19

Word Count: 2095

~Onyx

Sienna has her knees tucked up to her chest, a vacant look in her eye.

She's spooked. I can't blame her. I've come across Deceivers a few times in my life and it's always a horrific experience. They either torment, haunt, or seduce.

It seems Sienna fell victim to the latter.

I must admit, my heart faltered when I first appeared from the woods. She was passionately kissing another man whose face I couldn't see.

However, the moment that man plunged her head into the water, I knew it to be a witch.

"It got you pretty good, huh?" I dip my fork into the piece of cake she offered me. She went to all this effort, and now half the food is ruined from the cold, and what is salvageable is slightly squished from being brought back to the barn.

Despite being wet under that blanket, she insists she doesn't want to go back to the house. She wants to celebrate properly, so the barn will have to do. I've given her my sweater so she's more comfortable.

"Yeah. It would have killed me if you didn't come." She shudders.

"Who were you imagining?" I can't get it out of my head. Who could possibly have gotten her into such a state so quickly? I arrived early, wanting to make sure she was okay. The deceiver worked expertly fast.

"Huh?"

"Deceiver's tap into one's mind and see who you truly desire. They only use someone who could actually seduce you," I remind her. "Clearly it worked."

She looks down at her fingers which knot tightly together, her cheeks tinting pink.

"Uh, it was Kayn, obviously."

I clear my throat. "Obviously..."

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if it could be me. That's such a foolish, delusional thought, yet it settles into the depths of my mind regardless.

I had no idea she felt so strongly about Kayn...

"This food is amazing. Diane make it?" I ask, swiftly changing the subject.

"All of it, although I decorated the cake." She sighs at the dismal state of it now. "I told her exactly how to make the cheesecake too, just how you like it. Plain and traditional with fruit."

My skin warms. "You know everything I like."

"How about the rest of your presents." Her smile grows as she digs into her bag.

"This bracelet is more than enough," I excuse.

What is more than enough is her just being with me, spending the night with me.

"Shut up." She giggles, pulling out a present, laying it in my hands. "Here."

I gently tear into the paper, revealing a book. Not just any book, however. The cover is a deep velvety purple, the foiling of the title gold.

"My favourite book," I whisper, not recognising this cover at all. "I have every edition..."

"I rebound it myself. Open it." She chews on her nails, watching my reaction.

I open the front page, breathless.

In the margins are little handwritten notes. I would recognise her writing style anywhere. She's even underlined certain sentences and drawn little faces. As I flip through the pages, I realise not a single page has gone without her personal narration.

"Wow." I can't believe what I'm looking at. "I thought books bored the fuck out of you?"

"They do. This one was no exception, although I thought you would appreciate my un-asked for opinion." She sounds a little apprehensive, vulnerable.

Aside from the bracelet, this is officially my most prized possession.

Sienna isn't very interested in reading and has brushed off my attempts to pester her into reading what I deem to be the best book of all time.

Knowing how much I love it, she read it all and took extra care to do so well enough to give her thoughts. No one has ever given me such a meaningful gift.

"I quite like the remark of calling the main character insufferable," I laugh, pointing to one of her many notes.

She hikes her knees up to her chest, grinning. "It's true. He makes all the wrong decisions."

I tap my chin. "But in another way, he's making the right decisions."

She groans, bumping her head back against the hay bale.

"This proves my point. Books suck."

"I do appreciate it. This is the perfect gift." I press it against my chest. No one will so much as look at this book again, let alone touch it. This is for my enjoyment only.

Sienna pulls out another present, handing it to me.

"Also this." She's back to sounding nervous again. "Open it."

I take my time peeling back the wrapping, revealing another box. Opening the lid, I see a set of cards that has the air vacating my lungs.

"Fuck, these are amazing," I whisper, pulling them out into my hands.

"Vera, one of the garden tenders had these. The moment I saw those edges I begged her for them. I'm still paying her off in favours and Diane's stuffed garlic knots." She rolls her eyes before pointing to the surface of one of the cards I'm inspecting. "And obviously those are my drawings."

"I know," I breathe. I know Sienna's art style intimately.

Every card has a different illustration on it. Some are plants, some are flowers, and others are patterns. There are even some portraits on here. The one of my mother makes my heart especially warm.

"Do you like it?" She asks tentatively, her eyes large and round, awaiting my approval.

For a moment I'm silent, watching her quietly. I can't put into words how much I appreciate these gifts, how much they mean to me.

Sienna is unbelievably special.

"These are perfect. I can't wait to win multiple games against you with these," I taunt, tilting my head as she snorts dismissively.

"Unfortunately no amount of money could buy you any talent in cards," she responds, biting back a smirk.

I sigh, taking the time to examine each individual drawing. This must have taken her months to do. Each one is so detailed it's breath-taking.

