25

TWENTY-FIVE

Ember

After Willow and I join the others downstairs, we find Artie and Amara bickering on the couch.

“Oh! Em! I’m so glad to see you’re awake.” Amara chimes and rushes to embrace me in a tight hug. “Tell me everything.”

I laugh and pat her on the back, smelling her hair and feeling all the more at home. It’s so surreal to have both Willow and Artie in my apartment. I never thought I’d let him infiltrate my heart like this. I can’t wait to show Willow my shop soon but it’s just not the focus of the trip this time.

“I told her of my father’s powers, but that’s basically it.” Willow nods at us.

I grab her hand in mine and take Amara to the couch. We kick Artie off and curl up under a thick wool blanket together. Fae orbs dance around my living room and warm the space in soft pink and blue lighting. A mixture of mine and Willow’s powers. It soothes my anxiety and nerves before spilling this giant news to my best friend.

“There’s so much to tell, but I guess I’ll start with the most shocking news. We think we found my parents.” I say while taking Amara’s hand in mine.

“What?!” She jumps. “You’re just going to casually drop that massive ball of news in my lap and expect me to stay calm?!”

I glance up and find the boys laughing as they watch our interaction. Both of them stand with arms crossed, legs spread apart, staring at us and listening closely to our conversation.

It’s a strange comfort to have them both here. I’m growing more and more fond of my time spent with Artie as well, he’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

I tell them all about my journey to the secret room in the palace. Both Amara and Artie’s jaws drop when I explain that I’m the Moonlace princess, daughter of King and Queen Moonlace.

I still don’t know what exactly that hidden room was, but according to Willow, he’s never seen the door in his wing. It’s as if the lunar palace opened up rooms just for me, the Moonlace princess. I’ve always felt a strange connection to the palace ever since my first visit. The walls may have been hiding rooms from the king’s ill intentions and starting to show them to me, seeing as I’m the lost princess.

Or maybe my deceased parents, Morak and Meelis, left me secret rooms and passages to discover. Truths to reveal.

Either way, I’m going to need to explore more of the palace soon enough. I may have another encounter with Naistrelle and be able to get more answers to the questions we all have. The prophecy the goddess gave me was so vague that it was practically useless at this point. She told me I’m some lost princess and that we were the key to stopping whatever the king is planning, but she gave me no information about his plans nor how to stop him. The whole thing was kind of a joke honestly and everyone here agrees with me.

I’m nervous about returning to the palace for what the king may be up to. He seems hell-bent on torture and destruction, and I just do not want Willow to become the subject of his attention again. But we need to get inside the palace walls and find any trails of information my parents may have left me.

The palace calls to me. Every time I’m there, it feels more and more like home. I thought it was just being near my mate, but even after we agreed to complete our bond, the palace still provides me with a sense of comfort, warmth, and joy. It would have been my home if things were different.

I wonder if my parents have a resting place. Common fae are normally burned and their ashes released back into the universe, but the primes and ancients were given more formal resting places where others could visit and pay their respects.

We decided we should return to the palace and search the libraries and grounds for any and everything regarding the Moonlace bloodline. King Bryton had almost everything replaced after my parents’ destructive deaths, so we may find nothing. But I have to try.

I have a few ideas on how to get the palace to open its hidden rooms for me. If I’m correct, there could be several passages and rooms that have been locked away from the current pathetic ruler.

Together, we quickly gather our things. Amara and I rushed to change into our riding leathers. We can’t take the carriage with all four of us now so we’ll need to ride horses back to the capital.

I say a prayer to Naistrelle, goddess of love and sacrifice before stepping out of my cozy apartment and locking the door behind me.

TWENTY-SIX

Ember

“We’ll be sure to scout the town libraries, as well as our personal collection at the base. I’ll call you if we find anything on forbidden magics and ancient relics. Does Prince Willow recall the king searching for any objects of great power?” Paisley says as my communication orb glows in the center of Will, Artie, Amara, and me. We’re getting ready to mount our horses and begin the journey back to the Capital City.

I peer over at my prince who is guiding the horses out of their stalls and he shakes his head no.

