Flames of Auriel (A Caeles Adventure Book 1) (17 page)

He took a cautious step toward her and lifted his hand to brush her cheek, but lowered it when she flinched. “I apologize for leaving so soon. I really did want to talk to you, but I have previous engagements to attend to.” He took her hand in his bowing over it, his voice a whisper, “Dark One watch over you, Josephine.” Asher straightened striding toward the way he came, but turned back at her soft voice. “What?”

Zoe cleared her voice and took a few steps forward. “Joe. I said, call me Joe.” She looked up at him with a shy smile.

Asher returned her smile, “Then you must call me Asher.” He gave her an exaggerated bow, “Until next time, Joe.”

Zoe watched him walk away and all the air left her body. She felt kind of dizzy and for some reason a little bit happy. Taking a seat on a nearby rock, Zoe focused her eyes back on the water. She really had not been lying about the water; it did calm her, but it had been easier than she had imagined being the guarded victim she was supposed to be. This had been the first conversation they had had where they were not either fighting or trying to rip each other’s clothes off.

The way Asher had been with her just now, she had never seen him that way before. He had been so thoughtful and concerned, and the look in his eyes made her feel like he would do anything to make her feel safe again. Zoe found it confusing, yet she was sad that she had never invoked those emotions from him before.

Zoe grabbed her boots and tunic and started the short walk back to the camp. Her mind raced with all the events of the day. She had a lot to think about and she knew the prince was not going to leave her mind anytime soon.

Asher tried to hide his yawn from his mother's watchful eyes. He did not know why, but she had not taken her eyes off of him since he returned. Though she gave her usual enthusiastic greeting, overjoyed that he made it back in time, he still felt like something was off. Maybe Bryce could fill him in, if he could ever find him.

His eyes scanned the ballroom floor and cringed when she caught site of the gaggle of foreign princesses all waiting to pounce at him at any given moment. Asher's mother had not been exaggerating when she said everyone was coming. Though he had only been in attendance for an hour, he had already met half a dozen eligible ladies from all over Caeles and the long line of guests did not seem to be getting any smaller.

"Asher, would you at least smile? They need to know you are happy to see them! They came all this way for you after all!" Queen Marie caught her son's yawn and elbowed him for good measure.

Asher winced at the sharp pain in his ribs. He gave a bitter smile as he looked at his mother. "But I am not happy to see them, mother."

"If you aren't happy to see them, be happy I'm letting you choose a new bride and not forcing you to marry who I want." Queen Marie gestured to a petite brunette with dark eyes and even darker skin, who had already been through the line. "Though I would not be opposed to you choosing Amelia. She would be a splendid addition to our kingdom."

Asher glanced toward the princess of Surian. He had not been impressed with the small lass with the timid personality. She would no doubt bore him to death before they even married.

"You only like her because she is wealthy.”

Surian was one of the wealthier kingdoms that was located on the east coast. Their patron, Raguel, gave them their calm and patient exterior. This made them excellent fishermen, but quite boring as dinner guests.

“She wouldn't last a week with you as a mother in law. You almost made her cry when you admonished her for not meeting my eyes!"

"She would do fine. The girl could do to grow a little backbone." She motioned for the next guest to approach, "now this one is lovely, you can't deny that?"

Asher looked to the approaching blonde as the herald announced her, "Presenting her highness, Princess Genevieve Bethsal of Sabbathia."

He could not deny that Genevieve was something to look at. Her tall frame and voluptuous figure was only accented by her long blonde hair and full lips. The vibrant smile on her lips did not reach her eyes, which was unsettling for Asher. She was beautiful and she knew it.

Sabbathia was located in the southwest and they were known to be full of themselves. Since their patron angel was Michael, the hand of God, they thought they were privileged, which did not make it surprising that Genevieve was probably used to getting what she wanted and Asher was quite sure he did not want to be one of them.

"It is such a pleasure to finally see you again, your highness. I have been counting the days until I could come back to your magnificent kingdom." Genevieve gave an elaborate curtsey before she offered him her hand.

He eyed it for a moment before he took it in his. He bowed over it and hesitated to place a kiss on her knuckles. He was not sure he wanted to touch her if he could help it.

"Thank you, Princess Genevieve."

Queen Marie scoffed at his short reply and pushed him aside to take the girl's hand in her own. "What my son means to say is that it is a pleasure to have you in our fair kingdom. We look forward to getting to know you better in the days to come."

