62. Chapter 62

Chapter sixty-two

H aven was stunning, she might not be aware of it but her powers ignited the moment she started speaking. Nik could feel the warm crawl of her shadows snaking up his ankles and see the little plumes of smoke and fire apparent all around them. He had been doing his best to contain the little fires she kept setting with his air magic by draining the air from certain spots. Even though a forest fire would probably be the least dastardly thing to happen tonight, it still wasn't a good idea.

With her head tipped to him, the strength of her belief in her words written in her eyes and the small crown on her head, Nik thought Haven looked like a goddess.

He might've believed she was one if he didn't know that they were long dead .

The force of her love slammed into him all at once, when she slid that ring onto his finger. It made him want to forget all about his plans, throw her over his shoulder, carry her into the castle, place her on the throne and watch her rule.

She was exactly what their kingdom needed which was precisely why he could never do it. He could never tie her to the poison slowly killing his kingdom. If he did, if he married Haven and took the chance that visions of old would come true and that his father would find a way into power with Nik as the king consort, he'd never forgive himself. He may wish against all hope that he could find a way to stay and be loved by her but he knew it was a fools dream, a selfish and foolish dream.

The slight sound of sticks snapping in the woods alerting Nik to their company as he prepared his words. They were late but he appreciated the extra few moments before his entire world turned upside down.

"Haven," Nik began, "I might have pretended not to like you in the beginning, and you may have actually not liked me but as you said earlier, that's not what's important. This is never something I saw for myself, I never imagined I'd earn the love of someone I care so deeply for, someone I love so deeply."

Nik heard Havens breath hitch at his words.

"Getting to return your love is one of the greatest gifts I've ever been given and I will cherish that until the day that I die"

There was more that Nik wanted to say but decided against it when he heard the footsteps nearing. They were just outside the clearing now, he only had moments before they struck.

Nik slid the ring he'd picked out onto Havens finger, it was a perfect fit. The priest began chanting ancient fae words, calling upon the magic of the realm to bless their union. He didn't get five words out before shouting erupted.

Two large masked men entered the clearing, shouting at everyone to put their hands in the air.

Nik followed the orders, as did everyone except Haven and his father.

Nik felt a magic restricting band being tied tight around his wrists by one of the men's air magic. Perfect, he thought, this was exactly why he'd hired these men over the others he'd been considering, their technique was the best for this situation. It allowed the men to have power over everyone in the clearing without them having to be too close to anyone who might fight back.

Taking in the defiant look on Havens face, Nik panicked for a second. He sincerely hoped she didn't make this too difficult, he didn't know what he'd do if he had to watch her get hurt because of his choices.

Only when one of the men grabbed the priest and held a dagger to his throat did she slowly raise her hands into the air. Nik watched as a band floated to her and wrapped around her hands. She gasped and Nik could tell she was feeling her powers being cut off. Nik took a second to tear his eyes away from the love of his life standing bound before him, finding everyone else standing stock still with magic binds preventing them from fighting back.

The only other person Nik worried about was Delroy, he was a guard and trained to fight with his hands in addition to his magic. It was why he had warned the only two men that knew about his plan to stay away from Delroy. If his friend managed to get near one of them, Nik knew he'd fight like hell to prevent the inevitable from happening.

Chaos broke as one of the men stopped behind Nik. Haven quickly lifted her foot, hooked it behind Niks knee and sent him tumbling to the ground. Everything seemed to be happening at warp speed. He landed just in time to see Haven kick out at the man who was now standing where Nik had been only a moment ago.

The kick landed square in the mans stomach, causing him to groan and double over. As he fell forward, Haven brought her other knee up to land a hit on her assailants nose. Nik would be proud if he wasn't both incredibly worried and pissed. He should have known Haven would go down fighting.

Thankfully, Haven didn't see the other man moving to grab her from behind. Astrea tried to shout a warning but it was too late. Haven was now safely restrained in his arms.

"This is how this is going to go," The one restraining Haven shouted, "You all let us take what we want and nobody gets hurt. Anyone tries to resist and they'll end up with a knife in their chest"

Haven stilled at the mans words.

The man Haven injured pulled himself off of the ground,

"Bitch," He spat. Nik cringed at the words, wishing the men would hurry up so this nightmare could be over.

The man moved to haul Nik off the ground, Nik pretended to struggle before the man holding Haven hostage put a knife to her throat. He had specifically instructed these men to never actually harm her but the sight still sent Niks pulse racing.

"That's right pretty boy, we've got your girl"

The man that had pulled Nik from the ground began rifling through Niks pockets. After he found nothing, he shoved Nik back down and moved onto Astrea. The girl squeaked when he roughly grabbed her, forcing his way into the pockets of the dress she was wearing. Again, he found nothing.

Everything was going according to Niks plan. First the men would attempt to rob them, upon finding nothing, they would get angry and then take Nik as ‘collateral' to use against his father.

The men skipped over Delroy, listening to Niks words, and moved onto the crown regent.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here." The injured man waved his knife at Niks father.

"Fuck you" His father spat as the man inched closer.

"Hmm, I don't think so. Little bitch isn't my type"

If it wouldn't give Nik away as having planned this whole thing, he would laugh.

Niks kidnapper grabbed his father roughly and shoved him to the ground. Nik got a sick sense of satisfaction watching that happen.

After finding nothing in the crown regents pocket, the man faked getting angry. He began shouting about how the crown regent and the future queen were supposed to be rich. The man quickly got angrier and angrier, letting his air magic whip around him.

Nik had ordered them to put on a show but this was getting a little unnecessary. Right when Nik was about to fake fighting back, just to move things along, the kidnapper holding Haven drug the tip of a knife down Havens cheek and said,

"Why don't we just take her. Use her as ransom. I bet the kingdom would pay well to have their future queen back"

Shock and nerves coursed through Nik. That definitely hadn't been a part of his plan, he'd paid a lot of money to ensure the events of tonight went as smoothly as possible. They were supposed to take Nik hostage and then never demand the ransom, freeing Nik to disappear into the shadows of the realm. He could see the wheels turning behind the mens masks. Nik would bet they assumed they'd make more ransoming off Haven then they ever would with Nik paying them to fake his kidnapping.

Too bad they had no idea his father would never pay a dime. He'd be able to find a way to keep his power if Haven disappeared and that would suit him just fine. Even now, while being held at knife point, Nik could see the small smile on his fathers face at the thought of having Haven gone.

Nik had just inadvertently solved all of his fathers problems and he had no idea how to fix it.