Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Bastien

Bastien and Thalia got as close to the Rosethorn Valley as they could by bending distance with nothing but their horses and saddlebags carrying basic provisions. They emerged halfway down a butte that led to the flat landscape inside the horseshoe-shaped mountain range.

So named for the scrubby rose bushes that thrived along the western-facing slopes, they approached Rosethorn Valley from the south and didn’t have to battle cutting back any foliage to make the descent. It took no more than half an hour to reach the valley floor to head toward the town of Avery. Thalia only knew that her uncle lived near that town, and they were hoping to find information about him there.

It made no sense to disguise themselves as poor travelers as they would never have possession of such fine horseflesh. As such, they stayed off the main roads. Bastien led, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings.

He didn’t like coming alone, but it wasn’t feasible to bring a contingent of soldiers. A group that large couldn’t travel without notice, and Bastien hoped for a quick in-and-out of the Rosethorn Valley.

Kieran was left behind to coordinate the gathering of all the troops from the pledged families. It would take upward of ten days for the ground troops to march to a rendezvous point that had yet to be decided but was being debated by military higher-ups.

When Bastien returned to Conclave Hall after bedding Thalia, he had a moment of guilt that he had perhaps undermined her in front of the royals and Conclave members by dragging her out of there. It was somewhat embarrassing that most probably concluded he was acting on jealousy, but when he returned to the hall to iron out details with his brother, Bastien had found Baynor Sorin quite happy with his salt mine rights and not the least bit upset he’d lost Thalia.

What an utter idiot, Bastien thought, because she was a prize beyond all measure.

Navigating through forests to avoid the roads and populated areas took extra time. They rode along silently, Bastien lost in thought about how eventful the day had been so far—a gathering of pledged royals to discuss battle strategy, a marriage proposal for Thalia, and Sorin’s near death at his hands. Bastien mused that was the least important stuff plaguing him.

It was what happened after—when he more or less kidnapped Thalia from Conclave Hall and forced himself upon her—that bothered him the most.

He knew better.

Should’ve had more control.

Bastien felt like an animal, his need for her was so great. Although he denied it, he absolutely hauled her out of Conclave Hall driven by pure jealousy and fury with the sole intent of proving to her that she didn’t want Sorin.

Instead, he only proved to himself he couldn’t brush her aside anymore. His heart might have been sucked dry of his feelings for her seven years ago, but something was going on inside him now.

Bastien hated his weakness where she was concerned, but damn if he could truly regret it when that was the most alive he’d felt in, well… seven years.

How Thalia viewed the whole thing was anyone’s guess. He’d never ask, afraid it had meant more to her than to him, and he didn’t have it in him to hurt her.

So they continued to ride silently.

Around mid-afternoon, they emerged into a sunny glade with a stream running through it and took a short break to let the horses rest and drink. Bastien rummaged through the saddlebag for fruit while Thalia stretched with a groan.

“I’m not used to being in the saddle for hours at a time like that,” she said.

“Despite living on a horse ranch?” he asked.

“Nothing about a horse ranch requires hours of continuous riding,” she replied and caught an apple he tossed to her. She looked around, perhaps noting they were well away from any road but in an open area. “I’ll cast a quick cloaking spell. Wouldn’t want anyone seeing us.”

And just those few words, the sunny meadow and warm sun had him tumbling back through memories he’d long forgotten.

It had been almost three months since Thalia’s eighteenth birthday, and although Bastien was busy as a captain in the royal army, he still found plenty of time to spend with her. Often Thalia’s parents invited Bastien to dine with them, and he was a regular visitor to their private apartments.

Both adventurers and lovers of the outdoors, they often took rides together where they could have privacy, away from the prying eyes of the palace. Bastien unfortunately had a foreign tour in another region of Vyronas coming up, and he’d be gone for several months. It was his hope that upon his return he and Thalia would marry.

He still had to ask her, though. He was just waiting for that perfect moment.

There came a beautiful day when Bastien surprised Thalia with an afternoon picnic. He had their horses saddled and packs stuffed with food and wine, and they headed out to explore palace lands.

They stopped in a grassy meadow dotted with wildflowers with a large pressian tree standing alone in the middle. Bastien spread a blanket and set out food while Thalia tethered their horses.

He watched her sure handling of the animals and the way the sun made her skin shimmer. She smiled at him as she caught him staring. Bastien was going to wait until after they ate and shared a glass of wine, and then he would pull out the ring Queen Selena had helped him create. Not long after Thalia’s birthday party where they’d declared their love for each other, he’d immediately asked her parents for their permission to marry her.

But she was so beautiful and happy, he found that he couldn’t wait any longer. Besides, this felt like the perfect moment.

He moved to his saddle pack, pulled out the small wooden box with a velvet liner, and moved around to the front of Thalia’s horse as she was tying the reins to a low-hanging branch.

It was there that her eyes rounded in surprise as he opened the box and poured forth heartfelt words of devotion and never-ending loyalty if she’d only gift him with a yes to his proposal.

