literature

Streitduett

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klutzyalicat's avatar
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Literature Text

The night was calm with a mother's love.

Titania stood in the center of a circle of her children, the latest addition to their family held tightly to her breast. The boy was young, no more than two, with skin the same shade as the trees that surrounded them, a stark contrast to her ivory flesh. But that did not matter to the Faerie Queen. Neither did the human blood that pulsed through his veins or the children that danced around her. He was a member of her family. He was a child, and one to be celebrated.

But as the children danced, the woods darkened, clouds moving to block the moonlight from their clearing. Thunder crackled once, loud enough to have the boy stirring in her arms.

"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania!"

Titania pressed the boy tighter to her. "What? Jealous, Oberon?"

Despite the tone of her voice, she had known Oberon would find her. She had known he would hear of the boy she claimed as hers, and she had known that he would want him. Her lord was always one to think of his guard and his knights before his children, all three which were one in the same. But, unlike her children, he would not get this child. She would not let him.

"Children, listen now." She looked at her faeries, then at the king, who sat upon a mound of dew-covered grass, cross-legged. "I have foresworn your father's bed and company."

"Titania!" He seemed to fly from his seat. Quite literally, she noted; his toes no longer touched the ground. The temperature seemed to swell in the clearing. "You rash wanton, am I not your lord?"

Her lips curved. "Then I must be your lady." She could not help but chuckle, even as she raised a single finger, to touch it to her lips. The clouds parted, bathing the clearing once again in silver moonlight. The thunder quieted. "Come, tell me, my lord. Why have you come to my lands? Why have thou left the farthest reaches of India?"

The temperature dropped at that last question, and the faeries that surrounded their queen moved to circle behind her. Titania gave the baby to her oldest, Peaseblossom, and stepped towards her husband. His feet touched the ground. Her dress seemed to dance just above the blades of grass. They both knew.

"You have come to see your warrior love, my lord."

"How can you shame me such, Titania, when I know of your love to her promised one?"
The wind picked up, just a little. A smile curved Oberon's lips.

"These are the forgeries of jealousy, my king, and should be treated as such. Nothing more."

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She neither flinched nor spat, though he could see how hard she fought both instincts. "Give me the boy, Titania, and I shall allow your celebration to continue."

"Dance with me." Her reply was quick, almost as fast as the hand that now enveloped his wrist. She gave a tug, back towards the center of the clearing, where the moon shown and the trees whispered. Many a nights they had danced there, and many a nights they had roamed. "Enjoy tonight, my lord, with me and not your lover."

He slipped from her grip like smoke. The ground beneath his feet glowed, burnt. "Give me the child, my queen. I will stay with you." He reached up, gently cupping her face in his hands. His eyes were gentle, warm. In his eyes, she could see the half of Avalon that belonged to him, his mountain brooks and volcanic heat. "Just give me the boy."

But if he thought he was going to take her child with a whispered promise, then he was surely mistaken.

"He is mine, Oberon." She stole a kiss from his lips before explaining. "His mother was a dear friend of mine. She and I would sit upon the sand of her land and… Oh, how we laughed." Even as she spoke, Titania was taken back. She was taken back to the days of laughter, of gossip, of comfort and of pure openness. Her eyes closed. "But his mother was mortal, and that boy brought her mortality to light. In her final moments, she made me promise her one thing. I was to care for the boy as if he was my own, and I plan on doing that."

She took half a step back and raised her hand. Her fingertips touched his chest, just over his beating heart. "He does not belong to you. He shall never belong to you."

"I am thy lord."

"I am not thy lady."

"Give me the child, Titania."

Her features hardened.

"Not for thy Faerie Kingdom."

The Lady Titania and her children were gone, leaving their king alone.
The Lord Oberon and the Lady Titania, King and Queen of the Faeries, battle over a human child. An excerpt from the novel I'm working on with them.

The title comes from the German word for "armed duet" and is borrowed from the song that I listened to while writing this scene.
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AunnaLeaFriday's avatar
Hey! This was cool. Too bad I read it at 2 am...But I bet I would still love it if I could remember it! <3 you, Twiiin!!!