Neither one of us moves or speaks for a moment, too frozen with shock at being so incredibly close. Marcellus is the first to escape our combined state, brushing his fingers back and forth on my head. The movement is comforting, and I enjoy just laying here with my head on his chest and his arms around me. His heart beats out an increased rhythm, the sound pounding against my ear. We’re both taking deep breaths to make up for all the running we’ve been doing. “Are you alright, Cecily?” Marcellus asks me with concern.
I lift my head to gaze into his eyes as I reply, “Don’t worry, my knight, you saved the Princess.” There's a breathy quality to my voice, I know isn't from running. “Although, you may have made a fatal mistake, dear knight. I’ve now felt the warmth of your arms and must say, it’s much better than just holding your hand.”
“Oh, no! What have I done? How will I ever survive your advances of affection?” His voice holds a husky tone to it. Before I’m able to respond, we hear a branch snap and a second later, my back is flush to the ground with Marcellus on top of me, searching to see what caused the sound.
He positioned his body to shield mine, his muscles straining, ready to spring up at a moment’s notice. I heighten my senses and hear a deer, but also the sound of humans breathing in the distance. Marcellus smiles down at me, mischief shining in his eyes, and puts one of his fingers up to my mouth signaling me to be quiet.
I raise an eyebrow in question but don’t make a sound. He turns my head to face the direction where the deer is and then places his cheek on mine. A light breeze blows dead leaves and pine needles on top of us, effectively hiding us while leaving our eyes uncovered so we can see.
We watch as the deer quietly walks into view and stops to forage for food on the forest floor. With my senses still heightened, I hear the sound of an arrow being pulled back on a bowstring. The archer holds position for just a moment before letting the arrow fly; the string releasing with a quiet thwap sound.
The next sound I hear and watch simultaneously is the arrow entering the deer and piercing its heart. A quick clean kill from an experienced archer. A few moments later, several Indians with black-soled moccasins walk up to the deer to take their kill back to their village. I barely catch myself in time to stop the sound of a gasp from leaving my mouth. It’s the Blackfoot Indians my mother told me about!
We stay hidden until they are out of hearing range, then Marcellus shakes off the debris covering him. I can’t help the squeal that finally escapes as I throw my arms around him. “Marcellus! You’re the absolute best at surprises!” We’re both smiling as I pull back to study him.
Our eyes stay locked for a moment, his face just an inch from mine since we’re still lying on the ground. He closes the distance and nuzzles my nose with his in a soft caress. His breath blows out, and the warmth hits my lips causing my breath to hitch. My arms tighten a fraction, encouraging him to do something my brain hasn’t caught up to thinking about yet.
“This is just the start of your surprise. There's so much more for you to see.” His lips brush against mine with his words, just the barest amount of contact, more of a tickle than anything else. I pull my bottom lip between my teeth so I can scratch the tickle he caused. His eyes are drawn to the movement, and the tension in the air is deliciously intoxicating. Before I can plead with my eyes, he moves to kiss my forehead.
With a smirk that tells me he knows how frustrated his teasing is making me and with his arms on either side of my head, he pushes off the ground to stand. After brushing off the leaves stuck to his clothing, he offers me a hand to pull me up as well. Disappointment courses through me from the denial of a kiss, and I find myself pouting.
Marcellus’ eyes soften, and his smirk smooths out into a barely-there smile. He reaches up to pull a few leaves out of my hair and whispers, “Don’t worry, Darling, the time isn’t right yet.” His hand cups my cheek and rubs his thumb back and forth a few times. His smile gets bigger, and he offers me his hand to hold. A small consolation I’m not going to pass up.
“Their village is on the other side of this next hill. We can see some of it from undercover up there if you want to watch them for a bit,” he says, referring to the Indians we just saw.
“Of course I want to! Lead the way, my knight.” Despite my disappointment at not being kissed, the excitement bubbling up is too much to contain. I start skipping next to Marcellus as we head past the location where the deer was shot. A small pool of blood has soaked into the soil, the only indication of what happened. I spot a drop of blood every so often as we make our way slowly up the hill. As we get to the top, the trees thin out but there's still enough cover to hide behind once we get there.
