Mate.

I was not a fool. I had heard the word before. While humans of this realm married for things like convenience, money, stability, or, if they were lucky enough, love, the other creatures often married or paired up for life as well. During rare occurrences, mates were found.

It had sounded like a magical story to me once. Finding a person that only had eyes for you, that could only ever love you. Without them, you were nothing. But each fairytale had an untold version. It didn't matter if the personalities were incompatible, it didn't matter if the world was at war. Mates were drawn together, forced together, regardless of the universe around them. It seemed that mate bonds forgot that sometimes, it was easier to sever a relationship and move on than it was to rot.

But humans didn't have mates. It was unheard of, unfounded.

And my supposed mate was walking away from me, leaving me slack-jawed and dazed.

"Xion!" I shouted, my feet moving to chase him. I couldn't tell if my nose had frozen and gone numb or if I was in shock, but I felt like my body was filled with lead. "Xion, what the hell are you talking about?!"

He grinned at me over his shoulder, but didn't even slow his stride. "My, my, such language."

I felt like a mule trotting to keep up with him. Damn his long legs. "My father made sure that I was always able to express myself thoroughly."

When Xion let out a loud booming laugh, it seemed to shake the earth. And something low in my belly. "Smart man," he chuckled.

"You do realize that you are not making sense, right?" I demanded. I grabbed the skirt of my lavender gown in massive fistfuls as I raced after him. "There is no possible way that we are mates. It would go against the laws of nature and the laws of nature cannot be changed, even by a king!"

"The fact that you are not running away, screaming, says otherwise. Unless you have forgotten what I am already," he said. This time, when he flashed me a grin, it was to show off his teeth, incisors that seemed to have elongated all of the sudden as I was certain that they had not been so obvious before.

I stumbled a step. I had known in my mind that he was a part of the only species that humans truly considered predators. But seeing it was something entirely different.

Something shifted in his features when he noticed my motion, when he saw that I had paused, no matter how briefly it had felt. "Make no mistake, little dove. We don't have a habit of feeding from unwilling humans and we certainly don't kill humans for sport like your local paper might suggest. But, by all accounts, you are less frightened than most would be in your position."

"Maybe I'm just brave," I pointed out. "It is not a valid reason to claim that we are mates."

"That is not the reason," he said stiffly. "Your bl-- You call to me, Lark."

"Call to you? How on earth could I call to you? And even if I could, do you really think I would? You're a--"

So quickly, my brain could hardly register it, he stopped and spun around. Before I could even consider sidestepping away from him, his arm snapped out, wrapping around my waist and pulling me towards him. My hands released my skirts in favor of finding his chest for stability. I didn't know if I was preparing to push him away or pull him closer. My mind was consumed with nothing else but how close his lips were, how his eyes were half closed already, how I could feel his chest rise and fall with a sharp breath.

"Tell me, Lark, would you let any other man hold you like this? Would you let any vampire ever touch you like this?" he challenged. The words were harsh, but the delivery was a little too breathless to carry as much weight as it should have.

And I could only stare at him with my mouth open, eyes wide.

"Tell me," he repeated, his voice deepening. Was I going crazy or was he getting closer to me, leaning down farther?

"No," I admitted.

"Good. So, you understand then," he said, drawing back.

I hated that I immediately felt the cold vacancy of where his arm had been. "Understanding might be a stretch." The words were choked and more hoarse than I would have preferred them to be. "There has to be some definite way to prove this."

The tightness returned to his features. He looked so far from a carefree king now and much closer to a soldier about to embark on an awful mission. "There are certainly more ways to prove the strength of a mate bond, but I think we have seen a couple first hand already. Like you trying to kill me and being very unsuccessful."

My face flamed red, but he was already turning away from me, saying something about showing me the stables.

I wished I could have remembered something about the stables, anything really. Were the horses the same breed that was typically found here with their feathered hooves and sturdy builds for our harsh winters? How many people were on staff in the stable? Was there a schedule written anywhere? I didn't know. I didn't care. I was just staring blankly at Xion, at my mate, while he pointed out horses, stroking necks and smiling at steeds.

He returned me to my bedroom. Seraphina was already stationed outside my door, her eyes narrowing the second she spotted me.

"I trust that you had a pleasant enough day and that I have not overwhelmed you," Xion said when I stepped into my room, my back to him.

I said nothing, clenching my teeth so hard my jaw ached. The door was clicked shut behind me and I was left alone.

In the silence, I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, fighting tears that swept at me unexpectedly. Everything was wrong. Everything was terrible. And everything was so damn confusing. I was supposed to be marrying some man -- hardly more than a boy, really-- from my village. I should have been getting ready for my wedding. I should not be finding out that I'm mated to a vampire. To the king of vampires at that.

The breath trembled in my lungs. I wanted to sit on my bed cross-legged and have my sister braid my hair. I wanted to hear my mother softly singing to herself as she cooked stew in the kitchen. I wanted the horses and the dog and the farm that I knew as well as I knew myself. And most of all, I wanted my father. I wanted him to tell me what to do, to pat my shoulder and tell me that I was strong and that I would be alright. I didn't feel strong. I didn't think I would ever be alright again.

I did my best to calm down. I sucked in slow, long breaths, even when my body hiccupped and shuddered.

Three months. I just needed to last three months, then I could return back into the world I knew and bring tales of wonder and terror to the village I would always be apart of.

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What do you believe are the benefits of traveling?