He sat on the ground and tugged at her hand so that she sat beside him as well.
"Alright, tell me all about it. I'm all ears."
She looked at him for the longest time, while he looked at her. And for the longest time, she could see the children they'd been
Young and naive believed that the love they shared would last forever.
And good heaven, what she would not give to simply go back to that time. Even with the knowledge of how it would all turn out. She would do it again.
With him, always with him. She would do it again.
"Fae is in trouble, Cephas. Demons have come for us."
Cephas drew his brows together. He knew of demons. The Athanatoi, even the ones that took root in his cousin's body.
He had almost deluded himself that that was the end of it.
"Demons in Fae?"
Rose shook her head, "I didn't want to believe it for the longest time. Seers spoke of it and I laughed it off. Fairies look delicate, but we can take care of ourselves." she said, fiercely.
He thought of Jasper and he thought of her.
"Aye, they definitely can."
"But, I have no choice but to believe that they have come as I've begun to hear of attacks. And not the attacks you might expect, Cephas. It is one member of a family against another. The one who attacks has eyes that once were alive, gone black, void of emotions, sputtering about evil, invoking hell and The Devil himself. Some of those households have gone up in flames because the family members didn't do anything. Didn't have enough knowledge I supposed of what was happening to do anything."
Her own words brought her chills and she ran her hands together to ward it all off.
Sensing her unease, Cephas reached for her hand and ran a thumb over it.
"It's going to be okay, Rose." He found himself saying, for he had no idea what else he could actually say.
She snorted, "is it? I'm the guardian of Fae, my people are unsafe. Unsafe is a very mild way to put it though. However, they are in so much danger, while I'm here. While I'm here." She said defeatedly,
"You're here seeking help, seeking answers."
"I haven't gotten any."
"Well, not yet. It doesn't mean that you won't. In time, you will. I'll make sure of that. We'll make sure of all that." He said assuringly and had her staring into his eyes,
"When I planned on coming here, I had not expected to find you here. But still, I hoped, I had no idea why. I gritted myself senseless for it. But still, there I was, still hoping."
"Ahh Rose." He said with a sigh, "Someday I will understand what it is between us that keeps us connected, even with all of pushing away."
It was love, she wanted to say. But held her tongue. He had rejected her love once, she had no desire to have him reject her once again.
"Well, until we do, we'll just have to keep up the ebb and flow of our relationship, and find a way to help my people."
"What was the plan?"
Rose thought for a moment, "To be honest, I didn't have one. I knew I needed help, and for the longest time, I stayed in Fae, hoping to find one until I admitted to myself that there wasn't one. So I came here, to Hannah, the only person I could think of. It was while I traveled here that I made up my mind that could stay for long. I'll go out of my way, Cephas. I'll search and search until I find something. I won't stop until I do. I won't stop until this vile thing leaves our land."
He squeezed at her hand that he still held.
Odd, she thought. She had forgotten that he still held her.
"That's a good enough plan for me. Maybe it'll cure all this restlessness."
"What restlessness?" She asked kindly,
"The one I've been feeling."
"Hmmm. Alright." She tilted her head and smiled a bit,
"I haven't said this, never really meant to. But, it's good to see you again, Cephas."
He chuckled, "It's good to see you again, Red."
Maybe this time, she found herself hoping. This time, he wouldn't let her go.