Betrayals of Spring (23 page)

Ashur comes over and pulls her into his
arms. He looks me straight in the eyes when he speaks soothingly to her.

“We are all here to help you through it.
I
will help you through it.” Her crying stops and she sniffles while
peering up at Ashur. He wipes her tears away and then he leans down to kiss her
lips. She melts in his arms and returns the kiss passionately. I hate that it
took something this drastic to make them realize how much they need each other.

Finn turns his head away from their
display and looks at me. His smile is weak, but he tries his best to make it
strong. He gets up from his seat and disappears down the hallway until I hear
the door to his room shut lightly. I hope with all my heart that he finds
someone to love who will love him back.

Ashur and Elissa are still kissing, and
I know his love for her will help her through anything she has to face. They
break apart, but are still in each other’s arms when Ashur pleads to me
silently,
“Please help her, Meliantha. I am begging you to help take some of
this guilt away. As much as I hate to say this, she is not strong enough to
handle it, even with our help.”

The moment I saw her I wanted to take
the pain away, but messing with people’s emotions is not something I want to
make a habit of. I know what happened to her is my fault, so I will do anything
in my power to help her. I come up behind Elissa and I place my hand on her
shoulder. I can feel the electric current of my magic leaving my hand and
entering her body. The tingling sensation feels good as it comes alive in my
body. I can sense it taking away the pain and guilt in Elissa and leaving only
a dull ache in its place until there is no more.

Her body sags in Ashur’s arms, most
likely from my magic and exhaustion, so he scoops her up and cradles her
against his body. Knowing that Elissa will be fine and safe releases the heavy
burden that’s been building on my chest.

“Thank you,” he whispers to me. “I’m
going to lay her down to rest for a while, and I believe it is time for you to
get ready for tonight.”

My insides scream with joy and I nod my
head vivaciously at Ashur before going to my room. I open the door letting Aki
follow me in and I lean against it to take a calming breath. So far things are
going in the right direction, I think to myself. Let’s just hope it stays that
way. I have Elissa back and now her heart will be healed so she can move
forward. Also, in just a few short minutes I will be on my way to being bonded
to the man I love.

I take off my bow and arrows and the
cream-colored winter jacket and pants I wore throughout the day. I take the
white, silky bathrobe I wore last night and I wrap it around my body. I need to
find a suitable dress to wear for my special night with Kalen. I look through
my things and I sigh in disappointment. None of the dresses I brought are
catching my eye. I sink to the floor and I lean against the trunk filled with
my clothes. I know it shouldn’t matter since the dress won’t be on long anyway,
but I still want to look amazing for him.

Aki comes over and nuzzles my cheek. I
know he can sense my angst and he’s trying to make me feel better. I nuzzle him
back and sigh, “Oh, Aki, I just want this night to be perfect, and nothing I
brought will be suitable.” He lies on the ground beside me and whines his
understand-ing.

I wonder what will happen to the wolves
when Kalen and I leave the Winter Court. Will they come with us or stay here?

“You have a visitor, Meliantha,”
Ashur informs me
through our connection. I’m not expecting anyone so I wonder who it could be. A
knock sounds at the door, so I walk over to open it. On the other side of the
door is a dark-haired Winter beauty with the most amazing green eyes I have
ever seen. I remember meeting her years ago at Calista’s wedding and how unique
her eyes looked. It is rare for a Winter fae to have green eyes just like it’s
rare for a Summer fae to have purple eyes. We are unique and I know it’s most
likely because we are part of the powerful Four, which means we are also the
ones that are supposed to save the Land of the Fae.

“Come in,” I say while motioning her
inside. She’s carrying a garment bag and I’m curious to know why.

“Thank you, Meliantha. I’m sure you
remember meeting me at your sister’s wedding to my brother.”

I nod my head, “Of course I remember
you, Sorcha. I could never forget those green eyes of yours.”

She laughs and lays the garment bag down
on the bed.

“Yeah, most people can’t forget, just
like no one can forget yours.” She looks around the room and shakes her head.
“It looks like someone else couldn’t forget them either by the looks of this
room.”

“What do you mean?” I ask curiously.

I’ve had my speculations about who
decorated the room, but I want to hear for sure if it was Kalen or not. I meant
to comment about it earlier to him, but never got around to it. Sorcha grins
while motioning her hand all throughout the interior of the room.

“This is all my brother’s doing. He did
it for you, can’t you tell? Everything in here is almost the exact shade of
your eyes.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I guess he thought you would like it.”

“I do,” I reply.

She breaks her eye contact and looks
down at the floor.

“You know, I hated you for the past five
years,” she admits. I snap to attention and stare at her wide-eyed even though
she hasn’t taken her eyes from the floor yet. I am about to ask why when she
lifts her hand and quickly continues, “I don’t anymore, Meliantha, not after
hearing about the real reason you and Kalen never got together. He became a different
person after you turned him down. He never joked anymore or had the spark of
life that made him who he was. I hated you for being the cause of that.” She
lifts her gaze to meet mine and she takes a deep breath, looking concerned. “I
am the one who pushed Kalen to date Breena, and I’m sorry for that. I didn’t
realize the trouble she would cause. Do you forgive me?”

