being close to us, but she also doesn’t seem to want to leave Phoenix alone.

  “Phoenix is welcome too.” I grin at Phoenix, who rolls her eyes at me. That’s the smartass I know, instead of the quiet girl I’ve seen all morning. She seems different around Litha, or it’s just that she’s not used to having us around in our normal behaviour instead of the ‘good’ behaviour we show the outside world.

  “What do you think?” Litha takes Phoenix’ hand and the girl almost melts at the touch.

  “I guess it can be fun.” Phoenix shrugs a little. “We don’t really have anywhere else to be anyway.”

  “Cool! Let’s get inside.” Bane laughs, opening the door. “Just don’t look around too closely, we don’t clean much.”

  “No, you have people to do that for you.” Phoenix’ sharp tongue seems to return as she steps through the door.

  “True.” Bane smirks, then he nods towards the living room. “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back.” He dashes up the stairs and I watch him turn towards Kit’s room. Right. Our leader, trying to keep everyone together, always checking up on everyone.

  Litha dawdles in the hallway so I slide my arm around her waist, pulling her along. “There isn’t anything scary here.”

  “Not out in the open anyway. You’d have to actually get into Rune’s room for that.” Finn grins as he walks backwards in front of us, his movements apparently easy when I can feel his nervousness in him. He’s as nervous having her in the house as the rest of us are.

  Upstairs I feel both Bane and Kit’s emotions rise, anger, frustration, pain, and I flinch, knowing that some of that is for me, not for Bane, even though he’s taking the brunt of Kit’s anger.

  Litha puts her hand to my chest, her eyes serious when she looks up at me. “Are you okay?”

  I try to smile at her, make her feel better. “I’m good. I promise. Just... Some tensions. Kit... hasn’t had the best night.”

  She nods, her eyes going sad for a moment. “I know. I talked to him last night. He was... upset.”

  I nod, sliding both my arms around her and pulling her close. How did we deserve her? She’s so kind and caring, and hella sexy, with a dirty mind to boot. Even though I’m much taller than her, I feel small in her arms, embraced by something much bigger than the slim frame of her body. She’s so much more than the girl we can see, so much more.

  Then the moment is interrupted by Phoenix. “No, you don’t do that during the new moon.” She sounds frustrated, her voice coming from somewhere in the living room.

  “Of course, you do. Why not? What’s your reason for not doing the ritual during the new moon? It’s the perfect ritual for it.” Finn’s voice peaks and Litha turns in my arms, curiosity and amusement making her move.

  As I look up, Phoenix and Finn are standing in front of our big shelf full of magic and other books and Phoenix is leafing through a notebook Finn must have left open on the desk.

  “Because you won’t see jack shit during a new moon, that’s why.” Phoenix shakes her head, her hair bouncing around her face. “You’ll trip if you walk around.”

  “That’s why you do it during the new moon. Not seeing stuff is good, not being seen even better.” Finn leans on the desk in front of them. “Why are you looking through my shit anyway?”

  “Because you obviously need to learn more about magic. And not leaving your stuff all over the place for visitors to see.” She rolls her eyes and puts the notebook down.

  In my arms, Litha quietly laughs, the joy in her so bright and light that I’m smiling too. Those two are getting along just fine.

  I guess I was worried about Phoenix fitting in for nothing. It almost looks like she’s always been part of us, especially in the way she gets on Finn’s nerves so easily. Of course, we’ve always known each other, but knowing and actually being close to people are two totally different things. Maybe this won’t be so hard after all.

  6

  The rest of the day is over in no time, the hours slipping away without noticing. Hanging out at the princes’ place is fun. The building is huge and I suspect that it’s not normally used for students, too luxurious for that. They have a gigantic TV in their living room, with comfy couches in front of it and some game consoles to play on. The rest of the room is taken up by wall to wall shelves on the far back, a nook on the far end with a small table and some soft chairs, perfect for reading or just doing nothing, and the wall towards the back is almost fully made out of large windows, looking out over a porch, a garden and training fields in the back. It’s definitely a place worthy of princes.

  We watched some movies I’d never seen before. Which, you know, makes sense, as the movie industry here isn’t related to the one in the human world. Soon after Finn had put on the first movie, some action flick about a detective getting himself into trouble as he’s trying to find a treasure, Bane came back downstairs and joined us on the couch, sitting at my side. About halfway through it, Kit also came downstairs and made himself comfortable on the floor in front of me, his head on my knees, like he’d done in the headmaster’s office too. Nobody said anything about his outburst earlier and we all sort of slipped into an easy quiet for the rest of the day.

