Take Flight - 4. Chapter 4

Sayer let out a long breath. He picked up something from his lap. Birch stared at his outstretched hand which held out the gold box. “This is yours,” he said softly.

The air was charged between them yet utterly still. To Birch, it felt as everything waited for him to move, like the whole world stood still for this one moment. Birch studied Sayer’s face, looking deep into his ice blue eyes. His hand trembled when he carefully picked up the box with its clumsy bow.

Birch’s heart pounded relentlessly. This was … it was irrevocable. He got that and beyond the anger, and the questions, beat a fierce yearning for exactly what the gift offered him.

Sayer.

It took two tries with fumbling fingers to get the bow untied. He almost cracked a joke about Sayer’s lack of wrapping skills, but it felt wrong to make light of anything right then. His breath came out in a soft oh when he lifted the lid of the box.

Nestled in the silky fabric was a necklace. The chain was thick and ropy but made up of untold number of strands finer than a strand of hair. Centered in the coil was a pendant that gleamed in the light. It was milky white but when Birch stroked the stone it cracked open under his finger. The inside was a glittering rainbow of colors encased by the thin ring of white stone. It shone in the strange light of the room, almost pulsing. The two halves clicked back together seamlessly.

“It’s beautiful.” Birch’s hand tingled as he lifted the necklace from the box. “Will you… Will you put it on me?”

“I would love to.” Sayer reached forward and the fibers of the chain came undone. “Once I put this on you, the ties that bind us will never come apart. No hand but my own can ever open this amulet. Our souls will be as entwined as the strands of this chain, the two pieces as seamless as this stone.”

It was Birch’s turn to hold his breath as he lifted his neck from the pillow. Sayer’s hands slipped behind him, and then it was done. Birch captured Sayer’s hands as they slid over his shoulders and held them to his chest. The amulet stone began to glow, pulsing.

A wind carrying a soft scent of flowers swirled in the room. The ache was gone, instead, Birch was filled with an ecstatic peace that filled him with energy. “Kiss me,” he said.

He tugged on Sayer’s hands but the pale fae that loved him needed no encouragement. His cheeks pinked and his eyes glowed bright as he leaned down until their lips met and melded. Soft at first, then fierce, Sayer claimed his mouth. Their lips parted, opened and met again, tongues entwining, hot and slick.

Birch’s back bowed from the bed and his hands squeezed hard on Sayer’s. He cried out as the wind lifted them both. Birch opened his eyes but he could see nothing but Sayer’s face. His body tingled and burned. “Sayer!”

“Beloved!”

They clung together in the midst of the magic. It could have been seconds or hours as they kissed and held tight to each other before the winds gradually died and lowered them to the bed.

Sayer was lying in the bed next to Birch, facing him on his side. “Your leg?”

Birch nodded. Sayer was amazed at the changes in his beloved, but he didn’t think he would mention them quite yet. The signs of pain that had momentarily faded from Birch’s were back. He was pale and a bead of sweat ran down his temple.

“Haverlseen!”

The medic came hurrying into Sayer’s bedroom from the grotto. “My lord! He is—”

“In pain.” Sayer glared at the slim medic. “Help him now."

“Of course. Please relax for me,” Haverlseen said to Birch. His beloved was still on his side, his arms clenched on Sayer’s shoulders.

Haverlseen’s hands hovered near Birch, one above his head and the other over his bent leg. They began to glow as Haverlseen began to hum. His voice was high and sweet, coaxing the magic to enter Birch.

“Oh. Oh!” Birch’s head tipped forward and rested against Sayer’s chest. The trembling in his limbs eased and he went limp.

“Birch?”

Sayer stroked one hand against Birch’s cheek; the soft stubble tickled his fingertips. “Birch?”

“He is just asleep, my lord. I have healed him but the magic of that and your bonding has taken much from him. He will be fine when he wakes.”

“Thank you.”

Haverlseen bowed and left the room.

Sayer sighed. He had his beloved in his arms, and they’d finally bonded. Obviously he’d have to explain about the wings.

They were spectacular, snowy white and full, draping from above Birch’s shoulders down past his waist. The small man in his arms shivered when Sayer began stroking the soft feathers. They were soft and downy near his shoulders.