Eclipse

It had been a while, a season of uncertainty as the attacks from the creatures encroached the remaining lands from the kingdom.

Surrounded by all sides, it was bound to happen... The royal guard, the king castle's army and the Crown Prince were busy defending the paradises, the lush few, far and between lands where most of the royalty's and upperclass' comforts were placed... The Crown Prince even extended his protection to the tribelands where Selene the huntress, his fiance, dwelled, which were also the bountiful terrain from which most of the commodities of the kingdom were obtained.

The General's army was tasked with the important mission to exterminate the threat of the creatures (not the creatures themselves, mind you, as they were quite an effective means of control for the common populace).

They had to find the creature's leader and kill it, to bring home a trophy and a victory.

(Something the kingdom could celebrate on, and to prevent the kingdom's downfall).

So it came to pass, that the creatures decided to attack the tribelands, while keeping a close siege on the castle.

Fate willed the battlefields of the General and the Prince to come in close proximity of each other, as the regent of the creatures, the strongest and scariest of them all, capable lf wiping a whole team of guards by itself, was attracted by the enticing presence of the crystals the tribelands produced.

It was a resource that the general population knew not what to do with, as it was of no use to them, and which, as a luxury o ject was only recently being experimented on by the crown, in hops of discovering a hidden power within.

Selena gasped as she caught sight of the General, slacking his way over to the creature's regent...

She could see the Regent's guardians, bulkier than most other creatures, and twice as deadly, were encroaching the area... 

She reminded herself to trust the army. After all, she had fought alongside come of them and knew them to be quite capable and survivors, justa as her.

A chill ran down her spine, like an ominous premonition... She dismissed it, trying to refocus herself on the village's defense.

After all, the Crown Prince himself had come to their (her, rather) aid.

For once in her lifetime, she knew she was being protected and cared for. It was an unusual feeling, a bit uncomfortable yet, but nice.

After all, if the tribelands fell, the castle would be under a much more serious threat, without supplies, and facing a more numerous force of creatures,with less warriors available for it's defense... It made perfect sense for the royal family to allow a small force to defend these lands, she thought...

While the village's hunters clashed against the creatures' attack, a roar could be heard in the distance. It was defiant and fierce, but also hid an undertone of a pained hiss...

Selene knew who it belonged to, and her first instinct was to go there and ñrotecr him... Mighty as he can be, she could not bear the thought of the General being in danger...

She whirled in place, darting off the the General's direction. She even didn't stop to think that by turning her side or back to the enemy, she would be attacked.

The Crown Prince did notice her suddenovement, and in the nick of time threw his longspesr to block the creature's pincer that otherwise might have split Selene intwl by the waist, had it not been redirected and nailed to the ground by it.

It has been a lucky shot, really, hitting the little amount of exposed tender tissue revealed by the creature's attack.

Selene just did not register this consciously... She followed the pressure tightly encroaching her heart, which now beat furiously in anxious hurry...  She was afraid she would not make it in time.

After going across a patch of dense vegetation, she finally saw in, an epic encounter... Most of the soldiers and hunters fighting alongside the General were other busy, wouldes or fallen... The General was barely withstanding the many simultaneous attacks from the creature's regent, but not even then did he back down.

His determination was admirable, but even at the top of his skill and condition, it was hard to think there could be a single individual capable of felling such a terrifyingly threatening and dangerous creature...

Both enemies launched against each other, weapons drawn, jaws open, emitting their battle cries... The creature shrieked, the General roared... Selene darted in like she had the devil on her heels, aiming her lance at the creature's hips, attempting to hinder it's movements...

It all happened in a blur... The General noticed her, out of the corner of his eye, and growled in annoyance. He feared Selene getting hurt and despised her idiotic choice to set herself in harm's way, also stealing away a bit of his glory.

Another, deeper growl came after in annoyance, as the Crown Prince followed after Selene and caught her after she had only advanced a couple steps, firmly and protectively holding her in place.

