Forever Fae (29 page)

I load my belongings onto my horse, Artemis, and she turns her head to nudge me in the side
,
which makes me stumble.  I laugh while taking her head in my hands and placing my forehead against hers. 

“You always knew how to cheer me up
,
didn’t you, girl
?
” 
I run my hands down the long mane of black hair that hangs off to the side of her head.  Her silky, black hair is so soft and thick it feels like a blanket, and her midnight black body glitte
rs in the sunlight here in the Summer C
ourt.  Artemis is a magnificently beautiful creatu
re and I love her dearly.
 

I admit
to her, “This is going to be a hard journey we’re facing, girl.  I need you to be swift and ride like the wind.  Our
p
rincess
is waiting for us and we cannot fail her.”  Artemis huffs out a hot breath and sh
uffles her feet excitedly to let
me know she’s ready and nothing will stop us.

“That’s my girl,” I say.

Merrick comes up beside me, already on his majestic white horse looking like the knight in shining armor.  The gold armor he wears along with his blonde hair and white horse looks a little girly.  I like my black warrior uniform with my silver armor.  The crest of the
W
inter
C
ourt
is engraved on the front breastplate.  I run my hands along the crest and stare at my now changed body.  It’s a sole reminder of the magic that will take place once I find Calista.  Merrick sees me staring at my hands and narrows his eyes. 

“Let’s go
,
ice boy.  Our
p
rincess
is waiting,”
Merrick says impatiently.

Clearly annoyed,
I say, “I’m not completely an ice boy anymore if you haven’t
noticed,
shithead, and when I find Calista and bring h
er home everything will change.  You need to get over yourself and accept the fact that she chose me, not you.”
 

His agitation subsides and
he
is left with sadness.  His shoulders droop and he stares emptily at the horizon. 

Before riding
ahead he murmurs quietly,
“I know.”  I would actually feel bad for the
guy if he wasn’t such a dick. 
I know he loves her and I love her
,
too, but
no amount of his bitching and complaining is going to change anything.  

 
We head out on our way and w
e ride full
out for a few hours before we
decide to stop.  We are most of the way throug
h the Mystical Forest
when Merrick stops and closes his eyes
.  It’s the same look he gets when he talks to Calista.

I hold my breath hoping this mean
s that Calista is communicating and that everything is alright.

Merrick quickly turns to me and says, “I’ve got her.”

He goes back to being quiet and furrowing his brows
,
trying to pay close attention to what Calista is saying.  He
gives me a couple of
smirk
s and a wide grin during this time and all it is doing is pissing me off.
  Merrick seems to be enjoying the fact that I can’t speak to her and he can.  I ride up beside
him
and pull out my dagg
er.  My heart beat is
pounding in my ears
and I clench my hand
so tight
around the dagger I will
probably
have indentions in my skin for a week.  I point
it
at
his chest
, only an inch away,
and demand
, “You better tell her that I love her
,
too.  I know you’re spouting how much
you
love her and what not, but if you don’t tell her that I do as well, I’m going to cut your balls
off
with the dullest knife I can find and shove them down your
goddamn
throat until you choke.”

Merrick laughs and turns to me
.

“Calm down, ice boy, I told her what your cold heart had to say.” 
Hearing him laugh only fuels my anger even more.

His smile then changes and
I can see the anguish in his face when he says, “She also told me that she has now reached the Black Forest and that they are parading her around the village.  She was about to enter a huge tree that had a door carved into it when the connection was lost.”

I nod my head in understanding
.
  I know Calista is strong, but I hope she can handle everything that’s
happening
. I break away from
my
thought
s
to stare at the man who has pissed me off for the last time
. I shoot him
a lethal gaze.  I put all of my anger and rage in this gaze
and
I know he can feel it coming off of me in waves.
  I am
perfectly still on my horse with
the anger b
oiling inside of me
,
wanting
t
o be released.  I clench my hands into tight fists and the adrenaline is making my body shake.
Merrick hesitantly looks at me knowing full well the rage I feel inside

“What is your problem?” he asks with a smart ass smirk.

“
You
are my problem!” I yell as I slam my clenched fist into Merrick’s jaw.  The sound of my fist hitting his flesh and the cracking of his jaw
is
music to my ears.  I put the full force of all of my emotions into
th
e
punch and it felt good to be able to release it onto Merrick.  He
f
alls
off his horse and
land
s
with a hard sounding thud.  His armor
ma
kes
a clinking noise as he
land
s
on the ground.  My inner self
is
s
miling
for its victory
,
but I
c
an
’t
bring myself to feel that way on the outside.  In all reality, my hand hurts from smashing it into Merrick’s face, and
because
he is
acting
childish about this whole ordeal with Calista
, it is
infuriating
and not making this situation any better.  It must be his way of coping with the loss, but if he doesn’t watch it, he may be the one not making it home. 