“Unfortunately, he says no. But thank you, Pais. I appreciate it. We will update you if we find any valuable information about the king’s magic or what the prophecy truly means.” I reassure her and close out the communication orb.

Willow and Artie are checking the straps of each horse while Amara and I catch up more.

“So, I see you and the Prince have grown rather close?” Amara hums and elbows me in the side with a knowing look.

“I guess you can say that.” I roll my eyes and try to hide my blushing. “He’s kinda grown on me if I’m being honest.” My attention draws back to Willow as he prepares the horses for their journey. His delicious back muscles flex as he’s adjusting the buckles on our satchels and my mind immediately ventures somewhere less modest. I think of the blow job I gave him earlier and the sheer size of his cock as it slid in and out of my mouth, the taste of him, and the sounds he made for me. It was euphoric.

Do we need to go somewhere private, little dragon? Willow interrupts my sultry thoughts.

I snort out loud and Amara looks at me like I’m crazy. My eyes darted back to her attention and a blush did form along my cheeks this time. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to zone out like that. These moons make me crazy sometimes.”

“Are you guys bond whispering already?” she says breathlessly.

I awkwardly adjust my leathers and try not to make eye contact with Amara. “Yeah, I’m not sure what it means though.”

She bursts with excitement and yells, “It means this is a moon-blessed bond! I don’t know what lies ahead of us but this bond will be the key to whatever it is. I just know it. The moons don’t make mistakes, ember.”

I hiss through my teeth because I still haven’t gotten comfortable with the idea of me being permanently mated to someone. Even if I have grown rather fond of my prince. “Okay, okay. Keep your voice down Amara. We don’t want anyone mobbing us down in the streets. People don’t know much about the prince and he has an entirely new reputation to build outside of his father’s tyranny. For all we know, the fae could hate him.”

“Oh, babe. Everyone knows how the prince stood up to the king at the winter ball. He’s a hero to many for trying to save that precious orphanage.”

“Whoa. So, word travels fast then?”

“I guess so.”

Artie clears his throat and motions for us to join them by the horses. “Let’s go ladies.”

Amara looks over at him and back at me. “Gosh, he’s obnoxious. Did you see how he just trudged muddy boots through the loft? Just ridiculous.”

I giggle under my breath and shake my head at her. Reaching over to wrap my hand around hers, we walk together to meet the boys by the stalls.

I’ll be riding a beautiful appaloosa mare with white, brown, and black spots. She’s beautiful. I slowly approach her and can feel her sizing me up, determining whether I’m trustworthy. Or, just flat-out worthy of riding her in general.

Willow stands to my left while he holds the reins and keeps her grounded for our introduction. “Her name is Kyla.” He softly says with one of my favorite crooked smiles.

I nod and reach my hand to let her huff my skin and smell my scent. She holds my eye contact for a few short seconds before nudging my hand with her head for affection and petting. I giggle and instantly feel relief as her emotions of trust, respect, and excitement roll over my skin. “I have a feeling you’re one fierce girl like me, aren’t you?”

She huffs a breath again and stomps her hoof in agreement, causing me to giggle again. “She’s perfect,” I say to Will. He’s looking at me with so much adoration and  I wonder if he loves animals as much as I do.

“Then she’s perfect for you. She’s all yours, forever.” He hands me the reins and I look at him with the tilt of my head, confused what he means by that.

“What do you mean forever?” I ask.

“She’s yours. I purchased her for you from a local farm and they were ecstatic that The Ember Amethyst would be owning one of their most prized mares.” He babbles on.

I barely hear him over the tightness in my chest and throat. Tears start to well up in my eyes and before I can stop them, they slowly pour down my cheeks.

“What’s wrong? Did I do something to upset you?” He asks while pulling me into a tight hug and cradling my head against his chest. I inhale the smell of cedar and salt, grounding myself again with my mate wrapped around my small frame.

I sniffle and lay my chin against the center of his chest, staring up into his eyes as he peers down at me. He slowly lowers his lips to kiss my forehead and It causes me to sniffle again from his sweetness.

