Fan Fiction ❯ The Emergence Of A Legend ❯ Chapter 8

Nikki Kelly

Disclaimer: All of the characters portrayed in this story are completely fictional and the sole creations of moi. Any resemblance to any living person or other fictional character is purely coincidental.

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Chapter Eight

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Wind blew around them fiercely as they walked through the city to the dress shop where Lorenna worked. Each carried a box that contained the beautiful clothes that they had worn only a little while before. Coress stared down at the plain, brown, rounded box that lay in her hands. Who would have ever thought that such a simple thing contains something of such great power? Without that gown, none of this would have worked, and without Lorenna, I would have never gotten the gown. I owe everything to her.

They continued on, none of them saying a word, not wanting to unnecessarily release any heat from their already frostbitten bodies. The stone cobbled streets were thick with ice, and Coress slipped every few steps she took, flinging her arms out to the sides to catch her balance. Finally, her arms failed to keep her upright, and she saw her feet fly up into the air as if in slow motion. Her body instinctively tensed to prepare for the impact with the ground, but it never came. Tosorin's large hands were there to support her instantly, and she was swept up into his arms. Coress's breath was short from surprise, and being in a momentarily weak position, she allowed him to hold her.

Tystan and Kiltees, heads still bowed, had not seemed to notice her slip at all. They walked on against the fierce current of the wind. It stung Coress's eyes, and she diverted her gaze, only to find Tosorin's eyes staring into her own. His body was still wound about hers, and she could feel his heart beating rapidly from within the depths of his warm, massive body. His eyes seemed to look right into her very soul, and the placid appearance of his face soothed her completely. She knew, that if given the chance, Tosorin would never let her go, so she broke the stare and slightly nudged away from him. Immediately sensing her growing discomfort, Tosorin released her.

Coress smiled at his accommodating nature, but when he placed his free arm about her waist, she looked at him questioningly.

His grin had an unusually boyish twist to it as he explained, "It's so you don't fall again." He looked down at the ground, pretending that the icy chill had begun to hurt his eyes. Coress, however, knew better; she knew that gesture too well. He was embarrassed because he had lied to her.

Coress now clearly saw the obvious tension that had been piling between she and Tosorin. She recognized the soft, cautious grip of his hand on her hip. She understood the pounding rhythm of his heart, and the fullness of his penetrating gaze. It just all clicked; the clouds of naiveté seemed to simply lift away.

She walked with her face meeting the gusts straight on. So many thoughts were swirling in her mind that the icy breath of the heavens ripping at her face was nothing but the soft exhalation of a sleeping baby. Coress glanced nervously at her other friends, who were now quite a bit ahead of them. What will they think when they see us like this? They have to know how Tosorin feels about me. They'll think I feel the same way if they see him holding me.

Coress began to try to think of a way to somehow remove his hand from her, but she was interrupted by a long-missing voice in the deepest fold of her mind. Watch your feet, was all it said. Coress turned her mindless stare to study her gait.

Her feet no longer slipped over the ice-crusted cobblestones. Instead, her steps were light, and she felt as if she was somehow floating down the street. She realized that this whole time since her slip, Tosorin had been practically carrying her.

Coress quickly glanced up at him and saw that, for once, he was not staring at her. Instead, his gaze was focused straight ahead. His head seemed to be held high with pride, and he was grinning from ear to ear. The sight of Tosorin like this suddenly filled Coress with a strange sense of warmth. He was honored to be with her, like he had just received this wondrous gift, and he wanted everyone to know. She had never felt this way before; it was so different from the way she was constantly trying to please Tystan. Coress felt so secure and safe within his grip; she felt so loved. She no longer cared what anyone thought. She only wanted to remain in his arms.

Without thinking, she laid her head on the side of his chest and sighed happily. Tosorin's eyes widened momentarily in surprise, but promptly returned to their full, proud state. Coress felt him straighten even more, and his grip on her waist tightened, pulling her slightly closer to him. She looked up at him as he carefully led them down the ice-glazed street.

Tosorin's features were strong and well formed, as were his brother's, but he had an added thickness to his face that somewhat rounded his appearance and made him appear much kinder and gentler than Tystan. His eyes were of a slightly softer tone, and his hair was close-cut and well kept. All of this presented an attractiveness that Coress had never noticed in Tosorin before.

It was then that he seemed to notice her studying him so intensely. He turned his gaze down to her, and she saw his expression soften, his eyes seeming to melt with her own. Coress's mouth opened slightly to speak, but nothing came out. Tosorin stopped walking and turned to face her. He simply looked at her for a moment, then asked, "What is it?"

Her mind was swirling with things she wanted to say to him, but she could not say a word. When she again hopelessly opened her mouth, his eyebrows furrowed somewhat in frustration. "Please, tell me. What's the matter?"

