part of part six

“I would like to get to know you better,” Pirnic told me. he was smiling at me, small fangs peeking out of the corners of his mouth.
“And I you,” I said, thinking that this was the best answer. It was true, in a way. I wanted to get to know him as my real self, phoenix, and not Marsin. This made Pirnic smile more.
“I will take you for a walk after breakfast. But I don’t want to bring your friends along,” he told me. I nodded.
“I can arrange that with them,” I promised. We finished eating, making light conversation.
When we were finished, Pirnic looked at me, waiting for the walk I had promised him. “Let me go tell them where I am going,” I said. he nodded.
I went over to Myrie and Fragen. “Pirnic wants to go walking with me,” I informed them.
“Yes, yes, that sounds good. Let me go get my things…” Myrie began.
“Just me. He said he didn’t want you two along. To be honest, I think he may be attracted to me. This could be helpful,” I said, whispering this last part. Myrie seemed upset, then she thought it over.
“Hmm… we could use that to our advantage,” she concluded. She nodded in parting, then followed Fragen out of the building.
“let us go,” I said to Pirnic. He offered me his arm, which I took.
“There will be no need to follow us,” he told his guards. But one shook his head.
“I am sorry, Pirnic, sir, but we have to follow you. If anything were to happen…” the guard stopped but looked at me. Pirnic growled, but didn’t insist on the guards staying.

We headed out of the village and into the forest. We followed a path. Because of the delicate flowers, cleverly place plants, and the overall neatness of the place it seemed as if we were walking through a garden. I asked Pirnic about it. Chuckling, he replied, “It is nature’s garden. We haven’t done anything in this place. The forest is more organized than most think. It has ways of keeping itself neat and orderly.” I nodded at the information, hoping that the part where Myrie had destroyed would be able to fix itself.
“Listen, Marsin,” Pirnic started, “I… well, frankly, I really like you. You are the most beautiful Tershian I have ever met.” He stopped and looked embarrassed.
“Pirnic, I think you are great too,” I said encouragingly. He smiled.
“You are more than great.” After this, we fell into a comfortable silence. I hadn’t lied when I said I though Pirnic was great. He was. I liked him, but I didn’t want to get to close to him. I would only hurt him and I knew this. I felt horrible for the rest of the walk.

“Did he say anything?” Myrie asked eagerly when I got back. She and Fragen had been waiting in our house.
“Well, he said I was great and that he liked me very much. He also said I was the most beautiful Tershian he had ever met.” Myrie looked slightly put out.
“Nothing about the Stone, then?” she asked.
“No, nothing,” I answered. I sat down by Fragen. “Want to play some checkers?”
“Sure,” he answered, making the board and pieces.
We played until evening, when we were summoned to Pirnic’s table again.
“Hello, Myrie, Fragen,” said Pirnic when we arrived. “And welcome, Marsin. Come sit by me.” Myrie and Fragen were seated at the same places they had been earlier.
“I enjoyed our walk this morning,” Pirnic told me.
“I did too,” I said. Myrie looked at me, silently telling me to hurry it up.
“Would you like to go on another walk tonight?”
“I would very much,” I said. Pirnic smiled, but I continued to talk. “But I am very tired. Perhaps we could go on another walk tomorrow?”
“Okay,” he answered, “that would be wonderful.” But I could tell that he had intended for us to have a very special walk and that he wasn’t happy about delaying it. Thankfully, he cared about me enough that he wanted to make me happy.

That night, Myrie didn’t talk to me much. The only thing she said was, “Why didn’t you go on the walk with him? Couldn’t you tell he obviously wanted to give you the Stone?”
“I am very tired,” I said, frowning at her. “And I am not sure if I want this Stone. I like Pirnic and I don’t want to betray him like that. Do you have any idea how much that would hurt him?” Myrie waved this away.
“He doesn’t matter in the long run. We need to get the Stones before the new year! The fate of the world depends on it.” This was the horrible truth. We needed pirnic’s Stone. It was a crucial part in the plan. I went to bed unhappy, and woke up unhappy also.

