Injured Griffin boi story
Okay, I wrote this for SMP. I sent it out on the second (No wait, it was the first)to someone who lives here in the states. My post office said that it would be to her in two days. Two weeks went by, I heard nothing. I tried emailing her, the other mods have tried emailing her. (The other mod wrote a story for her two months ago and never heard from here either for her story...) I have no idea if she got it/if she ever will/if she'll care when she does. (I'll probably try doing a drive-by-commenting in her journal come the start of Decemember and see if she got it/if she needs me to send it again.)
And I'm an impatient little cuss. >_> So! This is friendslocked.
Because I recently learned how to download scanalations off the web, I proceeded to rot my brains out with my favorite mangakas. Naono Bohra is one of them. I joined naono_bohra and downloaded everything I could. And if you visit the comm, on the side bar, you'll see all those lovely pictures of some guy in jeans with wings. He was my model for Feo.
Look, I didn't say it made sense. I just said he was the model. >_>;;
Anyway...
A Griffin’s Tale
“You are a disgrace to your kind.”
Feo’s head jerked back as his king’s bejeweled hand viciously connected with his mouth and cheek. The rings, of course, had been added on purpose. They were both a reminder of the king’s power and his ability to wield that power through pain if he should so desire.
And apparently, he desired for Feo’s blood as the lackey at his back wrenched painfully at one of Feo’s glorious eagle wings. There was a sickening wet crack, and Feo knew that bones had been broken. Given the calm way that the king was cleaning Feo’s blood from his rings, it was also equally clear that he’d receive no reprieve from that corner.
“I did all that was asked of me,” he rasped, even as another lackey delivered a blow to his ribs with a boot and slammed him bodily to the ground.
“No,” the king glared down coldly. “I asked for someone loyal to me and all that I stood for to wisely guard my treasure from those who would abuse her and use her for ill gain. You failed me, griffin. You were bested by a mere farm boy. One whose bloodlines are unworthy and who contributes nothing to the kingdom except that thrice damned brat he’s managed to impregnate my daughter with. I needed a prince, not an unacknowledged bastard son.”
“It was who she wanted, and he was worthy,” Feo gasped out before sharp ripples of pain descended down his back. They were tearing his skin to ribbons, and the smell of his own blood was soaking his senses. He wanted to transform and rip all their black hearts from their chests, but the contract held him in check.
“It mattered not what the silly little twit wanted. I had an alliance with the neighboring kingdom. They were sending their legitimate son, someone who would have ruled this kingdom with a firm fist and would have brought wealth to my pocket. But you, you worthless creature, rejected him out of turn. Do you realize what you have done to this kingdom?! To my alliance?”
“He wasn’t the right one. U-unworthy,” Feo spat, tasting blood as one of the thug lackey’s delivered another blow to his head.
“It doesn’t matter.” The king calmly inspected his nails. “The insipid plot you hatched with my useless daughter is being taken care of as we speak. A simple hunting accident and the farm boy is no more. I’ll have to kill the brat eventually, of course. Tying up loose ends, you understand. But there will be my lovely widowed daughter, and I shall have my alliance. And this?” The king bent down to his level, a smile curling on his lips as Feo roared hoarsely in fury. “This is payment for services rendered.”
Feo saw the hatchet out of the corner of his eye as two of the lackey’s pinned him to the floor. A third raised it high in the air, as a fourth stretched his lion’s tail on the tainted floor. Time seemed to slow as the blade descended, landing sharply.
Feo screamed himself into blackness.
~*~
“Uncle, I understand, already. I have it all under control. And if I have a problem-or even the slightest of sneezes-there are over a hundred of your personally trained soldiers and advisors around me to help out,” Kelson laughed out as Nix glanced around the throne room uncertainly.
“I know that, Kelson, but I’ve never just left you to this before.”
“You’re going to have to sometime. Unless you plan on living and ruling forever, of course,” Kelson pointed out with unfailing logic, bringing a scowl to Nix’s face.
“You make me rule this blasted kingdom until I die and I’ll bend you over my knee and tan your hide.” Nix shuddered. The absolute last thing he wanted was to rule this bedlam for the rest of his years. He was a soldier. He’d always been a soldier. Being king required patience that he’d never been forced to have before.
“So have a little faith in me, Uncle. I’m gonna have to be able to do this without you sooner or later.”
