Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Petranne held back the impulse to sigh as she spotted the list that had been slipped in among her paperwork for the week. She’d been expecting it, but that didn’t mean she was happy to see it.

The Hunt was fast approaching—due to start in the next two weeks—which meant that there were renewed pushes and efforts for her to consider bonding.

Well, bonding to a Submissive or Alpha, that was. She was technically bonded, but not in any way that would satisfy her parents or the Earth Courts. 

The list she had been given of the suitable Submissives, Alphas, and Circles possibly hunting was relatively short, despite it being longer than the list she had received during the previous Hunt.

Still, like last time, there was no name that caught her attention for longer than it took to read the name.

Maybe she was broken. After all, she’d never had the urge to Hunt, to find a Circle to settle into. Her parents’ Circle had always been a bit too overbearing and smothering for her tastes—way too many Pareya, so many to the point it had been designated as a Pareyic Coven. She definitely didn’t want that sort of Circle for herself.

She wasn’t sure she wanted any sort of Circle for herself, to be honest. She would be content to claim Solitary for herself and her soul-bonded Joker, but they’d already had that particular discussion and decided that it wasn’t worth the scandal that would ensue after such an announcement. 

Not this century, anyways. 

Petranne scanned the short list again and this time didn’t bother holding back her sigh when she realized why it was so short—like the last five times, it was limited to High Nobles in the Earth Courts and everyone on it was either an Earth element or Nameless with a strong Earth affinity. 

Understandable, given her own element was Earth, but also frustrating because she’d repeatedly said that she would be fine looking outside of her element.

“Tansy,” she called, setting down the sheet of paper on her desk.

Almost immediately, the door to the small study opened and a dark-haired Gheyo stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

As soon as the latch clicked, Petranne held out her arms in a silent request for a hug. She hummed wearily when strong, muscular arms wrapped tightly around her and she could bury her face in Tansy’s neck.

“Stressing already?” the Joker asked knowingly. “My poor soul. Bite or drink?”

“Bite,” Petranne answered and her hum took on a happier tone when blunt fangs sunk into her shoulder a few seconds later, her body practically going boneless with relief.

For a few minutes, the pair just sat together in silence, even after Tansy withdrew her fangs and licked the spot gently to heal the marks left behind.

“I got the list today,” Petranne eventually muttered, resting her forehead against Tansy’s armored shoulder. There really was no need to elaborate, because both of them had been anticipating this particular document for a few weeks now. 

“Ah,” Tansy murmured in understanding, her golden eyes steady. Petranne’s parents hadn’t been particularly pleased upon the discovery that their youngest daughter was soul-bonded to a Gheyo of all ranks—and one of her own guards at that, which crossed all sorts of professional boundaries—but they’d largely kept their opinions to themselves because Tansy, like Petranne, was an Earth elemental and had grown up in the Earth Courts. “Day out?” she suggested. 

“You don’t mind?” Petranne asked quietly, a hopeful edge to her voice.

“Nothing wrong in taking a day for yourself,” Tansy replied. “I think even a certain cousin of yours would say that you should take more time off.”

Petranne blushed at the slight admonishment, especially because she knew it was true—knew that things were bad when even Raspen, the literal king of the Earth element, thought that she worked too much. Raspen, who regularly had such long days that it wasn’t an infrequent occurrence for his own Bonded Circle to step in and drag him home for some much needed rest and relaxation. They came often enough that Petranne could greet them by name, even the Gheyos, who tended to be away on missions more often than not. 

In a way, she envied her cousin because a soul-bonded Circle sounded like such a wondrous gift, even in her limited experience. After several Hunts and unsuccessful courtships, Petranne was inclined to only consider bonding if there were soul-bonds involved.

On the other hand, even if there were soul-bonds involved, she still probably wouldn’t act on them if the names were as high profile as Raspen’s ended up being. Like most Earth Royals, she liked her privacy. She especially liked being able to go out in public and be treated as a Beta or Rheyo, instead of being recognized as a Royal. 

“We can make a date of it,” Tansy continued. “Grab a late breakfast, go to the library or spend the day shopping.”

