The Page of Swords (Reversed)

Waking up from what was originally a pleasant slumber, S- rolled over and buried his face into his pillow. Mentally cursing the interruption of what was going to be THE night that he finally let J- know how he felt about her all of these years. Turning on his side, he mulled over everything that had happened before they were both ripped away from Dreamtime. He smiled at how his love had finally tapped into her true power and was finally ready to open up to him in every way imaginable. The pleasant thoughts flowed through his mind relaxing him from the tense, irritated state he originally woke up in, until she walked into the room. He didn't even have to turn around. His heightened senses alerted him to her approaching presence long before she entered. The hair on the back of his neck bristled as her voice carried over to him from the doorway.

"Hun, don't forget that we have that thing with my mother today. Oh! And can we bring the dog? I know she is a pain...all that money on training, and it did absolutely nothing...but, I think she will enjoy her first Other-world experience. Do we have a harness for her, because I really don't think..."

S- gradually tuned out her too shrill voice. After 9 years of listening to it on a daily basis, he had finally had enough. He got up out of the bed, pulled on some boxers, excused himself and went down stairs leaving her, mouth agape at how he had basically dismissed her and what she obviously believed was important enough to disturb him that early in the morning. Jumping over the banister on the last set of stairs and landing perfectly on the marble floor without the slightest sound, he walked back towards the kitchen. Running his hand through his hair, he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the counter closest to the fridge.

He hopped up on the counter, letting his legs swing just a couple of inches above the floor while tossing the apple around in his hands. The apple...the fruit of knowledge, and also the fruit that caused the fall of one woman and one man that affected the rest of humanity. "Human myths are so odd," he thought. He looked at this simple fruit and was immediately taken to the scene of his best friend, the woman he truly wanted in his life, underneath him in her full glory glowing with the power and blessings of the Goddess, with ink black snakes wrapping the length of her body. The very image of it made him groan with longing. "Gotta shake it off," he said to himself.

"Gotta shake what off?"

S- froze feeling anger boiling up in him. "Damn," was the only word that crossed his mind before quickly pulling himself together and lowering himself to the floor. He opened the fridge door pretending to look for something to drink. His life mate, his wife (just the thought of the word made him grasp the door handle a little too hard) was overly connected to him psychically. Being half Fae or, fairy, gave his wife an advantage after they were bound together in matrimony, but he saw it as nothing more than a nuisance. Caelan was a half-born. Half Other-worlder & half human. Surprisingly, there were quite a few half-borns not only in the human world but in the world beyond the veil as well. All gifted in one way or another, and most knowing about their heritage and taught the ways of their magickal brethren. But, those who were not so lucky to have that love and support were left on their own to find out who and what they were, and most times becoming prey for more powerful magickal beings, as well as gifted and non-gifted humans alike.

Caelan was the product of a one night stand between her mother (who is full blooded Fae), and a gifted human male during a Beltane celebration in the O-W (Other-world, for short). She was born and raised there. No real knowledge about her father, but she was trained in many magickal arts by her mother's people. And her own gifts were honed to be a powerful weapon if needed.

S- met Caelan while chasing after some wood nymphs late one summer. He was somewhat attracted to her, but he knew it probably wouldn't go past the occasional fuck, before he got tired of her physically and moved on. Being of his world, she knew what he was, and was able to read him immediately. So she worked on her own offensive before he could initiate anything. Whispering a quick spell to calm his desire for physical contact with her, she was able to get past his initial layers and work deeper. As time went on, they became friends, then lovers. But he never really loved her. They stayed friends and when she made the move to the human world, she moved in with him. After that they stayed together. Years went by, and several heated conversations with her mother, and tearful pleading from her, he finally decided that it would be better to be bound to her than to leave her and possibly have her do something drastic like lead a dragon into the human world to torch a few places. After all, she was prone to tantrums, and magickal tantrums were nothing to be laughed at. Plus, he didn't want to hurt her. He felt as if he had wasted so many good years of her life (her Fae blood slowed her aging process, but she still aged faster than him). Years she could have used looking for someone else who would truly love her and give her the things that she wanted out of life. But the words that he used then, reverberated through his head now, "...she deserves better than that." He really needed to learn how to say no. If he had, he wouldn't be in what he feels to be a loveless marriage now.

Coming back to the present, S- felt the familiar tingling feeling of un-wanted probing in his thoughts. He slammed the fridge door whipped around on Caelan, and growled, "Get out of my head!"

"I wouldn't need to snoop if you would just talk to me...but then again you really don't have to talk. Your thoughts have been broadcasting loud and clear for months now. What I can't understand though, is how you were able to block me last night."

"You...," he stopped mid-sentence when he processed what she said. She was blocked? How the hell did that happen. He didn't do any spell work before he collapsed in the bed after getting home the night before. He was too tired to think straight much less do a psychic protection spell.

"What do you mean you were blocked?"

" Just what I said. I was blocked. I saw you going into some cottage in Dreamtime, and then when you walked inside everything went black, and I was shocked. Like a lightening bolt was being shot through my head."

Mentally, S- wanted to chuckle to himself that she couldn't see what was about to transpire between him and the woman he actually loved, but at the same time he wondered what had actually caused this protective barrier to be cast upon him. Also did J- experience the same thing. Finally calming down and looking at Caelan, "Well, I can't tell you, because I can't remember much of what I was doing in Dreamtime. And for future note, stay out of my head. Just because we are bound, does not mean you have the right to invade my privacy." As he was about to walk out the kitchen and go get washed and dressed to go see his fairy bitch mother, Caelan mentally poked at him.

" I know that you have feelings for her. You think about her all the time. You talk to her all the time. You send each other gifts, and you have secrets..."

She looked away as she mentally emphasized that last word. Walking towards the pantry to pull out the dog's food, she stopped and said over her shoulder, "if you ever really loved me, you will let her go. You will cut your friendship with her and anything else that may be going on. I love you. I married you because I loved you..." That was all she could say. She turned back to the big bag of dog food, with tears in her eyes. The only thing S- could do was watch her, before he finally let out a sigh of resignation and walked over to her, turned her around, kissed her forehead gently, and reassured her of his love for her. There was nothing else he could do. He didn't want to hurt her any more than what she already was. And even though he was fully in love with Jasmine, he took an oath, and was handfasted to this 5'2" woman who stood in front of him.

" I will talk to her this week and...," he choked on the words that were ripping him apart inside. "And I will end things."

He felt like he was going to black out. Fifteen plus years...gone just like that. He knew her long before he met Caelan. Grew to love her as not only a friend but as more. He was about to lose all of this just because he could not say no. Could not tell this petite woman that he did not love her, and that he would rather let her go and let them both have chances at true happiness than to stay in this stale, one-sided relationship. He let her go, and walked away feeling the weight of world on his shoulders for the very first time in his 200 years of life.

Caelan watched her broken husband walk away, and smiled to herself. "He is too damn easy for his own good, " she thought. "That human piece of trash will be out of our lives for good, even if I have to make it happen myself." She grinned even wider, as she pulled out her cell phone and called her sister. Giggling to herself while dialing the number, she mentally noted that she had a lot of work to do.