Betrayals of Spring (12 page)

“I think trouble follows me, brother,” I
claim whole-heartedly.

Ryder slaps me on the shoulder and
coaxes me toward the kitchen.

“Come on, little brother, I think you
need a drink. You have a busy night ahead of you with breaking a certain Winter
fae’s heart. I would say you need to relax.”

My heart aches with the thought of
hurting Breena, but I know it’s for the best. I’m sure she will find someone
that will love her completely. I nod my head in agreement at Ryder, but I
honestly think that one drink needs to be ten. We’re in the kitchen, so I take
a seat at the table and I pour myself a tumbler full of mead. While we’re
retelling epic stories of our childhood adventures, Calista barges through the
door with Ariella behind her holding Merrick. Ryder is up in a flash and
hurrying his way to his queen. She’s holding a bundle in her hands which looks
like a towel and her face is flushed with trepidation.

“Calista, what’s wrong?” Ryder implores
anxiously.

She looks straight at me with anguish in
her eyes before she begins, “It’s Meliantha.” My eyes go wide and I know my heart
has stopped. What does she mean by that?

She holds out the towel and continues,
“Apparently the dark sorcerer has been deceiving her for the past five years.
What I have in this towel is something Finn believed was a gift from Durin when
actually it had been spelled with black magic.”

Oh no!
If what she’s saying is
true, then that would mean...I take a deep breath before I finish the thought.
That would mean the dark sorcerer has been taking over Finn’s body. I shake my
head back and forth and I clasp my eyes shut. I don’t want to think about all
the things that bastard has done to her and
with
her over the past five
years.

My hands shake with anger and Calista
rushes over to me quickly and takes my cold hands into her warm ones. My eyes
see nothing but red, and all I can think about is how I want to do every vile
thing possible to make the dark sorcerer suffer.

Calista squeezes my hands and shakes
them.

“Hey, Kalen! Snap out of it! She’s fine
and every-one’s fine. She just found out the dark sorcerer has been taking over
Finn’s body, and she’s miraculously handling it very well. There’s nothing
anyone can do about it now.”

“You don’t understand. That bastard has
touched her and done who knows what to her, and you say everything is fine!” I
scream. “She’s not fine!”

She lets go of my hands and takes a step
back.

“That’s not all, Kalen. I need to ask
you a question and I want you to be honest with me.” She hesitates before
asking, “When you visited Meliantha all those years ago, did you ever see her
before that time you spoke of?”

Why would she ask that? Of course I
didn’t see her before then.

I shake my head and reply, “No, I
haven’t spoken to her since the wedding.”

“I didn’t think so,” she points out.

“What are you saying, Calista? Why did
you ask me that?” I ask curiously. Although, I have a sinking feeling in my
stomach that I’m not going to like what she has to say.

“Meliantha had a visitor just a few
short days before you came and she thought that visitor was you.”

“WHAT?” I roar.

Before I can yell every obscenity in my
mind, Calista cuts me off.

“It was the dark sorcerer, Kalen. He
pretended to be you and he said some terrible things to her that broke her
heart. She’s hated you ever since.”

So that’s why she has hated me all these
years. If I would have pursued her more instead of cowering back to the Winter
Court, I could have solved this problem years ago. How could she think I would
break her heart like that? I head for the door because the need to speak with
her has me bursting at the seams. My heart belongs with hers and she has to
know how sorry I am, and...that I love her. Calista screaming my name stops me
from my pursuit, and I turn around impatiently to see what she wants.

“What, Calista? I need to speak to
Meliantha and tell her the truth.”

“I know, Kalen, but she’s with Finn
right now getting some rest before the ball. She already knows that it wasn’t
you, and I told her she should talk to you, but right now is not the right
time. So many things have happened and she needs a break from it all. You’ll be
able to talk to her tonight.” She hesitates before speaking again, “One other
thing, she doesn’t know you’re engaged. I’m afraid that when she finds out it’s
going to break her heart even more, but she did tell me about the connection
she felt with you earlier.”

I admit whole-heartedly, “I felt it,
too. It’s the strongest feeling I have ever felt, and separating from her felt
like I was defying all bounds of nature. I know she’s the one, Calista.”

“Have you ever touched her or seen a
vision like Ryder and I had?” she asks.

I shake my head no and say, “No, I have
not touched her yet. I tried earlier today, but she backed away from me like I
had the plague.”

Calista gives me a faint smile and
shakes her head.

“I’m sure it won’t be like that tonight.
Try to talk to her if you can and tell her how you feel. Finn’s not going to be
too happy, but there’s nothing he can do about it now.”

Thinking of Finn infuriates me to all
levels of rage. He’s enjoyed
my
Meliantha for five years now while I’ve
been miserable here in the Winter Court. Not anymore. Tonight I will make her
mine and break a few hearts in the process.

“What are we going to do with that?” I
ask Calista while pointing at the towel. The spelled cuff is in there, and it’s
too dangerous to keep it lying around.

“I don’t know yet. I think I should take
it to Durin when he gets here and ask him how to destroy it. We can’t let
anyone get near it or put it on. We also need to inform our families about this
as well and have everyone warned. The dark sorcerer is here and it looks like
he’s after Meliantha this time. We need to do everything possible to keep her
safe,” she commands.