Yes, but Kelson just looked so young. Nix frowned before rubbing the tense muscles at the back of his neck. Intellectually, he could understand that Kelson was the same age that he and Elric had been when they’d gone into battle for their kingdom. For this kingdom. Hell, by the time Nix was Kelson’s age, he’d led two attacks on the tyrant that had tried to swallow his kingdom whole and he’d killed more people than he’d cared to count in battle.
At seventeen, Kelson not only had the training and the experience, he had the desire and the patience to rule. Nix was getting in the way and bollixing it all up, of course, but Nix also never wanted Kelson to look back and think that he’d been forced into too much too young.
It was bad enough that Elric had felt that way and had died far too young to have lived enough to make the sacrifice worth it.
“Besides that, you and Dad made sure that we would always be surrounded by people we trusted and could rely on. It’s why the kingdom runs as well as it does,” Kelson chided, only a small reminder of sadness in his eyes at the mention of his father.
Nix was grateful for the fact that the grief had abated. There had been too many long nights spent with both Kelson and his twin sibs, Geltry and Ysela, trying to help them work through the overwhelming sadness. The sickness that had barely spared them all had not been so kind to Elric and his wife. And having never had children of his own, Nix had suddenly found himself in possession of three and an entire kingdom.
“If there’s even the slightest of problems,” he cautioned.
“I’ll send word to you immediately,” Kelson grinned impishly. “I might even let Geltry take the message.”
Nix glared. Heavens forefend if Geltry was allowed to give his prize stallion free rein to run. They might never stop. Nix had never seen a kid so addicted to the saddle. “Yes, well, try to remind him every once in a while that he is, in fact, not a horse and needs something more than oats and alfalfa to sustain life,” he returned dryly, earning a laugh out of Kelson.
“Ysela won’t let him take it that far and you know it. Who else would be her sparring partner?” Kelson snickered. “Seriously, Uncle. We’ll be fine. Take a nice long vacation and try not to worry about us. You’ve done so much for us; now please let us do something for you.”
Kelson looked up at him with big brown eyes.
The brat.
He knew Nix was weak to that tactic. “Fine. Just try not to burn the kingdom down while I’m gone,” he grumbled.
“Yes sir,” Kelson saluted like the smartass he was. Nix cheerfully flipped him the finger before wrestling him into a hug.
For all his worrying, he knew the kingdom was in good hands. And that was the only reason he’d agreed to this insane little vacation to a secluded hot spring.
~*~
Feo regarded his latest charge warily. The note he’d received had not mentioned the sex of his charge, and he’d foolishly assumed it would be another princess. Particularly, since all he ever had looked over in the past had been princesses.
This?
This was no princess. In fact, this was a hardened soldier. “My name is Feo, milord, and your rooms are this way,” he said calmly, not betraying any of his inward turmoil to the strange man beside him.
“Nix. None of that ‘milord’ crap. It makes me jumpy,” Nix dismissed with an amused snort. “I don’t know what Kelson’s told you about me, but I don’t stand on ceremony.”
King Kelson had actually said very little about the man before Feo. There’d been no mention of the grey is his short cropped black hair, the obvious ease with which he casually rested a hand on the hilt of a sword that bore too many nicks and blemishes to be unused, and there most certainly had been no mention of the scar that crossed over one eye rendering it sightless.
But most of all, King Kelson’s letter had neglected to mention that Feo would be safe guarding a man who did not need safe guarding in the least. Very few princesses, honorable intentions or not, came out questing for a seasoned prince turned knight. In fact, Feo had never heard of a princess questing for a mate, let alone one who might be questing for this particular type of mate.
Leading Nix into a set of rooms that had been carved out of the caves they were in, Feo hoped that the sparseness of the furnishings wasn’t going to be a problem. The last princess he’d had in here had screeched at him endlessly about how dull and drab they were. So much so, that he’d almost tossed her off to the first questor who had coming looking.
He couldn’t do it, of course, but he’d thought about it.
“Ah, these will be perfect.” Nix spared Feo a smile that went all the way from his lips to his brown eyes.
Frowning slightly, Feo nodded uncertainly. “They are imbued with magic, and will often clean themselves. The springs are located just off the main hallway here, but if you find yourself lost just call my name.” He’d learned his lesson the hard way in freely giving either his captives or the kings that hired him, the exact location of his lair.
“Thank you. You are a most gracious host.” Nix told him before moving farther into the room to inspect it. “Am I the only guest at the moment?”
