Eleven 
-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

"I do not believe you," Tiffany Cotton laughed, the sound a pleasant melody that warmed his ears, that lingered in the boughs overlooking their path through the forest that day.

"It's true," Kaede told her. He smiled when he glanced down at her pressed to his side. He enjoyed the way she seemed to grow pinker whenever he did. Up until her, he didn't think he had deserved to smile again, to feel awash with happiness. "Three and twenty."

She made a small scoffing noise, tearing her gaze away from his to peer at their path. Her footsteps were light and careful along the muddy terrain, and she clung to his arm for support as they navigated through the expanse of dense woodland that seemed to grow in uninhibited abundance around the estate. The prim little boots that she had on were made of sturdy leather, but they certainly did not hold much resistance against the terrain. Not that he minded in the least since it gave him an excuse to have her at his side.

"I simply can't imagine it," she told him with a shake of her head. "That is quite a few venison pies to consume at once."

"Well, it was either that or lose the wager to my brother," he shrugged. "And then it would have been I sprinting through the village at noon wearing a woman's petticoats and a garter."

Her lips trembled with a smile and she slid her gaze to him briefly. It was a momentary connection as he was soon helping her over a smooth-surfaced boulder that had grown slippery with ice. Voluminous skirts tangled against her legs and she lost her footing, the material trailing along the ground behind her. He steadied her easily, longing to put her in something more suitable for a brisk walk in the wilderness. Her coat was about the only sensible thing she wore, cinching tight at her waist, and yet it seemed to incorporate the most mundane curtaining fabric known to humankind. He'd rather like to spend his days acquiring a wardrobe for her that would set off her curves and fit her form with more comfort, a menagerie of items with bright colours and contrasts that suited the mischievousness behind her eyes and the sultriness of her kisses.

And yet, Kaede knew, that if Miss Cotton only wanted to spend her life in drab grey coats, then he would adore her for it still.

"Did he really do that?" she asked, drawing him away from his contemplations.

"Most certainly." He leapt off the boulder and pivoted to her, catching her about the waist and hoisting her effortlessly to the ground. She clutched his forearms, her fingers spasming in fright, and her eyes grew wide behind the lenses of her spectacles. Not for the first time, he marvelled at the myriad of colours bursting around her pupil- greens and ambers, mingling with the darker outer ring of her iris. "Our mother did not let us back in the house after the furore it caused in the village. Especially since it was her petticoats that we had ruined."

"Oh dear." There was a laugh in her voice though, and he eased her back to his side. Instead of slipping her arm through the crook of his elbow, however, she placed her hand into his, lacing their fingers together. "Your poor mother."

"She certainly had a difficult time with Caël and I," he admitted. "But we'd do anything for her now. As soon as things have culminated at Ravensfield, we'll find a nice home for her to settle among friends and family." The thought of his mother always made him worried. He didn't like to think of her alone and far out of their reach, though Yilan was a fiercely stubborn and independent type. Years ago, he'd appealed to her to end her service with a seamstress as the long hours and toil of the labour was bending her body with age. Yilan wouldn't hear of it, however, and to that day insisted on treating her sons like the recalcitrant boys they could be by feeding them, spoiling them, and occasionally cuffing them about the ears whenever they did something stupid.

Which was often.

"You talk of your family fondly," Tiffany remarked, her voice small.

"Would you not?"

A quiet moment passed and she considered him with her head tilted, her expression pensive. "It is only my sister and I."

"And your mother and father?"

He feared that perhaps he had made a terrible mistake asking by the way she quickly looked away, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. There was a stiffness to her jaw, and he felt her fingers clench where they interlocked with his. She opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it, a tiny pucker creasing her brow before she worked her bottom lip between her teeth. When she did speak again, she had relaxed once more after a long breath had been expelled.