Strangely, we weren’t invited to eat with Pirnic the next morning. I thought this for the better, as it postponed the walk I was to have with him. “I wonder why he didn’t want to eat with us?” Fragen wondered aloud.
“I haven’t a clue,” I said, and made us all breakfast. We ate in silence, thinking of the possible reasons we hadn’t been summoned to breakfast. I concluded that Pirnic was angry because I hadn’t gone on a walk with him the night before.
Suddenly, a knock on the door made us all jump. I opened it to find one of pirnic’s guards. “Yes?” I said.
“Pirnic would like to speak with you, Marsin,” the guard told me. I glanced at Myrie. She nodded. I followed the guard out of the house and to the large building.
Pirnic waited for us on the steps leading to the door, which was closed. I hadn’t seen the door closed before, which was surprising. It had faded images carved into it, stories and legends that the makers thought important. But I didn’t focus on the door long. Pirnic was the thing that surprised me most.
He was clothed in a robe of the richest fabric, velvet the color of currants. A golden crown lay on his head and more jewelry adorned his fingers and arms. He was standing tall, and he looked more like a king than anyone else I had ever seen. Before I could ask why he was dressed so, he knelt in front of me. I looked down at him, my eyes wide.
“Marsin, I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else in my entire life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” as he said this, he pulled something from under his robe. It was the Stone, but he had turned it into a ring.
“Yes, yes I will,” I said shakily, hardly able to breathe. Pirnic took my breathlessness as delight and slipped the ring onto my finger, beaming.
“Then we will marry tomorrow,” he declared, speaking loudly. I looked behind me and found that most of the village had gathered to witness this. It explained why we hadn’t been invited to breakfast. Then, Pirnic grabbed me and kissed me on the lips.
He released me and I smiled, trying not to be sick. Pirnic saw that I wasn’t feeling well and gently led me back to the house where Myrie and Fragen were waiting. I stumbled inside and sat down.
“I am sorry, but I have some things to attend to. Today will have to be spent in preparation for tomorrow,” Pirnic said, smiling at me. he then left, robes swirling. Fragen was confused, but Myrie had seen the Stone on my finger and understood.
“I see he gave it to you,” she said, nodding at the Stone. Still in a state of shock, I nodded. “And I suppose he also proposed?” I nodded again, and Fragen gasped as realization dawned. “Well, that settles it. We have to leave tonight, before he can marry you. Marriage is magically binding, and a person cant ever back out of a magical bond. You would be stuck here forever, living as a tershian.” Myrie said this like it was a horrible curse.
“You know, being a tershian is rather nice,” I told her, finding my voice again. She looked at me, surprised. But she said nothing and merely began to look around the house for anything of value. I informed her that I would turn her in if she attempted to steal anything from them.
“Well, fine then,” Myrie said. “Anyways, we must plan our escape. Phoenix, I would bet that they will guard you tonight, to keep you safe. You still have that ring that Hatniel gave you? Good. Use it to hide from your guards – and other Tershians also – tonight. this will let you to slip past your guard. Meet Fragen and I on the path leading to the clearing, and we will leave.” I nodded, showing that I had understood the plan.

The rest of the day I spent being measured for a wedding dress, greeting villagers (all of whom seemed eager to meet their new queen), and making plans. I acted as excited as I could. Luckily, no one noticed how I seemed wilting behind my smile. Pirnic was so happy, which only made my position worse. I couldn’t stand hurting someone that I liked so much. Sure, I wasn’t in love with Pirnic, but I did like him. I wished I could consider him a friend, but I knew that this was wrong. Friends didn’t break other friends’ hearts.
Not a moment to soon, night came. Just as Myrie had expected, I was going to be guarded that night. Unexpectedly, I was to sleep in a chamber of Pirnic’s house. It was far away from his chamber, which made things better.
That night, everyone stayed up late, partying. It seemed like the Tershians partied before and after weddings. I noticed that Fragen and Myrie hadn’t showed up for the party. They were probably preparing for when we would leave. Before the party was over, I found Pirnic and whispered, “I am getting very tired. Would you mind if I went ahead and slept?”
“No, not at all, Marsin. I only want for you to be happy,” Pirnic said, hugging me. his words only increased my guilt. I hugged him back, tightly, and left.
I pretended to fall asleep. When my guards had settled in, I shifted to human form. Not sure that the ring would work, I willed it to not let me be seen by any Tershian. I then arranged my bed so that it would look like someone was sleeping there. Before I left, I took of my ring and tucked it into the bed. I hoped that they would find it and give it to Pirnic. I wouldn’t need it; I could make myself invisible.
I quickly did an invisibility spell and slipped through the wall. I had decided that this would be the easiest way to get out. I then made my way to the place where we had arranged to meet. I quickly found Fragen and Myrie. I positioned myself behind them and made myself visible, quickly clamping my hands around their mouths so that they would not scream.