  I never thought I’d like just sitting around in silence as much as I did, but it felt good after days of stress and being all over the place, just cuddling up for a day, no other responsibilities.

  All day, who was sitting next to me switched, it was like they were taking turns on who was sitting where, so everyone got time with me. Which was cute, in a way, and it allowed me to cuddle up with everyone, not leaving anyone out. There wasn’t anything sexual, just comfort, being close.

  But now I’m back in my own room with Phoenix, and her cat, Ember, is being super needy, pushing up against her the whole time. I watch as Phoenix feeds her and then she lets out a really deep breath as she looks over to me. “They’re not as annoying when they’re not trying to show off the whole time.”

  I grin as I sit on my bed, leaning back against the wall. “Yeah, they can be a handful.” I’ve seen that often enough in the last days. “But they’re not bad when they’re being nice.”

  She smiles warmly, her eyes soft. “Definitely, but they’re trying their hardest around you, being on their best behaviour. So it’s not entirely fair to judge what you see.”

  I shake my head slowly, my smile slipping, and I stare to the floor, the happiness inside me dampening. “I don’t know. It’s like... The prophecy says that I’ll choose one of them to be the ruler, so, of course, they’re trying to be nice to me. They have to. They all want to be chosen, to be the one. So, of course, they’re trying to get me to like them, each one of them.”

  Phoenix walks over, her slim legs in tight black jeans appearing at the edge of my view, but she’s wearing cute red socks with red hearts on them under her jeans, adorable. Why didn’t I notice that before? “Do you really believe that?” Her voice is serious and then she reaches out, cupping my cheek in her warm grip, slowly making me look up at her. “Do you really believe that they’re just nice to you because of the prophecy?” Her eyes have turned dark, sad, full of pain.

  I don’t know why she looks so sad, but tears sting my eyes and I really want to stop crying all the time, but that’s just how I react when I don’t know what to do. “Maybe.” My voice is rough and quiet, the word almost a whisper.

  She slowly nods, but doesn’t let go yet. “Each one of them has a reason why they don’t want you to choose them. None of them want to be ‘the one to rule all kingdoms’. They’re trying to impress you, yes, but not because of the prophecy. They’re trying to impress you because they don’t know what else to do, it’s their instinct, a much deeper instinct than a simple prophecy. You’re like a magnet to them. When you’re around, they turn to you without even realising it. I’ve
never seen them like that before. It’s like... They’ve always been a team, all together, but with you...” She softly smiles. “They’re becoming more, they’re becoming better just being around you.” She leans closer, her face a fraction from mine. “Yes, they’re trying to impress you, because you’re worth it. You are why they’re doing that, not something else. Not a prophecy, not the idea of becoming king. You are making them do it, just by existing in their world.”

  I reach up, covering her hand with my own, emboldened by her passion, the look in her eyes. Like she’s not just talking about the princes. “And what about you? Are you trying to impress me too?”

  She slowly licks her lips, her eyes darting down to mine, before she smirks. “Maybe.”

  “Because of the prophecy? Because of the princes? Or because of another reason?” I sit up a little, getting closer to her. I feel her breath on my lips, warm, sweet from the ice cream we had earlier.

  “Another reason. And maybe a little because of the princes.” Her voice is breathy and her eyes widen at my movements, when I get closer to her.

  “Because I kissed them?” I saw the way she reacted when we left the house and I gave each of the boys a kiss goodnight. There was definitely emotion going on there. I almost think she won’t answer me anymore and that I’ve overstepped my boundary, but then she gives the smallest of nods. “You want me to kiss you too?”

  Her eyes go big for a moment and then she nods again, tugging her lower lip between her teeth for a moment, a cute reaction I don’t expect, making me want her even more.

  I reach out with my other arm, pulling her closer, onto my lap, and then I close the final distance between us, kissing her. Her lips are soft and warm, her body forming perfectly against mine, her heat so good. Our first kiss is careful, closed lips and just a few moments long, a taste more than anything else. The next kiss is longer, slower, as she relaxes against me, a soft sigh escaping her. Then each kiss gets longer and longer, holding on to each other as we slowly lose ourselves in them. They’re heady and make my whole body burn with lust but right now, all I want is to keep kissing her, kissing her more and more. It’s like she’s taken over my head, my mind, and I keep needing her more.