Chapter Twenty-One

Felix

None on the continent are as fucking infuriating as she is.

I blow out a long breath and glance up at the overcast sky as the door to the wheelhouse slams shut. I should expect nothing less.

Thorin ducks his chin and ushers Sianna to the wheelhouse that waits in the front of the procession. Though I trust him with my sister's life, my eyes remain fixed on the pair until they disappear into the wheelhouse.

"Thank the stars above," I mutter when the sheets of lashing rain slow.

Ashe shoots me a wicked grin and arches his brow as he leads Ayla and the traitor to the carriage at the rear. Given his playful nature, it's hard to believe he has one of the sharpest minds I know.

Ellesandra doesn't spare a glance in my direction when I duck my head and step inside our wheelhouse.

Cool droplets of water slide down my temple as I find my seat on the oak bench across from her. I follow her gaze out the window when the wheelhouse begins to roll forward. Due to the state of the kingdom, the horses must move at a slower pace than I'd like, but Thorin ensures me the road to Risian is in favorable condition.

She shifts and props her chin on her hand. It's a jape of the stars how the heavy hand of time evades her. Despite the human blood that flows through her veins, I'm sure there's never been a more beautiful woman in all the continent.

My tongue darts out and sweeps over my bottom lip as my gaze moves lower. The taut peaks of her perfect breasts are visible through the thin, sodden gown. My breeches tighten and become uncomfortable when the image of running my palms down the curve of her waist flashes in my mind. Her hips are as glorious as they were five hundred and one years ago.

She's fortunate that time has granted me a semblance of self-control. If I had the same frame of mind as when we were nothing more than children, I would've bent her over the strategy table the moment her breathless moan filled my ears. The being that lingers beneath the shadows wouldn't have been gentle. It would have sunk its claws deep and ripped away the foolish ideas in that pretty head of hers.

All thoughts of having her sprawled before me disappear as a shiver wracks through her body. Unbuttoning the clasp of my cloak, I shrug it off my shoulders. Though she pretends I simply don't exist, I'd rather carve out my own heart than watch her suffer.

"Take it," I command, dangling it into the space between us.

Her gaze remains firmly out the window as she snorts. Because, of course, she's never been agreeable a single day of her life. Fine.

Her head whips around and she cuts me a venomous glare when I rise. "What are you doing?" she hisses as I settle onto the wooden bench beside her.

A chuckle lodges in my throat. I'd almost believe she was angry with me if it weren't for her chattering teeth.

"You're freezing. Take the damn thing." I drape the cloak around her shoulders.

Though she frowns and shakes off my touch, satisfaction swells in my chest when she pulls it tighter around her. It swallows her petite frame whole.

She believes the bond is the sole reason for her attraction to me, but I know that's not the truth. The stars fated us to one another for a reason. A smile stretches across my lips though she returns to stare out the window. In the interest of swaying her from her poisonous beliefs, I rise and take my original position. I quite enjoy this view anyways.

Her features are a mask of disinterest. I don't believe it for a single moment. The thread that tethers us sees past the poor queen-like facade. The pain that flashed behind her honey eyes as she took in the state of the capital tells me that the woman I once knew remains. Looming behind the stone wall she's erected around her soul, yes, but remaining all the same. While the bond aches to coax her true being out from the shadows, I know time is what she needs most right now.

"I've missed you, you know," I murmur.

She scoffs. "Riveting. I can't say I've spared a single thought of you in the last… What is it? Four centuries? Five?"

"One hundred eighty-two thousand, eight hundred and sixty-five days."

Her brow furrows as she lifts her cheek from the window and stares at me. "What?"

"Don't play coy, Lumina. It doesn't suit you." I press my lips together to shield my amusement. "We've already established that's a lie."

Flames churn behind her honey eyes. "You're vile."

I gather her anger and hold it close, hoarding the words that pass from her perfectly shaped mouth.

"Well and truly." I flash a dazzling grin I know will stoke the embers of her fire.

The challenge behind her eyes acts as a balm of relief to my soul. She's always been exquisite, but nothing can compare to when she's angry. Except when she's laying atop my sheets with each perfect inch of her bare to me, but that's a thought for another time. A smile tugs at the corners of my lips. Pure flecks of starlight appear and douse the flames of her fury in gold. Tension is heavy in the air as her gaze flickers to my mouth. Even though she wants to kiss me, she scoffs and turns back to the window.

Though I have no intention of sleeping, I tip my head back and close my eyes. If I know Ellesandra, which I do, there's little use in trying to hold a civil conversation. Nothing outweighs her sharp tongue, save for her pride. I don't mind. Some find her fiery temperament distasteful, but it calls to me.

Now that she's within my grasp again, I'll never let her go. No matter what should come to pass. I'll build her a gilded cage and adorn it with rubies. Become the shadows that haunt her if I must. I won't allow her to slip away from my grasp again.

The wheelhouse slows, telling me we've reached the outskirts of Minalis. According to Thorin, the people who fled when my forces laid siege to the capital are beginning to return to their homes. While I commanded my men to leave the town undisturbed, the blazing fires ensured there was little left for the people to return to. I don't push aside the kernel of guilt that sprouts in my depths. Without it, I'm no better than the madman I succeeded.

