Author's Note:
This story contains non-consent and reluctance. This is a work of fiction with all characters over the age of 18. This is the first part of a series and I hope you enjoy it! Be gentle. It's my first time.
Alayna slept in her own room that night.
It wasn't for lack of offers. At dinner, as they all sat around various tables scattered haphazardly around the dining hall, Beckett kept skimming his hand along her thigh, inching her dress higher and higher. She'd squirmed under his touch, thankful he wasn't one of those lords who insisted upon dining on a raised dais, where anyone could see him stroking her desire to a fever pitch. When he finally ran a finger along her folds, she was so worked up she gasped and choked on her drink.
After coughing mightily for a few moments, Alayna stood and bade everyone a good night. She thought Beckett might have followed her, at least until he realized she was headed in the direction of her own room. He didn't pursue her. Choosing, as he always did, to respect the times when she needed space.
Halfway across the courtyard separating her room from the main keep, she discovered Coen and a handsome young man from the village below, fervently kissing each other in a shadowed alcove. Coen spied her and held up a finger, pointing first at her, then at the two of them. She smiled and held up a hand to decline.
Just as she was about to enter the building on the far side of the courtyard, she heard a gentle whine. It took a moment of searching before she was able to spot the glint of eyes against the darkness, outside the reach of the torches lining the courtyard. The giant wolf looked at her for a long moment, swung his head toward the forest, then back at her. An invitation to run through the forest with him. She gently shook her head and the big wolf was gone as quickly as he'd appeared.
Alayna slept alone for a short time. Just a few hours, long enough for the keep to settle in for the night, for everyone but the sentries to be fast asleep. When the moon was almost at its zenith, Alayna rose from her blankets and dressed. She gathered a few items and quietly stepped outside, heading through the manned gates with a nod to the guards, towards the direction of the thick forest surrounding the keep. When the night sky shone above her, unhindered by the torches burning atop the high walls, she got down on her knees and placed a small bowl on the ground, filling it from her water skin. She tipped out dried mugwort, calendula and marshmallow root into the water from a satchel. While the dried ingredients absorbed water and began to disintegrate, Alayna pulled a small bundle of sage from her pocket and murmured softly. The end of the sage caught fire, heavy smoke wafting from it, stinging her eyes. She continued those softly murmured words as she circled the bowl with the flaming sage three times in order to contain what she intended to summon. She placed the burning sage above the bowl on the ground, allowing it to be consumed naturally. When it had burned into nothing more than ash, she pulled a white crystal from her pocket and ran it in circular motions above the surface of the still water, a different chant falling from her lips.
For nigh on a week now, someone - or something - had been trying to contact her. And something else had been blocking it.
Every time she passed a body of water, whether it was a river, a puddle or even just a small mug, the water rippled in unnatural ways. And every time she would turn to see what would appear in the glassy surface, something happened to disturb the water. Whether it was an acorn falling when there was no wind or someone jarring her cup so badly it spilled, something always happened to cause it to stop.
Something was trying to contact her and something else desperately didn't want it to.
When the moon was at its highest point in the sky, reflecting perfectly in her little bowl of water, Alayna put the crystal away and waited. It didn't take long before the water rippled once, twice, then stilled. The moon's reflection was replaced with the stern face of a much older woman, slightly shadowed under a hood of dark emerald. Something silver glinted under the darkness of her hood and Alayna realized it was a circlet bearing Viena's mark.
She lowered her eyes and bowed her head respectfully. "Sister."
"You've been ignoring my summons," the unfamiliar woman snapped.
"I apologize," Alayna said quietly. "Something kept interfering."
The woman waved an impatient hand, as if this was of no consequence. "We've precious little time left now. There is a sickness sweeping the city outside the Keep. Magical in nature, as we haven't been able to combat it with potions and herbs. A wizard in Dewhurst claims to have a book containing the spell we need to end the sickness. You are to retrieve the book and meet me in Ayrith immediately."
Alayna blinked. It certainly wasn't uncommon for traveling Sisters to be called upon for tasks benefiting the Order of Viena, but... "Sister, are you certain I'm the one you meant to contact? I'm technically still a student."
The water bubbled angrily around the edges of the scrying bowl. "Think you an elder Sister isn't capable of summoning the correct person?"
