Betrayals of Spring (35 page)

“Please, Meliantha. Time will begin to
run out if I don’t get you out of here,” I urge quickly.

Her chest is rising and falling rapidly
with her breaths and a huge smile slowly begins to take over her face. Her
amethyst eyes bore into mine and I stare lovingly back into hers. “Is it really
you,” she asks, hopeful.

I smile back at her and nod my head,
“Yes, my love, it’s me. Now let’s go home. Everyone is waiting for you to come
back.” I hold out my hand for her to take, but instead she shakes her head and
laughs. She begins to run towards me, laughing along the way, and so I open my
arms wide to receive her. I’m ecstatically counting down the seconds until
she’ll be in my arms. She slams her body into mine, and covers my lips with
hers in a desperate embrace. I kiss her with all the force of my love and she
returns the feelings with great fervor.

“I love you,” I whisper desperately in
her ear.

She laughs and wipes away her tears.
“And I love you,” she cries.

I pull her in tighter and she rests her
head against my chest. I breathe in the enticing smell of her body and it
reminds me of what’s to come. She carries the scent of the Spring Court, and I
have longed for the day she’ll truly be mine. While holding her body close, the
world of white slowly begins to fade until I start feeling the pressure of
being returned to my body. We are finally going home.

 I’m thrust back into my mind quickly
and I immediately let go of Elvena and Ashur’s hands. They both come awake
slowly, but everyone in the room is startled by my movements and stares at me
wide-eyed and excited.

“What’s happened?” Calista jumps up and
shouts.

I rush over to where Meliantha lies on
her bed and I lean over her waiting for her to wake. I smile back at Calista,
“She’s coming back! I found her!” I announce excitedly. Everyone shrieks with
joy and surrounds Meliantha with tears streaming down their faces. I, myself
can’t stop the warm tears from flowing down my cheeks. Meliantha stirs and her
eyelids begin to flutter. She opens her eyes slowly and blinks a few times
before turning her head to face me. I smile at her and she gives me the most
radiant smile back. After years of being apart and being torn away from each
other we are finally going to be together.

Our most important journey as one will
now begin
.

The world of white has faded and in
return, my heart and soul has come back together with my body. Seeing Kalen
alive was the best feeling I have ever felt in my life. Knowing that I didn’t
fail feels like a huge boulder has been lifted off my chest. All the sadness
and all the despair has melted away as if it never existed. I know my face is
radiantly glowing as I smile at the one man I am destined to be with forever.

“You found me,” I whispered.

He brings his hand up to cup my cheek
and whispers back, “Always, my love.”

I tear my eyes away from him to look
around the room at everyone celebrating and jumping around in joy. I honestly didn’t
know if I was going to see them again when I was trapped in the depths of my
mind. Calista is hugging Elvena and both of them are laughing and crying. Ashur
and Finn have smiles on their faces, but the tension around their eyes lets me
know they were worried. Ryder walks over to Kalen and pats him on the back. He
nods at me and then takes his place by Calista’s side. It feels wonderful to be
back in my room, but looking around I realize that this isn’t my home anymore.

Elvena comes to the other side of the
bed and leans over to kiss me on the cheek. “Welcome back, child.”

I grab her hand to give it a squeeze and
then I murmur softly, “Thank you, Elvena. I wouldn’t have made it back without
your help.” She smiles at me once more before taking her leave. I guess this
will be the time for everyone to make their rounds. Calista and Ryder both come
forward and Calista falls over on the bed and crushes me in a hug.

“I’ve missed you,” she wails. “You were
so brave, Mel. All the things you did took great courage, and I will never in
my life doubt you.” She stays in my arms for a few minutes but then lifts her
head to smirk at me. “But I think I can still beat you in a target contest,
even though you happen to be a master of the bow,” she taunts playfully. Calista
has never missed a target and neither have I. I don’t think there will ever be
a time when we beat each other, but there’s no harm in trying.

“I’m ready when you are, sister,” I
taunt back. We both laugh and she gives me one more hug before whispering in my
ear. “I have a surprise for you and Kalen. When you’re ready, go to where your
heart leads you and there waiting for you is a gift.” She gives me a sly smile
and winks before letting me go. “Have fun little sister.”

I can only imagine what she means about
her cryptic message, but I’m beginning to have a few ideas. Once everyone
leaves I plan on following my heart and bringing Kalen along with me. We have
waited far too long to complete our bond. Finn takes this time to approach, and
I can feel Kalen tense beside me. His hand grips mine tighter, but when I look
at him questioningly he smiles and loosens his hold.

“They had a few altercations while you
were gone, Princess,”
Ashur informs me telepathically. I quickly look at
him and he smiles.
“I kept them in line though.”

“Thank you,”
I smile back.

