Humans..... So small ... .so fragile yet make for an interesting creature, Aldric droned on in his mind.
The good thing about being "alone" is that it gives you time to be one with your mind. Aside from a Maximus or Maxi - as she calls herself this time - his best friend was his mind. Aldric could get lost in his mind all day and never feel bored.
It didn’t help matters that he had mental powers and he always had a good time testing it out on humans. Everyone in the fae realm was aware of what he could do and always put up a mental wall, blocking him out, but the same couldn’t be said for the humans.
Their mind was always open and perhaps, it would have been a dream come true were he able to read minds. That way the voices could drone on and on and he would never be lonely. Instead, he was left with the limited ability of dream manipulation and mind control. Well, it wasn’t so bad and he had fun with it just as right now.
Aldric was in Islinda’s room at the moment. Well, to be precise, he was lounging on her bed. It was not difficult to track her when the news of her return spread through the village like wildfire. The interesting human was lying on her side and facing him, soft snores leaving her mouth.
This was the second day of her return and has chosen to stay in the inn. Does she not want to see him anymore? He thought he was her favorite child, Eli. Well, since she didn’t want to see him, he chose to see her then. Isn’t it lovely?
Aldric watched her like a hawk, even though nothing was interesting about her sleeping form. However, he could tell she was not sleeping well from the way her breathing quickened and she turned, muttering incomprehensible nonsense, sweat beaded on her face.
Islinda was having nightmares and unknown to her, she just provided Aldric with a night snack. The decision to break into her mind was inevitable and Aldric could not resist the lure anymore. He was curious to see what she was dreaming about.
So Aldric leaned over her body since that made for an interesting position, shutting his eyes, and went into her dreams. He broke through the haze of her subconscious and watched in the background..... Ugh, of course, it was a dream about Valerie.
Valerie rolled his eyes towards heaven and gagged a little. While he had an inkling she would dream about Valerie, Aldric had somehow hoped she would prove him wrong. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes high, because that was the case. And now, he had to be given a front-row seat to this cringe view.
By the gods.... Another eye roll.
Unlike the time when he got into Remy’s mind, Aldric did not attempt to take over her dream, he instead chose to watch from the side. And in this dream, Islinda and his dearest brother Valerie seem to have gotten their happily ever after considering the way they were being lovey dovey on this unknown beach.
Aldric wanted to throw up at the scene, another kissing and he was taking control of this dream. He thought this was a nightmare, when was the good stuff happening?
As if he jinxed their luck, the good stuff - Aldric wished for - happened. The wind began to pick up just as the sky darkened in an instant. Islinda and Valerie stood up and began to run, attempting to get back into the house paces away, and take cover. But the wind blow harder and becomes a hurricane.
"Run Islinda!" Aldric saw Valerie shout at her just as he was picked up by the storm and sucked into the vortex.
"No!" Islinda screamed with so much desperation that tore straight through him because Adric could swear he felt it. His heart strangely began to ache.
Unconsciously, he lifted his hand to his chest and began to rub it.
What the hell?
Aldric gasped as he clutched his chest harder. Why did it hurt so much? He couldn’t breathe and the pain was suffocating. Something was not right here.
Aldric was not a fool, he knew that whatever emotion he was feeling right now did not belong to him. Islinda was the one hurting, not him. Humans and their petty emotions. So why was he feeling it? This was the first time such a thing was happening and Aldric did not like it one bit.
He had to get out of the dream.
So without a second thought, Aldric broke the connection, returning to the present only to receive a greater shock. He was lying on top of Islinda, but that didn’t shock him, rather the wetness he felt on his face.
He was crying?
No! It was impossible!
But the scene was not mistaken and the tears had dropped onto Islinda’s cheek so it was clear as day. However, that was the least of the problems because her eyes opened and she saw him.
Uh oh, Aldric froze and waited for the moment she would freak out. This was not the way he wanted them to meet, but the damage has been done.
However, Islinda never screamed, instead she reached out and clasped his cheek, surprising him. What was going on? He was the one supposed to surprise her, not the other way around.
However, the answers to his questions got answered when she whispered,
"Valerie...."
Aldric froze.
His blood ran cold and he had never hated Valerie as much as he did that moment. Aldric thought that somehow in that crazy mind of his Islinda accepted him the way he was.
No, he refused to be his brother’s replacement. How dare she use him to relieve her grief?
He looked at her with hardened eyes and commanded, "Sleep."
At once her eyes closed and her hands slipped from his face and fell to the bed as her breathing relaxed.
Aldric got off her with revulsion. What had he been thinking anyway?
His plan was going to continue and nothing would stop his way to the throne, not even some measly human emotions.