Despite my guilt, the people of Minalis are better because of this war. Strange as it may seem, their lives will improve greatly under my rule. In my mind, they're now my citizens as much as those who live in Risian are. Although they live on foreign soil, I intend to treat them as well as my own people. Meat will line their tables and coins will fill their purses.

A feeling I've long forgotten stretches through my chest when I open my eyes. I can't help but stare. Her hand cradles her cheek against the glass, the steady rise and fall of her chest telling that the exhaustion she's fought against has claimed her at long last.

My fingers twitch at my side. I capture each flutter of her eyelashes and soft inhale through her parted lips and tuck them into the crevices of my blackened heart. The serenity on her features is a whisper of memory that pays no mind to the five centuries of war and bloodshed that have seen us be apart.

I'm on my feet before I can think better of it. Fear sees me halt in my tracks when she shifts with the sudden movement. Thank the stars above, she remains asleep. Her hand drops from her cheek to her shoulder, and her head comes to rest on the leather seatback. Keeping my steps silent as I would if I were on the battlefield, I settle onto the bench alongside her. A whisper in the back of my mind warns me of the consequences should she wake. I ignore them.

Moving closer, I stretch my arm across the leather seatback. Careful not to brush her hand, I wrap my arm gently around her waist. To my amazement, she doesn't stir. My skin is set abuzz when her back meets my chest with the movement. I strain to gather my control as her unbound waves cascade over her shoulders and reveal the milky, unblemished skin of her neck.

For the last five hundred years, I've doubted this day would come. With the bond humming in contentment, I know this is no fleeting vision of my imagination.

Leaning down, I hover over her and brush a wild chocolate curl from her cheek. The bond recognizes her scent as sweet lavender fills my nose, sending my blood thrumming with a wanton high I've chased.

During my escapades into the Risian capital, I've been welcomed with the finest women my kingdom has to offer, common whore and noble-born alike. Nonetheless, none of the women I've been inside can hold a candle to the ecstasy that is her. To the remembrance of how my soul calls out when I'm near her.

Allowing myself this indulgence just once, I study each part of the woman that has the power to bring me to my knees. Beginning at the peak of her forehead, I trace the shape of her pert nose with a featherlight touch that I know won't wake her. It's assuredly moot though, as, if my memory serves, the continent splitting in half wouldn't wake her.

Keeping a leisurely pace, I reach the unblemished space between her nose and mouth. I memorize each line and crevice of the mouth that drives me mad. Her slow, steady breaths fall from parted lips, revealing the perfect rose pout I've imagined wrapped around me for far too long. Switching to my thumb, I trace her slightly fuller top lip and shake my head. How dare the stars create something so astounding.

Whether she believes it or not, I have faith in the path the stars have created for us. It lies in the memories I spent centuries wishing to escape, woven into the threads of desire that drove me to the edge of madness. Our future is the sole reason she's never stood a chance against the tainted river of infatuation running beneath my skin. The thought of opening my eyes to soft rays bathing her porcelain skin with gold each day has been my light in the darkness these five hundred long years.

Not that I'm deserving of light. No, in my time as both King and soldier, there are few lines I haven't crossed. War doesn't care for the poor or the innocent. Though I find it distasteful, women and children often pay the highest price of warfare. While my father was a madman who delighted in such things, I will take every precaution to protect those who can't defend themselves.

Whereas sheer strength and swordsmanship signified a strong ruler, I learned that having a complacent mindset can bring a king to his knees faster than any battle. My mother taught me that. The lessons of the histories and proper manners she ensured I received prepared me for the throne I now sit upon, and have saved my kingdom from bloodshed far more often than my training.

I understand now that for all my battle prowess, it's the sleeping queen in my arms that could wield a sword against me without a blade. I will lay waste to the kingdoms, the entire continent even, without a bat of my eye or pang of anguish. To see her smile, I'd drain the seas. If it meant her laugh would grace my ears again, I'd crush the moon and the stars in the palm of my hand, never mind the darkness. To hold her heart? I'd see the realm engulfed in flames and disintegrated to dust until it is only her and I that remain.

Though she's the only one who can fill the void within me, she can't know the power she holds over me. Not until she yearns for me as I do for her. My Lumina is not only alluring, but also cunning. She'll seek to wield my devotion against me if she knows I'll allow her to.

I have no qualms with this, though. When the time is right, I'll be both her voice of reason and her sword. Whatever need she may have of me, as long as she is mine.

A thrill of elation coils within me with the realization that she will be curled around me.

Though I know there's nowhere else in this existence she belongs other than by my side, she's never been alone. The orchids that filled the vases on her bedside table were more than worth the risk when I saw the slight upturn of her lips through my shadows. A madman, they call me, in the lengths I'm willing to go to please a woman who would see me in the grave. Many of my men placed secret bets on how long before she discovered me clinging to dark corners and drove a sword through my chest.