Petranne perked up at the suggestion. “Shopping?” she echoed. “Any kind of shopping?”

There was a knowing look in Tansy’s golden eyes. “Shopping,” she repeated. “I need to pick up a few things for myself, but other than that, we can go wherever you want.”

“So… book shopping?” Petranne clarified. She hated shopping for clothes or doing everyday type of shopping, but new books were always something she could make an exception for. “You’re going to regret saying that.”

Tansy simply smiled and pressed a kiss to the other woman’s forehead. 

Chapter Text

Among her family circle, it was a widely known fact that once she was inside a bookstore or the library, Petranne was aware of little else besides the books. At most, her peripheral senses extended just enough to take note of the presence of others in her immediate vicinity so she wouldn’t run into anyone, but even that wasn't a guarantee when she had a book open in her hands. Depending on the subject, she could get quickly engrossed and forget about everything else.

Case in point—she'd found a biography of one of the more prominent sword-dancers in Nevarah, someone who had passed away a few generations ago but was still regarded as among the best, and she was barely able to precariously perch it open on top of the stack she had already found and tuck herself against a nearby pillar to examine it more. Just a chapter or two.

Well, she thought she was tucked away but she must not have been as out of the way as she believed because only a few minutes later, someone tripped over her.

Or rather, into her.

Petranne felt herself trip and stumble as well, significantly less coordinated than she normally was by the stack of books in her arms. One of the last things she wanted was the books to fall and for their spines to be damaged, so she tried her best to ensure that none of them did.

She fell instead.

Right into the bookshelves.

She knew the impact would be painful as everything clattered to the ground and braced herself, shifting her position just enough so that the other person fell more on her than on the toppled bookcase.

What she hadn't considered was the domino effect. One bookcase crashed into another, knocking it over, and then that one crashed into another and another until it seemed like half of the bookcases in the store were on the ground, their contents scattered.

Petranne cringed and held back an instinctual whine. This was one of her favorite shops and now it would be months before she recovered enough from this embarrassment to come here again.

"Ah, er, oops?" a feminine voice murmured. "We should … probably get out of here?'

Before Petranne could process what was going on, a petite figure had tugged her back on her feet and out the nearest side door in the store. It was only once they were outside that the Earth dragel gathered enough wits about her to literally dig her feet in, using her element to ensure that she couldn't be dragged any further.

Her books!

Not to mention, Tansy would probably have something to say if Petranne let herself get kidnapped.

"I'm really very sorry about that," the other woman babbled, not even seeming to notice that they'd stopped. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and really, I'm clumsy on the best of days—an outright disaster on the worst. I really didn’t mean to—oh, I'm making this more of a mess, aren't I?"

She let go of Petranne's arm and the Earth Royal reeled with the distinct sense of loss she was left with.

The other woman made a slashing motion across her chest and awkwardly bowed. "I think I need to apologize for that—” She gestured to the bookstore. “—and my poor apology, but er … my mentor has not been able to teach me? I think those are the right words."

Petranne couldn’t help it. She let out a delicate short of amusement.

The other woman gave her a careful grin in return, before her copper-hued eyes went slightly round. "Oh, you're gorgeous. Are you courting?"

It was so abrupt that Petranne's mouth dropped open a bit and she turned a brilliant red. "What?"

It was such a strange compliment. Or at least, it wasn’t one that was normally used for her. Most of the compliments she received normally focused on her personality or her education, not her appearance. Even by Earth dragel standards, where dark brown hair and golden eyes were the norm, she knew she was rather plain-looking. Especially compared to her sisters.

"Ah, er, still making a bungle of things," the other woman muttered, running a hand through disheveled, long brown hair and pushing part of it behind an elongated ear.

Petranne's eyes widened fraction.

Brown hair. Elongated, pointed ears.

Fire Elf.

That just made the situation even more baffling because every Elf or Dragel-Elf halfling she'd encountered had been poised and immaculate about their appearance.

Fussy and fastidious, she had always privately thought.

