Chapter 24

Hollow:

I thought I misheard her at first, because this damn girl had been so adamant about not going through with this. It had been a fight just to get Farley to kiss me, and now she asked me if I wanted to have an affair.

“Clarify,” I said.

She smiled, and her eyes looked around the room as if she felt nervous. I could almost hear her heart racing in her chest. “I think I’ve been being a little silly, letting the thoughts of others dictate what I do with my life. I want you, and I want to be with you. And just so we’re clear…” She looked at me again. “I don’t actually mean an affair. We’re together like a real couple. You touch other girls, and I’ll set you on fire.”

I grinned from ear to ear, and set my things down before I attempted launching myself at her. The girl covered my mouth with her hand, stopping me. I glared hard in her direction.

“There are more conditions,” Farley said. “Nod if you agree to the first.”

I did, even though it seemed stupid that I would have to tell her I wouldn’t touch other girls. No one but her existed for me. Yet Farley uncovered my mouth, and she sat me back down as she got onto my lap. My hands went to her hips as her arms wrapped around my neck.

“First,” she said. “You have to let me heal your heart. You don’t get a choice in that, which might make me sound awful, but I can’t be with someone with one foot out the door.”

I had thought about that before this, actually. We didn’t get a chance to discuss it, what with a man trying to kill her, and then her being attacked again by… someone. I thought about what my life had looked like before. Being forced to marry a stranger, make children with her, and rule a kingdom I never wanted in the first place. It all felt bleak to me. Then this little ray of light bounced into my life, and the world changed. I didn’t want to leave it as much, because I wanted to see what would happen next. I had something interesting, and it made me want to stay.

It felt different now, and I had more reasons to want to live. More than seeing what Farley would become, I wanted to be with her. That life my father tried to force on me, didn’t look bad with her at my side.

“All right,” I said.

Farley’s eyes lit up, making me think she had been worried about my answer. “I don’t know how the rest of this is going to work. Things might be a little complicated since you’re, ya know, royal.”

I made a face of disgust. “Dreadful, I know. But you don’t have to worry about anything. I’ll make sure it all works out. Do you have any more demands?”

She shook her head, a tiny smile on her lips. “No. I just want you, and everything else doesn’t matter.”

“I’d like to tell you something then, in case you didn’t know already.”

I saw her expression turn curious. “What might that be?”

It shouldn’t have been a struggle, but I found the words didn’t want to leave my mouth. My hands trembled on Farley’s hips. She noticed, and held me tighter. “I haven’t said this to anyone before,” I started. “Not to any girl, or my family. Anyone. I didn’t feel it. To be honest, I’m afraid I don’t quite know what it feels like, so I didn’t know for sure if this is the right name. But I’m not well when you aren’t around, and I’m happy when you are. I can picture the future, and you’re there. I love you, and you’re everything to me. I want you always.”

I waited, afraid of what she would say to me. She could crush me then and there if she wanted. Instead, Farley smiled, and her eyes got glassy as she quietly said, “I love you too, Hollow.”

Her mouth met mine, and all the fear left me. Farley wouldn’t crush me, because that wasn’t in her nature. Farley existed as this special, unique thing that shined in the sunlight. She felt soft in my hands, and against my lips, and on my lap.

Farley’s hands held my face gently, but she grinded roughly against me. She made a little sound of surprise as she did it, and I suspected something hit her in the right spot. Well, I would have been a terrible partner if I didn’t help her along.

I dragged my tongue along her bottom lip, letting my hands move down her hips and to her thighs. I had her glorious warm skin against mine, and I greedily drank it in. She said nothing as my fingertips, brushed the front of her undergarments, but she gasped in response. Farley pushed harder against me, but now had my hand between my lap and her body. I pressed against her, and Farley moaned as she tried to kiss me.

I slipped my hand under the fabric, and Farley’s eyes widened as she pushed me back on the bed. She fell with me, and I took her mouth for another kiss. We moved together, her hips rolling as I worked my fingers against her. Farley’s eyes closed when she began to pant softly.

No, this wouldn’t do. I couldn’t see her eyes. I wanted to watch her fall apart in my hands. I wanted to see something honest, and real, and I wanted it from Farley.

“Love,” I said softly. “Would you look at me? Please?”

She opened her eyes, and while they seemed a little unfocused, she still looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, and pressed my lips to hers for a moment. Then I rubbed my fingers harder against her, getting an instant reaction. I watched her run out of breath, still finding a way to move faster. It made me smile, seeing her enthusiasm.