Asher watched as the princess blushed prettily at his mother, never taking her eyes off of him. Genevieve glanced up at him through her lashes and stepped toward him to place a hand on his chest. Asher flinched at the contact.

"Believe me, the pleasure is all mine."

Asher fought to suppress a laugh at her flamboyant attempt to seduce him, and in the middle of the ballroom no less. He would need to make sure he was never alone with her. She seemed like the type to try and force his hand by tarnishing her virtue, though, by her actions, that was probably taken care of long before now.

Not paying any attention to her advances, he looked over her shoulder and gestured to the herald to call forth the next in line. She huffed at his blatant dismissal. She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she marched away.

Queen Marie whispered through a strained smile, “Asher! I can’t believe you just did that!”

He kept his eyes on the retreating candidate and leaned into her ear. “You don’t want a Sabbathian for a daughter in law, she would try to outshine you at every turn, or did you forget the incident with them three winters ago?”

He smiled in satisfaction at his mother’s shudder. The Sabbathians were merchants and thought their goods were better than anyone else’s, so when the King of Sabbathia and his daughter, Genevieve, had come to make a new trade agreement with his mother, they were not interested in paying a fair price. Genevieve’s father, hoping to get a good deal, had actually tried to get them to break his engagement with Zoe and marry his daughter instead. It was no surprise that he would send her when his mother had sent the word out of Zoe’s recent disappearance and their need for a new alliance.

Queen Marie sent an irritated scowl her son’s way then turned to the next guest in line. Her eyes became glacial at the man that stood before them. Prince Armanel stood there, looking as if he was the cat that had caught the canary. He bowed his dark head in a mock reverence to them.

Marie regained her composure and nodded her head to him in response. “What are you doing here, Prince Armanel?” She took delight in the annoyance that crossed his face.

“You know very well that I am king now, Marie.” Armanel glared at Asher who had a smirk on his face before he turned a grin back to Marie. “And you invited me, did you not?”

Marie grimaced, she had indeed invited him to the ball but only because it would have been an insult to exclude Aurelius from the guest list when all the other kingdoms in Caeles were invited. She had never expected him to actually show up, and, based on her son’s face, he was not at all pleased with Armanel’s presence.

Armanel stepped toward Asher and smirked at the prince’s tense form. “Asher, my boy, you should be happy I am king. Now you don’t have to marry my headstrong niece, Auriel rest her soul.” He took a glance around the ballroom and admired all the princesses that were in attendance for Asher. “You certainly have a better set of options here. I’m sure you will find someone that would love to be your meal ticket out of Dederic’s line of fire.”

Asher balled his hands into fists at Armanel’s words. The man before him showed no grief at having lost his family, which only confirmed his suspicions of Armanel’s part in their demise. Asher would find Zoe if not to marry her then to get this demon off the Aurelian throne.

His teeth clenched, Asher forced a smile to his lips. “Yes, I am very lucky. How fortunate for you both of them died, leaving you a clear path to the throne.” He glanced at his mother’s distressed face, “Quite a coincidence don’t you think, mother?”

Marie furrowed her brows, not quite getting what her son was trying to tell her. At the furious look on Armanel’s face, it finally dawned on her. Her son thought Armanel had something to do with not just her friend Brom’s death, but the princess’s attack as well. With this new knowledge Marie became livid.

“It was you!”

Armanel gave a wicked laugh and leaned into the two royals, sneering. “Prove it.” He laughed again when Asher stepped toward him, only to be stopped by his mother’s hand.

Marie’s cold eyes locked onto the Aurelian King, “He’s not worth it, Asher.”

Asher let his mother hold him back, but she could not keep the murderous thoughts off his face. “We will find a way to stop you and make you pay for what you have done.”

Armanel laughed at Asher’s threat. “I would be more worried about keeping your little kingdom safe from the Camelians.” He gestured to the women in the room. “You better find yourself an army here tonight if you wish to have any hope of surviving.” With a malicious chuckle, Armanel sauntered toward the ballroom doors.

Marie let out a breath, happy that the awful man had left when he did. She cast a concerned look at her son’s rigid form. She loosened the grip on his arm, patting it instead.

“Don’t worry, Asher. He’ll get what is coming to him. They always do.”

