Eternal Bloom - Book 5 (The Ruby Ring Saga) (14 page)

“Unfreeze my husband now, and let’s get on with the ceremony.”

“But Victor is only marrying you because he thinks you’re Princess Gloria. Once you slip on the ring, you’ll become connected, with one beating heart. His enemy, William, will never try to kill him again, because if he does—”

“I know. He’ll kill his beloved daughter. I know the whole story, how it all works, and am aware of what Victor’s intentions and motives are. I’ve already lived this little fairytale, remember?”

“He’ll have quite the military advantage.”

I shrugged. “Maybe...if he has the right girl.”

“Do you enjoy tricking him, this man you claim to love? Do you take enjoyment in deceiving him?”

I raised my head. “We tricked each other, and we both felt badly.”

“He is only marrying you as part of a brilliant military strategy.”

“None of that matters, and it’s all water under the bridge. There is nothing you can do to stop me from marrying Victor. I love this man!” I shouted. “And he loves me!”

Suddenly, Victor unfroze, as if the conversation with the priest hadn’t even taken place. Victor shot me that gleaming smile, and my heart melted. He didn’t know it yet, but he was going to fall for me just as hard as I had fallen for him. The last time I’d stood there, reciting those vows to Victor, I’d been a nervous wreck, wondering why I’d marry such a tyrant for a simple ring. This time around though, I wasn’t scared, because I now knew Victor was my future. I stared into his eyes, wishing he knew what I knew.
If this dream goes on, I won’t stop our make-out session after our vows
, I decided.
As a matter of fact, I might make love to him right there on the stone floor, like I shoulda done the first time around. And I sure as hell won’t be a runaway bride at the wedding reception
. I knew exactly where Liz was this time, safe in Dornia, posing as Princess Gloria, and that made it even easier.

The priest smiled at me. “Do you take King Victor Fesque to be your wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, till death do you part, if the Holy Church doth ordain it?”

With all my heart and my emotion, I looked deeply into Victor’s beautiful eyes and announced proudly, “I do.”

“S
arah?”

I heard a voice through the fog.

“Sarah!”

“Victor?” I opened my eyes.

He cupped my face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m...alive?” I asked, everything still hazy.

“Yes,” he said calmly, “for I certainly don’t believe this place to be Heaven.”

I twisted toward him. “How are you? Did they hurt you, Victor?”

“I’m fine. I will not go down so easily.”

“Right. You’re as strong as a fortress.” I chuckled inwardly. He had told me that once when I’d run from him and he’d tackled me to the ground as I tried to squirm away. As the fog from the drugs lifted, I noticed something odd. At first I thought we were snuggling together, lying in bed, but that obviously wasn’t the case. “Why are we smashed up together like this?”

“We’ve been captured, and this is a makeshift prison of some sort.”

I squinted, my grip tightening around what felt like rope. I felt all crunched up, my very pregnant body squished next to Victor’s, and that was when I realized I was in a tightly woven net that swayed and creaked when we moved; we were actually suspended off the ground, hoisted up about twenty-five feet in the air. Peering out through the holes of the net, I could see we were in a village of some sort. Tepees dotted the green field, each of them painted with geometric shapes around the tops and bottoms, decorated with big, bright, and bold designs, from celestial bodies and animal shapes to pendants and colored medallions. I still had my Immortal vision, and I couldn’t help but notice how intricate the beadwork was.

It was some relief that we were likely close to finding the chief. What I hadn’t planned for was being taken hostage and dangling in some kind of snare. Beads of sweat dripped down my face as I slipped my fingers through the holes in the net and pulled with every ounce of strength I had. I closed my eyes and exhaled when I realized there was no use trying to escape.

“Relax,” Victor said softly. “If they wanted us dead, they would have already done away with us. I am sure they will let us down soon.”

I let out a heavy sigh as I tried to stretch out my cramping legs. “Can you get us out of this contraption?”

“I’m afraid not. I’ve already tried, but that dart somehow relieved me of my Immortal strength. Now I’m practically...human.”