“I can’t believe you got me a horse,” I say.

He lays a hand on the top of my hair and slowly runs his fingers through the strands, further soothing me. “I would give you the world if I could.”

Kyla waits next to us and nudges the back of my hair with her nose. I turn into Willow’s arms and get a better look at her. I can’t believe he got me a horse. Holy shit. And She’s the most beautiful mare I’ve ever seen.

“Would you like to mount her now?” he leans down and whispers into my hair. I slowly nod my head and reluctantly wiggle out of Will’s arms so I can approach Kyla.

“Hey, girl,” I say to her while circling to her right side before I  examine the soft pink saddle Will must have created for me. The saddle has neon blue threading even though it’s made of pink-dyed leather. It warms my heart that he included a piece of himself in something so special.

Willow walks up behind me and places his hand on my hips. “Ready?”

I nod and he lifts me like I weigh nothing more than a garden sprite and places me into the saddle. It fits my body perfectly.

Everyone quickly mounted their mares and steeds, and before I knew it, we were strutting through the streets of Comet Cottages as we headed southeast to Estrallume. The trip takes less than a day, so we should be back in the comfort of the palace soon enough. It feels as if my soul craves the walls of the castle more and more every day. Now that I know I was meant to inherit the lands of Faerelle, I feel even more motivated to rid the lands of King Bryton.

We cross the rolling hills of Comet Cottages and finally come upon the southern outskirts of Doom’s Grove, local to the lost souls that were never given a ceremonial blessing to pass on their next lives among the stars. They are stuck in between realms. It’s said that if you venture deep within the forest the essence of your soul may be stolen by those wanting to hitchhike to the next life.

Per Willow’s command, Artie has been assigned to ensure Amara is safe and protected during the entire trip. Meanwhile, Willow attempts to watch over me. I’m a bit too independent for this babysitting bullshit, though. I wasn’t entirely happy that they weren’t going to let me ride next to Amara so we can talk about anything and everything. Willow is still great company, but I’ve missed Amara and barely had the chance to be there for when the Brooks accident first happened.

My ass is starting to hurt like crazy and we haven’t taken a rest in a while, so I look over to where Willow rides next to me. Fuck, he looks so hot atop that horse.

“Can we rest?” I ask Willow and Kyla neighs in agreement. “I think Kyla’s ass hurts equally as much as mine.”

He chuckles. “Yes, my mate. We can rest for a short while. Although, I don’t like being this close to Doom’s Grove.”

Willow then signals for Artie to lead us to a protected area to dismount. We’re guided behind several borders and can no longer see the trail from here. It’s relatively private. We should be safe for a while.

“Are you worried there could be assailants out here?” I ask Artie while he tends to the horse’s needs.

“Not really. You said that the attacks only happen during the night, right?” He asks me as he feeds the horses some apples.

“Yeah, that’s what we assume.” I hesitate and then ask, “Do you know much about the shadow realm?”

He stood up straighter and turned to face me. “None of us should know much about that realm considering the laws and regulations regarding the knowledge of that repulsive place.”

“Right, Yeah. I get that. Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” I awkwardly back away and run smack dab into Will’s massive body. “Oof– Sorry–”

He wraps his arms around me, spinning my body around to face him and before I can brace myself, throws me over his shoulder. He smacks my ass and I scream, “Put me down, Will!” But he ignores me and fist bumps Artie before dragging me off into the bushes behind our temporary camp.

We’ve barely entered Doom’s Grove and I can already feel the lands here are angry and resentful. Before we venture too far into the woods, he sets me back down. We’re out of sight of the camp at this point.

Towering over me, Willow gives me a curious look.“So, why is my mate so interested in the shadow realm all of a sudden?”

“Why did you have to haul me away to ask me that? Was this really necessary? We should probably head back. This place has all sorts of magical unbalance.” I try to move around him but he grabs my wrist and tugs me back against the front of his body. Wrapping his arms around my waist, I place my palms against his chest, and before I can say anything else he captures my lips in a deep and hungry kiss.