Having more than one charge at a time was insanity. One never quite knew which one any particular questor was coming for that way. “Yes,” Feo said softly and slowly, trying to understand. Maybe this particular kingdom was new to tactics such as this. Some kingdoms did actually manage to marry their daughters and sons off without the help of such things as dragons and griffins and quests. It also explained why they would have hired a griffin as lowly as Feo for the job. Most kingdoms requested to at least meet with their child’s keeper unless the child in question was hated, scorned or uncared for in some regard.
Feo had long since accepted that his charges would either be surly spoiled brats, or quiet sullen creatures that were afraid of their own shadows. It was Feo’s nature to guard and protect. Mystical creatures only ever existed for certain purposes, and he understood what his was.
But never again would he put himself in such a position where those above him would be able to abuse him for their purposes. If that meant only guarding the misfits of the royal world, then so be it. Although, this had to be one of the strangest misfits he’d ever been contracted to look after.
“But you’re a griffin.” Nix was regarding him, confused.
“Yes, I am,” he agreed quietly. He wasn’t much of one maybe. His broken wing had never quite healed right, rendering him flightless. His once glorious tail was merely a stump that twitched irritably from time to time. His body was a patchwork of old scars.
“But griffins always have a charge that they’re guarding, right? Do you manage a hot spring at the same time? Doesn’t that get complicated?” Nix drew closer, reminding Feo that Nix was both taller and armed. Feo could transform, of course, into his full plumage and body shape, but that accomplished little since he looked only slightly less pathetic than he did now. Besides, the contract he’d signed with King Kelson had bound him to see that no harm came to Nix.
He most certainly never would have accepted the contract’s terms had he realized that Nix was not a shrew of a princess or a shrinking violet of a lady.
“Yes,” Feo grunted, not really caring how Nix decided to take the answer as he gave a brisk nod, slipping out of the room. The less he said, and the more distance there was between them, the better.
~*~
Nix stretched his aching muscles and old bones in the hot water of the springs. He’d sashayed around the idea of relaxing in the springs for a few days before finally giving in to the temptation. Boredom had been a key factor though, in driving him to it. Generally, he wasn’t one for such ostentatious luxuries. They reminded him too much of the times, the childhood really, that he’d had before he’d learned about his brother Elric and before he’d learned of his parents’ betrayal and before the bloody war that had righted the wrongs done to all kingdoms involved.
An excess of luxuries led to an excess of spoiling which led to a soft and ineffectual hierarchy that incestuously preyed upon itself.
It was part of the reason that soldiering had appealed so much to Nix once he’d stumbled into it. There was a rank and an order and with Elric by his side, he’d become someone other than the king’s spoiled bratty son. A feat he’d have never thought possible when a griffin had informed him of it years before.
Grinning to himself he slipped in further, letting the hot water lap at his chin. Kelson, trickster brat that he was, knew how fascinated Nix was by griffins. No doubt the kid had set up this trip solely with the intention of allowing Nix to meet and talk to one face to face. It was as amusing as it was alarming.
“Feo,” Nix murmured to himself, testing the name out on his tongue.
There was a loud splash, and blinking, Nix found himself staring at a bedraggled and furious Feo who was sitting across from him in the water. “You called,” Feo ground out between his teeth. For a second, Nix could only gape, and then the laughter came. “I’m so glad to be of amusement to you.”
“No,” Nix finally managed to gasp out between laughs. “No, it’s just that I didn’t realize that you’d appear simply because I said your name.”
“Didn’t I tell you that was all you had to do if you needed my help?” Feo arched a pale eyebrow. His pale gold hair was shining in the sunlight, and for a moment, Nix was captivated by it. It was the way Feo carried himself, Nix decided. There was the comfortable air of power surrounding him, which made sense as he was a guardian and thus as seasoned as any well trained soldier might be, given the extent of the scars and the injuries he’d obviously sustained. There was also something there though, in the wary blue eyes, which made Nix pause.
He recognized the look because he’d seen it in his own mirror all those years ago when his parents had betrayed him.
“How is it that you’re here and not guarding some princess on the top of a mountain or in the bowels of some cave?” He blurted out the question before stopping to think better of asking. From the annoyed frown on Feo’s face, it was obvious that he had been asked the question many times in the past. Still, Nix couldn’t help but grin slightly at the ruffled way, Feo gingerly stood out of the water to shake his wings dry.