Asher pulled his eyes away from where Armanel had just left to look at his mother. “I know mother.” Asher just had to figure out how he was going to do it. He turned his eyes back to the receiving line and his mood brightened at the next guest.

The sudden smile on her son’s expression caused Queen Marie to follow where his gaze was. Unlike her son, her mood only soured more at the woman before them. She forced a smile on her face to greet her niece.

“Olivia! How good it is to see you again! I was surprised when I heard you were coming to our little gathering. Aren’t you already married to the Prince Tomas? Where is that boy anyways?” She searched behind the princess for her husband.

Princess Olivia of Ramia was an outspoken young woman, with dark brown hair and contrasting pale blue eyes. Her pale skin was custom for those that lived as far north as she did. Though she was a northerner, she was also Asher’s cousin and quite a few years older than him.

Asher and his mother had last heard she was to marry Prince Tomas of Josfie a few years ago, but the wedding had been set for the summer months. Asher usually entertained Zoe during that time, so they were not able to attend the wedding. Olivia was one of Asher’s favorite relatives, though a little odd, she always made those around her feel at home.

Olivia turned her warm expression to the queen, “Do I need a reason to merit a visit to my favorite cousin? Besides, Tomas, angel rest his soul, died of a foul illness a month after we were wed. Poor dear, we still don’t know what happened.” Queen Marie gasped at Olivia’s nonchalant attitude toward her husband’s demise.

Asher smirked and held his hand out to her. “Still keeping us on our toes, Ollie.”

Instead of offering a hand to Asher, she pulled him into a comforting hug, her mouth turned to his ear. “She is closer than you think.”

Asher stood dumbfounded at her words, but before he could respond Olivia hurried away from the receiving line. He knew that his cousin was believed to have the gift of sight but she had never said anything about it. There were rumors of the northern kingdoms having more connections to their patrons and receiving such gifts from them but he had never seen any of it in person. Even the fire starters from Aurelius had kept their abilities a secret, not wanting to give away their advantage.

He could not decide what he should think about what she said to him. Was she talking about his betrothed? Or someone else? Could she possibly mean Zoe was closer than he thought?

The prince shook his head and turned his attention back to the oncoming guests. He would have to think on it later. For now, he had to get through this evening and by the looks of it, it was going to be a long one.

***

Queen Marie was furious. Her ball was not going as planned. She wanted to provide a distraction for her boy at having lost the love of his life, but he was not enjoying himself at all!

Asher had secluded himself in a corner with Bryce, their heads bent together in deep discussion. Ever since Bryce had told her about her son’s newfound feelings, she had been determined to heal her only son’s broken heart. She knew how it felt to feel like someone is your world and then have them taken away from you in an instant. She had felt like her life was over when her Terryn had died, and she was determined not to let that happen to Asher.

She thrust her shoulders back and held her head high as she marched over to her son to pull him away from Bryce’s side. “Asher! You haven’t danced with any of the princesses!” She passed her eyes between the two, “What are you two whispering about over here?”

Asher exchanged a look with Bryce, whom only shrugged. With a sigh, he turned back to his mother’s daunting figure. “We were just discussing the chances of getting out of here without causing an incident.”

Asher winced at his mother’s outcry. He knew she would react this way. He watched as her face went from fuming red to a quivering mess in almost a blink of an eye. Asher placed a hand on her shoulder in hopes of keeping her from causing a scene.

He patted her on the back and turned his face to her ear, “Happy thoughts mother. Remember, people tend to get uncomfortable when the hostess has a meltdown.”

Queen Marie shoved back from her son’s embrace and her blubbering turned glacial. “Who’s having a meltdown? Can you blame me for wanting you to actually enjoy something I went to all this trouble to organize?”

“No, but I can blame you for not asking if I even wanted to marry someone else first.” He drew a heavy hand through his hair and glanced around at the room full of people, he really did not want to have this discussion now. “Bryce told me what he told you. What I don’t understand is how you can still push me on to someone else if you already know how I feel?”

“Oh, my dear boy.” Marie placed a soft hand on Asher’s arm, “Zoe is gone and I just want you to be happy. But you won’t be able to be happy until you accept that fact.”

Asher eyes turned cold as he removed his arm from her grasp. “She is not gone. She is still out there somewhere. Cousin Ollie even said as much and I
am
going to find her.”