Selene did not seem to become fully aware of this yet, as her body struggled fiercely to go towards the general, as if an invisible chain pulled her to it, with a strength comparable to some kind of gravity.

The General refocused his attention on the creature's regent, impaling it with his sword, thrusting it through its throat and grabbing ahold of it's torso with arms and legs, using the claws ol all of his limbs, as wells as biting down hard on it, to tear it apart. It took him a bloody while, to diemsmber and have it's body town in shreds, before he was satisfied, venting his anger and jealousy on the enemy's corpse...

"Well done, brother, the glory of this hunt is yours" the Crown Prince greeted the General. 

"Hmph... Prince" was all that the General harrumphed in return, as if he had to make an effort in calculating the words he would exchange with the Crown Prince.

The General glanced at Selene, being held so possessively and protectively by the Crown Prince, and the General then bacame disgusted, a dark shadow enveloping his features. He withdrew then, commanding his warriors to follow him to another battlefield, to real more glory, as if his current deed meant nothing...

"Are you ok? Does it hurt anywhere?" The Crown Prince looked Selene over, making sure she was unscathed and well.

"I... I am ok, thank you, your highness" Selene unconsciously reverted to the cold and distant etiquette, after being so close to the general and seeing the dep displeasure in his eyes, which had all but bore a whole through her.

"Excuse me, I need to..." She ñsused, trying to reorganize her thoughts while following on her body's need to flee this scene. "I need to go make myself useful somewhere else..." She looked apologetically at the Crown Prince, noticing the hurt in his eyes, despite him trying to hide it behind s soft smile and a strong front. "There are surely other hunters in need for back up". She added, as if she needed to provide s credible reason to her actions.

The Crown Prince made a motion to go after her, reaching to touch her, bit he stopped after the first step, the realization of it being best to let her have some space, dawning on him.

He could tell there was something odd in a this, in Selene's behavior, but could not quite place his claw on it. He suspected something, of course, but was not certain of anything, really.

The battle was long, drawn well into the night of the next day. No one had been able to sleep, eat or rest, and all were exhausted. If they could move, it was only thanks to the lingering adrenaline in their bodies, courtesy of their survival instinct.

The village's had been trashed, a full reconstruction would be needed. Everything was razed to the ground as if a natural disaster had swept it over mercilessly. The survivors were few and far in between. They could all hope the king's castle held fast, as the force sieging it was a lot smaller than the army of creatures they had miraculously fell this time.

As everyone licked their woulda and tended to their dead, Salen slipped through the deepest hours of night, searching for her heart's desire... She found him wouldes, bleeding, but alive, stubbornly standing with on foot above s rock, cutting an heroic and imposing figure against the horizon, by the beach line. The roars from the waves and the darkness of the sky were ñerfect to drown their whispers.

The Waning Moon, now just a sliver on the night sky, appeared to hold a sad portent...

Selene had replayed it all in her mind, and finally understood what was in her heart.

She realized that she could give herself, her life and everything she had painstakingly built in it, to be with the General. Not even her guilt and sense of loyalty, nor the love and gratefulness she felt for the Crown Prince,could contain her from laying her life in the line to save the General's.

It has been a clumsy, badly calculated move, to butt into his duel with the creature's regent, possible diminishing the General's glory and complicating things further for him.

But she could not bear the thought of him being hurt, or worse, dead. She realized she could not bear the thought of being parted from him.

So she came... He heart in her throat as she approached him, revealing the metal necklace with a link, one of many that composed the chain he had held her with, years ago....

Seeing her come willingly to him rejoiced the General. He smiled smugly, a dark smile for kng behind his lips as he considered the added implications, knowing as he had recently discovered, that she was his hated little brother's chosen mate.

All of this froze in place as Selene came up to him and kissed him silently, all of her passion and feelings poured in the carefully expressed intensity of it. The decent of her heat filled his nostrils, and as much as his instinct fueled his desire, he also felt somewhat nauseated by it.

