Page 8 of Of Realms and Chaos

“Who are you?” I asked after a moment of hesitation.

The being allowed its gaze to roam down my body, leisurely taking me in. I followed the action, tilting my head down and noting the black slip dress I was wearing. Where had I gotten this? If the creature had dressed me, I would—well, I guess I did not know what I would do. Though it was so very beyond what I normally would have felt, I recognized the resignation slowly building inside of me. The acceptance.

My eyes flew up, squinting at the creature. Once again, I observed how the being in front of me acted as if there was a battle raging within it that it struggled to win. The creature’s hand abruptly fell back to its side, thick muscles tensing.

Its clothes were different too. This time, rather than whimsical yet horrifying black robes, the creature wore a plain tunic with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow and tight-fitting trousers. Boots remained unlaced on its feet, a bow strapped to its back. All black.

“My name is Padon,” it said. “He, Asher, not it.”

“Sorry,” I offered, my brow pinched in confusion. “How do you know my name? And how can you hear my thoughts?”

“I first sensed you not long after your magic manifested, around five years following your birth, but I have been waiting for you for many millennia. Finding you on your wretched world isn’t quite as easy as merely sensing you, it seems.”

Well that was interesting. But before I could ask a new question, he pressed on.

“I’m privy to your thoughts because, while this is not your mind, it is mine. Now, I do apologize for my haste, but there are important things for us to discuss, and little time to do so.”

I nodded, complacent and agreeable and so contrary to how I normally was. Padon chuckled, the sound reverberating in my bones, in my very soul. Without thought, I joined in, my laugh echoing across the space that was both empty and full.

His eyes lit up at my enthusiasm, and then he was against me, our breathing uneven, working in opposition to one another. So different to how in sync Bellamy and I always were.

“Don’t think of him. Not when you’re with me,” he growled. His irises seemed to fade to black, the white hidden behind shadows.

I froze, eyes wide as fear fought its way to me through the sludge of tranquility. But, for some reason that I could not understand, my body and mind refused the emotion. As if nothing but curiosity could hold me.

“I apologize, my love. I have a bit of a temper to me, but for you, I’ll work on it.”

Padon leaned down, brushing a piece of my hair behind my ear and stroking the ruined tip. He was tall, similar in height to Henry and maybe two inches taller than B—another male I knew.

“Good. That was so good, Asher. You learn quickly.”

His finger met the underside of my chin, skin cold as ice, and my head was tilted up until our eyes met. The breath whooshed out of me as if I had been hit in the stomach. I knew him. Somehow.

Had he visited me before that night near the Forest of Tragedies?

Padon smiled, those too-white teeth flashing quickly before he leaned in. I thought he might kiss me, but it was as if my body could not move to get away. There was no dodging the affection, no running from the creature before me.

Cold lips met the skin above my brow, and I felt myself relax. Whether it was due to the fact that I was not being forcibly kissed or the ease and comfort his presence brought me, I was not sure. The latter was what finally brought a modicum of fear into my being, though it was gone as quickly as it came.

“You say love as if you did not warn me against allowing others into my heart mere months ago,” I said, the trepidation leaving me in favor of amusement. Something was wrong, horribly so. Yet those feelings of terror and distrust that had guided me since leaving The Capital seemed just out of reach.

“Well, honestly, the goal was to get you away from the princeling. You deserve more than him. I’m no mere prince, though. I’m an emperor, a god in comparison to beings like him. You were born to be even more—to rule over worlds and creatures of all kinds. To bring them all to their knees. You were born to be mine,” he said, his voice full of eagerness.

When I looked up, I could not help the words that left my mouth. “Why does everyone seem to think I am theirs? I am no one’s but my own,” I growled, my anger at long last finding me.

There I was.

I pushed away, putting space between us. My body nearly crumpled against the onslaught of emotions, of autonomy, that filled me. The space around me shuddered, fading slightly, and a weight could be felt pressing down on my stomach, not heavily, but enough for me to notice. As if I were being held.

My power came back to me, slowly at first, then all at once. I could sense Padon there, his confusion and love and obsession, as images of me filled his mind. Not the space that we stood in, but his actual mind—where his thoughts swirled with me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.

Padon let out a heavy sigh then, like a youngling who had their toy taken away for misbehaving.

“It seems we have run out of time, but you’ll understand soon. I promise, my love. One day, not long from now, this will all make sense.” Padon faded to nothing in front of my eyes as he finished speaking.

He appeared out of thin air once more, directly in front of me—our lips grazing ever so faintly. It was a shock to my system, the way he felt against me. He tasted of death, of life, of the universe itself—so cold he burned. Before I could push away again, Padon was gone, and for a moment, I was there alone, witnessing his vision for the future play out in front of my eyes.

An image of him and me, eternally mated. We sat atop ashen thrones, each of us wearing crowns of silver that looked sharp enough to cut flesh. In front of us, thousands upon thousands of fae-like creatures bowed.

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