Under Violet Eve

The smell of freshly cut grass met my nostrils as I looked out across the manor. Twiddling my thumbs, I rested my arms on the patio wall and waited for Maia to return. The sky was violet with colour, a painted canvas above our very own paradise. Blooming bushes of rose, peonies, hollyhocks, and hydrangeas lined the large brick wall that separated our land from the rest of Thisten; a quiet region on the southern border, long since having descended into obscurity by the rest of the empire.

If only they knew what we knew,

I thought.

Maia had left to gather berries, herbs, mushrooms, and anything else of importance from the nearby forest that sat at the end of our large estate. I looked out across it, towards that very forest; the tall, thick evergreens staring back at me, always sending me mixed feelings about the place. Whenever she was by my side, they smiled back, welcoming me into their idyllic, beckoning us to venture in together on the frequent sun-blessed days. When she wasn't by my side and had ventured in many hours ago, they taunted me, defiant and far reaching into the sky, as if to prop up their dominion and whisper their ownership over her.

This time, I felt the latter.

A cool breeze swept over my exposed, tanned skin, making the hair on my forearms dance lightly in the wind. Veins like vines ran up and down my muscled forearms, enjoying the respite from the beating suns. A single vein, thicker than the others and coloured in a glowing blue-gold reminded me of the power I had, the power I might need to use if I was to go after Maia.

I sighed as my heartbeat started to quicken slightly, realising our perfect day nestled between so many perfect days might be about to be ruined. Maia could hold her own - we had both been trained by the local baron well over a hundred years ago - but that never prevented the second guessing, the worry, and the sickness that filled me whenever her ventures into the forest exceeded her usual hour.

Another chill breeze came over me, and I shuddered. I knew it was the coldness doing that, but, all the same, I was uncomfortable, and so was my mind.

I had to go.

Turning on my heel, my sandals scraped on the ground, a handful of small pebbles displaced as I took off toward the manor. I took the dozen or so steps two at a time up to the opulent entrance, flanked by large columns almost as tall as the now menacing treeline that awaited me.

I barely took in the inside decor; the golden drapes, the large, mahogany rugs, the this and the that. None of it mattered. If I said it was secondary, I would be lying. It was barely tertiary to the things that mattered, to who mattered.

I found our ground floor armoury room quickly. I disposed of the short sword I always carried on my belt, before stripping out of my linen shorts and kicking my sandals off. I threw on my thicker linen trousers, buttoned up my loose fitting linen shirt, and held my hand out. The golden-blue vein on my thick forearm glowed momentarily as a large, wooden staff that hung above the ornate, marble fireplace flew to my outstretched hand.

I hadn't looked, nor had I looked as I struck it into the rug-covered flooring. Pieces of thick plate armour suddenly flew to my shins, then to my legs, before, within only a few moments, an entire suit of armour was tightly strapped to my body.

Another soft thud on the rug barely met my ears as a long sword flew into my other outstretched hand.

I walked back towards the exit, leaning my staff and sword up against a large white, wooden cabinet. My helmet was the last thing to go on, my visor coming down and locking into place as I steeled myself for what may lie ahead.

I took off towards the back garden exit without another thought, grabbing my sword and staff again. The metallic footfall of my heavy steel boots echoed around the mansion before I made it outside once again, taking the steps two at a time back down. I quickly blanked out.

Several minutes had passed before I had fully realised where I was, having been on autopilot as I steamrolled through the forest, my thoughts only on my love.

I was within the thick of it now, surrounded by endless trees. Ant hills larger than myself lined a nearby river, its calming trickling set against the chirping of birds that paid little mind to me or what was going on in my head.

The mushrooms, those damn mushrooms - why do they have to be so far in?

I never liked mushrooms, and I would like them even less now if their stupid existence led her to harm.

I knew better than to call out into the woods. I hadn't gotten to that point quite yet. The large wolves and bovine beasts that liked to roam many miles away sometimes tried their luck in these forests, likely having taken a liking to the abundance of the smarter forest animals that had fled their hunting grounds a millennia ago. If it wasn't one of them that had gotten to her, I didn't want to know what might have happened, or who might have happened.