Finn sits down on the opposite side of
the bed away from Kalen and takes my hand in his. He gives no notice of Kalen
when he speaks to me, “Did you mean what you said, Mel… or was it just words?”
I know what he’s talking about and I know I meant every word. I just hate it
took so long to let him know how I felt. I look up at him and smile, “Yes, with
all my heart, I meant every word of it, Finn.” A tear rolls down his face and
he shows no shame with letting it fall. He cups my face in his hands, leans
down, and kisses my cheek gently. “Thank you, Meliantha. You will always have a
special place in my heart,” he whispers in my ear. He pulls back and looks at
me once more. “I know I’ve told you this before, but I’m really going to miss
you.”

“And I you,” I murmur with a smile.

He bows his head to me and quickly
leaves my room without looking back. Kalen is silently fuming beside me, but my
reassuring gaze seems to calm him down. “I’m assuming with Finn’s last statement
that he will not be joining us in the Spring Court?”

So that’s why he looks so perturbed. I
shake my head and laugh, “No, he’s not coming to the Spring Court.”

“Good, I would hate to have to kill
him,” he jokes, but with a hint of truth. I’m sure they would fight every day
if Finn joined us in the Spring Court. I honestly do believe that in time he
will find someone that will love and take care of him.

“He will,”
Ashur agrees
silently.

“I hope it’s soon,”
I reply back.

Ashur takes his place by my side and his
face turns from friendly to serious. “Don’t you
ever
do what you did
ever again?” he scolds. I nod my head in understanding, but it’s not enough for
him. He opens his soul to show me what I’ve done to him. The anger and worry he
felt comes pouring out of his body and into mine. This is what I put him
through and it tears me up inside.

“I’m sorry, Ashur. I was only trying to
protect you,” I admit desperately.

His face goes soft and he sighs, “I
know, but I don’t want you to protect me. I’m here to protect you.” He closes
his eyes and shakes his head. “Women,” he grunts.

Speaking of women, my curiosity peaks
with the thoughts of Elissa. I wonder what all has transpired since their first
kiss. “How are you and Elissa?” I ask curiously.

A huge smile appears on his face and he
gladly announces, “She’ll be joining me in the Spring Court. We plan to
complete the marriage bond soon.”

I quickly look over at Kalen and he
smiles mischievously at me. The marriage bond. Kalen and I will be bonded
tonight, and there’s nothing that’s going to stop us.

I turn back to Ashur, excited. “I’m so
happy for you, Ashur. I’ve waited so long for you two to be together.”

He bows his head and looks from me to
Kalen, “I will leave you two to your peace, but soon I want to know everything
that happened when we were separated.”

I nod my head, “Agreed.” Before he
leaves, an idea pops in my head so I hastily ask him, but only silently so
Kalen won’t hear.
“Are my things here from the Winter Court?”

He replies, “
Yes, they are Princess.
Everything has been put away, even your bow and arrows.”

“Thank you, my Guardian.”

He narrows his eyes at me and I give him
a huge smile in return. I’m sure he knows what I’m planning, but all he does is
shake his head and laughs before leaving my room. “What was that all about?”
Kalen asks skeptically.

I look at him and smile, “It’s a
surprise I can’t tell you.”

I swing my legs over the bed and I stand
up for the first time in who knows how long. I wobble on my feet and Kalen
catches me. “Easy there, firecracker, you haven’t walked in a week so I’m sure
your legs need time to adjust.” I was wondering how long I had been gone. I
give Kalen’s hand a squeeze and then he lets me go so I can walk on my own. My
legs tingle a little, but it quickly passes and I am now walking normal. I
saunter back to Kalen and I wrap my arms around his neck. I wonder if he’s been
here with me the whole time.

“What have you done all week while I’ve
been playing sleeping beauty?” I ask.

He laughs at that, but then turns
serious as he stares into my eyes. “I stayed here beside you the whole time. I
even talked to you hoping you would hear me and come back.” I know I heard him
when I was lost in my other world, but could it really have been him? His voice
kept me going and gave me hope. I honestly believe that if I didn’t hear his
voice all those times I truly would have lost all hope. I stare up into his
watery gaze with one of my own. How could I have ever believed that he would
betray me all those years ago? Anyone could have looked into his soul and saw
only goodness and love. I was just a fool and couldn’t see past the weakness. I
whisper, “I think it was actually your voice I heard in my dream world. It’s
what gave me hope… the hope I needed to continue on. Without it I would’ve been
lost forever.”

“But at least I found you. That is all
that matters,” he claims.

He pulls me closer and then gazes down
at my lips. We kissed in the other world, but now that we’re here and alone I
want to be able to enjoy him. Kalen lifts my chin and caresses my cheek. His
soft touch sends chills all over my body and I desperately ache for more. His
other hand slides down low on my back and he firmly urges me closer.
Anticipating his kiss, I lick my lips as he bends down to press his soft ones
over mine. I take his lips greedily with my own and I invite him further in by
allowing his tongue to enter deeper. He starts to move over to the bed, and as
much as I want to finish our bond I know this isn’t the right place. My chest
is on fire with the intensity of my passion for him, and even though I yearn
for him I pull away from the kiss to cool down the fire.

Kalen groans, “Please don’t do this to
me, my love. I don’t think I can wait much longer.”