"You're so talented, Sienna." I can't help the way my thoughts spill past my lips. "You shouldn't be here."

"What?" The hurt in her voice is unmistakable.

I screw my face up, realising how cruel that sounds. "I mean, you're too good for this place. You should be painting and drawing your way across the world, not stuck here as my mistress."

"Being your mistress got me an ungraded room, wardrobe, and two sexy guards who check up on me occasionally. I see nothing but perks."

Her wry smile makes me feel a little better, but my guilt isn't going to be so easily swept away.

"You'd tell me if you were dissatisfied, right?"

She nods, although something uncertain plays in her eyes.

"There's so much for me here. I can paint and draw here just fine," she says lightly, cutting a piece of cheesecake for herself.

I rest back against the hay bale. "Good."

I'm not entirely sure if I believe her, but I want to so badly. Her being my mistress isn't her dream job, and I wish I could compensate her more than I currently am.

At this point, I'm almost ready to offer her orgasms in exchange for what she is sacrificing. At least then she would be more like a real mistress.

"Have you met Willow yet?" She asks, licking her spoon.

"I did today. She's nice." The latest girl my mother has brought in that I may end up marrying one day came in absolutely terrified. She clearly heard about what happened and fears she's next.

She seems like she will fit in here very well, though.

"Nice?"

"We don't have much in common, but she's surprisingly easy to talk to," I admit, trying to give her an inch. She's invested in this process and I'm too often turning her down.

Part of me wonders if she ever feels jealous, like I do with her and Kayn.

"So she's in the running?"

"I don't know," I sigh. She raises a brow. "Don't give me that look."

"You have to make a decision," she insists.

"I know, okay? It's just...this is a life-altering decision to make." I rest my head in my hands. "No one feels right."

I'm not even sure what right is supposed to feel like anymore. Half of these girls seem like the perfect candidate, yet I'm always finding fault in them.

At this point, I'm ready to admit that I'm the problem.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be pressuring you. Honestly, I like having Alex and Kayn here, so I have no room to complain," she says flippantly, concentrating on her cheesecake again.

I watch her, the way she bites down on her soft bottom lip, the way she licks her spoon after each bite.

My chest aches. It fucking hurts.

"This could be so much easier," I murmur.

"How?" She pops a berry into her mouth.

I hold her gaze. "I could marry you."

She chokes suddenly, holding her throat as she coughs. I watch, amused as she takes a long drink of water, fanning her face.

"Marry me?" she squeaks.

"We are basically the same person, and we know each other well. You would be a good Luna, and I like having you around," I muse calmly.

"First of all-"

I hold my hand up, anticipating her excuse. "I know, you're not from a Noble background..."

I personally don't give a shit about her blood relatives. She would be the perfect fit as my wife. Fuck tradition.

"Actually, I was going to say that I would be expected to give you heirs. That means we would have to have sex." She sounds flustered, avoiding my gaze.

I can imagine far worse things then fucking Sienna. Actually, I can't think of anything better. I wouldn't have any reservations about partaking in the act for more reasons than just producing heirs.

"It's just sex."

"Not for me!"

I sigh through my nose. Of course not. The first time I were to have my way with Sienna would be a religious experience. It would not be flippant and hurried and meaningless as all other sex has been for me.

"It's not happening anyways. Don't get too hung up on the details," I remind her smoothly.

"Not to mention we aren't mates." She shoves more cheesecake into her mouth to console herself.

We are. We must be.

"You don't know that." I look down at my hands.

"It's unlikely."

"Not impossible," I say softly. "We are still young, and the bond could be still in development."

I want her to be my mate. There is no one else who could be. Yet the thought is terrifying. If the bond does snap into place, there's nothing I can do to change the fact that I have to marry someone else.

"For us to be mates, we would need to be sexually attracted to each other, and we aren't!" She insists, her face bright red.

My eyes narrow slightly.

Whether she wants to admit it or not, there's a part of her that is attracted to me. I notice it in the way she reacts when I get close, at the sharp inhales of breath, at the warming of her face.

One day something is going to give and we are going to come together in a way neither of us can come back from.

"Right," I say blandly.

"You're going to find the perfect girl eventually." She picks a piece of hay off herself. "I get the feeling Alex is a catch."

"Shh, I want to enjoy the last moments of my birthday in peace," I say.

I don't want to think about those other girls. I just want to think of her, at how beautiful she looks as she still dries off from the lake, wearing my clothing that swallows her whole.

"Fine. Grumpy." A smile plays on her lips.

I grab the pack of cards she gifted me, shuffling them gently.

"One more game?"

She grins, picking up the hand I deal out to her. "We are going to have to resolve this tie somehow."

❤️••❤️

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~Midika 💜🐼