"My name is Aminta, bonded submissive to Anthea Ellione—so I guess I would be Aminta of the Ellione Circle,” the other woman rattled off. "I'm hunting and was wondering if you're available to be courted because you're gorgeous and I'd like to get to know you better? Or even if you're not interested in courting, can I at least buy you lunch to make up for … that…” She gestured at the bookstore and her eyes lit up hopefully when Petranne's body betrayed her and her stomach growled.

"Yes?" Petranne said, not really certain what she was agreeing to.

Aminta beamed.

Aminta Ellione was bright, bubbly, and energetic, interspersed with large bouts of awkwardness because she seemed to charge into everything at a thousand miles a minute.

Petranne felt like she was on unsteady ground as she struggled to keep up. Unsteady ground that grew even shakier whenever Aminta complimented her appearance.

She was sure Aminta was saying those things to see how red Petranne's face could turn. That was the only logical explanation, because there was absolutely nothing remarkable about her looks.

Brown curly hair that quickly turned into a frizzy, tangled mess if Petranne missed one step in her daily self-care routine, which was more often than not. The standard gold eyes of an Earth dragel. Her skin was pale and missing the desired bronzed tan most seemed to prize, because of how much time she spent locked away in her office, trying to keep up on paperwork so things continued running as smoothly as they did.

"I have a fondness for brunettes," Aminta remarked at one point, tugging on her own hair. "All of my Bonded so far are brunette, aside from Callum that is, but he’s special."

Bonded, yes, that was familiar ground. Petranne definitely needed to know more about Aminta's Circle so far before she agreed to anything.

She also needed to tell Aminta about Tansy, because that would probably be the deciding factor. Not every Submissive wanted a Joker, after all.

Speaking of Tansy…

Petranne's eyes wildly searched the area for her bonded Gheyo, wondering why she hadn't intervened yet.

She located her on the outskirts of the restaurant Aminta had led them to, an amused smirk on the Joker's face. She was clearly enjoying watching everything unfold, the brat.

Petranne snapped her attention back to Aminta to ask a question about the Submissive's Circle, only to realize that the Fire Elf was now going through the menu, chattering about the foods she recognized and the dishes she wanted to try. Opportunity missed, it seemed.

“What would you recommend?" Aminta finally asked a few minutes later.

Petranne's head was still spinning a bit, struggling to understand the situation she was on. Was this a date? Could she call it that? Did she want to call it that?

"All of it?" she suggested hesitantly. This was a good restaurant, one of her favorites. There really wasn't a wrong choice.

"That's so much food though," Aminta sighed. "And I wouldn't be able to take anything back with me, most likely. Olive's fussy about that sort of thing."

"I'll take anything that's leftover. It'll get eaten," Petranne murmured. She arched a brow. "Olive?"

Aminta brightened. "Olive Evanson. They're one of my Pareya—Head Pareya, technically. I've got four so far and the other three are triplets, so none of them could really take on that role without causing difficulties for the others."

Evanson. A fairly established Earth clan, though they had some Fire and Fae roots as well, depending on the clan branch. That was … promising.

Maybe.

But one other possible Earth element wouldn’t be enough for her to settle into a Circle.

"Ready to order?" a waitress asked, walking up to the booth. Her lips quirked when she spotted Petranne sitting there. “Or should I just get the usual, Pet?"

Petranne blushed. She really did come here too much if she had a usual order, but it was one of the few nearby restaurants that could guarantee food for someone of her rank. No risk of being poisoned here.

"The usual," she said quickly, knowing that it would guarantee covering the dishes that Aminta wanted and enough food for her as well. "On the usual tab too."

"Pet?" Aminta asked quietly.

A horrified look crossed Petranne's face. She hadn't given her name yet. "My name is Petranne,” she said quickly. "Pet's a nickname. I … order from here a lot, especially when I'm working." To put it mildly.

Aminta brightened a bit. "Petranne,” she said, rolling the name in her mouth. Petranne was mildly perturbed by how much she liked the sound of her name on the other woman’s lips. "And what's work for you?"

"Paperwork," Petranne said dryly. "A ridiculous amount of it. And ward maintenance, I guess. That's the easiest way to explain it."

Which was true.