I nod my head in agreement while Ryder
cuts in and advises, “Well in that case, we need to head to the palace and
speak to my parents. I know they will still have the ball tonight, but we need
to be on guard. There’s no telling how many traitors we have in our midst.” He
looks around the room at us all and settles his protective gaze on Merrick.

Fear and concern splay across his face,
but he quickly shakes it off and says, “Alright everyone, let’s go to the
palace and call a meeting.”

We leave the cabin and I can’t stop
myself from staring at the cottage beside me. Meliantha is in there alone with
her warrior, and I pray that she waits for me to explain everything before
jumping back in bed with him. I ache to talk to her, but I know the urgency of
our situation. We need to warn the Court about the dark sorcerer, and the evil
that has been taking place.

The meeting lasted about an hour, and
now I’m back in my cabin getting ready for the Solstice Ball that will be
taking place in a matter of minutes. I run my fingers through my hair and then
down to slip the last button of my black dress shirt in place before layering
on my tuxedo jacket. I know it’s a bold move, but I take the purple rose lying
on the table, and I pin it to the lapel of my jacket. It’s the same color as
Meliantha’s eyes. I haven’t seen her leave the cottage yet, but I did just get
back from the meeting. Breena had stopped me on the way to meet my parents
saying she had a gift for me, but I was in a hurry and told her I would have to
accept it later. She looked hesitant and angry when I walked away, but there
were more important matters that needed to be dealt with.

The meeting consisted of my parents,
King Madoc and Queen Mab, the Summer King and Queen, Durin of the dwarves, and
Aelfric of the Elvish Kingdom. Once everyone was situated, Calista, Ryder, and
I took the floor and explained the recent events. Gasps of hysteria and outrage
filled the room. My parents were livid while King Oberon and Queen Tatiana were
overtaken with fear. We explained to Durin that it was said he was the one who
made the golden cuff for Finn, and that it was delivered with Meliantha’s
arrows.

Durin was angered by our information and
informed us that he made no such gift, and the only way to destroy it is by the
magical fires of the elves. It’s strange how items made by the dwarves can only
be destroyed by the elves. We were also informed that the messenger he sent to
deliver Meliantha’s arrows had recently gone missing. I think we can all assume
his messenger had gone traitor. Finn’s golden band was secured and will be
taken to the Elvish Kingdom by Aelfric to be destroyed.

Knowing the dark sorcerer is here and
plotting to take Meliantha wasn’t settling well with anyone, especially me. I
vowed to protect her with my life and I meant it when I announced it in the
meeting. My parent’s vigilant expressions were clear; they understood my intentions.
I met with them in private and told them of my feelings for Meliantha and about
calling off the engagement to Breena. They offered to withdraw making the
announcement at the ball. It’s like the weight of the world was lifted off my
shoulders. Now all I have to do is break the news to Breena.

I walk over to one of the windows in my
bedroom, and I glimpse two of my warriors standing guard outside the cottage
doors. Being the leader of the Winter Army, I delegated more warriors to shadow
Meliantha to make sure she’s safe at all times. Each warrior has been
thoroughly searched to insure no magical objects were placed on them. I know I
should trust my men, but this is Meliantha we’re guarding and I can’t afford to
take any chances. I can’t have her taken away from me when I’m about to get her
back…hopefully.

The time has now come for the ball to
begin. I thought if I took my time, I would be able to escort Meliantha up to
the palace. I stare out the window for another minute and decide it’s probably
a better idea if I don’t wait on her. I know I’ll see her tonight.

I head down the stairs to my front door,
and I saunter out into the frosty cold air. The minute I’m outside I am met
with the whimpering sounds of a baby pup. I peer down to see Accalia pawing at
Aki’s ears vying for her father’s attention while Larentia, her mother, watches
in amusement. All three of them are a stunning breed of white wolves and are
part of my pack. I have eight more of them, and I know they are somewhere
around here causing mischief. I laugh at Accalia and reach down to pick her up.
Her fur is fluffy and white reminding me of a giant ball of cotton.

“Hey, girl, I see you like irritating
your father,” I say while hiding my smile behind her fur so Aki can’t see it. I
scratch her head and she licks my hand. I whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry,
most women find it amusing to pester the men.” I know Aki heard me and he lets
out a loud huff in response. I set Accalia down so I can look into Aki’s eyes.

“I need to tell you something, Aki.
Something bad is going on around here and I need you to keep your eyes vigilant
and aware. I want you to guard Princess Meliantha any way you can and keep her
safe,” I demand. Aki is a faithful and loyal wolf, and I know he would do
anything I asked of him. The same goes for my other wolves, but Aki is the one
I spend the most time with. He huffs again and I know that is his way of saying
he’ll do as I ask.

“Thank you, Aki.” I walk down the front
steps and I stroll my way to the palace. The air feels frostier than normal for
some reason. I’m usually not affected by the coldness of our court, but chills
reverberate through my body and I shudder. My senses go on hyper alert and I
know this can only mean one thing. The dark sorcerer must be near and I have a
sinking suspicion he’s going to use this night to play his sick and twisted
game.

I grumble amongst the wind, “Bring it,
you worthless bastard.”