“This place suits my purposes just fine and any true questor worthy of whatever treasure I have, will risk the dangers to get here.” One wing shook perfectly fine, but the other was bent at a slightly odd angle, forcing Feo to grab at it with both hands and shake it slightly. He was shirtless, as getting something on over one working wing would have been difficult enough without adding the complication of the injured one to the mix. His trousers were soaked through, though, and for a moment, Nix felt a bit guilty over that, even as it gave him an opportunity to stare. Feo turned to leave, and Nix thought fast, not wanting for his host to vanish once more.
“Do the worthy questors do that?” Nix asked softly, forcing himself not to move as Feo pierced him with a fierce look. Someone had lopped the griffin’s tail off, leaving only a stump to accentuate the multiple scars that ran down Feo’s back, between his wings and just above the curve of his hips.
“No, which is precisely why they are worthy,” Feo snarled, starling Nix as he abruptly turned to climb out. It was a less than successful attempt, however, as Feo’s foot caught the edge of the pool’s lip, throwing him off balance.
Reaching up swiftly, Nix curved an arm around Feo’s waist pulling his weight back to keep him from cracking his head against the stone rocks surrounding them. Unfortunately, for his efforts, he was rewarded with a mouthful of feathers as Feo squawked indignantly and struck out, clipping Nix’s head with a fist on his blind side. Grunting, he released Feo only once they were both in the deeper portion of the pool.
“Ow.”
“My apologies,” Feo said snidely, slinking a good arm’s length from Nix’s side. Nix just stared at him calmly, making no sudden moves as slowly stretched out. “You’re not interested in females.” There was a hint of accusation to the words, and for the life of him, Nix couldn’t figure out why.
“No, not really. How is it that griffins can tell that?”
“We’re griffins. We have to know if someone’s worthy or not,” Feo answered shortly, attempting to stretch his wings out over the water to keep them dry. “You’ve met more than me?”
“Went questing myself at fifteen. The griffin I found about pissed himself laughing, and I pretty much figured at that point that the royal life of marriage and heirs was not for me,” Nix grinned, amused at Feo’s indelicate snort.
“Have you a life mate?”
“No.” Heaven help him, if Kelson recruited the griffin for the Fix Uncle Nix’s Love Life Rescue Plan, the brat would not live to see a very long reign.
“What stringent requirements must you keep that keeps you from finding a mate of your own?” Feo asked, forthright and not in the least bit ashamed of the personal nature of the question.
Damn Kelson thrice to hell. Nix was going to wring the brat’s scrawny little neck the minute he clapped eyes on him next. “How’d you break your wing and lose half your tail?” he snapped back.
He didn’t have to wait for Feo’s reaction to realize that he’d gone too far. That, however, did not stop the thunderous expression from forming on Feo’s face or stop Feo from storming out of the pool and back into the caves without so much as a backwards glance.
Nix slumped down in the water with a sigh. Dammit. He’d just wanted a peaceful vacation. Had that been too much to ask?
~*~
Feo was not stalking his charge.
He was not shadowing him to see what parts of Feo’s caves and springs he liked the best. He was not making note of which foods Nix preferred and which he disliked. And Feo most certainly had not taken to spending his early morning hours, hiding just out of sight in order to watch Nix spar and perfect his swordplay against his shadow.
“Why couldn’t he have been a damned girl?” Feo kicked at a stray stone irritably as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Honestly. How the hell was he supposed to find a seasoned soldier a male lover? If the number of princesses questing for a prince had been sketchy, the number of knights and princes questing for a male lover were simply nonexistent. Besides that, Feo was having a difficult time understanding why Nix had had problems finding a lover on his own.
The man, while battle scarred and weathered, was still gorgeous to look at. The scar over his eye made him look dangerous, but everything, from the way he kept his rooms to the way he’d acted around Feo for the last week, indicated that Nix had a gentle personality by nature.
This was insanity. Griffins were solitary creatures. They did not lust after anyone, they did not desire more than a good cave or ledge on which to live, and they did not desire their charges. Scowling to himself, Feo ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
There was simply something about Nix that set him apart. Aside from the fact that he didn’t run around in dresses or annoy Feo with stupid demands for bath salts, lace or petticoats.
“Feo.”
Feeling the familiar tug, Feo let the magic take him to where Nix was seated on a stump just outside of Feo’s caves. There was an array of food around him, but it was the freshly cut fruit at his feet that Feo had to try very hard to ignore. “You called?”