"It is just Cassie and I, and it has been for a long time. Our mother died in childbirth, and I have been Cassie's sole caregiver ever since." She gave him a smile then that didn't quite meet her normally vibrant eyes. "I would do anything to ensure she has the sort of upbringing that I did not. Which is why I need to return to London. I have not seen her for too long... I must know how she is progressing with her tutelage, if she is surrounding herself with commendable friends-"

"Like you are?" His grin was wolfish and he barely repressed the urge to draw her into his arms and kiss each round cheek that was blooming with colour.

"Are you commendable?" she quipped, and some of that familiar teasing light entered her gaze once more.

"Madam, there are a few things I can be commended for, and you are acquainted with them," he pointed out.

"Am I indeed?" She withdrew her hand and tripped away from him lightly, turning with a swish of her skirts while she tapped her chin in exaggerated thought. "I can't seem to recall, and as you well know my recollection of things is faultless, therefore-"

"Miss Cotton, you wound me," he interjected, a dark thread entwining with his voice, and he stepped meaningfully towards her, closing the space she had placed between them. She retreated a step, her skirts rustling against the damp leaves littering the muddy path. "However, you will find I am an incredibly patient male-"

"Humble too," she giggled irreverently.

Kaede's eyes widened with surprise. Gods, he was loving this flirtatious, playful side of her. The sight of her grinning mischievously, her eyes glinting in the shadows of the forest and tendrils of hair curling about her temples and framing her spectacles while her skirts swished about her ankles sent heat ricocheting through his body. He made for her, lunging and arcing wide with an arm. She yelped and lurched away, but her skirts hindered her escape and his hands swept over her waist and drew her flush against his body. "Allow me to refresh your memory," he murmured, dipping his head and bringing his fingertips to her chin, tilting her face up to his as he held her close, "because not only am I certain you would commend my ability to kiss you senseless, but just this very morning I proved my prowess in battle."

Her mouth dropped open at that and she sputtered, her laughter bubbling out of her. "You were bested by Rogane!"

Releasing her chin, he tapped the wire edge of her spectacles. "Perhaps these need some adjusting."

She rolled her eyes at that, the drollness of her gesture lessened by the smile curling the corners of her lips into her cheeks. "You are commendably frustrating!"

He brought their faces closer together, his shoulders bending to accommodate her shorter stature, and pressed a kiss to the cold tip of her nose. "And I would spend however many hours you allow me commendably frustrating you." He leaned back, stifling the desire to close the distance that separated his lips from hers and spend hours yet lost in her kiss, but Kaede suspected that they wouldn't be allotted that much more time alone and he had brought her out here with an intention. Stepping away from her, he caught her hand once more and began to follow the path, adding meaningfully to his previous words, "Indefinite hours, hopefully. But presently I intend to show you something."

For the second time, he witnessed a darkening to her eyes and her cheerfulness diminished. Kaede wondered for it, sure that somehow his words were the cause, but to him they appeared complimentary in nature. So then what was the cause of her sudden changes? A niggling tightness took root in his chest, akin to worry, and he didn't like it, was not sure of its purpose. He was a simple male, with simple needs and a simple life that comprised of his role among his brethren Beastkeepers, as well as his devotion to his mother and his twin. In the last month, the complications that had befallen him were lessons he was circumnavigating as best he could, and learning to identify those nuances in his internal make-up was one of them.

After a moment, Miss Cotton asked, having shaken off whatever had disturbed her jovial mood, "What do you intend to show me out here?"

"You'll see." His voice was cryptic and amused, serving to ensure her good humour returned with an amused grin tugging at her lips.

It didn't take them much longer before Kaede was pushing through the low accumulation of bristly shrub-brush and fronds, guiding her through carefully so as not to ruin the material of the skirts about her ankles, and then they were in a small clearing.

A snow-peppered knoll lay before them, scattered with boulders. Running up the crest were the gnarled trunks of fallen trees, their branches crooked and reaching into the air like gruesome spectres. Somewhere, a brook trickled nearby, beyond the perimeter of trees that surrounded them, and dim grey sunlight spilled onto the unkempt grass and snow.

