Betrayals of Spring (22 page)

“Thank you,” Meliantha cries.

We all stand up to say our goodbyes and
I lead Meliantha out of the throne room and out of the palace. I loop her arm
through mine while we make our way down to the cottage. Her long, red hair is
beautiful blowing in the wind and her eyes sparkle with a magnificent intensity
when she stares into mine. My groin instantly hardens at remembering the sight
of her naked body on my bed ready for the taking. I sigh to myself. I just have
to wait a little longer. I wish I could scoop her up in my arms and demand she
come with me right this minute to finish what we started earlier.
Unfortunately, I’m not going to do that because our first time together
deserves to be special.

“Listen, I am going to take you to the
cottage to retrieve some of your things so you can bring them over to my cabin
tonight. I’m going to get things ready for you while you get your things
together. I want Ashur to escort you to my cabin in an hour.”

She raises her eyebrows at me and asks,
“What are
you
going to be doing during this hour?”

“I can’t tell you, my love.” I place my
hand on the back of her neck and I bring her forward to press my lips against
hers in a deep embrace. I caress her tongue with mine and the taste of honey
envelopes my senses. I groan into her mouth and she groans back. I bet every
part of her body tastes this good. I press my hardening groin up against her
stomach and she reluctantly pulls apart from me, breathless.

“We better stop or we will be making
love out here on the ground,” she jokes.

I look at the ground and I wiggle my
eyebrows. I would gladly comply with that request if she asked. She playfully
hits my arm and laughs.

“That is
not
going to happen.
I’ll end up with frostbite on my ass.” We are both laughing now, and it feels
good to be able to laugh after the kind of day we’ve had.

I look down at the cottage and Aki is
waiting for us on the porch along with Ashur who happens to be pacing. When he
sees Meliantha he bursts forward. “Are you okay?” he asks her.

“Yes, I’m fine. I told you I would be,”
she says.

She must have talked to him silently
during my breakdown. He could probably feel her distress and wanted to make
sure she was alright and out of danger. I don’t think she will ever be out of
danger until we bond ourselves together. He narrows his eyes at her and nods
his head.

“I told you there would be a surprise
for you inside when you got back. I think you need to come see it,” he says
with a grin. I bet I know what he’s talking about and I’m sure Meliantha will
be pleased.

She looks up at me and I nod my head.

“Have fun and I will see you in an
hour.” I kiss her gently across the lips and I look at Ashur and say, “I would
like for you to escort her to my cabin when the hour is up. She doesn’t need to
be alone, and I want Aki with you as well.”

“I will, Your Highness,” Ashur responds
firmly.

“Thank you.”

I leave Meliantha to walk to my cabin.
The water has frozen in the fountain, so I send my magic to make it flow again.
I look down at the ground and Meliantha’s flowers have all withered away during
the night from the cold. Her flowers have always been so beautiful, and I look
forward to seeing what our land is going to look like after she gets through
with it. There’s going to be flowers everywhere, all full of vibrant colors and
perfumes. I can only imagine what it would be like to take her body amidst
them.

I open the door to my cabin and my
instincts quickly become alert, warning me of danger. The evil is so potent in
the air that I can taste the bitterness of it going down the back of my throat.
I grasp my sword and I draw it out of the holster on my waist. I glance around
the room, searching the lower level of my cabin thoroughly, but find nothing. I
make my way to the stairs and climb each one of them as quietly as I can. The
hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up and my heart begins to race. The
stench of black magic is coming from my bedroom. I hastily make my way to the
door. I’m sick of being played for a fool by the dark sorcerer, and one way or
another, these games are going to end tonight.

I open the door slowly, sword in hand,
and charge into the room. What I find is not what I was expecting. I have to
blink my eyes twice to clear my vision because I can’t be seeing what I think I
am seeing. Anger boils in my gut at the sight of Breena lying naked and
lounging on my bed like she belongs there. Her face looks like shit from where
Meliantha hit her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I
ask furiously.

Her mouth folds down into a pout and she
lifts up on her knees.

“Well, good evening to you too, lover,”
she croons.

Not only is she supposed to be off the
palace grounds, but I am afraid I’m also going to have to banish her from the
Winter Court altogether. Why would she do this to me? If Meliantha shows up,
this situation is going to turn ugly real fast.

“I’m not your lover, not anymore. I’m
going to give you ten seconds to get dressed and get the hell out of here
before I throw your ass out myself. Believe me, that’s the last thing you
want!” I yell venomously.

I am caught off guard as I hear a voice
speak out behind me, “Oh, I think she will be staying, and for that matter, I
think I will, too.”

I am frozen in place because the voice
isn’t from someone I know, and by the way the magic feels in the room, there is
only one person it could be. The anger and rage from before intensifies and the
sword in my hand shakes along with the rest of my body. This bastard is going
to pay for what he has taken from me.

