Danielle_Glade

To those it may concern, I moved chapter 23, it is now chapter 30. It just made more sense to keep them all together as one fluid piece rather than split up the segment

Karen had slept fitfully. Her head was filled with strange dreams all night. They had completely worn her out and made her feel so tired.

The mage turned over in her bed. Her hand brushed across the warm body next to her. A smile covered her face and she snuggled closer to them. 

Karen felt safe. It was warm. The sunlight streamed brightly and happily through the window. It was a beautiful day. And, the girl with her was really beautiful too. 

They weren't princesses. But, that's okay, they could pretend. They loved each other all the same. 

"Good morning, beautiful." Karen sat up and whispered to her sleeping partner. 

"No." The girl muttered. "Five more minutes. It's too bright." 

Karen rolled eyes and pulled the girl closer to her and giggled. "Your smile is the only bright thing I see."

The gorgeous blonde groaned and tiredly smacked her with a pillow. 

"You're not allowed to be corny and adorable in the morning." A slight blush creeped over her cheeks as she tried not to smile.

Karen quirked an eyebrow and laughed. "I don't remember that being part of our contract."

The girl blinked blankly at her. "What contract? I wasn't that drunk last night…"

Karen just smiled and rubbed her face gently against her cheeks. Then, backed off and pretended to pout.

"The girlfriend contract, Zephyra!" 

Zephyra turned red and looked away. A silly grin fought its way across her face. 

"Oh, I guess, I must've forgotten.", She answered coyly.

Karen's face fell in mock horror. 

"Oh no, we can't have you forgetting about our contract. It's very, very important. It binds me to you", Karen let her hands fall to the small curve in Zephyra's back. She possessively pressed against the girl, lightly bit her ear and whispered. "That means... you're mine."

Zephyra squirmed lightly against her and squealed at her ear being bitten. She threw her arms around Karen's neck and playfully looked into her eyes. 

"You know that you're really incorrigible, right? It's first thing in the morning." 

Even though Zephyra was admonishing her, she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. 

"Well… you seem to like it." Karen teased and lightly kissed her cheek. 

"M-maybe." Zephyra glanced away for a moment and quickly pecked at Karen's other cheek. "But, you know, you had maybe better remind me of the terms of our contract… so I can remember exactly what I agreed to do. You know, just to like… make sure we both read the same thing." 

"Mhhm, and totally not because you forgot."

"Oh, yeah. Of course, totally not." Zephyra giggled and snuggled against Karen's neck. 

"Well, I, Karen Smith, do hereby agree to love and cherish Zephyraster Von Malficar Verhängnis. Even though her name is a mouthful."

Zephyra rolled her eyes and gently kissed Karen on her lips. And, muttered, "I'll give you a mouthful."

Karen snorted at her and kissed her back. "That's a later part of the contract though." 

"Oh? Really?", Zephyra giggled back. "Well, here's the part that I remember. I, Zephyraster Von Mouthful Verhängnis, do hereby agree to love and cherish Karen Smith with all of my heart-"

Zephyra leaned forward and quickly kissed her.

"All of my soul-"

And kissed her a bit more slowly and longingly.

"And, with all of my mouthfuls."

The two giggled and laughed together until they finally caught their breath. And, quickly lost their breath as they shared one kiss after another. And, lost themselves in the warmth of their embrace and the depth of their eyes. 

BANG!

Ted ferociously kicked the door to their inn room. 

"Oh gods, keep it down!  You're both so loud. Hurry up! Our breakfast is waiting!"

"But, Teddy bear!", Karen whined. "I have my breakfast right here!"

Zephyra laughed and pushed Karen off of her. "Hey, I'm no one's breakfast! I'm a full course meal."

"Blech. You're both going to make me sick. And, you promised to not call me that anymore, Karen." Ted shouted at them through the muffled door. 

"Oh, so sorry, Teddy!"

"Yeah. Yeah. Just… just hurry up, alright?"

"Alright!" The two flirtatious girls whined back at him.

Ted walked away as the two mages started to get dressed. 

It took them a bit longer than either of the guys would've liked. But, to be honest, it was mostly because they got distracted with one another too much. 

Zephyra spaced out and watched Karen brush her hair out.

"You know, the white hair really does look good on you Karen."

"Yeah. I was a little upset that they used the wrong spell to color it. But, I think it turned out really well. It's definitely eye catching." Karen beamed back at her best friend. 

"It certainly caught my eye", Zephyra smirked and eyed the half naked girl approvingly. "And, you have really nice curves."

Karen flushed and nervously laughed. "Thank you, I worked really hard to get them this good."

"Oh? Are you-... are you nervous?" Zephyra poked at her side playfully and teasingly. 

"No! No, I'm just happy that you noticed and appreciated them. I was trying to catch your eye after all."

"Ah, you know, you didn't have to do that. It was a lot of work for you. And, I would've liked you regardless."

"I know. I didn't have to work as hard and train as hard as I did. But I did want to impress you. I just didn't know you had even seen me before I… changed." 

"Hey, I picked you out of the crowd long before-"

"Ugh!", Karen collapsed on the ground and screamed in pain. It felt like something had just hit her. 

Karen saw a bright flash of light and what looked like the walls of a dungeon. She heard  the voice of Ted around her. It was close by and distant at the same time. The volume rose and fell rapidly. But, his words were unclear and almost sounded ethereal. 

The only word that she could make out was that it sounded like he was calling for Zephyra. 

Karen balled up on the floor and placed her head on her knees.

"T-this doesn't make any sense. What's happening to me?"

A hand lightly touched her arm.

"Karen? Karen, my love, are you alright?"

Karen jolted and stared around the room wide eyed as everything came back into focus. Zephyra was standing over her, a worried and pale expression covered her face. 

"Zephyra?", Karen managed to take a sobbing breath.

"Oh, thank the gods, you're alright." Zephyra sweeped the crying girl into her arms. 

"I-it hurt so bad. I was so scared. I thought I lost you." Karen kept crying.

"It's alright. I'm right here. I've got you. I'm right here with you." Zephyra soothed her and brushed fingers through her hair.  "I won't leave you. You'll always have me. You can rely on me."

Karen kept crying. It had really scared her. And, she didn't even know what happened. It was so sudden and just hit her out of nowhere. 

"The headaches must be getting even worse." Zephyra fretted and tenderly kissed her forehead. 

"H-headaches?", Karen managed to ask between her ragged blubber. 

"Yeah. You've been having them for awhile now. They suddenly come out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. We've been really worried about them."

"W-we have?"

"Yeah. But don't worry, we'll find a way before… well…"

Karen sniffled and sat up. She caressed Zephyra's cheek with her hand. "Zeph, you're scaring me. Before what?"

Zephyra grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "Before… before you don't remember us."