The Eden Series: The Complete Collection (142 page)

Every muscle in her body screamed at her to get up and race after the winged man who’d been a constant presence around the castle for the past week. Cecelia felt her tears fall in a silent turmoil, her emotions choking her, too strong to even voice to the others in the room what was happening. She didn’t know how, but she knew the second the man looked at her that she would never see her child again.

She was too weak to even move. Too worn from birth to save her child from leaving this world after only just entering it. She had failed him already. She was –

A sharp pain ripped through her body making her cry out. The healer was kneeling before her instantly. He started to say something, but she barely heard him or registered his words as more pain engulfed her. Finally words broke through the haze in her mind.

“Push, my lady! Push!”

Cecelia did so, pushing as she had just done and felt something else deliver from her body.

“Twins,” one of the nurses said as she gasped. “My Queen, you’ve had another son!”

Joy was instantaneous but quickly changed to fear as reality set in. She opened her mouth to warn them, but knew not what to say. How could she tell them to hide a child from the Prince who ruled them? What choice did she have?

The door opened and her heart pounded within her chest as fatigue washed over her, making it difficult for her to even keep her head up. It was not the Prince though who entered, nor the winged man. This man was taller than any other, his shoulders wide and strong. White hair was cropped close to his head, and eyes of the same colour met hers as he crossed the room.

“Artem,” she whispered. She didn’t know the leader of the Elite well, but she knew he could be trusted. He’d been the first person she’d met when he arrived at her home in the mountains near Montis to take her to the King for their betrothal. He was a quiet and sombre man, but Cecelia had always felt safe in his presence.

“Take him,” she whispered as he knelt beside her, close to her head. “You must take him.” She fought to instill urgency into her words, but they would only come out as soft pleas.

Artem nodded, his vacant eyes somehow knowing. How could he be aware of the betrayal to her this night when it had only just happened? She wasn’t sure, but there were many things about the Elite Cecelia did not understand.

“Promise me,” she said, silent tears running down her face.

“He will be safe,” was all he said. Then he stood and raised his hand, swiping it through the air as though cobwebs marred his way. Cecelia sensed everyone else in the room still. Artem gently took her second baby from the nurse who simply stood there, eyes unblinking. Then he walked back to her and knelt so that she might see the child he held.

“Behold your child and remember his face,” he said. “No others will remember him, but you will. Keep his memory safe in your heart, and let it give you strength.”

More tears spilled from her eyes as she struggled to sit up. Gently she kissed her child’s forehead and whispered softly, “I will always love you.” She lay back and watched as Artem turned and left. No fear filled her this time as she watched yet another child leave her bedside. This time she had hope. As soon as the door shut, the others in the room began to move again as though nothing happened. Cecelia sank further into her pillows, closing her eyes as the night’s events finally took their toll on her. She cried inwardly for both children, lost to her so soon. She could only hope that one day she would see them again, in this world or the one beyond.
I will always love you,
she said again silently, sending it out to both. To the one who would be waiting in the clouds, and to the other who would be hidden from all until the time was right.

ELYSIUM

COMING IN FALL

2014

ELYSIUM

~
PART ONE
~

A girl who has visions;

A stable boy and lover to a Princess;

A soldier of the Guard;

An Elite, the last of her kind out of hiding.

This group of unlikely friends will be sent on the most important mission of their lives – find the Elite and bring them back to save Elysium. But the salvation they are seeking lies not with the feared “god’s children”, but with the thing they’ve kept hidden all these years.

Will they find the hidden people, or will they themselves become lost in the mist?

A simple barmaid learns how quickly life can change when she finds herself in the clutches of the most feared Pirate in all of Elysium. Forced on the journey of her lifetime, she is about to realize that the treasure they are hunting is nothing she ever expected. And when they reach the end, it is truly only the beginning.

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