“Yes,” Nix sighed, looking a bit sad, and Feo felt guilty for his abrupt behavior in the last few days. “I wanted to apologize again for asking that. It was none of my business.”
“It happened a long time ago,” Feo offered aloofly, finding a soft patch of grass next to the stump.
“Oh?” Nix replied cautiously, and Feo tried not to let his mouth water as Nix took an apple slice out of the bowl and popped it into his mouth.
“Griffins enter into contracts with the guardians of their charges,” Feo told him reluctantly, watching again as Nix took up a slice of pear. “My contractor betrayed me.”
There was sympathy in Nix’s eyes, and Feo hated it. He didn’t need or want Nix’s pity. The only thing that there was to pity was that he’d once been a stupid fledgling who hadn’t had to sense to know that he was being used by a monarch indifferent to his daughter’s wellbeing. He’d paid the price, he’d learned and he’d moved on.
“I know what it’s like to be betrayed,” Nix gave him a lopsided smile before holding out an orange slice to Feo. Forcing himself to be casual about it, Feo nonchalantly took the slice and tried not to greedily gobble the whole thing down on the spot. “My parents spoiled me incessantly before sending me out on my first quest. They wanted an alliance with a neighboring kingdom and saw me as their golden ticket. When I wasn’t able to comply, they discovered that by older brother had succeeded where I had failed, and they were furious. They promised me that they’d learn to live with what had happened, but then I stumbled upon a plot to kill both Elric and his wife that they had helped orchestrate.”
“Did they get away with it?” Feo asked quietly, hoping that they had since he doubted his own botched betrayal had had much of a happy ending.
“Oh no. Elric was too smart for them and had been on to them from the start. I just felt so stupid for having had so much faith in my parents and for trying to convince Elric to have faith in them as well. I thought they’d cared more than they had, and I think I threw all of my anger into my fighting. They’d cared not one whit for me or for Elric. They were simply interested in what assets and prestige we could bring them. They killed themselves rather than live in a kingdom under Elric’s rule. Want an apple slice?” Nix was holding out a hand with the nice juicy slice in it.
Not thinking on the slice and instead processing what Nix had just said, Feo reached over and grabbed Nix’s wrist, pulling it close enough for him to simply bite the apple slice out of Nix’s fingers before releasing his hand. Of course, given the stunned look on Nix’s face at the action, Feo felt his own face heat up in reaction. “Sorry,” he murmured softly. “Was Elric a good ruler?” Since King Kelson had been the one to send the contract, Feo felt justified in assuming that the older brother was dead.
“The best kind of ruler.” Nix answered with a happy smile, before handing Feo another orange slice. This time, Feo plucked it out of his fingers, ignoring the teasing smile and the hearty laugh Nix gave at his actions.
“Those are hard to come by, good kings,” he said gruffly instead before his attention was captured by the ringing of horseshoes on stone. Nix looked curious as well, but the curiosity quickly faded to worry as the horse came into view and the biggest muscle of a man that Feo had seen in quite some time dismounted a few feet from them.
“Geltry?”
And obviously Nix knew him. Snarling, Feo transformed, snapping his beak at the intruder before he dared to get to close to Nix. Stupid goddamned questors. None of them ever seem to realize that there was a protocol involved. Not to mention that Feo wasn’t feeling too inclined to go easy on any questor here on Nix’s account.
Dammit all, why did Nix have to be his charge? He snarled his frustration at the giant of a man who was smirking at them both.
“Feo?!” Nix sounded both appalled at fascinated at the same time, but Feo had no patience for that at the moment, he spread his wings as the man took a step closer. His lame wing, as always only made it halfway up, before hanging awkwardly at an odd angle. His stump of a tail was twitching madly, as well, but he couldn’t help it. How dare this green youth of an upstart think he could have his Nix?
“Well, Kelson did say that there would be a griffin.” The muscle head had the gall to laugh, and Feo gave an inhuman screech as he reared up. Neither the muscle head nor his horse seemed impressed by the action, however, and that infuriated Feo even more.
“Geltry, what the hell are you doing here? Is Kelson okay?” Nix tried to walk past him, and Feo snarled, pushing him back with a massive paw. “Feo, knock it off,” Nix bellowed his frustration back, shocking Feo into sitting still for a second. “I have to talk to him.”