Her response was a soul-searing kiss that rocked his world and had him pulling her body in closer. In the three months since acknowledging their love, Bastien and Thalia had done plenty of kissing.

Which led to fondling.

Lots of fondling, and Bastien doled out orgasms to Thalia with his fingers and his mouth, but he’d never let her give it back to him.

He didn’t want to besmirch her innocence any further, even though she argued against waiting.

But her parents entrusted him with her care, and he decided he could wait until they wed, even if he suffered with a perpetual case of blue balls.

Thalia beamed at Bastien as he slipped the pink diamond ring onto her finger. She kissed him again.

She slipped her tongue into his mouth and somehow pulled him down to the blanket where they made out between whispered words of promise and love. Her hands roamed, bolder than ever before, and when her palm pressed against his erection, he jolted back.

Taking her wrist and pulling her hand away, he chastised gruffly, “That’s not a good idea.”

He was in no way surprised when she growled in frustration and sat up on her knees.

“I can’t stand this anymore, Bastien.”

He gave her a lazy smile. “What can’t you stand?”

“Not being able to touch you… to give you pleasure—”

“Fuck, Thalia,” Bastien growled in irritation. “Stop talking like that.”

“Why?” she exclaimed, holding out her hand so the pink diamond winked at him. “We’re as good as married. I love you. You love me. And you give me pleasure all the time.”

Bastien understood her frustration. He felt it, too, but swept out a hand, hoping to dissuade her with common sense. “You want to make love for the first time out here… in the middle of a meadow where anyone can see us?”

In answer to his question, Thalia rose to her feet with a smirk. She chanted a low humming spell and a shimmery dome formed around them, encompassing the pressian tree they were under. It sparkled with multicolored lights she’d added for effect. It was magnificent to behold.

“A cloaking spell,” she said with a satisfied nod before dropping to her knees before him. “Now… no one can see us.”

It was an incredible piece of magic she’d woven, but it ran strong in her veins. Nothing was more magical than when she grabbed the hem of her flowing dress and started to pull it up her thighs.

Bastien’s mouth went dry as she lifted it off her body, revealing that she wasn’t wearing any undergarments and was gloriously naked.

He was mesmerized, having only envisioned her naked a million times but knowing it could never be as good as seeing it right now. He held nothing back, his gaze roaming over every inch of her, committing it all to memory.

“I want you to make love to me,” Thalia murmured. Bastien’s eyes snapped to hers. “And we aren’t leaving here today until the deed is done.”

“We shouldn’t…” Bastien hedged, but he knew in his heart he wasn’t going to hold out on her.

“We should, and you know it.”

He did know it. Thalia was his in every way, and it didn’t matter if she had a ring on her hand or if they shared a last name.

Under the shimmer of the cloaking spell, he rolled her underneath his body, gave her what she wanted, and he took the same in return.

“Bastien… are youlistening to me?”

He blinked at Thalia where she stood beside King. The cloaking spell she’d just cast wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the one she’d spun all those years ago when he’d taken her virginity and sealed their fates.

But back then, she was weaving romance into the protection.

This cloak had no more substance than a faint waver of the air around them, but it still triggered that memory of their first time together.

And it only got better from that first coupling. So many times… secret rendezvous in the palace, Thalia staying overnight in his apartments, which he was sure her parents knew but looked the other way. She was more than of consensual age, and they were betrothed. Bastien had to go away for training, and for six long months they were apart. While Thalia longed for him to just bend distance back to her at night, Bastien took his duties seriously. His training was important because it would be the foundation for his future leadership.

Six months seemed like a brutally long time and when he returned, they were ravenous for each other.

They fell deeper and deeper in love and were planning the wedding of the century. All of Vyronas would celebrate, and their lives would be perfect.

Then Ferelith came, and nothing was right again.

“What’s wrong?” Thalia repeated, moving toward him with concern. “You look… ill.”

Bastien put his fingers to the bridge of his nose and rubbed. “Just a headache,” he muttered, pushing the assault of remembrance away. It hurt him to relive those scenes because they made him feel things that were supposed to have been long dead.

He didn’t like it at all.

*     *     *

The sun wassetting as they approached Avery, a town roughly the size as Clairmont, although it had been established hundreds of years ago and was more settled. While Bastien and Thalia had pretty much stayed out of sight all day, they intended to stop at the town’s inn, owned by Laina Mercea’s brother, Lawrence. They would be safe here and able to get a good night’s sleep before venturing to find Hephastus.

After the horses were stabled, Bastien and Thalia were taken to a room with a bed, a small table that sat four, a wardrobe, and an attached bathroom shared with another room. However, Lawrence said that room was unoccupied and would remain so. Bastien asked for only one room, as he was observing the same safety measures he had in Clairmont… Thalia was not to be out of his line of sight.

Lawrence joined them for a simple meal of stew and bread wherein they discussed the state of affairs in the Rosethorn Valley.