Eventually, Farley’s eyes got wider, and she moaned once more. It came out loud this time, but somehow weak sounding. She panted heavily, and I did the same. My heart had started racing, and it began to hurt a bit. I didn’t tell Farley that.

She kissed me one more time, and then laid at my side, catching her breath. “You should have warned me that it would feel like that.”

“Where’s the fun in warning?” I asked.

“Terrible…”

“Just wait until I go down on you. You’ll scream.”

She blushed instead.

I rolled onto my side, facing her as I brushed my fingers against her arm. She smiled at me, and it didn’t fade like I thought it might have. “I love you,” Farley told me again, adding more color to my world.

“And what a kind soul you are for being so brave. I love you too,” I said, and I kissed her until she fell asleep.

***

I followed Farley around the woods for three hours while she collected things I could not name. She insisted I take the cure to my illness immediately, and I couldn’t tell her no. She controlled my leash, as well as if I got to see her naked. Saying no would have been foolish.

Farley had skipped around the woods, plucking flowers and plants while I watched her, and occasionally tried to push her up against a tree. She refused me, thinking I wanted out of our deal. That left me pouting and waiting for her to be finished.

Farley stood at a table in the kitchen, mixing all of these ingredients together, muttering another language under her breath. The contents smoked, though she’d used no fire. Farley looked worried, but I didn’t ask her questions. Shaky hands threw in another couple flowers, and she started mixing.

“It’s almost ready,” she said.

“Good.”

I thought that would make her smile, but she shuffled on her feet as she poured a red liquid into a glass. “I should tell you something. I can probably undo it, but I’m not sure. This isn’t only going to heal your heart.”

“Oh? What else will it do?”

She set it down, and looked up at me. “It’ll make you like me. Immortal. You won’t age anymore. I understand that this is a huge choice, and I wouldn’t hold it against you if you didn’t want to be with me for that—”

I took the glass, and tipped the contents into my mouth. I swallowed the whole thing in one gulp, and set the turned over glass on the table. “Mmm, fruity.”

Farley watched me with wide eyes. “Hollow, I might not be able to make you mortal again. Do you even understand what you just did? You’ll be alone if… Or, you’ll have to find someone else who…”

I took her face in my hands, and pressed my lips to hers for several seconds. “My choice was already made. I want you, and I want you for as long as we exist.”

She still looked worried, but moved on. “I need to make sure the potion worked. I’m going to speed up your heart, and you have to tell me if you have a harder time breathing.”

I nodded, and she unbuttoned my shirt. Farley laid her little hand over the scar on my chest, and I felt her push the magic through me. My pulse quickened, and I waited for the familiar breathlessness that came with this. My breathing did increase, but it nothing like it had before. I drew in breath with ease, and exhaled it back out again.

“Is that it?” I asked. It hadn’t felt like anything. I had been expecting some massive shift in my being, having this thing change in me. My life had a time limit for as long as I could remember, and that didn’t exist anymore. Not only would I survive my teenaged years, but I wouldn’t ever die. I had eternity in front of me, and the concept wouldn’t settle in my mind. How did Farley live with knowing that she wouldn’t die either? It seemed like the kind of thing that one could never really comprehend. Perhaps it would’ve been better that way. It wasn’t the important thing in the long run. This only meant I got to keep her for eternity as well.

Farley smiled. “Well look who’s not hollow anymore.”

“Oh, I’ll always be hollow, my love.”

She moved her hand from my chest to my face, and she smiled sadly. “You don’t feel that way to me.”

I smiled back, and kissed her forehead. “That’s all that matters.”

After our little moment ended, she looked at me as her nose wrinkled in irritation. “Should we tell your father that you’re not dying anymore? As a parent, I feel like we should respect him. But as a human, I feel like he should suffer forever for hitting you.”

I shrugged. “I don’t care that he hits me.”

“I care. He shouldn’t do that.”

“I’m just glad that you got away from the people who hit you. But you’re right, we should let the man know that he can settle down a little bit. Shall I carry you?”

Farley rolled her eyes at me, and turned sharply before she started walking away. I followed behind, and caught up to the girl. She giggled when I had my hands on her hips, steering her in the wrong directions. We eventually got to my father’s chambers, though I would have rather gone up to our room and taken a nap. Or other things.

“Father,” I sighed, not letting go of Farley.