The Earth Courts had two types of pillars that supported it and promoted its stability. One type of pillar were the traditional and ancient clans from which the elemental Clan Chief is usually heralded—Gorgens, Orseno, Evanson, and then Kalzik for good measure. They were focused on social stability and inter-clan harmony, so the Earth Courts weren't as tumultuous as the Merrow and Fire Courts.

The other set of pillars were the pillars of the Royal family, whose duty was to see to the magical stability of the Earth Courts. Each had their own specialty—spellwork, structural integrity, privacy, general maintenance.

Ward maintenance.

So once a week—it could honestly be once a month, but she'd always been something of an overachiever—Petranne oversaw the wards around the Earth Courts, reinforcing and rebuilding them where necessary. It took a significant amount of magic and she was usually left starving afterwards.

The Royal family pillars also supported the main Royal in other ways—paperwork, in Petrone's case—so their King and Queen could have some semblance of a private life.

Not that most dragels knew the Earth Courts had a Queen. Most knew that King Raspen was bonded, but the Queen's identity was a well-kept secret.

Aminta blinked. “Wards have to be maintained? I thought they just had to be put up and taken down."

Petranne laughed lightly. "If only." It would make her job so much easier if that was the case. "It mostly requires a lot of magic."

“Which probably means a lot of food," Aminta murmured. "I've seen how Callum gets after he…” She shook her head and eyed Petranne in a new light. "What's your usual order here?"

Petranne smirked. “One of everything."

Chapter Text

Aminta thought she was joking until the food started coming out. But even when she realized it wasn't a joke, the Submissive was only delighted because it meant she could try a bit of everything she had mentioned earlier.

"So you're a Mage rank then?" she asked as they ate. “With that sort of magic at your disposal?”

Petranne hummed. "Not quite,” she said and quickly stuck a dumpling in her mouth, chewing slowly for a minute to avoid answering and having to specify what her rank truly was. "Tell me about your Circle?" she requested when she was finished. Her golden eyes pointedly fixed on the two visible claim marks on Aminta's neck.

"Anthea Ellione." Aminta said, tapping the right side. "Nameless, with Earth and Fire affinities." She tapped the other side. "Ambros Orseno, Earth element, Beta." She then slipped out of the jacket she'd been wearing, showing of an additional five claim marks—four down one arm and then a lone mark on the opposite bicep. “Olive Evanson, Earth with Fire affinity; Sabine, Salma, and Samir Olvera, Earth, Fire, and Nameless depending. All Pareya. And then Callum Vega, Shadow element. Mage rank, Seer subset.”

Petranne's eyebrows shot up. "Seer?" she repeated. That was … unexpected. That particular subset of the Mage rank wasn’t one commonly encountered. Even with all of her opportunities to meet different sorts of individuals, she had never met one personally, but part of that was due to her Earth element. Most who took up the Seer subset came from the Kadel Clan or, yes, the Vega Clan—Air, Shadow, and Storm elements, primarily.

Aminta’s smile was a bit forced. "Soul-bond—like I said, he's special." She looked anxiously at Petranne. "And you? Is there anyone else? Bonded or Intended?”

"Her name is Tansy Halperon,” Petranne answered, slowly, carefully. "Earth element. Gheyo Joker." She glanced in Tansy's direction.

Aminta followed her gaze and her lips pursed when Tansy, spotting them watching, raised a hand in greeting before going back to her conversation with … a very familiar Beta.

Raspen’s Beta.

Petranne internally groaned. Raspen would definitely hear about this then.

Hopefully that would be as far as the news went in her family, though. The last thing she wanted was her parentals asking questions.

"She can join us if she wants,” Aminta said carefully. She tossed her long hair, tangling it even more, "You should have said something sooner. Now I feel rude."

"She's on duty," Petranne explained. "So even with an invite, she can’t.”

Aminta's lips pursed again. “Seems unfair."

Petranne could only shrug. She personally agreed but her arguments regarding that topic hadn’t been successful—yet.

“Courting or…?" Aminta prodded a bit.

"Soul-bonded pair," came the correction. “We've been together for several years now."

"So both of you or neither of you," Aminta realized. She tilted her head as she regarded Tansy again. "Joker is the one that operates outside of a Suite, yes?"