There he had the perfect opportunity for so many things he had always wanted...

There she was, a strong, fierce and independent huntress, meek and obedient under his paw... He had successfully conquered her and imprinted her in a way that made her his... To the point of being ready to mate... She was, coincidentally, something he could very advantageously (and treacherously) snatch from under his despised little brother's nose... That spoiled brat who got everything given to him, overlooking the primogeniture as the General was considered too feral to be worthy of the Crown... Being the firstborn, he had been denied of his birthright, instead having to snatch every little crumb of glory for himself, as the Crown Princeling was celebrated upon every little failure, the perfect little stately Prince as he was, so we'll behaved in comparison...

The general was capable of fiercely defying everything and everyone... Prefering to be alone and keeping the company of his warriors... Flushing his instincts and lowly desires at brothels... But never keeping or choosing a mate.

He realized then his desire had been one to conquer, to snatch and possess, but not to care and to keep.

He took Selene by her shoulders, his paws felt heavy with the burden of his realization, as his voice came out hoarse, keeping her at arm's length. "No."

Selene was dumbfounded. Confused, she asked, almost in a drowned whimper. "Why?"

Her eyes watered as they silently asked "Am I not enough, have I failed you in any way?, What did O do to deserve this? Are you seeking revenge on me for something I did to you?"

All her insecurities raced through her eyes as a tear threatened to roll down her cheek.

The General closed his eyes, lowering his head in what he could only recognize now as shame and regret. He had the purest love before him, unconditional, loyal beyond all vows... 

"I do not want this" he said, his voice straining to keep it's firm tone.

"You do not want me." She corrected him.

She had always inwardly feared this moment. Deep inside, she knew this was why she had let the Crown Prince affection grow, and tried so hard to reciprocate it, which she successfully had done, up to a certain point...

But today she had finally stopped denying her love for the General. Pure, una ashed, raw, deep and intense. She had come to recognize she could not escape from it or outrun it. She could only try to deny it until she started forgetting details and seemingly convincing herself she had all but allucinated the whole thing about him... But it took one proof of his existance in her reality, to have her respond to the now absent chain around her neck.

"I do not want this" he corrected her. "And I do not want it with you, either." He added. "You may despise me, attack me, do anything you want... I deserve it and accept it. I am a coward who did not know this much until today, until I could no longer deny that you have always loved me more than I ever though I wanted to feel loved, but never really wanted to car for or keep." The memories of all the drama at the brothels came back to him, as he now saw it under a different light in his head. He had never chosen a mate because he had never really wanted to keep one.

Selene could not prevent her tears from falling anymore. She felt helpless, pitiful, cheated... And hurt.

None of it made any sense. Why push her so hard, why come and go over the years, why call their attraction something inescapable, if it was in the end so easy for him to walk away from?... Was she a fool? Was it written all over her face how dumb and gullible she was? Was she still as naive as a cub to be played like this, to such an extent?

She wanted to strike at him, repeatedly, but only managed to muffle her own exhasperated grows and roars, frustrated as she was.

"You should have NEVER asked me to give you cubs!" Her tearful eyes demanded of him in silence.

"Nor even done that so insistently!" Her mind raced as her accusing and enraged gaze bore a whole through the General.

"I risked it all to come here... Every little thing I so painstakingly built for me, through my entire life... Just to be scroned by you this way, after years of unquestionable loyalty and devotion... I don't deserve this."

The realization dawned on her with that last phrase, if bitterly.

"Nor does he, even if you hate him. I do not care if he is your younger brother, he is amillon times more of a worthy mate and king that you have proven you are."

The General looked at her, apologetically, as sincere and humble as he had not shown himself to be to other people.

He took each word, along with the emotional blow it carried. He knew he was tearing apart her heart and that she did not deserve it. He could almost feel the anguish in her soul through the drowned whimpers in her voice, which trembled with every word.