“There is nothing to forgive, Sorcha. I
wish things could have been different, but the dark sorcerer screwed us all
over and led us down that wretched path. Not anymore, though. Tonight we turn
the tables in our direction.”

Her face brightens up and then she grabs
the garment bag off the bed.

“Hence, the reason I am here. I brought
a dress that would look wonderful on you for the bonding tonight. I didn’t
think you had come prepared, so I thought I would show this to you.”

“Thank you, Sorcha. I was just sitting
here trying to decide what to wear when you showed up. Let’s see the dress,” I
say, ecstatic.

She unzips the bag and in it lays the most
exquisite dress I have ever seen. The color of the dress matches my amethyst
eyes and it sparkles in the light from the crystals adorned in the fabric. I
couldn’t have asked for a more perfect dress. It’s a strapless gown that will
hug at my waist and then flow down gracefully to the floor. The fabric feels
silky to the touch as I run my hands over its shiny material.

“It’s beautiful, Sorcha. I don’t know
how to thank you.”

She lays the dress on the bed and
reaches for my hand when she approaches me. “Just make my brother happy. That
is all the thanks I need.”

“I will take care of him for the rest of
my life. You have nothing to worry about,” I assure her. She kisses my cheek
and leaves the room shutting the door behind her. I take a deep breath while staring
at the dress. It’s a shame it won’t be on long enough to enjoy it. Shivers take
over my body in anticipation of the evening, and soon Kalen will take those
chills away by warming me up with his own body in a long night filled with
passionate love making for the first time. The making of our bond will also
begin our court, and the Land of the Fae will be one step closer to defeating
the evil. So many things are going to change tonight.

I am dressed and ready to go in my
lovely bonding dress along with my bow and arrows and my cloak. Bonding or not,
I will always carry around my bow. Ashur is waiting for me by the door and Aki
is following behind me.

“Are you ready, Princess?” Ashur asks,
smiling.

I take a deep breath.

“Yes, I’m ready.” Ashur opens the door
and we step out into the cold, wintry night. We walk up the path to Kalen’s
cabin and my teeth are chattering along the way. I can’t decipher if it’s from
the coldness of the night or from being nervous. I stand frozen on the porch
while trying to calm my rapidly beating heart by taking in some deep breaths.

“It’s OK to feel nervous, Princess.”

“I have had sex before, Ashur. I am not
nervous about that.”

“I know, and that’s not what I am
talking about.”
I look over at him and furrow my brows. What is he talking about then? I do not
want to be viewed as weak by being nervous.

“You are about to be the queen of your
own court. There is a lot of responsibility involved in that, and it’s normal
to feel nervous. You are not weak, Meliantha. You never were.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but in a
playful way. He’s the only man that will ever know my deepest and darkest
secrets. I kiss his cheek and bid him farewell.

“I will see you in the morning,” I say
aloud.

He starts to walk away and hollers over
his shoulder, “Have fun tonight!” I laugh at his candor and watch him walk
away.

Aki is staring up at me so I take one
last deep breath before opening the door. “Wish me luck,” I say to Aki.

As soon as I open the door, the hair on
the back of my neck stands straight up. My mind is telling me to run quick and
fast away from here. Aki is outside growling and scratching on the door to get
in, but I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him so I leave him outside.
I walk up the steps cautiously, and the evil is growing thicker the closer I
get to the top. I can see a flicker of candlelight emanating from the room the
evil is coming from. I approach it slowly and guarded.

“Kalen!” I call out.

There is no response other than the
giggling sound of a female coming from the inside of the room. What the hell is
this? Anger envelops my body and I rear back giving the door a powerful kick.
It explodes off its hinges and flies across the room. The smell of black magic
engulfs me, but I fight through it and storm into the room.

I look toward the bed and Breena is
lying there naked with a smug smile on her face while Kalen is next to her
running his hands all over her body. It only takes one good look at him to know
he is not
my
Kalen. I still feel a twinge in my gut at watching him all
over Breena, but I keep repeating to myself that it’s not really him. I can’t
believe I was off taking my time getting ready while Kalen was here facing off
with the dark sorcerer by himself. He needed me and I wasn’t here. My throat
tightens up at the thought that Kalen might be gone from me forever. Whatever I
do, I can’t show weakness. I hesitantly look around the room for ashes and
thankfully I see none.

“I am so glad you came to join us,” the
dark sorcerer says. The voice is the same as Kalen’s, but this one is full of
evil and malice. I recognize the same tone from five years ago.

“Go to hell,” I spit. “Where is Kalen?”

I wonder how long it would take Ashur to
get help if I called out to him. I have my bow and arrow but they are strapped
underneath my cloak. There is no way I could get to them in time. Next time, I
need to make sure they are out in the open and ready to fire, but for now I
have to suck it up and deal with this myself. He gets off the bed and stalks
towards me. He’s wearing the same warrior gear that Kalen was wearing earlier.
He looks exactly like Kalen, but the eyes give him away.

He motions down his body and answers,
“Your prince is right here, Princess, and I’ll kill him right where we stand if
you even think about calling out to your guardian to come rescue you.”

“I don’t understand. How can you take
over a royal’s body? You’ve never been able to do so before,” I state.

He steps closer and I take a step back.
This bastard has touched me way too many times, and I am
not
going to
let it happen again.