"What-"

He stilled her words hurriedly by placing his hand over her mouth, urging her to silence with his eyes alone. He hadn't meant to frighten her, confident in his ability to protect her from even the most fearsome of beasts, but when he saw the fear enter her gaze he lowered his hand and replaced it with a finger. His voice a quiet murmur, he explained, "I wouldn't want to startle her."

Miss Cotton's eyes darted around the clearing then, expecting to see whatever he could be referencing, and Kaede was pleased to note her eagerness, the excitement that returned to her countenance.

But he knew that she wouldn't see anything, not yet anyway. The Silloúgh was a shy creature and would remain unseen unless bidden by or in the presence of one that she trusted.

So when he turned from Miss Cotton and stepped further towards the knoll, he ignored the question on her face and brought his hands to cup his mouth. The hollow echo of a soft-toned whistle reverberated through the woodlands, warbling in pitch, stretching in the current of the wind like the tremble of wood knocking upon hollow wood.

The Silloúgh emerged slowly, at first as a mere shift of air of against the boulders and gnarled trees of the knoll, and when more discerning outlines of its form materialised, the woman behind him gasped. He turned slightly to her, putting his arm around her waist as the beast stretched into sight with languid grace, knowing that the sheer size and look of it could be terrifying at first. Its lithe body unfurled from around the knoll, the sleek pelting covering its limbs swaying as if made of woven, shimmering stalks of loose grass. Its long legs uncurled from the earth, the soil reverberating with a groan at the shift of its weight, and then it lifted its huge snout, swaying from side to side to loosen the moss and dirt dangling from its sprawling antlers.

Beside him, Tiffany froze, her fear a palpable thing, and Kaede attempted to soothe her by pulling her closer. He positioned her before him, wrapping his arms about her torso protectively and dipping his chin against her temple as she stared up at the creature approaching them with no small amount of terror.

"The Silloúgh is harmless," he told her softly. "You needn't fear her. She is lonely and wants to greet me. Only those she trusts will be allowed this privilege."

In the Silloúgh's wake, the grassy knoll bloomed with wildflowers, the trees unknitting their gnarled and dying limbs and bursting to life with greenery, the cold grey boulders sprouting lively pockets of moss. Huge, lambent eyes blinked languorously at them, each step the creature took towards them making the earth tremble and groan.

"She doesn't look harmless," Miss Cotton squeaked.

"Trust me." Kaede smiled against her temple, holding her close. The Silloúgh approached, its body curling towards them with the slinking movement of a reptile. She towered above them, her antlers spreading in a network of interlocking branches that easily spanned four feet wide on each side of its dark, shaggy head.

A puff of moist breath hit them before the creature lowered her snout, a huffing sound echoing through its cavernous chest. In his arms, Tiffany gasped, wincing at the sudden movement. He stroked his fingers soothingly over her shoulders, simultaneously releasing her of one arm to extend it to the muzzle he had been offered.

Long fingers disappeared into the sinewy strands of hair flowing over the Silloúgh's maw, and instantly she leaned into his palm, nuzzling, her huge eyes blinking slowly.

"You can touch her," Kaede told Tiffany, who turned her head to regard him with shock.

"You said only those she trusts," Miss Cotton breathed with no small amount of trepidation in her voice.

He shot her a softly amused glance. "Let me tell you a few things about the Silloúgh, sweetness. It is believed that she has the intrinsic ability to select only those of worth to linger in her presence, and only those she trusts to afford her affection. You would not be this close to her if she did not want you to be."

There was still hesitance in Tiffany's eyes, but finally she seemed to bolster her confidence and turned to the beast, who was huffing against the palm of his hand affectionately. She raised her hand, her fingers notably trembling, and then she paused for an imperceptible moment before resolve overcame her and her fingertips ran along the edge of the Silloúgh's pointed snout.