"I could have taken you, here and now, and it would have made everything even worse later" he told her, sincerely.

"You mean to say nothing I could ever do could change this" she conceded, defeated. Her voice carried her hurt...

"I did not know this before." He said, looking at her with pity in his gaze. How could he have been so blind to the truth? How could he have ignored all the signs her brave loyalty and constant devotion showed him so desperately?

He had once been mad because she had accepted his brother's intentions and reciprocated them... But in reality he was angry at himself, because he recognized in their mating, what he did not want to keep ...  that was not how he wanted her, and that did not give him any right to keep her from such happiness... He just could not bear to be that selfish towards her.

"I shall speak no more of this to you... Of us." He paused. It saddened him to see her like this so irremediable hurt and defeated, so angry and desperate, knowing how futile any and all of her efforts had been, and would be in the future.

"I can only offer you my friendship." He said, in all honesty.

"I am well aware this is the last thing you want to hear" his tone became compassionate. 

She turned around, a part of her wanting to leave on the spot, to find s place she could trash and cry her heart out... But there was none. These were tribe lands, there was always someone surely snooping in on any unsual activity or loud sounds.

She made up her mind and defeatedly, full of sadness and prophecy, she faced him and said:

"I don't want this. 

I have always and still love you more than anything else in my life. I could have given up everything to be with you... But I recognize that against your own will, there is nothing I could ever do.

I would have loved to st least try, with all our might, to make it work, to make it worth the risk and the endless love I have had for you all along... But you are right, you do not want this and would not even try, I have that clear now. There was always this campaign or this patrol, this small issue or that one... Every time I confronted you with the purity and intensity of my feelings, you backed away, claiming it was me who got cold and distant when you wanted to pull on this chain you placed around my neck.

At least you now acknowledge it."

She paused and took a dep breath. She had been walking side to side in front of him as she did everything but yell at him.

"You know what? Why do I even care anymore? It's just not worth it, at all. Not worth my time, my attention, my effort, my love... Not even my thoughts. This goes nowhere and I do not deserve to be spurned like this, least of all by you.

I have miserably wasted my time with you all these years begging for a reciprocity that would never come."

From her ñride and hurt, as well as her certainty, she continued, with that solemn voice of one who makes a vow:

"Know this: I was stalling for time, I gave you a chance to have it all of me. But no more.

I will leave for the castle and marry the Crown Prince. And I will not look back. I cannot see you or want from you as anything less than I have always desired, so do not expect me to come near you. I will not beg for what I cannot have. I give up, this is useless... This has all been useless and for nothing... It never made sense..."

She turned around, wishing she could somehow bury this all deep inside her and forget all about it, all about him, wishing he had been but a feverish dream she could pretend that never happened.

Thankfully, other than a broken heart and an impossible desire for love and a future... There was nothing else badly hurt.

Her pride would recover. She had already taken the first steps toeards that by leaving and not looking back.

All his words, his demands and promises were nothing more than words to be carried away by the wind. It was all an empty she'll of s mockery, and she was way above and beyond those games.

Inwardly, a voice inside her reminded her: -This all happened to let you know you can be certain of the course you will take. This, as the obstacle it used to be, is no more, your path is clear and you can not fully commit to it without regrets-

But she still had one regret. The general never really did try, he did not even dare...

She pushed aside that regret, one of the very few she had in life. She knew her life awaited her, as she returned to the village, to find the Crown Prince waiting for her to step inside and share his bed, which she now could do so without the shadow of the General upon her.

She happily looked at him feeling the relief of being loved wash over her. She vowed not to do onto him what bad been done unto her. She looked him over, hugging him tenderly after making sure he was not seriously hurt and started tending to his wounds. She had finally chosen her path and there was nothing in her way anymore... She could finally live under the sun without any creeping shadows lurking about.