Distracted

Sirona cried out in triumph as she pinned Arawn to the ground. Arawn growled and flipped them over, locking her in an old hold he never thought he’d have to use again, but Sirona was feisty and getting stronger by the day. The heat of her body against his made him a little dizzy.
Sirona huffed, pushing back trying to find a weak point in his hold, but his arm felt more like iron bars than muscle and bone. Still, she didn’t want to lose. She closed her eyes and struggled to get free. The sparkling waters of the star lagoon filled her mind, and in a moment, the air around them shifted, tumbled, and turned liquid.
Water filled her mouth and engulfed her. She panicked thinking she was going to drown. Arawn released her as she struggled to swim to the surface. Arawn was laughing as he treaded water near her. The waters twinkled around them in the darkness of the night.
How had they gotten here? They were in the garden just a second ago.
“You are quite the sore loser, but I commend your resourcefulness.” She looked at him as he chuckled, “To bend space just to evade being pinned. Quite a feat.”
She’d done what? She shook her head and looked around, “I… didn’t mean to.”
Arawn bet she didn’t. He remembered the first time he’d bent space had been a moment of need. It had taken a while to get the hang of it after that, but now he could do it with ease. He wondered for a moment if Anu had managed to learn how to do it yet or if that was something outside the realm of her abilities.
“I’m impressed. You even managed to transport us with most of our clothing on.”
Her eyes widened and she felt her body cautiously. She was fully dressed as far as she could tell, so what did he mean? She glanced at him.
“You’re still dressed.”
“I’m missing a jacket,” he said lightly. “Do you think you could get yourself back?”
Sirona shook her head, “I don’t even know how I got here!”
Arawn swam close and pulled her against him. He didn’t want to chance her trying and him having to go looking for her. That would take up valuable time that he didn’t feel like wasting.
Sirona clung to him, laying her head against his chest as their magic mingled. Suddenly, the water vanished and she felt the solid ground beneath their feet. They were back in the garden.
“That was… a lot smoother than when I did it.”
“Practice,” Arawn said and released her. He turned and grabbed the jacket that was nearby. “I suppose that means your practice while we have been apart having leaned more towards the Druid’s view on the world.”
She winced, “I learned a lot.”
He chuckled, “Clearly. You hadn’t been anywhere near ready to bend space before. Well done. I’ll walk you back to your rooms.”
She couldn’t help but feel that he was a bit upset that he was calling the session over so quickly, but as he said nothing, she didn’t want to make him upset by asking why or what he meant. He bowed to her with a polite little smile before opening the door for her and ushering her in.
He winked at her, “Get some rest, Sirona. You’ll need it.”
She didn’t feel particularly tired but she nodded and bade him goodnight. In just a few moments, the exhaustion hit her. She stumbled over to the bed, collapsed, and fell into a deep sleep.
Arawn walked away from her room, worrying his lip and turning over the moment Sirona had bent space around them. She had been exhausted in that moment, but just a few moments in the star lagoon she had been replenished. He wasn’t sure if that was because she had taken in the energy from the lagoon or if the hidden depths of her power were more complicated than he first thought.
He returned to his chambers and paced before conjuring a view into Sirona’s bedroom. She was fast asleep as he expected, but she wasn’t as depleted as he expected her to be.
What was going on?

Fedelm couldn’t focus on the reports from the front lines. A copy of it sat in front of her, so she could read it later, but she doubted she would be able to focus enough to do so. The generals were arguing about their next moves in the south, but she didn’t care about it or the annexing of territories towards the east.
Not right now at least.
Her thoughts were on Arawn and the report Captain Duran had given her. Arawn and Sirona had appeared in the same clothing they had disappeared in, soaked as if they had fallen into the fountain before Arawn had walked Sirona to her room and returned to his room. Per his report, they hadn’t been gone for more than a few minutes after she’d retired for the night.
The guards that patrolled the gardens hadn’t seen them in the fountain. That meant they had gone somewhere else. If they could appear and disappear to other places at will, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that Arawn or Sirona could manipulate time. From their conversations, he knew that Anu and Arawn were about the same age. He kept the youth of his vessel somehow.
So, there was no telling how long they had actually been gone.
That had been last night, but this morning, they had left the castle headed into town. If she was a mage, it was likely that she could fly or that Arawn would just fly her to wherever they were meant to go.
She had been flying with Arawn once back when the battles had been closer to the capital than they were now. She’d been terrified, but she’d learned a bit about his strategies. He didn’t like to walk unless he was with people he cared to be around or was completely unhurried.
Which one was it with Sirona? She couldn’t know, but it was obvious that Arawn was ignoring her in favor of spending time with Sirona. Besides that, Arawn always told her if he was going to be gone for a while. He hadn’t breathed a word about it and Druid was still in the city.
He’d gone off alone with Sirona. He said she was his pupil but was that the complete truth?
When the council meeting was over, she went to her private study and found Captain Duran waiting for her.
She opened the door and led him inside.
“What do you have to report?”
“They left the city nearly an hour ago and went into the woods.”
“Not on a road?”
“No, they vanished into the forest.”
There was no telling where they’d gone then. She worried her lip and nodded.
“Thank you, Captain. Anything else?”
He hesitated before he nodded.
“She spent a bit of time with Druid before they left, but she seems much closer with Arawn.”
“In what way?”
“I’m unsure, Your Majesty. The scouts had a hard time following them through the crowd before losing them.”
She nodded, “Of course. Thank you. Alert me when they return. That will be all.”
He nodded stiffly before leaving Fedelm alone. She collapsed into her seat. Jealousy burned in her. She hadn’t ever taken a trip alone with Arawn. For all the time they did spend together, so little of it was spent talking these days and he never seemed to be all there.
There was the threat of Anu looming over Berth, so she expected that to weigh heavily on his heart, but he didn’t speak about his concerns.
Was Sirona the woman who comforted him? Did she know his secrets thoughts and concerns? Did she know about Anu and the war that was coming?
Did she know he was a god?
The thought infuriated her. Sirona looked young, just as young as Fedelm had been when she’d met Arawn, maybe younger, and that had been years ago.
Was he seeking to replace her with a younger woman?
She caught sight of herself in the glass case nearby. She was still as beautiful as she had been then. Maybe he had simply grown tired of her at the prospect of chasing after Sirona, the mage.
She grit her teeth. She could learn to use magic if given the chance, she was sure of that. Maybe she could get Arawn to teach her, but that would require Sirona to be out of the picture.
An idea came to mind as she thought of Sirona’s fighting style. Fedelm stood, running through Sirona’s movements in her mind. She was good, but there was just a moment in her attack where Arawn could have struck her down with ease. Many people wouldn’t be able to exploit it, but Fedelm knew she could.
At first chance, she’d strike Sirona down and never have to worry about it again.