I turn around slowly, vision turning red
with rage, and stare disdainfully at the one creature that has tormented and
destroyed the lives of those I hold dear, including my own. The dark sorcerer
appears as nothing but a shadow until his form starts to ripple and he takes on
the shape of a man before me.

I stand bewildered as I look upon my own
reflection before me. So this is what he looked like when Meliantha thought it
was me five years ago. With my sword held tightly in my hands, and with the
speed of lightning, I slice my sword down into an arc across his body. It sinks
right through him as if he was air, not damaging him at all.

The dark sorcerer laughs and shakes his
head.

“Now, now, Prince Kalen. I don’t think
that was a proper greeting.”

“Fuck you,” I snap. I scan the room to
find something, anything, I can use to distract him, but what can be used to
distract a being that can’t be killed?

“I wouldn’t bother if I were you.
There’s nothing in here that will protect you from me,” he smirks.

“What do you want?” I ask, even though I
already know the answer. I have to find a way to warn Meliantha, but how? The
dreaded feeling in my stomach warns me that I’m too late and there’s nothing I
can do. We should have just completed the bond instead of wasting our time in the
palace. I wish I could kick myself in the ass for being so stupid. The dark
sorcerer approaches me and I stand my ground firmly. I refuse to cower and bow
down to this man. I match his sadistic glare with one of my own, and it seems
to amuse him which infuriates me more.

“I think you know what I want,” he
taunts darkly.

“You can’t have her!” I yell into his
face.

He takes a step back and laughs while
his appearance begins to blur and takes on the shape of another man. I stare
transfixed as the transformation comes to a close. There’s a dark cloud
surrounding him, and the stench of black magic permeates the room making it
smell dank and rancid. This must be what the dark sorcerer looks like in his
true form.

He smirks at me with his evil smile and
brags, “Oh, I have already had her, Your Highness. Many times as a matter of
fact. Her fiery temper in bed was something to behold, and I look forward to
fucking her again.”

Without a moment’s thought, the anger
boils over and I lunge straight for him, only to see him disappear before I
make contact.

“You son of a bitch! I will kill you
before you touch her again,” I roar. My lungs are on fire and not being able to
hurt him angers me more. The rage surging through my veins demands action. I
take all the anger and all the hate inside me and I put them into words.

“No matter what you do, Meliantha will
always be smarter than you. You can play your twisted games, but in the end we
will all see you as what you truly are...a fucking coward that hides in the
shadows.”

The dark sorcerer’s smile fades and he
clenches his jaw. I smile because I know that was a devastating blow and it
struck a nerve. After a few seconds his frown changes to a mischievous grin.

“Yes, well, it’s just a shame you won’t
be here for the ending. I would have preferred for you to see what I do to your
precious princess.”

The warnings in my body instantly sound
off, and I am about to make my move to escape when something hard and cold
wraps around my arm. The room begins to fade and it feels like my inner soul is
disappearing and being replaced by something malevolent and evil. The last
things I hear as I fade out of my body are the sounds of Breena laughing and
the taunting words of the dark sorcerer.

“Don’t worry, Prince Kalen. I will be
sure to show Meliantha a good time when you’re gone.”

Meliantha…

I watch Kalen walk away and Ashur picks
this time to elbow me in the ribs playfully.

“Come on, Princess. You can’t stare at
him all night.” I look at him and smile. He looks extremely happy and I wonder
where it’s coming from.

“Why are you so happy?” I ask, excited
and curious.

He takes my hand and pulls me toward the
cottage.

“I’ll show you.” We walk up the steps
and onto the porch. Aki runs in as soon as Ashur opens the door and when I look
inside I finally understand where his happiness is coming from. Sitting in the
middle of the room talking to Finn is Elissa. I let go of Ashur’s hand to dash
through the room toward her. She startles at the sound of me bursting through
the door and stands up only to be crushed by my arms as I hold her tight. It
feels so good to have my best friend back and out of harm’s way. Everything
that has happened to her is all because of me and my ties to the dark sorcerer.
I hope she can forgive me.

“I’m so sorry, Elissa,” I cry. I let the
tears flow because not only am I torn, but I can feel the torment inside of her
as well. The knowledge of what she has done is taking a toll on her emotional
state. It weighs heavily on her heart and the guilt is eating away at her. She
holds me tight and sobs against my shoulder. “Please forgive me. I should never
have given you that necklace.”

“I don’t blame you, Mel,” she whispers.
It feels good to hear those words, but I know I will always carry the blame no
matter what she says. She lets me go and the pain I see in her eyes makes my
heart ache for her even more. With tears streaming down her face, her eyes
search mine frantically.

“How am I going to get through this? I
killed someone, and I have to live with that for the rest of my life. How can I
bear it when it’s consuming me inside?”