"Typically, yes," Petranne murmured. "But if you've got names like Ellione, Orseno, Vega, and Evanson already, you'll probably need a full Suite. A Joker could…”

Complicate things, she finished silently. Mess up an ACE-Submissive courtship inadvertently. If a Joker was added to the Circle, it was best if they were one of the last.

Same with Petranne's rank.

It was a sour feeling, realizing that the timing wasn’t right.

A pity, really, since Petranne had started to hope. But this Circle was much too new. They didn't need her complications—yet or probably ever.

“You're going to say no, aren't you?" Aminta sighed mournfully near the end of their meal, as the conversation started to taper off and an awkward tension started to hang in the air about the next steps. Since Petranne hadn’t made any offers or comments about more dates or the future—their future—she could guess where this was going. "No, you aren't interested in a courtship or no, you're flattered by my interest but you don’t want to be courted by me.”

“More like, not at this time," Petranne corrected, as gently as she could. She was sure that saying no right now was one of the hardest things she would do in her life. Surprisingly, she wanted this—or something close to this. A bubbly bright spot to chase away stuffy formality.

A part of her noted that her parentals probably wouldn’t approve. A certain list came to mind.

A rebellious part whispered that she really only needed the approval of the Earth King and Queen, approval that would probably come no matter who she chose.

"Get a Gheyo Suite to call your own. Flesh out your Circle a bit more. Then, if you're still interested…”

"Will you wait then?" Aminta asked, a guarded look of hope in her copper eyes. "I know it's really not fair for me to ask but…”

"I don't have any plans to court this Hunt," Petranne said carefully. She would probably spend most of it working, truthfully, unaware of the passage of time. And now that she had a better idea of what—who—she wanted, it would be easier to say no to that damned list if it was ever brought up by her parentals.

Aminta gave her a soft smile. "Thanks for lunch,” she said, as the remainder of the food was placed in to-go containers. "Even though technically, I asked you. And sorry about the bookstore."

Petranne flushed red at the memory. "It's fine." she murmured. “Probably the best for my finances.” Not to mention she needed to buy a new bookcase as well for her personal library before she bought anymore books. "Happy hunting."

Aminta smiled at the parting and a determined look entered her copper eyes as Petranne bowed and made her way back to Tansy. "We'll go out again sometime,” she promised to herself, watching the pair walk off.

And they would. She would make sure of it, even if she had to wait weeks—or years.

Hopefully more towards weeks. Ideally she could get a second date before the end of the Hunt. And she could probably fill out the ranks enough that someone as powerful as Petranne would reconsider bonding in during the rest of the Hunt. She’d already asked for help finding compatible dragels from her Bonded yesterday, and with their connections, she was sure to have some names and favors to consider by the time she got back home today. They were efficient like that.

She sighed wistfully as she caught one last glimpse of Petranne and her Bonded Joker before they disappeared out of sight. Such a beautifully, somewhat awkward woman. She would fit right in with her awkward little Circle…

"I'm sorry," Aminta hummed, burrowing into her darkling's side later that night as she waited for the rest of her Bonded to join them for the night. "I didn't get the book you wanted. I got…”

“Distracted by lovely golden eyes?" Callum finished for her, smirking.

Aminta sighed and shoved her face into a pillow. “So lovely,” she agreed. A heartbeat later, her head shot up. "You didn't," she groaned, shoving him lightly. "Tell me you didn't."

"You're the one who asked for help hunting," Callum reminded her. "And it was just a nudge, giving you the right location. Everything else was all you."

Aminta frowned. "Probably not the best decision, leaving it up to me. I think I messed it up."

"Oh?"

The Submissive sighed. Loudly. "She said no."

"No or not right now?"

"It's the same thing if I don't end up with a Gheyo Suite and more Bonded soon. She only promised to wait until the end of the Hunt and if I don’t manage it before then, someone else will probably snap her up as soon as she's available again. She already has one…”

"A Joker is a far cry from a Bonded triad," Callum reminded her.

"Didn't say it was a Joker…” Aminta muttered and bit the pillow she was clinging to to keep from commenting on how Callum clearly knew more than he was letting on. She'd done that once before and he'd shut down on her, tried to shut down his gift completely, and had nearly gone mad in the process.

