Arawn

Of all the things he expected to see in Druid’s little garden, a woman was not among them. Arawn had felt he was far too ascetic to ever indulge in worldly pleasures like beautiful women. Maybe he was starting to relax a little and let go of his staunch attachment to preserving life, balance, or whatever Druid believed.
He’d never taken the time to figure it out, but he applauded the man’s taste. The young woman looked no older than his current human form. He guessed she was around twenty. Despite her plain, rough garb, she was beautiful in a way that wasn’t usual in Berth. He supposed she came from somewhere else.
He landed and crouched in front of her to get a better look at her as she stared up in awe at him. The mortals were always easier to deal with, especially beautiful women if they were in awe of him. He wondered how long it would take to seduce this one into his bed.
Anticipation and the thrill of the chase stirred him. There was always something pleasurable about choosing a new prospective mistress. If she was attached to staying with Druid or in this town, it would give him a reason to leave the capital more often than not.
She was pale with dark hair and eyes like the green grass that almost shined in her face. He could imagine that she’d entranced plenty of men with eyes like those. Maybe even Druid had managed to see her beauty with that divine sight of his.
“I must say I never expected Druid able to cultivate flowers for anything other than his medicines.”
He offered her his hand, letting his gaze drift over the slight curves of her frame. She was thinner than Fedelm and less curvy than the mistresses he usually liked, but there was something about her that drew him in. There was almost an aura around her.
“A pleasure to meet you.”
Her eyes darted down to his hand before she shook herself and took his hand with a small smile and a faint blush on her cheeks.
Arawn felt his entire body go still as a recognition zapped through him. It was impossible. There couldn’t be another deity on this planet simply walking around, and what were the chances that Druid would have found her?
He had to be wrong, but the longer he held her hand the clearer the feeling became, going from a stroke of recognition to a rolling storm of understanding. There was so much potential in her and something about her power that felt intoxicating like fine wine and sex.
Yet, there wasn’t much magical power in her that he could tell. She did not have the presence of a very powerful deity.
“May I have your name?” Arawn asked.
“It’s Sirona,” she said meekly.
Sirona was an old name related to the stars. The exact meaning escaped him at the moment, but no normal child would have been given such a name.
“Interesting name,” he said, tracing his fingers along her cheek. Her eyes widened as he reveled in the interaction.
She felt nothing like Anu did. Anu’s power had always felt hard and always recklessly destructive, but Sirona’s was soft, yielding, and nurturing almost. Beneath the gentle warmth of it, there was a depth that he couldn’t quite understand or name.
If she could cultivate her power, she could be stronger than him and Anu, perhaps even stronger than them combined.
Did Druid know she was a deity?
It was possible but unlikely. His divine sight had helped him identify Arawn because of the amount of power Arawn had when they met. Sirona wasn’t quite there yet; she just had the potential to be there. But why? Was she hiding her power intentionally?
He decided to test her.
Arawn pulled her to her feet and drew her up against him, wrapping his other arm around her waist. She gasped staring up at him as lights began to flicker in her eyes like starlight. He could tell she had no idea what she was capable of.
“You are quite a wonder, Sirona,” he said gently. “Tell me, what is your relationship with Druid?”
“H-He’s teaching me things,” she said almost breathlessly. The flush had taken over her face and Arawn felt the stirring of desire in him. “He saved me from a fire-breathing bear.”
The call he’d barely heard in the depths of her was growing louder the longer they remained close. He leaned closer, chuckling a bit.
“A phoenix bear is a fearsome thing… I will have to thank him. What is he teaching you?”
“Medicine,” she said, leaning up towards him as if she felt the pull just as strongly as he did. “A-Astronomy.”
She seemed entranced as if she would tell him anything he wanted to know. It was a familiar look of a woman falling into his presence, yet she wasn’t mindlessly clawing at him as others had, and he didn’t feel entirely in control either.
“Your eyes…” Arawn whispered, his breath drifting across her face. “I have never seen such a color before. Are you from Berth? What part? Perhaps, I have been there.”
Sirona swallowed, hesitating and drawing back as his eyes seemed to coax her into telling him the truth. She didn’t know anything about this man. What if he thought she was crazy?
“No,” she said, “To the North.”
“Narin, then?” He asked, grazing their lips together. “Alahan, perhaps?”
“Well, not exactly,” she said. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of where I’m from.”
He smiled, finding her terrible evasion charming.
“My apologies. Perhaps you’re from Huron?”
Her eyes widened with recognition, and his heart lurched with a bit of suspicion. Huron was just east of Conna on Anu’s side of the Tara River. No one from this continent would know of it outside of extenuating circumstances. Meaning she’d crossed the Tara River to get here, but for what reason? Did Anu know she existed? Had she been sent her by her to entice, or was it just happenstance?
If she had been sent by Anu, what information was she trying to gain? Anu couldn’t have known that Arawn would run into Sirona. Arawn shielded a lot of his activity in Berth, including Druid’s existence, from Anu’s ability to scrye in the most obscure ways possible. He’d found early on in their existence that Anu lacked creativity and imagination. So long as she saw everything she thought she should see, she wouldn’t look for anything else.
“Who are you?” She asked him back instead.
“I…” Her gaze dropped to his lips as he started to feel the urge to kiss her return.
“I thought that was you.”
Arawn looked up as Druid walked out from the back door. Arawn shook his head.
“You’ve picked up a new hobby.” Arawn chuckled, “She is quite a beautiful flower.”
Druid laughed, “I think I should be calling you that, and she more found me than I found her.”
Sirona looked between them a little shocked at their strange rapport. She couldn’t get a sense of if they were good friends or just acquaintances. Also, what did Druid mean that she’d found him? She’d been unconscious when he found her.
“I came to speak with you about what you may have seen lately,” Arawn said, “Anything of interest?”
Druid shook his head, “I have not been granted a vision lately. I imagine because I have much to focus on.”
Arawn hummed, leaning down to take a deep breath against Sirona’s neck, “Yes, she is quite a handful. Delicious, I’m sure.”
Sirona stammered, “That’s… I mean…”
“A shame,” Arawn said and looked down at Sirona, “I had hoped to spend a bit more time with this lovely star. Perhaps next time.”
Sirona wanted to reply, but the words vanished as Arawn swooped in, pressing their lips together. The odd jolt from before returned as he kissed her deeply, holding her to him.
He pulled back slowly and began to lift into the air out of her grip, “I will return to see you soon, Sirona.”
“Okay…” Sirona said as he drifted higher in the wind. For a moment, he seemed to shimmer like starlight before he completely vanished.
“Quite an exit, hm?”
Sirona startled at Druid’s wry voice and turned back to look at him.
“No worries, he will come back.”
The thought made her smile. She pressed trembling fingers to her lips as the warmth of his mouth seemed to still be there. When he returned, would he kiss her again?
She frowned as she realized that she hadn’t gotten his name.
“Who was that man?”