43. Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Three

Valpar

I watched as pink color faded from my miresa's hair from root to tip. I tried to grasp it–like holding it would stop its change from pink to black. It was like the darkness was settling inside her. Once it reached the ends of her hair, my heart became slow rhythmic beats. Not that I was calm, no.

It is the opposite.

If anyone thought they had seen me angry before, they were sorely mistaken.

I knew I could save my female from a witch, from a fairy and a pixie, but there was one thing I could not save her from and that was the memories of her past. I knew there would be a day when I would have to watch while she suffered alone. The only thing I could do was to stay by her side and give her the support she needed.

And my little fairy needed me. She needed to know I would be there for her no matter what she had chosen, no matter what she remembered. I was her male, and I would stand by her thick and thin.

I did not get the chance to soothe her fears. I prayed to the Moon Fairy above that my miresa knew this, that I would be with her always.

The area that surrounded me went quiet. No one made a sound, no one moved, not even the fluttering of the wings of the fae or the sounds of the dark birds that caw in the dark forest.

"Where. Is. He?"

I turned my head slowly to the king. He knew what I sought: the male who had given my miresa her memories before she was ready. Before I could comfort her or let her know what she may see.

Osirus' gaze landed on my miresa and back up to me. He stepped back, along with Melina, who had her lips pursed into a thin line. A soldier held the pixie by his wings. He was flailing about, his mouth moving, but only the sound of bells escaped his lips.

"What is he saying?" I stepped forward, my body thrumming with an indescribable need to end the pathetic soul's life.

Osirus glared at the pixie, with his fists at his side. "To let him go, that the human deserved it."

I snarled, careful not to jostle my miresa in my arms.

The pixie hated her because she was human, hated her because she was different and got the attention that he thought he deserved.

The pixie had put me in a position where my miresa may not want me to touch her when she woke. She may fear me, think of me as a monster because the darkness of her memories will bring back her fear of life. She may fear all.

That part hurt the most, and it felt like my own sword had stabbed me in the chest.

"Your time is short, you flying piece of glittery shit."

The pixie's eyes widened, and he stopped struggling.

"I hope you know I will kill one of your own, Osirus. I don't care if we are in your territory and I don't care if he is your subject."

Osirus' lip curls into a wicked smile. "I didn't see or hear anything. Guards? Did you?" All of them shook their heads and pitifully gazed upon my female.

I shuffled her face away from their gazes and toward my chest.

Mine.

No one could pity her. She was strong.

I thrust out my hand to the guard, who shaking in fear himself. "Give me the pixie."

The guard didn't even glance towards his king. Instead, he extended his hand, offering me the pixie's wings he had tightly pinched between his fingers. As I reached out to take the delicate wings, tiny flecks of gold shimmered and fell from his body, causing a wave of disgust to wash over me. The sound of bells resonated from his lips, piercing my ears with their sharpness.

I was ready to end him.

"W-would you like me to hold Calliope while you take care of him?" Theresa asked. Her hands were covering her mouth with her wings drooping behind her.

I tightened my hold on my miresa and shook my head. "I need her."

I needed my mate in my arms where I could feel her, where I could touch her. It was the only way to make me feel better knowing the storm was raging inside her head.

Birch nodded for me to continue. I did not need two hands. It was embarrassing that I was fighting off her last enemy, a pixie. A tiny thing that I will squash with my fingers, but I will do it with her sleeping in my arms.

I flicked my wrist once, the force strong enough for the wings to stay between my fingers, and the pixie to fall to the ground with a thud. I rubbed the wings between my fingers, crumbling them into tiny pieces of dust and sprinkled it above his head.

"That is the worst punishment you could give any flying creature, clipping their wings." King Osirus muttered to his female, who was still learning the ways of their people.

I lowered myself to the ground, my knees popping as I stared down at the blasted creature. A tiny nuisance that had destroyed my female's life.

I picked up the pixie once more, my hand so large it covered his entire body when I fisted it around him. His head was the only thing that poked out, from the top of my hand, and I brought it to my face.

With a sickening grin, I squeezed. His wails were music to my ears as I felt his bones snap like twigs between my fingers. My grip tightened, fueled by an insatiable desire for destruction, until I heard the satisfying crack of his back, breaking under my fist. As the darkness in my eyes deepened, I watched with sadistic pleasure as the light began to fade from the pixie's eyes.

But I was not finished.

I continued to tighten my grip, relishing the feeling of power coursing through me as I slowly crushed the life out of him. Pixies are strong, despite them being small. Then, I dropped him to the ground with a thud that barely registered in my ears. Ignoring his high-pitched shrieks, I lifted my foot and slowly brought it down, letting my big toe feel the gratifying crunch of his skull shattering beneath it.

I closed my eyes, running my hand up and down my female's leg. It was over. Her enemies were gone.

It was far too quick. I could have made him suffer more but my miresa's health was far more important.

"Put his body into a bag. I'll drink his essence in my ale."

Before I could celebrate the small milestone, Queen Melina shrieks.

"Oh gods! Simon!"

I whipped my head to look behind me and saw my miresa's companion in the dirt. He was lying on the ground, and I walked over while others ran to him. However, he wasn't small anymore, he was growing.

"What's happening? What's going on?" I asked.

Osirus' eyes widened when he knelt, his hands touching the lower part of Simon's legs. "I-I don't know. Did Simon have that potion fall onto him?"