"A logical jump,” Callum replied, a bit stiffly. “Or maybe just a result of my family upbringing—with so many Jokers in our ranks, it's natural to think a bonded pair involves a Joker somehow."

Aminta bit her pillow even harder and nearly choked on the feathers that exploded from the item.

“I thought we broke that habit,” a woman with green-brown hair stated as she bustled into the room, a disapproving frown forming on her face. “Honey, if you need to bite, you know there’s better choices than a pillow. Like me. Or the triplets. Or literally anyone in this Circle.”

Aminta whined, even as she spat out feathers. “I don’t have the urge to bite anyone,” she told her Head Pareya, Olive. “I’m good on blood. Everyone goes above and beyond with that sort of thing.”

“Only because you’re so adorable the way you go about it and insist on curling up in our laps,” Olive teased lightly, vanishing the feathers and picking one away from the corner of Aminta’s mouth that the spell had missed. She pressed a soft kiss to the Submissive’s forehead. “Now, why are we biting pillows again?”

“Because she’s trying not to insult me,” Callum said. “And because she’s moping.”

“Am not,” Aminta protested, not caring whether it sounded childish or not.

“Moping over pretty golden eyes and awkward, clumsy dragels,” Callum teased.

“Never said she was awkward or clumsy,” Aminta muttered.

“Minty, sweetheart, we know your type,” Olive said, settling down on the Submissive’s other side for a few minutes until their Alpha and Beta joined them and displaced her to take up their usual spots for the night. “Clumsy or awkward is kind of a given.”

As if to prove her point, the sound of something breaking filtered into the room from the corridor.

The Pareya sighed. “I swear, if that was the vase again…”

“Thought you spelled it to be unbreakable,” Callum remarked.

“I did…” Olive rolled her eyes and shook her head. “So, what’s her name?”

Aminta sighed. “Petranne,” she muttered. “Earth element. Pretty sure she’s a Mage rank.”

Olive frowned. “I wouldn’t expect any Mages to consider our Circle for a while,” she said, as gently as she could. “They’re usually one of the last.”

“Hence the moping,” Callum said.

“Yes, I was told a very clear not right now,” Aminta said, rolling her eyes. “But I can still—”

“Mope?”

“Anthea, Ambros, they’re teasing me again!” Aminta called, then squeaked as both her Bonded attempted to tickle her sides.

Her Beta poked his head in the bedroom and watched their antics fondly for a minute. “Is this how tonight is going to go?” he asked. “We’re winding each other up? Should I expect a late night?”

Aminta purred at the very idea, because a late night is something she would rarely say no to.

“I think a distraction tonight is needed,” Olive agreed. She paused. “Do you know a Mage named Petranne? The name is vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it. Our element.”

Ambros frowned as he thought. “Like you said, vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it,” he finally said, after a few long moments. “But I’m not overly familiar with Mages. If I would know her or of her, it would be through other means. No surname or Clan name?”

It was Aminta’s turn to frown. “If she gave it, I don’t remember it,” she reluctantly admitted. Which wouldn’t be the first time she’d forgotten something like that. She was bad at names, if she was being honest. Awful, really. “But she’s already bonded to a Joker, a Halperon, if that helps.”

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t,” Ambros said with a sigh, tugging off his shirt as he finally entered the room and banishing it with a spell to their shared laundry basket. “The Halperons have a lot of Gheyos in their Clan, Jokers included. But I could ask around, if you want me to?”

Aminta smiled at the offer that was so easily extended. “No thank you,” she said. “This one I want to do on my own, especially since it would be awhile if anything comes of it. Thought if you have names that would shorten my waiting period…?”

The Beta smiled. “A few,” he said. “Anthea is compiling our list right now. Apparently quite a few of the names overlapped. I think she was planning on giving it to you tomorrow, however, especially since there’s already talk about a late night. But we could change our plans for the night, if you’d rather send out favors instead.”

“Morning’s fine!” Aminta said quickly. “Morning’s definitely fine.”

She blushed as her Bonded all shared a laugh.