I continued on, the ground beneath my heavy boots sinking slightly with every football, walking parallel to the river that ever so slowly widened. My mind went to Maia again. Her golden skin always in stark contrast to those impossibly deep blue eyes, only matching the sunkissed tresses of her hair, often put into a long braid or two. Her wide, heartwarming smile, her -

A snap of a twig behind me immediately broke me from my thoughts, but my reaction was just too slow.

"We really need to work on your stealth, sweetheart," said a familiar voice.

A hand I knew all too well moved into my peripheral, turning my face to the side. I turned with it, dropping my sword and staff as I came face to face with my love, with my Maia.

"I'm the strong one, remember? Stealth isn't my style. It's yours."

"Clearly." She giggled, "And yes you are the strong one, aren't you?" She said, moving her other hand to my armour-clad bicep. "And that's why I like you. One of the reasons, anyway."

"I... I thought you were...".

Maia shook her head before I could finish, "You thought what? A big bad wolf got me?".

I couldn't help but smile as I took in the sight of my lover.

She stood there, her white summer dress on - with several similarly white knives sat horizontally across her stomach, barely noticeable - grinning back at me. There was a hint of mischief on that mouth, making me wonder what she was up to. Our eyes locked, and my heart that had been beating rapidly now beat even faster.

It always did when I gazed upon those sapphire jewels. Not a single line or wrinkle could be found on her face, and neither mine. We may have been almost three centuries old, but it would be another three centuries before those things even started to show. Not that it mattered. She would be beautiful until the day she passed from this world. I could only hope that would be many, many millennia from now.

"You're okay then?" I said.

She gently removed my helmet, my own sunkissed locks falling to my shoulders. I now saw her in all her unobstructed glory, and it made my heart stir.

"I am more than okay."

We didn't speak, we didn't have to.

She put both hands upon my cheeks, gently stroking them as she pulled me into a kiss.

I closed my eyes, and I was home once again.

The birds stopped chirping, the water stopped rushing, and my heart ceased its endless drumming.

All I could feel and taste was Maia.

We were gentle with one another, savouring our closeness, savouring the fact that she was okay, that nothing had got to her or happened to her.

"Save some of that for later," she said quietly, biting my lip gently as she pulled away from the kiss. "I want to show you something. Come with me."

Maia took me by the hand, her long nails digging playfully into my gloved hand.

Where could she possibly be taking me?

We ventured further into the forest, my gaze moving from her enticing behind, to the beauty of the deep forest.

A myriad of different coloured flowers, bushes, mushrooms, and even crystals made themselves known as I traipsed through the all too familiar forest. They stuck out from small boulders, cracks in trees, or on the underside of logs. The forest was always a magical place, transcending the manufactured beauty of our manor, or of other human settlements. Usually they would catch my eye, and I'd kneel down to look at them closer or to collect them. It was different. Raw, earthly, a reminder of the fading magic in the world, but it was starting to fade away from my thoughts the more my mind drifted to my lover before me.

She had a cute, white bow tied up in her hair, matching a white dress I had never seen before. Frilly white straps passed by velvety smooth white bra straps, meeting fabric that ventured outward over her prominent breasts. It flowed down sharply toward a cinched waist that made many of the girls in the local town look at her in envy whenever we visited, which was rarely these days. It continued past her stomach, flowing down to sit halfway down her thighs, hiding the visibility of her ass, but not its cock-hardening form. The more I stared - watching the muscles in her legs twitch and separate as she guided me, the occasional glance back with smoky eyes that could pierce the toughest metal - the more I could feel that familiar stirring making itself known in my balls.

There was something about her in this moment that was slightly different, as if she knew something I didn't. Her scent, her energy, her very aura and spirit that connected to mine like no other. Love and lust interlocked like a pleated pretzel, but far tastier, and beyond filling whenever we had our fill of one another.

"Where exactly are you -", I went to protest, but was quickly cut off by her.

"No talking, handsome." She said without turning around. "But I can guarantee you will like it."

I saluted back at her, my armour clinking and clanking as I did so, almost comically.