Once we get to the top of the hill, Marcellus tells me to crouch down as we move behind several large rocks so our movements aren’t seen by those in the village. The rocks seem like the perfect hiding spot. I almost wonder if Marcellus put them here himself.
He sits down in a spot that looks like it has been formed to his body. Getting comfortable, Marcellus leans back on a smooth rock angled just right to hold him propped up. He then stretches out his legs, crossing them at the ankle and places them on a rock. He pats the ground next to him indicating he wants me to sit there.
From here, we can see a valley cleared of trees. There are teepees of various sizes spotting the ground, and Indians all over the place carrying on with their daily tasks. We watch as the hunting party arrives with more than just the deer we watched them take down.
I can understand why my mother wanted to spend so much time close to them. It’s such a profound experience watching a culture so different than your own go about their lives. Marcellus opens the satchel he brought with him and pulls out a loaf of bread and some cheese for us to eat. He hands me my portion, and I’m so thankful he thought of food since we left before dawn.
We spend the rest of the day watching life unfold below us. “So is this honestly what you like to do when you need an escape from your uncle?” We’ve been sitting here for so long, the space between us no longer exists. I’m now leaning against him with his arm around me and my head on his shoulder.
“Part of it anyway. It’s almost time for my favorite part of watching them. If I tell you what it is, you have to promise not to tell anyone, most of all my uncle.” He turns his head toward me to catch what my response will be, so I lift my head off of his shoulder to peer into his eyes.
“Marcellus, anything you tell me will remain between us. We’re mates. We’re going to have a lifetime partnership. I’m sure it would physically pain me to betray you in any way.” He has a slightly puzzled expression before continuing with what he was going to tell me.
“My uncle doesn’t know I’m able to shift forms. I hide it from him, but it’s hard when it’s so natural to shift. It’s like... I’ve stopped denying a part of myself.” I freeze at his confession. I was not expecting this. Not noticing my reaction, he continues, “I like being able to get away and act like a spirit animal for them,” he says, nodding his head toward the Indians in the valley. “Every day at sunset, they climb the hill over there and pray for different needs they have and general blessings. One day I wished I knew what they were asking for and suddenly I knew. I started pushing thoughts back to them to help them with their needs, things they could gather and create, such as healing potions for their ailments, hunting tools, that sort of thing. It makes me feel better about my life being able to help them like that.”
I shift my weight so I’m facing him, causing his arm to drop from around my shoulders. There are so many things I want to say to him right now, but I decide to address the strangest part first. “What do you mean he doesn’t know you can shift? All of our people are gifted the ability to change forms.”
“My uncle says he could if he wanted to, but he doesn’t feel it’s worth wasting magic on it. I’ve been keeping it a secret that I discovered how to use magic differently than him. I don’t know what he’ll do if he learns the truth. He hand-picked just about everyone who lives in his pack, all of whom can’t shift. And if they can, they haven’t admitted it. The last person who did was a child, and they were driven out and exiled the day my uncle found out.”
What...?I thought I said this out loud, but I’m in so much shock I can’t be sure. I vividly remember Silas having shifted during our travels from my castle to his. Does Marcellus not see the similarities between what he just said and our conversation the other day?
“Why do you keep saying we’re mates? I thought at first you were teasing me, but you keep mentioning it. What do you mean by mates?” he asks me, acting as if he didn’t just share something that goes entirely against who we are. Wait… did he just say he doesn’t know we’re mates…? Today’s confessions keep getting odder and odder.
No sound escapes as I open and shut my mouth a few times, unable to decide how to respond to him. “Why did you think I came to visit your pack alone?”
“My uncle said you were wanting to find a husband, and you were meeting your top suitors and that I was one of the men you wanted to pursue.” Well, that’s just great. I bet Marcellus was assuming I was a spoiled princess trying to find myself the best husband. No wonder he was acting strange and let his uncle walk all over our interactions initially.
“So you didn’t send him to inquire about whether your mate mark matched a royal’s?” I know he just said he thought I came on my own, but I’m having trouble comprehending what he’s saying.
“Send him to what? What’s a mate mark?” Marcellus questions me as he gets flustered. It seems like whenever we have deep conversations, I’m always revealing things he knows nothing about or hasn’t been taught.
