By My Side ... (A Valentine's Day Story) by Christine Blackthorn Page B

well-known coat settling in
place over her mind. Elena realised that the sense of perpetual
watchfulness, which was an integral part of her life, had been
missing over the last few days. On the road, all her attention had
been concentrated on simply holding on, all worries, even the need
to pre-empt threats, had been discarded in the peculiar trust that
to keep her safe, to keep them all safe, was Reschkar's
responsibility, nor hers. But they were not on the road anymore and
now he was the largest threat in her life. Elena saw that self same
realisation in his eyes.
    "Get up."
    His voice was still as melodic
and deep as it had been on that first night. She could have
luxuriated in the sound, the tone. Before, she would never have
thought a voice such as this would belong to an orc, now she could
not imagine him with another. It reached into her mind, stroked
over her senses, turned her knees into jelly and made her want to
please him.
    She hated that voice, hated it
because it was deceptive and so hard to resist. When she scrambled
from underneath the pelts her movements were stiff and careful, her
own body feeling ungainly, as if made of matchsticks. Her mind
reached for her usual detachment, the distance she had learnt to
wrap around herself when life among the courts became too
confusing, too difficult to bear. The disassociation technique
escaped her and she was left facing reality without her familiar
escape route.
    Elena felt his eyes cataloguing
each of her movements, not even the smallest change in her body
escaping his notice. It seemed to be how he approached everything,
his eyes taking note of the smallest change, his brain rearranging
the world with the new information every second. It was like
watching a normal human's, or supernatural's brain, in extreme --
and knowing that there was nothing you could hide from him.
    "Can you smell my
emotions?"
    The question was out before she
had considered the implications of asking it. He frowned at her,
not in anger but as if he had to think about the answer. When he
spoke there was hesitation in his voice.
    "Yes, but by that time your
body has already told me what I need to know."
    The hesitation was not of
someone trying to hide the truth, just someone taking a question
serious enough to give it due consideration. Another characteristic
of everything in this man, this deliberate air surrounding all his
actions. That intent deliberation was one of the most overwhelming,
and frightening, aspects of this being. Nothing escaped him,
nothing was random, all a part of a strategic plan she had no way
to understand. Coupled with his answer, the fact that he saw and
smelled her emotions, it was devastating -- and gave her faith in
the future.
    When all was said and done, was
there a chance, even a small one, he would manage to bond her where
all others had failed? It was hard not to let that little flower of
hope grow, not to contemplate a future in which she could live as
an ErGer, not just a burden. He appeared near omnipotent to her in
that moment, it seemed almost impossible to consider his failure at
anything he set his mind to -- even a bonding everyone else had
long since abandoned. It was a dream, a fantasy. Her lips stretched
in a tentative smile, one which died fast. He was an orc, a being
who was bred for physical power, their race kept weak and
vulnerable when it came to mental control. How could this physical
being succeed where those with unparalleled mental powers had
failed?
    Reality was such an ugly
animal. There would not be a dream. No, he would try to bond her
until Valentine's day, three weeks hence, and then, if not this
year then the next or the one after, give up and take the solace
her blood could give. In the beginning, a few drops in their food
would be enough to give his court the same benefits as a bond to
her would -- but it would not last. Soon they would need a few
sips, then a cupful. Her blood, as any ErGer's was addictive, but
if he was careful,