I let out a subtle moan and let his tongue invade all of my senses as it licks and caresses my mouth. Instantly relaxing into his large body. I think I’m addicted to his kisses at this point. Groaning, he tightens his grip on my waist and slowly trails his fingertips up the side of my torso. He makes his way to gripping a handful of my hair in his fist. Making me feel claimed, protected, and flat-out turned on.

Moving my hands from his chest, I run them along his hard abs and then his trousers, finding the large outline of his dick. He’s stiff and hard under his leathers and I start to unbutton his trousers when we hear a noise somewhere deep within the forest.

Will breaks the kiss and tightens his grip on me while scouting the woods around us. “Let’s head back, little dragon.”

I touch my hand to my swollen lips and instantly miss his touch. Sighing, I give in and agree. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”

“We will finish this once we arrive, my mate.” He smirks and with that he leans down to kiss my forehead, taking my hand in his and we begin walking back to our temporary camp.

I’m so distracted by the electricity of his touch that I barely see the silver and gold orbs of light and smoke that float past us. I let in a small gasp and grab Willow’s arm tighter as we watch the lost souls dance through Doom’s Grove. They don’t look particularly distraught, but you can see they’re restless by their constant pulsing and jarring movements.

We walk a bit faster and leave the woods behind us. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter anything too fearsome. As we return to camp Artie and Amara have already readied the horses to continue the last stretch of land before we arrive at the outer villages of Estrallume.

The sun beats down on us above but thankfully the weather is cooler this time of year. We pass several miles of the Decay as we get closer and closer to the capital city. The Decay has been ravaging these lands for well over 20 years and there’s barely any plant life left.

The earth weeps and mourns the loss of its plant life and flourishment,  I can feel it through my empathy talent as we cross over the lands. Both Amara and Willow check on me several times to make sure I’m doing okay. Before I knew it, we arrived at the western gates of Estrallume. To avoid being noticed by the king as much as possible and draw the least amount of attention to us, we decide to take the tunnels again and make our way to the secret dungeon entrance below the castle. Willow says he’s used this route of tunnels several times and has never run into any problems.

Artie takes our horses to a stable just inside the Virgo district and then returns to meet us by the glimmer tree.

“Ready?” Willow asks the group. We all nod in agreement as he takes a blade from his thigh and slices a small incision into his palm. Will then runs his hand along the bark of the tree and we watch as the roots part once again, allowing us to crawl underneath the tree and enter the tunnel systems.

We take turns jumping down into the tunnels and then step out of the way as the glimmer recloses and covers the secret entrance once again.

Willow leads the way while Artie guards the back of the group. Together, we walk along the filthy routes of the underground tunnels of Estrallume.

“Are you excited to visit the palace for the first time?” I ask Amara.

“I’m trying very hard to stay calm honestly. I never thought we’d be sneaking into the lunar palace. Let alone, with the crown prince and his personal guard.” She emphasizes.

The boys seem to ignore us as they scout ahead and behind our paths. I wish they would relax. Nothing has ever happened in these tunnels. They’ve been out of service for years.

“How long do you think we’ll be staying here, Em?” Amara asks me as we step across wooden planks and jump over puddles of horrid-smelling liquids.

“As long as it takes to discover what the king is planning and hiding. We need to gain knowledge. We are too in the dark on the happenings in Faerelle to fight back against anyone or anything right now. Even if that thing is our king himself.”

She hums her agreement and we walk in silence for a bit before she asks, “So, where will I be staying, Crown Prince?”

Willow chuckles under his breath. “You’ll have your own private suite within my wing.

Amara chokes out a laugh and silently cheers behind Willow. I can feel amusement floating down the strings of our bond. We continue venturing further into the tunnels. There’s a faint buzzing coming from up ahead. I haven’t heard any buzzing in here before, so that’s already one thing that’s off.

The next strange thing to occur is clicking, slithering, and hissing noises. They’re unlike any noise I’ve ever heard before. And I’m extremely familiar with the creatures of our land given that I’m an earth faerie. This is not a normal sound. It’s something corrupt, malformed, vicious. That’s when I heard the scream of a woman and I watched as Will took off sprinting in that direction. Artie pushed past us and followed after him.