“No weapons, no powers, no visions, and no Immortal strength? Wow. We’re really at a disadvantage.” Rubbing my temples eased some of the pain from my throbbing headache. “What happened?” I asked, since everything still seemed fuzzy. “How did we get here?”

“They shot darts at us, but the poison was weak—just enough to knock us out.”

I shuddered. “Why must everyone pump my body full of things without my permission? The paramedics did it, the Immortals had done it, and now these islanders have done it. Surely they can see I’m pregnant. Don’t they care about the wellbeing of my child?”

By the look on Victor’s face, I knew he was just as upset as I was. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them,” he said. “It is my job to protect you, and I failed yet again.”

“Victor, there was no way you could’ve taken down all those warriors,” I said.

“I tried to fight,” he said. “At least a dozen of them fell.”

I bit my lip hard. “I appreciate your valiant efforts, my shining night, but we must be on our best behavior and be nice to the locals if we are going to make a good impression on their chief.”

“What was I to do? You were lying on the ground, and...” His voice drifted off.

I squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry. I understand. You were simply trying to protect us. I was scared to death and thought I was dying. If we just tell them you were acting in self-defense, for the wellbeing of your family, I’m sure they’ll understand. Just...please tell me you didn’t kill any of them.”

“Of course I didn’t.”

“Good.” I peeked through the holes in the net and began yelling, demanding that someone cut us down, but no one paid any attention. “Hey!” I screamed at one old woman who was pouring water from a gourd, but she just smiled at me and went back to what she was doing.

“It’s no use,” Victor said. “They are the stubborn sort, and their ears don’t seem to work all the time.”

“Do you think they’ll hurt us, Victor?” I asked.

“No. I believe they will hold us here until their chief returns.”

I sighed deeply, then asked the dreaded question. “What if he’s angry that we’re on his island?”

“We must be honest and explain our dire circumstances to him,” he said. “If he is truly a great leader, he will also be fair.”

“Right,” I said. “It wasn’t like we could make a telephone call and ask for an invitation.”

Victor’s strong arms and steady embrace made me feel like everything was going to be okay, even though we were swinging in a net.

I cleared my dry throat. “When you called my name, I...well, I was hallucinating or dreaming or something.”

“I was as well. ‘Twas likely something from whatever tipped their darts.”

“What did you dream about?” I asked curiously.

“Our wedding.”

I gasped. “Me too.”

“We were back at the castle, and I was talking to the priest who married us. He offered me the chance to change my mind.”

“What!? I dreamt the exact same thing. I wonder what was on those darts.”

He stroked the top of my hand with his thumb. “I refused to change my mind, Sarah. I would marry you a thousand times, in spite of all we’ve gone through.”

I pushed the black hair from his face, threading my fingers through it. “Aw. Me too.”

His smile eased into a big grin, and he gently caressed my face and softly kissed me. “You were standing there in that fluffy, white wedding gown, so beautiful with your cascading curls and that glistening diamond tiara on your head. You were a radiant vision before my very eyes. And then...” His voice trailed off.

“What?” I asked, looking into his troubled eyes.

“It broke my heart to hear that you didn’t love me, that you were there only for the ruby ring so you could return to your home through the portal, that you’d leave me at the reception, when Mia helped you escape. I wanted to tell you not to leave, that I loved you more than anything, so I did. I told you that you would someday fall madly in love with me and that my castle would be your home, a place where we could make and share precious memories.”

“And how did I react to that?”

“You told me I was crazy.”

“I’m so sorry. That’s probably what I would’ve said had you told me you loved me.” I cupped his face. “Remember, I had known you for less than twelve hours.”

“I warned you not to put the ruby ring on,” he continued. “I told you I’d help you get home, but you slipped it on your finger anyway.”

“It was just a dream,” I whispered. “We both dreamt the same things, that we knew things the other didn’t yet know. In my dream, it broke my heart to know that while I love you with every fiber of my being, you were marrying me for ulterior motives.”

“It felt so real, watching you plot escape plans in your head. Knowing that you were going to desert me on our wedding night about killed me.”

