Young Writers Society

Author's note: It's been a while so I'll give you guys a brief recap. Basically, Cowan was called for a meeting with the King and Isaac tells him not to shut Evrial out of his life. Now, he is with her, telling her why he's been out of sorts. Which is because the way Rachel was killed is exactly how his younger brother, Xavier was killed. Hope you enjoy!

Finally, she answered him, "I understand. You could have just told me that though. It is amazing to think that only yesterday, our lives were so simple. Although we did not think it then, I believe it was a lot simpler then now. All we were worried about was keeping us hidden and doing what we had to do. Now there is a murderer in the castle and everything I thought I knew is wrong.”

"I don't understand...everything you knew is wrong?” He pulled away from her a little, to see her face. To his dismay, her expression didn’t reveal anything.

She looked up into his eyes and started to explain, “I went to the King today, after our dispute,” she sighed and tears threatened to come forth again, “I should start from the beginning before telling you about that. Cowan, I haven’t exactly been honest with you and I would understand if you need a while to think about this.”

“I’ll be fine, Evrial. We have already promised each other that nothing will come between us.” He smiled at her, trying to be reassuring even though his heart ached to know what she had to tell him.

She returned his smile half-heartedly before continuing, “This is a bit difficult for me to say. I have kept this part of me hidden for so long that saying it aloud feels unnatural. Please, I beg of you not to be angry. I am a creature of shapes. I have two shapes. That of a Vorg and the other of a hawk.”

She winced as the words left her mouth and he tried his best not to react badly. He stood up, not able to stay sitting and started pacing the room. His love interest wasn’t human…she was a creature. He had kissed a creature. So many emotions clouded his mind that he couldn’t decipher how he felt about the news.

Evrial looked into his eyes and he could tell she was searching for some response. He knew it wasn't fair to stay silent but he needed to think before he spoke. He couldn’t tell yet if he was angry, scared or just plain shocked.

"We both neglected our promise of no secrets so I can’t begrudge you for that. I don’t know what to think…you’re a Vorg? W-what exactly is that?” He tried not to sound harsh but it didn’t quite escape his voice.

She sighed deeply before responding, "Cowan, you must understand the reason I couldn't tell you. It was such a risk; especially with you being the second in command! I knew you wouldn't betray me but I never told you because I am a coward. I knew you wouldn’t turn me in but I was scared that you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore. A Vorg is basically a saber tooth except a lot bigger and a lot stronger."

"I do understand. It’s just a hard thing to process that you aren’t even human. Are you Hainian?” He knew his history. He knew that King Isaac banished the race to Lithian when he got rid of magic but never before had he met one. Well, that he knew of before now.

“Yes, I learned that today. When I went to King Isaac, he knew about me. He didn’t hang me like I expected him to. He smiled at me and explained my heritage. I am so awfully confused. I went to him to talk about Rachel’s murderer and he ended up telling me so many things about myself that I didn’t even know.”

“Wait…Rachel’s murderer? What do you mean?” The news unsettled him and he didn’t want to know how she would know anything about it.

She sighed again and looked at him with a sassy look in her eyes, “If you would have listened to me this morning, you would already know this. The thing that killed her isn’t human. It was another creature of shapes. Although not one like me. This race goes by the name Crassus and they are sick, brutal beasts that take pleasure in torturing[RM1] .”

“Well, that would certainly explain things. Does Isaac agree with you?”

She nodded her head and said, “Yes. He has heard of them before and I guess he suspected as much himself.”

“Hmmm…”

She took a deep breath before saying, "I know. It was a big thing for me to learn. I don't even know myself as well as I thought either. I knew that the Crassus existed but to think that one was in the castle. I would never have thought. I know that this changes things but please don't let this ruin what we have.” Her voice cracked as she spoke and she stood up to face him. Her face held such emotion that he couldn't bear it anymore. No matter how angry he was at her, he could never give her away. He wrapped her in his arms again and they just stood there silently.

"I guess I should tell you this," he whispered into her hair, "We don't have to be secret. The King knows and he seemed perfectly alright with it. I guess now that we know your past, we know that you are 'worthy' of me. Actually, he told me I didn’t deserve you.”

She chuckled and said, “It’s about time you realized that.”

He scoffed playfully, pretending to be offended.

“Well if I don’t deserve you, we better put an end to this. I wouldn’t want to drag you down in your social life.” He pulled away from her and crossed his arms, eyebrows raised.

“You’re right. You will bring my status well below average. I suppose you must leave now.”

Damn it. She wasn’t supposed to play along. She was supposed to fawn over him and make him feel better about himself. Why he expected that, he didn’t know. He should realize by now that she would take any chance she could to flaunt her wittiness.

She smiled as if reading his mind and said, “Go along! Shoo!”

He glared at her and tackled her in a hug. She squealed and laughed as he placed a kiss on her lips. He wasn’t going let her win. When he let go, she was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. He missed that smile. It had only been a day since he'd seen it but it seemed like an age.

Finally able to breathe, she smiled at him and wrapped her arms around him in a more dignified manner. There she stayed, with her black hair flowing down her back; her eyes with a spark back in them. This is what he loved her for.

[RM1]Edited