The Elemental Sisters: Spirit

We were heading back to the castle when Ari walked over to me and grabbed my arm, "We need to talk." She demanded as she steered me away from the group, letting them go on ahead of us.

"Okay, what is wrong Ari?" I asked as I watched the group in front of us getting farther away.

"What is our plan exactly? We have to prove ourselves tomorrow and from what the other guards have told me, Taoen isn't trained at all with his abilities and is a bit of a loose cannon." "Good."

"What do you mean, good?" Ari screeched.

"It means he has no control over his abilities and if they are unpredictable, us being trained is an advantage."

"Yet he can control all the elements, so you won't know what he is going to use against you." Ari pointed out angrily.

"If all we have to do is prove ourselves to them, I don't think the fight will go that far, they just want us to demonstrate our abilities once we do that, they will call the fight off."

"Or maybe they will want to see who the winner would be, and it is really a fight to the death."

"We would not kill each other, and they know that. You really need to learn to trust people, Ari." I scolded her.

"I will trust people when they earn it and that king is big time suspicious, I don't trust him at all. He is up to something, and I don't think it matters how the battles go. They will find a way to convince the others that we are lying and that will be the end of us."

"I doubt Tyr would let that happen."

Ari snorted, "You accuse me of not trusting anyone, I think you are trusting too easily, he could be baiting you for a trap."

"You forget I control spirit Ari; I can read people's intentions and because of that, I find trusting others easy." "Lucky you." She bit out angrily.

"Don't worry about tomorrow, we have trained for years, and we are who we say we are, they will see that, and this will be straightened out, once we have their army on our side we can head out and ask our other allies for assistance as well. It will be fine." I assured her.

"We will see."

"So, what is between you and Frey, you seem smitten with him." I laughed, changing the subject.

"And that is all it ever will be, and you know why. I hate my abilities. I can't get close to anyone without hurting them and fighting my emotions all the time is not exactly in my nature."

"It's just like mother said once you learn to control your abilities, it will become second nature so you can be around others without hurting them."

"And as you've said, we have been training for years and I am no closer at doing that." She huffed.

"Maybe it is your element is going off your subconscious and you are unknowingly pushing people away because you're scared of the intimacy."

"Wow, thanks, doc. Any other insights for me?" she asked sarcastically as her hands lit up with flames.

"I am just trying to help."

"Well, don't. I didn't ask for it." She fumed as she stomped away.

I could understand why she was frustrated, but she also needed to understand that her two primary emotions, passion and anger, controlled her element, her personality was large amounts of both. My parents had worked hard to train her to control her ability, and I had the feeling that deep down she was scared of it and what could happen if she got too close to someone, so her outbursts of power were a shield she unconsciously did to push those who wanted to be close to her away.

I wish I could get through the shield she hid behind; she presented herself as this bubbly and flirty person, yet I knew it was her way of hiding her vulnerability.

"Well, Ari is in a mood." Ela pointed out as she appeared out of thin air.

"Where have you been?" I asked her.

"Around," she smiled, blushing.

"I bet. Where is Karm?"

"He is scouting the kingdom. Listening for gossip."

I sighed and followed behind; I looked around and realized I was completely alone, yet I could feel someone or something watching me. As I headed back towards the castle, I picked up my pace and did my best to act natural. Someone grabbed my arm, I swung around and punched the person in the chest, looking up, I saw Tyr smirking at me as I scowled.

"Asshole, you scared the shit out of me."

"You are too jumpy." Ela laughed.

"Sorry, your sisters returned, and you didn't, so I came to find you." He defended rubbing the spot where I had punched, "You're stronger than you look." He chuckled as I glowered at him.

"Serves you right for sneaking up on me." I told him, ignoring Ela's comment.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to spook you." He apologized as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and we walked back to the castle. Yet the sense of being watched didn't leave me, I glanced over my shoulder and noticed eyes in the tree line that seemed to move with us.

"Pretend you don't see them." Ela told me, looking in the same spot I was.

"Why who is there?" I asked her in my mind.

"Dark spirits are trapped there, and they are looking for a way out, you would be the perfect vessel. There is a goblin scout there as well."

"Okay, thank you Ela."

"I'm going to go see how Karm is doing." She replied, looking at Tyr. Is she purposely leaving me alone with him? Sneaky spirit.

Tyr, reading my thoughts, looked behind me as well, "We will pretend we don't see them; they have been watching for a while and I have my scouts out checking on matters. It is part of the reason I came back to find you." "Only part of the reason, huh?" I teased.

"Well, I also wanted time with you away from your sisters." He confessed.

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"You're a sneaky elf." I laughed as we entered the hidden entry to the castle.

"Maybe I am out of necessity."

"Why would it be necessary?"

"I am a Prince and sometimes the only way to get privacy is by being sneaky." Instead of heading to the courtyard that my room overlooked, he led me down a back pathway towards the outside wall, I followed as he came upon another door, taking out a key and opening it. Inside was a small, tidy apartment.

"Where are we?"

"This is where I come when I am avoiding my father and the guards at the castle."

"So, you have a secret apartment?" I asked, confused, thinking it wasn't very secret.

"Yeah, it is. Few people know or care about this place."

I nodded as I moved to sit at the small couch on the far wall. "So, you don't get along with your family, then?"

"That obvious?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he lit a fire in the fireplace.

"You are different from your father. I don't know you that well, but watching your interactions with him it is easy to see that."

"I'd have to agree my father hates me, and wants my brother to take the throne, it is why he keeps sending me on dangerous missions in hopes that I won't return." He shared as he sat down next to me, his jaw squared in anger, drawing my attention to the stubble that lined it. He looked tired.

"That's a little messed up, although our parents weren't perfect either." I whispered as I watched him, the flickering of the fire making his features more defined.

"What do you mean?"

"To them, we weren't their children but tools to be trained and utilized. They focused more on raising warriors, sure they cared about us in their own way, but a lot of the time we wished they would just hug us and be like the other parents we knew. I understand why they raised us the way they did. We have a role to play and with that comes a tremendous responsibility that is not to be taken lightly, but for one day it would be nice just to be like everyone else." "Being normal is overrated, Akasha and I happen to like you the way you are, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Tyr grabbed my waist and lifted me to his lap, the firelight making his deep emerald eyes flicker, his strong arms wrapped around me as I moved so I could see his face.

He frowned at me, "Something about you seems so familiar and yet I know we have never met."

"I feel the same way, like a distant memory I can't grasp."

He raised his hand and stroked my hair before resting his hand on the side of my face, as he leaned towards me and kissed me softly at first but growing more forceful as his mouth moved over mine, he bit my lip asking for invitation which I gave as his tongue met with mine and his hands wandered over my body making my core heat in anticipation, getting caught up in the moment I straddled him as his touches explored further my dress had ridden up to my thighs and his hands were hot on my skin, I could feel him harden beneath me as his hands trailed up my thighs, he pulled away from our kiss and kissed my neck to my shoulder, finding the hem of his shirt I pulled away from him to lift it over his head and threw it to the floor before my hands explored his body, the rigid muscles and scars that covered him to the ravens that lined his neck and the side of his head. I forced his face to mine so I could kiss him again as he gripped my waist and laid me down on the couch, catching me off guard when he pulled my top down and his hand cupped one of my breasts as he pinched my nipple making me moan into our kiss.

I heard knocking on the door, and I pushed Tyr away as he cursed and grabbed his shirt off the floor, pulling it over his head as I adjusted my dress, disappointed that we were interrupted.

"Are you now?" he asked with a smirk, and I glared at him as he opened the door.