He looked up from his desk, and grumbled when he saw me with my hands on Farley. “What do you need?”

I glared at him with hostility. “You could be a little kinder. Farley just did the two of us a favor.”

“Did she?”

I squeezed her hips, giving her the cue to speak next. She looked at me in a cute little panic, but she put her hands over mine, and addressed my father. “His heart is healed.”

Father stared blankly. “What?”

She nodded. “Completely healed. He’s not only healthy, but he’s… immortal. He won’t age anymore.”

The man stood up, and I prepared to push Farley behind me if it came to it. I wondered for a moment if he would have dared. He must have what would have happened if he tried. I wouldn’t have hesitated in taking his life. Everything could burn for all I cared.

“He’s healed?” Father asked. “He’s not dying?”

“No,” Farley said. “He can’t get sick anymore. No illness can kill him, and neither can old age. He’s as protected as I could make him, while leaving him human.”

It took him literally two full minutes to register the words that Farley said, and I watched none of it play out in his eyes. One would have thought that a father would have been instantly happy to hear that his only son would not die in a couple years, like he thought. Instead, Father had to ask a question.

“You used magic on him?”

“I had to,” Farley told him. “It was the only thing I knew would work, and I wasn’t going to take any risks.”

The king nodded. “I see. And you made him… like you? Does that mean he’s…”

He couldn’t put the words together, and I wanted to make him squirm. What would he have done if his only child had to become a magical creature to survive? Would he even saw me as his son at that point? Something told me no, but I wouldn’t ever get to be certain.

“No,” my person told him. “He has no magic, but magic is keeping him strong and alive. It will forever.”

He processed that. “You did this without asking me?”

“Yes,” I said shortly. “Sorry, did I need your permission to not die? Is Farley’s saving my life not satisfactory to you? You could thank her for helping your son. That would be appropriate.”

Shocking no one, he didn’t say thank you. “What will the villagers think?”

Farley looked up at me, her expression pouting. “Is that what I sounded like?”

“Yes,” I told her. “But I love you anyway.”

That seemed to give my father pause, because it made him stare at me until I asked him what the hell he was doing. It took him a moment to respond. “What did you say to her?”

“That she sounded as crazy as you did.”

He shook his head. “No, you said you love her.”

“Of course I love her. Has that not been painfully obvious with the fact that I killed people for her?”

Farley made a face, but my father kept studying me. I understood it then, because even someone as oblivious as my father would have noticed a few things about me. To be fair, he hadn’t said he loved me often. I hadn’t heard it since my mother died. But he would have noticed my infinite coldness to every living thing around me, and the warmth I had for Farley. How could it not have been clear before this?

“I see,” Father said. “So you wouldn’t have listened to a word I said either way, because you’re in love.”

“True,” I said. “But the point being that this fixes a lot of problems for you. There’s no rush on an heir, you have to make no announcement to the kingdom that I’m ill, and I get to be attractive forever. Oh, that one is more of a Farley thing than yours.”

She didn’t smile, but I could tell she wanted to. I would have to get her to give it up later, so she could have a pass for now.

“She wanted you to know,” I went on. “Which is the only reason we told you that I’m healed. Like it or hate it, it’s still a fact. As well as Farley and I courting. You can go ahead and think that over. I’m taking her for a walk.”

No one stopped me from taking her hand, and walking her out of the room.

Once we got clear of my father, Farley said, “I think that went well. It could have gone better, but that wasn’t bad. I still have a head.”

“I’m very grateful for that, but I wasn’t worried to start with. I have my dagger with me. I could have kept you safe.”

She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “You would have killed your father? You know that’s not the kind of thing you can get away with. No one cares about the butcher or a maid, but your father is the king.”

“And you’re my girl. You outrank him.”

“Not in the eyes of your laws.”

“I care little.” My father knew that as well, which was why Farley didn’t get brought to the dungeon long ago. It might have occurred to him to try that, but I would have let her go. Then we would have had sex on his desk for revenge.

Farley brought my arm around her shoulders, and tucked herself against me when we started walking again. She seemed calm, and I hoped she didn’t decide to get paranoid about this later. Knowing her, she would have assumed my father would hire some assassin to kill her. Though… I could convince her to sleep in my bed then.

We passed by the seamstress, which reminded me I needed to speak to her about a couple of things. That would have to wait until later, because Farley smiled so wide when she saw the sunny sky. It almost felt warm, even with the cold wind. I just wanted to watch her enjoy it.