My fingers dance mindlessly over her forehead before coming to rest in the mass of unbound curls that splay across my doublet. It's funny, their thoughts. Ellesandra knew all along that my shadows followed her. Though she'd deny it with her dying breath, my shadows brought her comfort. Even if my physical form wasn't present, her soul was able to rest when in the presence of my magic.

I stiffen when she suddenly shifts. A pang of undiluted want rushes to my cock when she snuggles deeper into my chest. I plant a soft kiss on top of her head. There's no limit to the depths I'm willing to go in order to have a thousand more of these moments.

I've already reached depravity's doorstep, if I'm being truthful. It began long before I drove a sword through her beloved general's poisonous mouth. The bloodstained night so many centuries ago was the beginning for me. That night was a catalyst to the raw wound that opened as I clung to the shadows and was forced to watch as another took my place at her side. The wound festered, oozing with the cost of betrayal.

In that moment, I came to understand the hatred that burned in my father's eyes when he spoke of his enemies. That hatred I held, however, was for him. His actions against the crown of Minalis cost me fucking everything. My revenge came with a slash of my dagger across his throat. I was crowned King a fortnight later.

image-placeholder

I hold tight to each breath she's within my arms as we pass through rolling hills and vast wastelands.

When the day gives way to the night, I take up her task and peer out the window. The rich hues of Greenwrath Forest are unmistakable even with the waning daylight. Vibrant leaves and dense foliage speak to a land that's free from the clutches of war. When the road becomes rough, I know we're close. Even with stopping to water the horses, we've made good time.

While I have no desire to see another night come and go where Ellesandra doesn't pass through the gates of my kingdom, I'm left with little choice. These parts of the forest are beautiful, but the path we take is punishing. Rest is a necessary evil if my men and horses are to complete our journey home.

Stopping at the inn isn't for purely unselfish reasons, however. Filth covers nearly every inch of Ellesandra's skin. Though I don't take issue with it, I know she'll be more comfortable when she'sclean, even if she's likely to deny bathing to spite me. I close my eyes and tip my head back against the headrest. Sianna will be of use to me in that regard.

My jaw clenches and possessiveness snakes into my bones as the wheelhouse slows. I peer over Ellesandra in the darkness to find that her eyes remain closed. My eyes stray from her face when a light tap on the door echoes through the wheelhouse. Inching my arm from around her waist, I rise and guide her head to rest on the window once more.

When I open the door and press a finger to my lips, Thorin raises a brow. He nods in understanding when he glances over my shoulder as I descend the steps of the wheelhouse. The hours before dawn see the air carry a chill that brushes against my skin. I don't mourn the loss of my cloak, though. The cedar scent of the bittercrass tree wafts into the breeze.

Fallen leaves crunching beneath our steps are the only sounds that fill the night as Thorin and I move to the front of the wheelhouse.

I narrow my gaze ahead when Sianna's too-loud voice cuts through the air. Tossing a long piece of hair over her shoulder, she moves her hands animatedly as she speaks to Ayla, whose mouth is set into a thin line of displeasure. Although I can't make out the conversation, Sianna has always been the dramatic type. She glances over at me and rolls her eyes when I jerk my chin in silent command. Ayla's shoulders deflate when Sianna intertwines their arms and makes for the inn.

"Have the innkeeper fetch warm water and food for the room," I say, turning back to Thorin.

I sigh as Ashe approaches, the smirk that plays on his lips clearly visible in the distance.

"It will be done," Thorin says, nodding and turning heel.

Ashe takes his place soon after. He clasps his hand on my shoulder with a broad grin. "And what of the delightful Queen?"

"Asleep."

"Ah, I see." Mischief dances in the depths of his hazel eyes. "She's surely exhausted if the ladies of Agaya are to be believed, with you and your giant cock and all. Though, I didn't see the wheelhouse move—"

He squeezes my shoulder when I cut him a silencing glare. "All is well, yes?"Ashe chuckles

"Yes. You'll take first watch. Have the remaining men stationed around the inn."

His grin stretches impossibly further across his face as he takes a step back and bows at the waist. "Yes, Your Grace."

Why?

Despite having been beaten till bloodied and bruised, it's nothing in comparison to the sting of agony you bestow upon me now.

I saw everything. From beginning to end, start to fucking finish. I contemplated it, you know. Riding to the capital and slitting the throat of your precious fucking Prince in the middle of the throne room. Spitting on your alliance and presenting you with his head as a token of my love, though you'll call it hatred.

But then there you were and the breath was stolen from my body. A goddess cloaked in white my soul longed to worship. I nearly fell to my knees as you floated toward me. For the first time in all the moons I've watched from my shadows, you smiled. An ethereal smile that I've walked down the path of memories within my mind a thousand times over to see.

And I swear the stars were falling from the sky, because you looked right at me. In that moment, I would have defied death itself if it meant I could halt time in its steps and you would continue to look at me like that forever.

Except you weren't looking at me at all. With the next breath, you were staring past my shoulder and I found myself wondering what he possibly could have done to earn the softness of your heart? Then I realized. It's not that you love him, nor do you like him. No, it's not that at all.

You relish in the fact that he stole you away from me.

Your cruelty knows no bounds, Ellesandra. So now, neither does mine.