A startled sound of laughter and wonderment burst out of Tiffany, her eyes coming alive behind the lenses of her spectacles. Colour rushed up her neck, heightening her cheeks. "I have never heard or read of these creatures before," she breathed, sliding her fingers into the coarse pelt.

"This is the only one that we know to exist," Kaede said, his voice turning solemn. He dropped his hand from the beast to slide along Tiffany's waist instead. "They are known to exist as a mated pair, and thrive as such, and the land they occupy will also thrive until the end of their existence. Alone, they only nurture the environment in brief spurts before their effect wears off."

"She's lonely," Tiffany said with a little ache hitching her tone.

He nodded against her temple. "They do not trust easily, and it takes them some time to find their mate, but when they do..." He shrugged, his heart heavy. "We have been scouring the earth for another in an attempt to bring them together, but... We are not sure they have survived. Their antlers, their unique abilities, their pelts... have been hunted for many years in human circles for sport alone."

The Silloúgh huffed another deep, rumbling breath, its enormous head shaking slowly from side to side. Tiffany dislodged her hand and dropped it, her fingers sliding along his arm and hand where it lay upon her waist and there it stayed. "That has made me terribly sad," she admitted, turning her head to regard him. "Sometimes I do think we are a deplorable species. We hunted the Stellar's sea cow to extinction too, one of our own creatures. We are thoughtless to the consequences of our own greed."

The melancholy of the topic and the sadness on her countenance weighed heavily on his mind. In an effect to allay some of it, he murmured, "Humankind isn't all bad."

She averted her gaze quickly, studying the Silloúgh as it curled its body to around in the opposite direction, earth groaning, back atop her knoll. The grass bloomed and flourished in her wake, only to wither and recede once more, the trees bending and creaking back into their gnarled, leafless limbs and the moss turned brown, blown away in the next stiff breeze. "How can you say that, after all you have been through at the behest of our kind especially? Have you not seen or heard of the atrocities some fae have endured? There is word of a select group of human collectors..." She seemed to swallow her words at that, shaking her head yet still not meeting his concerned gaze. The Silloúgh coiled about her knoll once more, disappearing as fluidly as she appeared. "Never mind, I should not speak of things I have only heard rumoured of."

"I have heard of some humans curating fae for their own personal amusement," he admitted. "Collecting us as prized possessions, hoarded away in glass cages or worse."

Her fingers clenched where they lay atop his hand, her throat convulsing. "How can you not hate us?"

He didn't answer her for some time, merely absorbed the raw poignancy emanating from her, relishing that she pressed against his body for comfort and sort out his arms to hold her. "Because," Kaede said carefully, "I find there is too little time in this life to waste on hate. And if I had to hate humankind, then I would have to hate you... and I certainly do not feel that way about you, Miss Cotton."

Her head snapped to him then, her neck tilting back against his chest, and her eyes were so very large and stricken. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, but when no words were forthcoming she seemed to curl in on herself. "I... I have to tell you something," she said tremulously, and then she was slipping from his arms and stepping away from him.

There was something devastating about her now and his hands lingered in the air that her body had just vacated, as if unwilling to let her go, and yet she was setting a distance between them. Her jaw stiffened and those marvellous eyes were hard and flat with resolve. "Are you well, Miss Cotton?" he couldn't help but ask, silently praying that her behaviour was caused by some malady.

"Please, don't call me that," she whispered with a shake of her head. "I... I will explain everything to you, I promise. But not presently, not here, and not now. Can you... can you come to my chambers this evening? An hour after the evening meal should suffice."

A heavy, foreboding knot settled in his gut like a clump of granite. But Kaede nodded, and then he held out his arm to her so that she could accept it and allow him to guide her back to the estate house.

Even if his stomach was churning and his chest tightening with trepidation, he couldn't allow himself to think badly of what she had to tell him.

The Silloúgh, after all, had approached and allowed her caress.

In that alone, he would take solace.