We continued to walk for another few minutes, the dual suns quickly dipping below wherever the local horizon line was. The river to the left of us continued to widen as we slowly, almost imperceptibly, continued down hill. The forest was widening too now. There were more gaps between trees, more flowers and crystals having found a home with the additional sunlight exposure breaking through the thinner canopy above.

Darkness was quickly shrouding the land, the light level diminishing quickly as it always did in the woods. I could only hope we were going somewhere with light. Not that we couldn't just magic up a light or two, especially with my staff, but being out here in the dark wasn't a smart idea, no matter how well protected or prepared we were.

"We're near," she said excitedly, coming to a slow walk ahead of me, "close your eyes, Arthial. I'll know if you don't."

"I hope it's close," I said, looking around our surroundings. To say I was feeling uneasy about doing such a thing, this far in, at this time of day, would be an understatement. "You know I don't like being here after dark."

"You don't need to worry." She said, squeezing my hand lightly, "I brewed the potion. I did the spell. We'll be protected for a long time."

I cocked an eyebrow, "How long exactly?"

Maia smirked, her eyes softening as embers grew to a small fire beneath them, "long enough for what we'll be doing, don't you worry."

I gulped slightly, my cock responding ever so slightly to her insinuation with a gulp of its own.

"Come on. Close them. Don't make me come over there and do it for you. You know I will."

I sighed, but complied. "You know that's not as much of a threat as you think it is."

Maia rolled her eyes, "So well behaved.

Sometimes

."

I could almost feel the smirk on her face as she said that.

"I could say the same to - oh, fuck..." I growled, suddenly feeling her hand close around my hardening cock. She had moved towards me, silently, covering several metres in only a couple of seconds.

"You could what now?".

Her fingers moved ever so slightly, gently teasing my rising member below with talented talon hands. I opened my left eye, receiving daggers from both of hers once she noticed my disobedience.

"I could throw you down and fuck you right here, in this clearing."

"You could, but I have a far better idea in mind," she said, biting her lip, "And I said close them."

I grinned back at her slyly, "You didn't specify for how long."

"You're an idiot." She said, taking her hand away from my cock. "Anyway, I need to put this hand around a different kind of staff. Try not to cry too much."

I felt her hand clasping around my own that was currently holding the staff, raising it slightly, before sending it down against the ground, completing the Step that was always needed to perform the more advanced magic (at least at our relatively young age).

The air shifted, as if the very atoms of the vicinity were being manipulated somehow.

"There. Now we can walk, and you won't fall over anything."

I smiled and closed my eyes once again, remembering this kind of magic she loved to do. "Lead the way then."

She took me by the hand again, leading me to who knew where, my body obeying my direction, but my limbs moving of their own accord. It was a niche spell, but Maia had always been better than me at these kinds of spells. Mine were far more destructive and all encompassing, hers more technical and situational. Whenever we hunted, or, on the rare occasion, got into a scuffle with marauders or the Thorns, it worked well. We complimented one another. Her technicality, speed, and stealth, my strength, destructiveness, and brutality.

I stumbled through the forest, the sound of rushing water and the crunch of leaves and twigs beneath my feet the main sounds to accompany me on my blind wanderings in the void.

Minutes passed, the water finally beginning to leave my ears as It veered off in a different direction. The terrain started ascending slightly vertically. The subtle smell of burning wood made itself known, with a tinge of something else - my favourite something else. An ambrosia mix of muskmallow, bergamot, and amber; its rich smell wafting into my nostrils alongside that of the wood.

Maia had always made a mixture of candles, incense, and perfumes herself, either sourcing them from the town miles away, or from this very forest. However, the candles and incense that utilised these primary ingredients would only be burned in one place, and one place alone; our bedroom.

The smell alone told me everything I needed to know about what she had planned, and it sent fresh, salacious-laced vigour into my ever growing horniness. She was stripping my libido bare, pushing all of the correct buttons, and It made me want to act on it right here and now. It took everything to not do just that.

I must have stopped briefly, or pulled a certain face, because Maia laughed only moments after the smell made itself apparent.

"You can open them now."