“Kelson’s fine,” Geltry managed, a smile on his smug face. Feo wanted to claw it off as Nix walked around him and casually embraced Geltry. Of course, it was almost hard to blame Nix. The boy was handsome-if in it overly muscular way-and he seemed to have an easy going nature. And Feo could sense that he had honorable intentions. He was, by far, better than most questors that managed to stumble their way to the springs.
In fact, he was quite the good match for Nix, all things considered.
Sitting back on his haunches, Feo watched them for a second, noting that they were casually comfortable with each other as the beef man handed Nix a note.
“He actually wrote me a letter?” One of Nix’s eyebrows quirked up.
“Yes, and he said that you couldn’t read it until after Feo read this one,” Geltry added, producing another letter and gesturing in Feo’s direction.
Heavy hearted, Feo allowed himself to transform back. He had no one else to blame this time, except for himself. He knew that Nix was a charge. He’d known that, and he tried to ignore the man at first. That, of course, hadn’t worked at all, so he’d let himself get lulled into getting closer. He’d betrayed his own heart.
Taking the envelope, he ripped it open, hoping that Kelson’s punishment would be less than the one he had received in the past, but wondering at the same time if he even cared. Geltry took the opportunity to mount his horse and take off, much to Nix’s consternation given his yelling, but Feo was too busy with the letter to pay it much attention.
Dearest Feo,
I am sure that you are vastly confused by the circumstances in which you have currently found yourself in. And let me first apologize for the deception involved. I can only reassure you that it was done with the best of intentions.
Eighteen years ago, you looked after my mother, handing her over to a questor who was merely a farm boy with a somewhat questionable bloodline. You saw in him what none of the other royals had been able to see, and I can only assume that you knew how suited he’d be to ruling.
My parents never forgot your kindness to them, both upon their meeting and later upon your intervention that warned them of what my mother’s father had plotted.
I obviously appreciate it too, seeing as how I’m alive today because of it.
Forgive me for presuming, but I wanted to make sure that you were rewarded for your actions. I also wanted to ensure my uncle’s happiness as he has watched over my siblings and me with only the best of intentions. Figuring I could take care of both debts at once, I sent him to you hoping that you’d see in him what we see in him, and hoping that he’d see in you what I know to be true.
Uncle will never forgive me for trying to match make, but if it was successful, then I will consider it a worthy risk. If he is not what you want, only name your price, and I will see to it that you get that instead.
Eternally Grateful,
Kelson
Feo stared at the paper long and hard for many, many moments.
The kid was cracked.
“Feo?” Nix’s worried voice carried to him.
“You were supposed to be my charge.”
“What?!” Nix exploded.
“You were supposed to be a charge, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out exactly what kind of questor would come, and then he shows up, and what am I supposed to think?” Feo growled.
“Geltry?” Nix’s eyebrows flew up. “He’s my nephew. Not a questor.”
“Oh.” Feo’s anger deflated.
“What did Kelson’s letter say, Feo?” Nix asked gently.
“We’ve met before, you know,” Feo stepped away as Nix drew closer. The confusion on Nix’s face was evident.
“How? When?”
“I looked different then. I turned you away at fifteen because you had no business questing when your heart’s desire was not to rule and not for women.”
“Feo,” Nix said softly, drawing close enough to reach out and brush a hand against Feo’s cheek. “What did Kelson’s letter say?” Reluctantly, Feo handed the letter over to him, before giving in to the urge to curl his wings around him in a protective gesture.
“I’m not supposed to want the treasure I guard,” he finally blurted out desperately as Nix finished the letter with a slack jawed expression. “I’m not supposed to desire my charges or want them to stay or fend off questors out of blind jealousy. I’m not supposed to, but with you?” Feo shrugged miserably.
Nix reached out, his fingers resting lightly on Feo’s cheeks as he gently drew Feo closer. “Ever stop to think, Feo, that maybe the treasure you were guarding was you?” Nix whispered reverently before leaning in and kissing him.
Feo melted into Nix’s embrace.
The End
And just so we're clear, I know the letter was lame. And if I type anymore, I'll be pointing out every other real and/or percieved error and this post will be twice as long as it already is. Just suffice to say, I realize that plot device was laaaaaaaaame. If you run away from this screaming that you want that ten minutes of your life back, you have my heartfelt apologies.
But! Now you know who Geltry and Feo are. Fenn? Well, I'm trying to make him work with me. >_>;;