Merrick climbs back up on his horse slowly and gives me the most evil grimace I have ever seen.  His body looks stiff and I know that fall had to hurt just as much as the pun
ch.  I don’t
feel sorry for him at all.  He continues on the path leading to the de
solate valley
,
wh
ich is nothing but baron land
.
I
t
’
s
miles and miles of open land with no water or any signs of life.   We reach the edge of the Mystical Forest and decide to rest.
The trip across the valley
will take lots of energy and we need to rest up if we plan on be
ing able to rescue Calista.
  I take my pack off
of
Artemis and she lies down on the ground while I prepare her food and water.  Her breathing is hard from exertion and I can tell she’s tire
d.  If I wanted her to
travel to the end of the
world and back without a break she would do it.
  I rub
her head and sit down beside her while I eat and drink.
  We were limited to what we could pack
,
so our dinner for the evening is dried meat and cheese with some mead.  These are typical snack foods for the fae men.  The women tend to like fruits and berries from the Land of the Fae, and also foods from the mortal realm.  A lot of the fae cuisine has changed over the years
because of
the influence of different types of food in the mortal realm. 

Merrick is quiet and doesn’t speak to me
at all while we eat and rest
.
He
falls asleep quickly after he eats his meal.  The quiet time gives me the space I need to think clearly and strategize our plan to rescue Calista.  I wish I could see her in my dream right now, but I know that it’s not possible.  I can’t imagine what all she’s going through at this moment.  I close my eyes and clear my head.  We only have a few hours to rest b
efore we make the journey through the
Black Forest.  Artemis is warm
as I lean up against her and it’s
a welcome comfort as I re
st my head back
and drift into an uneasy sleep. 

Chapter 22

                                 
Alasdair- Dark Sorcerer
(Black Forest)

             
The
p
rincess
in my dwelling is a
welcom
ing
sight.  I look at her through another person’s eyes and all she sees right now is her precious
p
rince
staring back at her. I can see her trembling and when I step toward her to steady her she takes a step back with a look of revulsion on her face.  I can’t have her looking at me like that
,
can I?  When I get my full corporeal body I will be irresistible to women, but until then I have to
use
my power to make my real body solid or
else
transform to someone else.  Taking over someone else’s body works, but in this case I thought I would shake the
p
rincess
up a bit. 

It’s been too long since I’ve taken a woman to my bed and now I have the
p
rincess
here to have any time I want.  The way Calista’s body looks in her dress doesn’t help the growing erection I have pulsing down below.  Her face grows pale and her trembling intensifies.  I
c
an
tell she
is
going to pass out way before her legs g
ive
out from beneath her.  I
c
atch
her in time and touching her body
sen
ds
electricity running through my fingers.  Her power is so strong I can actually see it pulsing throughout her body.  I can only imagine the high I’m going to get when I take it away from her.  I look at Avery and Warren and their attention is raptly fixed on the
p
rincess
.  I see I am not the only one who is mesmerized by the
Summer
beauty, however, they are not allowed to look at her like that.  She is my prize and I will not share her power with anyone.  I clench my teeth and let my power fill the room as I demand them to leave me in privacy. 

I stay on the floor with the
p
rincess
in my arms until they
le
ave
the room.  She’s passed out cold and
it
doesn’t look
like she is going
to be waking up anytime soon.  I pick her up and carry her to my bedroom.  My room is a replica of the same one Calista slept in the other night at the house in the forest.  I did
it
deliberately, hoping she would feel more relaxed being here tonight.  I lay her on the king size bed and remove her shoes.  I straighten her dress and crawl beside her.  Her skin has changed, but I had been warned about
it. Her
temperature has tapered off a bit from
the
normal
heat of a
summer fae.  I’m glad I got her just in time because if she and Prince Ryder
had
sealed the deal I would have been too late.  No one is going to have her now
,
except me.  Being the Fall Queen is not going to happen for the beautiful Calista and Ryder will be lost forever when I make her my Dark Queen. Calista was made for Ryder, and without her he will grow into an empty shell of loneliness and heartache. 
He will never be capable of loving another.
Their love is supposed to expand the Land of the Fae and produce a new court, the Fall Court.  I don’t know if the Princess or anyone else realizes how dire their situation has become now that I have her. 
Until she wakes up,
I won’t know if she knows what her future was supposed to be before being taken by me.  Both courts will suffer from heartache and loss and their power will weaken.  Now that I have the first
of
T
he
Four here
,
I will take her power and merge it with mine.  Her power along with mine will make it easier to obtain the other three of the
p
rophecy
and take over the Land of the Fae.  I will make Calista my
q
ueen
and the other three will be made my slaves.