I grinned, savouring the unknown for a moment, and then opened my eyes.

I didn't know how to react at first - whether I should moan slightly, or look around in awe. In the end, I did both, my cock lurching as I looked over what Maia had secretly built.

Before me was a haven, at least that's the only word I could currently think to call it. It was an alluring home away from home, of wood and light and fire. Intricately woven branches and sticks wrapped around a tree to the left, coiling around it like a serpent. It went all the way up to the top of the forest canopy, perhaps twenty to thirty or so feet into the air. Shining crystals were placed periodically on large posts that jutted out from the staircase, illuminating it in a pale blue starlight that mimicked the diamond stars that could be seen through the sparse verdant leaves. At its apex sat a small wooden terrace, for what purpose, I didn't yet know.

To the right was a small patio, also made out of wood, with table and chairs. Candles were lit, plates set up, and a whole manner of food adorned the table, all of a similar, interwoven, helix-like structure that, even with the use of magic, was no small feat. A small fence sat behind them, overlooking what looked to be a large clearing in the woods where the terrain suddenly shifted downhill once again, and fairly sharply.

But it's what sat at the centre that really caught my eye.

Four long, wooden logs lay, their tops cut into to act as steps, before leading up to a large wooden terrace-like platform area. Two large, carved wooden pillars guarded the steps, with the same glowing white crystals that could be found on the staircase, on several surrounding trees, along with several bouquets of them hanging from branches here and there. These steps and pillars sat just ahead of the most impressive feature of whatever this place was meant to be; a carved, wooden bed, complete with a large, salacious onyx mattress, with duvet to match. The carvings on the front section matched the weaving aesthetic on play here, but were set into a thick, wooden facing that had been sanded down, treated, and etched into.

I was speechless. And so very turned on.

"Do you like it?" She asked, biting her lip as she judged my reaction, watching for any twitch of a face muscle or secret truth to be gleaned from my eye movements, "I mean, the staircase could have done with more work, and I could have maybe added -"

I didn't let her finish. I took her face in my hands and kissed her.

We stood there, kissing for a time, her intoxicating perfume alone making me groan slightly, taking my everything to not pick her up and take her to the bed without another word.

"I love you, Maia." I said, breaking from the kiss, still holding her golden face in my hands. "You really did all of this, for me?".

"Oh, this? For you? No, I'm moving out of course. This is my home now," she said, her eyes twinkling as she stared up at me.

"You're funny." I said, eyes darting from one of hers to the other, their blue hidden in the darkness, but, as I moved my hands down to her waist and slowly moved with her into the light of the - treehouse? Forest floor house...thing? whatever you'd call this woodland getaway - she quickly became illuminated, and broke down my resolve even more.

I asked her, "So, this is what you've been spending your time doing in here, then? Making this place?"

Maia shrugged. "And other things. Ever since I found a small grove with all of the berries and shrooms we could ever want, I found myself with time to kill. I wanted to do something special for you, you'll be three hundred soon, after all."

Fuck, three hundred? I thought, staring past her momentarily at nothing in particular. Three hundred. How? Where had the time gone...

Sensing my sudden disconnect, Maia took my face in her hands again, refocusing my gaze to her eyes instead of nothingness.

Home again.

"Happy three centuries, you old bastard. Now, we can either stuff our faces, or -"

"I can stuff you," I quickly interjected, kissing her cheek.

"Not how I would have put it, but - gods, you can be stealthy sometimes too I see...", she gasped. I had quickly moved on to her neck, deciding for us where I wanted this to go. "Eager man."

"I had to watch that ass most of the way here," I said, feeding on her neck even more, a chorus of whimpers and moans following every kiss as she held her hands around my head, "do you blame me?"

Maia shook her head, or at least tried to, given the circumstances.

I slid my arms down her body, feeling the outline of her bra on her back, its foreign design to me meaning it must have been new. All of her lingerie was handmade from the finest silk in all of the Vellyn empire, all almost as gorgeous and sexy as the woman they showed off. It was held tightly against her lean but muscular back, at least three different pieces of thick, layered silk, criss-crossing over one another like flat, silk serpents.