I stood baffled about how there was someone or something else down here with us. The only safe passage I know of is the secret glimmer tree.

Another scream tore through the air and Amara shouted my name, causing me to finally snap out of my daze. We ran to see what was happening up ahead.

Turning the corner, I never would have expected to see this in a million moon cycles.

I nearly trip and fall, barely able to stop myself from falling over. I hear Amara whimper next to me. My ears are ringing and someone’s calling my name again.

My mind is slowly processing what’s before me. Everything is happening in slow motion. My throat feels like it’s closing. My eyes are swelling with tears.

We find Artie and Willow restraining Brooks.

I can barely breathe.

My vision is flashing between red and black.

He has bright red irises, and black veins that stem out from around his eyes. His mouth is unusually full of sharp fangs. He’s shirtless and his wings are black, jagged membranes that have a leather sheen to them. His hair is blacker than night and he’s wearing black leather pants while being barefoot.

He looks vicious and sounds horrific as he snarls and snaps at the young woman bleeding on the ground. He looks manic and crazed. He hasn’t even noticed our presence here.

What the hell happened to him?

“Brooks!” Amara yells as she leaps to embrace him, tears pouring down her face at the site of her beloved. Just before she reached him, I snagged her arm and pulled her back. Having to restrain Amara, I whisper into her ear. “That’s not our Brooks. I’m so sorry.”

“What? I don’t understand?” she whimpers.

I turn her to face me instead of his rabid appearance and softly say, “Something happened to him, Amara. I don’t know what, but that is not our Brooks any longer.” I glance over her shoulder at what used to be my best friend. Her lover. Her everything.

“Wait, this is The Brooks?” Artie shouts while fighting to keep hold of him.

Amara’s face contorts as she breaks into a ball of tears, crying and wheezing as she leans her head against my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her. Before I’m able to provide her any true comfort, Brooks elbows Willow in the face and kicks his way free from Artie. He takes off running down the opposite tunnel and abandons his prey. Willow unleashes a ball of neon blue flames and they land before Brooks, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. I just didn’t expect what happened next.

Brooks walked right through the flames and continued running. Unscathed. Before we could chase after him, he vanished from thin air.

Amara is still crying and I’m at a loss for words.

We’re paralyzed with shock and fear.

Willow must feel it through my bond because he rushes over to me and pulls me into a hug. “I’m so sorry, my flame. I’m just so sorry you had to see that.” He’s cupping my face, but I can’t form words right now.

I still can barely register what people are saying as I navigate the shock of finding my best friend rabidly attacking a woman.

“What even is he? What just happened?” The woman still lying on the ground, bleeding from scratches and bite marks, is slowly rising to her feet. “What is he?” the young woman cried.

Willow encompasses my body with his and wraps his arms around me. He looks at the woman behind us and says, “I’m sorry, we don’t know more. Please join us in returning to the castle and we’ll have our healers look you over.”

I’m still in a trance of shock when I feel Willow place his arm below my knees and lower back, cradling me to his chest and carrying me the rest of the way to the castle. Artie is carrying the young injured woman, and we learn her name is Saber. I’ve barely talked and I’m processing emotions that I haven’t allowed myself to feel since the incident first happened. The truth that came with seeing Brooks in this state was just utterly jarring. I don’t know how I’m going to recover from this. I’m not ready to lose him.

I’ve gained Willow but at what cost?

Finally, we climb out of the tunnels into the dungeons of the Lunar Palace. Artie escorts Saber to the healer’s ward, and Willow guides Amara and me back to his quarters.

We drop Amara off at her private room and I ask Willow to leave me here. I don’t think either of us should be alone tonight. The loss of Brooks has felt heavier. Seeing him change just shattered my heart into dust.

My Prince tucks us both into bed and kisses our foreheads. I love that he treats Amara with the same respect he gives me. I never thought I’d be bound to anyone, but I’m glad he loves and cares for my sister like his own. I know she’ll always be safe with him. Tonight, we fell asleep in silent mourning and allowed our dreams to help us escape the pain.