Coress could not help but smile at his concern, and in that moment, she felt more for him than anyone in the world. One voice in her mind seemed to scream 'no' as another shouted 'yes', when her heart took control of her body. She looked deep into his eyes and met his lips with her own in a soft kiss. She pulled away quickly, to see his reaction, and when she saw the awed expression on his face, she could do nothing but kiss him again, this time with her eyes closed so she could feel the full emotion flowing between them.

What she and Tosorin didn't know was at that instant Tystan had dropped the box carrying this borrowed clothes, and he turned to go retrieve it before it flew too far down the road. He stopped immediately when he saw Coress and his brother in their intimate embrace, and his jaw dropped. He stooped to grab his box fiercely and cursed so loud, and with such fury, that it awoke the pair from their trance. Both of their faces flushed a deep crimson with embarrassment as they looked up to see Tystan stalking away to catch up with Kiltees. The anger seemed to actually steam right off his body in the freezing air, and Coress felt a strange sense of satisfaction twinge through her as she saw him like this. But when Tosorin reached for her hand as they began walking again, Coress carefully slipped it out of the way.

Tosorin looked down at her with a questioning and somewhat disappointed expression, but she pretended not to notice and turned her gaze to the icy ground, concentrating hard. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tosorin nod, looking a little hurt, and let out a small sigh.

Coress felt awful about toying with his emotions so much, but she had already begun to regret embracing him at all, let alone kissing him. Her moment of love, lust, or whatever it was, had been fleeting, and she knew that although she cared for her friend, she had no true feelings for him at this point. She swore to herself that she would never do such things to him again unless she felt that special something, even if it meant ignoring her own heart.

Coress tried to forget it all and focus on making her way down the road without slipping, but soon her thoughts fell back to Tosorin, a mix of sweet remembrance and regret, and she could no longer bear the silent tension between them. "We should really catch up to them...I mean, we're really startin to fall behind...and it's startin to get dark, and it'll be hard to walk on the ice in the dark..." she mumbled, trying to come up with some sort of excuse.

"Or we could just wait and I could carry you again," he replied in an uncharacteristically sly manner.

Part of her yearned to accept his offer and just have him hold her in his arms forever, but she knew that her passions were just overcoming her again. She tried to disregard his flirtatious comment and had to force back her own retort as she picked up her pace and scurried towards her other two companions.

Only once did she glance back over her shoulder at Tosorin, and his body was so hunched over that she could not see his face, but she didn't need to. Oh by the gods, what have I done? He looks absolutely pathetic, and it's all my fault! Yet, there was nothing she could do. She had just shown him the world and then taken it away, leaving him wanting more. She even allowed herself some pity for getting so deep into this mess that was so utterly irreversible. After a few more moments of dwelling on her mistake, Coress was finally able to reassure herself that things would turn out all right. All I have to do is ignore all his advances, and he'll eventually get the picture...right? Yeah, yeah, of course he will. He's smart, and I'm sure he'll understand. Yeah, that'll work. He'll understand.

When she finally caught up to Kiltees and Tystan, she was huffing and puffing like a worn out racehorse. They noticed her, and stopped for a minute, allowing her to catch her breath. As she bent over, inhaling deeply to stop from hyperventilating, Kiltees rubbed at her back gently with one hand, trying to help ease the air in. "You alright, babe? Careful now, don't go breathin so fast, the cold'll hurt ya. That's it. Nice an slow. Don't suck it in like that. Go nice an slow. Shhh, shhh. Calm down. Nice an slow. Yeah, like that. Shhh," he coaxed softly. When her breathing finally returned to normal, she stood back up and smiled gratefully.

"No need ta thank me, babe. I was just helpin it go in. Ya betta now?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks. What would I do without you?" she replied, giving his hand a light squeeze.

"You seemed to be getting along fine without him back there," Tystan snapped, pointing over one shoulder. "Yeah, you and Tosorin were getting along just fine." He glared at her with his icy blue eyes.

Kiltees turned and looked questioningly at Coress, but when she simply hung her head in a sort of shame, he bit back his words. She didn't want to fill her mind with the event again and although she knew Kiltees would never mock her for it, she thought it best to just let the comment go.

Tystan exhaled distastefully and rolled his eyes dramatically, then assumed his bowed position as he continued towards the shop. Kiltees gently squeezed Coress's hand, prompting her to continue with him, and she did, although she released his hand afterwards, in fear that Tosorin might see and become unnecessarily upset.

She could see the shop now, although it still lay quite a distance away. Soon she would be relieved of this nagging wind and all of the problems it had caused. Lorenna would want to hear all of the splendidly gory details of their rendezvous with Marvia Walrona, and Coress would happily indulge in them with her. It would be a welcome means of forgetting her unforgivable mistake.

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End of Chapter Eight

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~~I know a lot of you are probably hating Coress right now.... hell, I kinda am too!! But, please, try to trust me, everything is done for a reason.....