Theresa nodded. "Yes, he was trying to get Karma away from her. The rest of the bottle fell into his fur. Is there something wrong with the potion? Is this a reaction to it?"

Osirus petted the animal on its back to comfort him, and then a large clump of fur fell off of his body.

"Stay back!" Osirus had all of us rise and we backed away. He held onto Melina and kept her close. "It seems that Simon wasn't a goat at all, but another creature."

"What?" I snapped. "Did you know about this?" I turned my body to Theresa and Birch and they both shook their heads.

"No!" Birch snapped. "He was a goat gifted by the Toboki tribe to my brother. When Calliope was allowed to walk the grounds of the palace, she saw him and they immediately connected with each other. We said she could keep him as a pet!"

We all watched, stunned, as the fur fell off the enlarged goat. The head no longer looking animal like, but more like a human. A face with a nose similar to the goat's and two pouty lips. The braided mane on its neck was now atop its head, filled with flowers. The bottom part of his body stayed the same, along with his tail and hooves.

"He's a faun," Theresa whispered. "It's a faun, like in the Greek Mythology on Earth."

Osirus blinked several times and grinned. "Is it now? That's interesting."

"What the fuck is going on?" I held my female closer. "And has this thing seen my female naked!?" It was male–human like. It must think, talk and act like one of us it wasn't an animal at all.

Then again, it wasn't a shifter, Simon had never shifted in front of us before. I had never heard of a goat shifter, even in the book I was given to study.

They all stared at me in disbelief as Simon's nose and limbs twitched as his body moved to stretch. We were all going to get our answers, and hopefully soon.

We maintained a good distance, ensuring he had ample space. As his eyelids gradually fluttered apart, we were met with the familiar sight of his goat-like eyes.

"Simon?" Theresa steps forward. "Is that you?"

Simon's hind legs wobbled as he attempted to rise but lost his balance, crashing down with his face hitting the ground. He gazed intently at his hands, then back at his longer hind legs and hooves, before turning his head towards us, wearing a confused expression.

We were all confused.

"Simon?" I asked, adjusting my miresa.

His head turned to see me and then my female. He frowned and his body fell over into the dirt.

"Simon, she is alright." I did not know why I felt the need to comfort the goat—faun, but he looked after her when I could not. He looked just as confused as the rest of us. "You kept her safe. I will keep her safe now, too."

Simon shook his head and got on two hooves. He didn't stand tall but acted like a newborn kid and wobbled on his two hooved legs. He used his hands to steady himself on the ground.

"Can you speak, Simon?" Osirus came closer. "Do you know who you are? What you are?"

Simon shied away and before any of us realized what was happening, he was galloping away on his powerful hooves while gracefully using his hands for balance. The sight was strange, and I stood there like moss growing on the side of tree. I was worthless and of no use as I let him get away.

Theresa tried to move out of Birch's arms. "Wait!" she screamed but we all stayed still, unwilling to leave our spot.

Osirus sighed. "Simon will be fine—he knows the land and knows Calliope's scent. He won't venture far."

Worried glances shot between all of us, at what we just witnessed, and I held my female tighter in my arms. I placed my nose in the crook of her neck. It was the only thing that calmed me. She was the only thing keeping me tethered to the soil.

I stood in silence, my hand caressing my miresa's face as Theresa explains what a faun was. The creatures came from a lore that humans used to tell about the Greek Gods of their realm. Really, it was just the gods we knew of this realm, but humans just referred to them differently.

Fauns were half goat and half human. Depending on what lore you believed, fauns were merry creatures often carrying a flute and would bring joy to all those around them. These fauns also had a great sense of direction. There were many stories that fauns would help lead lost men to the right path so they could find their way home.

I suppose, in a way, Simon led my miresa to me.

I placed my hand over her heart. I could not tell if she was in destress, I only felt her heart beating slowly. I pressed my forehead to hers and let out a slow calming breath.

"Come," Osirus approached me. "We will take her back to the palace. Make her comfortable until she wakes. Humans take time to have magic recede from their bodies."

I listened to everyone shuffling around me, the guards and her parents. All these people cared about her, and I had done what my miresa had asked over the weeks, but I could not take it any longer. I had stayed away from my—our home for a long time. I had shown patience, more patience than any other orc would have.

"No," I gritted my teeth. "No, we will not be returning to your palace."

I raised my head, and they all stared at me in shock.

"My miresa, my mate, is under my protection. I will no longer entertain anyone else's desires for my female. Ever since I arrived here, I have obeyed my mate's every wish. She made me promise that she could see her parents before I took her to our home. I have fulfilled my promise. She needs rest, she needs me, and I will give her peace within our home."

Theresa's mouth opened and closed.

I turned before anyone could say a word. My back was straight and there was determination in my step. I was done dealing with everyone else's desires, the only one that matters was my female. It was my turn to take care of her.

They may be her family, but I was her forever. Her male, her future, her protector.

I nuzzled my face into her long, raven-dark hair again. She was beautiful even with her dark locks. They matched my own and I hoped she would not be too sad when she woke to find them not the swirling bright pink she used to love so much.

All I knew was that I would hold her until she woke. I would be by her side and face any fears she may have. Even if it killed me that she might be afraid of me, afraid of our new home that I had whisked her away to, without her consent first.