"No, but—"
"You are the closest woman from our order to Dewhurst, student or not. Time is against us. We need the runes in that spell immediately. You are to ride out at once, retrieve the book from the wizard Xanth. Meet me in Ayrith, at the inn closest to the north gate. Ride fast and do not delay."
"Sister." Alayna knew she was pushing her luck, but whatever had caused the magical sickness could have been what was trying to sabotage the summons. If someone was actively trying to thwart the Sisters' plans, she needed to know. "Can you tell me what was trying to block—"
The water bubbled again, the Sister's wrinkled face replaced by the reflection of the moon once more. Alayna sighed as she sat back, the water in the bowl sizzling as if to convey the Sister's anger at having her order questioned.
Once inside her room, she waved a hand and a little orb of soft, orange light filled the area. She rifled through her travel sack for a moment before spreading a map out across her work table. She was so busy working out the fastest route to Dewhurst that she didn't hear the creak of the door opening.
"Planning a trip?"
She turned to find Beckett standing in the entryway, the top of his shirt unlaced enough to give her a tantalizing glimpse of his bare chest. Silently, she cursed the order that prevented her from taking the time to explore that chest with her lips. Especially after he got her all worked up after dinner.
"Yes, actually. The Sisters assigned me a task." At his arched brow, she quickly filled him in on the details. Beckett frowned.
"If someone caused this, they could come after you on the road. Give me a moment to pack my things."
She caught his hand before he could leave the room and pulled him back to face her. Her hand rested on his chest, fingers toying wistfully at the laces of his shirt. "You're needed here, Beckett."
"Shegar, Coen and Gryff can handle things until we return."
"You and I on the road together, alone? It would take us weeks to reach Dewhurst."
"Then take one of them with you. Someone should watch your back."
"I can handle this. The Sisters wouldn't have summoned me otherwise." She did not tell Beckett that for the last two, maybe three, months, she'd had the distinct impression of being watched. It was a tingling sensation on the back of her neck, like someone had brushed feather light fingers across her skin. She didn't want him to worry. "I can travel faster alone, which means I can return faster."
He nodded and she returned to packing. It was several long moments before he spoke again. "And will you? Return, I mean."
Alayna stopped. She turned to face him again. He said the words easily enough, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, an uncertainty she didn't often see in him. She gave him a tender smile, hoping to banish that look from his eyes.
"Of course I will. I wouldn't even be going if this were anything other than a direct order from the Sisters. You know me. If I can help it, I don't stay anywhere I don't want to be. I'm here, with you, because I want to be."
She watched as the uncertainty faded, but was quickly replaced by a question neither of them dared ask. For how long? How long until she got the itch to wander again? How long until he grew tired of having her warm his bed? She wanted to tell him that she'd already been with him longer than any of her previous lovers. That, long after she should have grown weary, the simple thought of his hands on her body, his lips on hers, still excited her to no end. That the time she was about to spend away from him, away from this place, would be nigh unbearable for her.
But she said none of those things and neither did he. The question lying between them faded until she had to wonder if it had ever been there at all, or if it was simply wishful thinking on her part.
She turned back to the map spread out on the table and only a moment passed before he stepped in behind her, invading her senses and making her realize how thin her sleeping gown was. He placed a finger on the spot where their camp was located. "Where will you go?"
Alayna placed a hand on top of his, guiding his finger across the rough parchment, tracing her path. "Here, to Dewhurst. I'll meet with the wizard, retrieve the book, then travel here." She moved his finger further up the map. "Ayrith. I'll meet the Sister, dump the book and go straight back. It should take three weeks at most to get there and back again."
A deep, rumbling sigh vibrated against her back. She looked up to find him frowning as he traced her path back to Dewhurst. "This city. It's close to the Greenfrost." His finger tapped a mess of green paint right next to the marker for the city.
"I know," she said, leaning back against him. "I've been close to Dewhurst before and I know not to venture into the forest."
Not that the Greenfrost could be considered much of a forest, because the trees quickly gave way to fetid swamp. She'd only heard stories of what sometimes ventured out of that swamp, but none of them were pleasant.
"It's dangerous." He started kissing the side of her neck, making her lids go heavy.
"Mm.. It is." She tilted her head to one side to give him better access and
