Lycan's Affection
Danced With the Devil

Eleanor propped herself up on her elbows. The sun rays filtered in through the drapes that moved with the slow wind of past rain. Her eyes fell on Conaan.

He was lying on his side, curled up, his eyes closed, his breaths low. Last night had to be the longest night of her life, and she swallowed, leaning to him.

His eyes were swollen and reddened, his hair falling in front of his face. The letter was still clutched in his fingers. Her fingers slowly moved his hair away, then dropped to gently caress just under his eyes. They most definitely sting, and she wondered how to break it to him that Brandon's farewell rites would have to be done today.

She swallowed, leaning further into him as his eyes opened slowly. No words were said as she leaned to him, placing her hand on his forehead.

"Baby."

He did not reply, his gaze averting hers. She gave a small smile.

"Brandon would have hated seeing you this way."

He parted his lips, then slowly sat up. She could see just how weak he was, the way he had broken from inside, the way he had lost a part of him she knew they would both have to live with.

She moved closer to him, her hands cupping his face, bringing him close. She leaned close enough to leave a kiss, but was stopped midway as Conaan moved away, his eyes dropping.

She gave a small wistful smile, then raked her fingers through his hair.

"I will stay with you. Through this. And through worse. I promise that much. I will still feel the sane for you. Through this and through worse."

He said nothing, his hand coming up to hers. Gently, he removed them from his face, his eyes avoiding hers all through.

"Conaan..."

"I will prepare for the final rites," he said quietly, then got off the bed. Slowly, he walked away, leaving the dark scent of his sadness lingering in the room.

Eleanor swallowed hard, tears filling her eyes as she watched him leave. She knew it would take a bit of time for him to be back to the man he was, and maybe...maybe he never would. Maybe even if the blood on his body was the blood of the person who had done that to Brandon, maybe until everyone around him dies, maybe until someone paid.

She swallowed, blinking back the tears. She got off the bed, then walked away, her feet tapping slowly as she walked to the bath house.

She opened the door, then peeped in. Conaan was not in the water, but was sitting, his legs crossed under him, his face buried in his hands.

She swallowed. She could go in there, comfort him, but he obviously needed his time alone. Saying nothing, she pulled away, then closed the door, her chest heaving with tears of her own.

Back in Jamie and Jenna's home, Jamie was tied up close to the only couch in the sitting room, while Jenna sat next to him, her head low.

"I do understand from your conversation that Brandon...died because of you." Shadow thinned his eyes at Jenna, his fingers still wielding the dagger. "What is the connection?"

Jamie swallowed, shaking his head at her. Shadow caught the movement, then gave a small smile.

"I might have forgotten to mention that I am His Majesty's shadow." He raised a brow, then flung the dagger across the room. It pulled off a bit of Jamie's hair, then stopped, embedded in the wall right above his head.

"I seem to be lacking in his skills, however. He will not miss if you let me take you both to him for questioning. On His Highness's bad side would be the worst place for anyone to be right now. There is no mercy. No..."

"I am the priestess."

Shadow turned to Jenna, who had stopped crying, a dark determination settling in her eyes.

"A priestess?"

"I am Meredith's heir."

Shadow nodded. "Your place is not here."

"That is His Majesty's fault!" She yelled, standing. "He should have found me! He should have found me weeks ago!"

Shadow's brows furrowed. "Calm down, Woman. And explain."

Jenna's lips quivered, and she swallowed hard. "I...I was born on a dark night of prophecy. I had two on my palm. For the most of my life, however, no one told me about them. I am not sure..."

"Mother believed you would grow into them, and she did not want you to live as a priestess. You can not get married or be touched by a man, you can't have children, you can't..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "We did everything to keep her away from what we knew were taboo for priestesses. She was sheltered. Always, I swear it. But a few weeks ago, she told me...that she had a strange dream. She had the king's heart in her hands. We thought it was time for her to be found."

Shadow let it sink, then sighed. "But?"

"But she fell in love with a wolf. He was found injured here and we nursed him to health. They felt something between them. I tried to keep him away while still keeping her secret. But Jenna..."

Jenna swallowed. "I loved him. And I admit, I did...I did the unthinkable. He did not know. I swear, he did not."

Shadow turned to Jamie. "Talk."

Jamie swallowed. "She kissed him. She broke her innocence. She stained the purity of the veils between this Kingdom and the afterworld. It had to be cleansed."

"So why Brandon?"

Jenna closed her eyes, slightly shivering. "If not him...then it could have been His Highness."

Shadow turned to her. "What?"

"It was His Majesty's fault he did not replace me!"

"And you had someone else pay for your dirty desires?!"

"I could not help it! The moon goddess chose him! I know he would have known about it days ago! If he had not died, the king would have. Or the Queen. It is more or less a waking call to His Majesty."

Shadow swallowed, his hand going to his hair. "You are one despicable witch. Sacrificing a life for a kiss."

She swallowed, lightly trembling, her eyes trained on her feet. "I..."

"I do not care. You are Meredith's heir. And I myself will drag you to His Majesty's feet once the week of mourning ends. Your brother will stay that way, without food or water, till I get you to His Majesty."

"How can you do that to us?" Jenna asked, standing, her tears running down and dropping at her feet.

"You had a choice too, woman. And you chose to kill His Majesty's best friend. You say it could have been His Majesty like killing Brandon is not pretty much the same thing."

Jenna swallowed and fell back, her chest heaving slightly, her body trembling. It had all been a mistake, a curiosity Eric had brought to life the very moment he had come to that house. And she had given in.

She had....in the end, danced with the devil.