I knew I’d never stop feeling guilty about that, but at the moment of our wedding, I had no idea Victor was the man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I had absolutely no idea I’d fall head over heels for him. “It was just a dream, but we’re together now, and you know I love you with all of my heart.” I looked deeply into his eyes. “I will do anything to make this marriage work, even if it means leaving my world. I can’t live without you, Victor.”

He slowly traced my lips. “I just want you to be happy, Sarah.”

“I am happy...with you.” I studied every detail of his masculine face, from his high cheekbones and strong jawline to his full lips, sapphire eyes, and midnight-black hair. He still stole my breath away. I touched Victor’s face and slowly kissed his lips. “I love you so much.”

“And I love you more than life itself.” He pressed his lips to mine gently and tangled his fingers in my hair as emotion consumed us. Then, he touched my belly. “How is our son?”

“Bending it like Beckham,” I joked.

“Excuse me?”

I laughed. “He’s kicking like a champ.”

“I feel it!” Victor took me into his arms, letting out a long sigh of relief to know our baby was healthy and very much alive in there.

An hour passed, and still we hung there. I propped my head on Victor’s chest, using it as a pillow, and he wrapped an arm around me. I could hear his heartbeat; I loved being that close to him. My hair spilled across his chest, and he played with the stray strands, curling it around his fingers. He smiled when I looked at him and ask, “Finding creative ways to make the time pass, huh?”

He looked up and caught my eye. “You have the most beautiful hair,” he said, toying with the short ones at the nape of my neck.

“That title belongs to you, my king.” I wove my fingers through his thick, wavy, glorious locks.

We both smiled at each other. Even if the chief planned to throw us in a volcano or tying us to a totem pole and lighting us with tiki torches, we weren’t about to spend our last few moments pouting and complaining. I felt the softest pressure of his lips against mine, and then he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed every finger. He held my hand loosely in his, and we talked about what we thought the chief might do. We came up with all kinds of scenarios and couldn’t stop laughing. I could have spent hours listening to Victor giggle.

Time passed. We’d been hanging for hours, and my legs were cramping something awful.

Finally, twigs snapped, and footsteps approached, followed by voices below us.

“We’ve got company,” I said.

We were hoisted down and landed with a
thud
as the net opened.

I slowly stood, stretching out my stiff legs and arms, tingling all over as my circulation returned.

A tall, dark-skinned warrior with long black hair and black eyes approached, accompanied by other warriors armed with crude spears. The one facing us had longer hair than all the others, and he appeared to be in his sixties. He was as muscular as Victor and wore a beaded buckskin shirt trimmed with white fur and loose-fitting leather pants, as well as an extravagant headdress with the whitest feathers I’d ever seen. His face was decorated with white paint in various patterns and shapes. He gazed down at me and said, “You have trespassed on sacred ground.”

“You speak English?” I asked, amazed.

“I speak many languages,” he responded. “I am very
old
and wise.”

By the tone in his voice, I detected hidden meaning; I assumed him to be centuries old, but I dared not ask.

“We mean no harm,” Victor explained. “My wife is dying, and we have been told you might be able to help us.”

“Why not let nature take its course?” the chief asked. “It’s the natural way.”

I stepped forward. “Because I don’t want to die.”

“Everyone must sooner or later. It is part of the cycle of life.”

“I’m not human.”

“Hmm.” He smiled. “I am glad to know you will admit that to me. Honesty is very important here.” He reached his hand out and waved it around in the air. “Yes, your Immortal energy is very strong. I felt it the second you landed on the island.”

“Strong or not, it’s killing me,” I said.

“It is at least three times stronger than your husband’s. How is it that you are even still alive?”

“I took pills and—”

He waved his hand in a big circle, cutting me off. “Yes, I can feel it. The child is taking the brunt of the energy.”

“I’m due very soon.”

“When you have the baby, you will lose your buffer. All the energy will transfer to you, and you will die.”

“Please!” I begged. “Can you help us? Time is running out for me, and we’ve exhausted every possibility. You’re our last hope.”