“Ferelith doesn’t have a large presence here since towns are smaller and spread out, but lately, we’ve seen small groups of soldiers riding through.” He tipped his head Thalia’s way. “My guess is they’re looking for the heir to Kestevayne. Rumors have been floating around about your return.”

“We saw none on the way here,” Bastien said, a piece of bread poised in his hand. “But we were careful to stay off the roads.”

“Has she extracted blood oaths from the people in the valley?” Thalia asked.

“No,” Lawrence replied with a shake of his head. “She has everyone so terrified of her just by the horrors we’ve heard happening in Kestevayne and the other cities she’s conquering that no one here would think about rising up against her. I don’t think we’re worth her time right now, but if she’s not stopped, her plague will eventually reach us. For now, it’s enough that she’s put a barrier over the valley to impede travel by bending distance through to Kestevayne.”

Bastien had heard so many stories over the years about Ferelith’s atrocities. He’d seen many of them firsthand when the Kestevayne army, then under the control of his father, made a surging attempt to retake the city. Ferelith had used her blood oaths to control the people into fighting for her, making them no more than mindless creatures who would slit the throats of their own children if they were told to do so.

Just as bad as the blood oaths, Ferelith used blood magic to summon abominations from the Underworld to fight for her. The erchras she sent after Thalia in the First Dimension were but one of many species Kymaris had created in her dominion of Hell. Ferelith used them to cleanse cities of resistance fighters, and the most disturbing rumor was that every person who died after they gave their blood oath increased her power.

After seven years, there was no telling how dangerous she’d become, but Bastien had to grudgingly admit that Hephastus and his knowledge was probably their last hope. If they couldn’t defeat Ferelith, Bastien had to potentially consider relocating their people to another dimension.

Maybe he’d take Thalia back to the First Dimension to live. And yes, he’d be with her because while he didn’t think it possible to ever give her the love and devotion she wanted, he would live out his days protecting her.

“What do you know about Hephastus Baldridge?” Bastien asked Lawrence.

Lawrence looked to Thalia. “Your uncle, right?”

She nodded. “On my mother’s side. He was banished to this area twenty years ago for using blood magic. We seek his knowledge to fight Ferelith.”

A faint smile played at Lawrence’s mouth. “Hephastus lives about five miles north of here on a small farm. Keeps mostly to himself but comes into Avery for supplies from time to time. Nice fellow.”

Thalia looked to Bastien, a smug expression in place as if to say, See, he’s not dangerous at all.

Bastien wasn’t convinced as he turned his attention back to Lawrence. “Does he practice blood magic?”

He got a shrug in return. “I’ve not seen anything to suggest that, but it’s probably not something he’d go around advertising now, is it?”

In other words, they knew nothing going in.

Conversation turned to more mundane topics as they finished their meal. Lawrence bid them good night, promising to have their horses saddled and ready to go at first light per their request.

When the door closed behind him, Bastien locked it and used his own magic to put up a protection spell.

“At least the bed is big and seems comfy,” Thalia said, and Bastien whipped around to find her sitting on the edge.

Gods, the things he could do to her in that bed tonight.

Shaking his head, he moved to the wardrobe. Inside was a blanket and pillow. “You should be plenty comfortable. I’ll sleep on the floor in front of the door for added security.”

“Not this again,” Thalia said upon a frustrated sigh. “Your magic is strong, and the ward you placed is plenty good. The bed is big enough for both of us.”

Bastien didn’t reply, merely laid the blanket on the floor and dropped the pillow.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of me?” Thalia taunted.

Bastien turned to face her, his insides a jumble of emotions, but frustration was what caused him the most angst. “I’m not afraid of you, Thalia.” And then in a moment of brutal honesty, because he was a truth teller by nature, he added, “Just what you make me feel.”

Empathy suffused Thalia’s expression as she stood from the bed, yet she didn’t approach him. “Feelings are not a bad thing, Bastien.”

“They are when you’ve gone years without having them.” His gaze hardened upon her.

“And now you’re feeling something for me, and it hurts,” she surmised, moving across the room to stand before him.

His body tightened with tension for her nearness disturbed him in ways he didn’t know if he could fight.

Thalia noticed, because she was not only inherently perceptive, but she’d known him for years and years and probably knew him better than he knew himself.

He wasn’t sure if it was relief or regret when she stepped away, giving him space. Unfortunately, he couldn’t relax, and the walls seemed to close in, making the room feel incredibly small.

Thalia moved to the bed and started to disrobe without a word. She peeled off her clothes, folding them neatly to place on top of the table where they’d eaten. She made no move to get sleeping garments from their saddle packs, but instead slipped naked under the blankets.

Thalia did nothing overtly sexual. With the covers pulled over her breasts, she turned on her side and propped her head on her hand to face him.

It was intended to be nonthreatening. She wasn’t going to seduce him, and he hated that he felt more regret than relief.

“Bastien,” she said softly, causing him to focus on her. “I’m not going to beg you, but I am going to ask you. Please come join me. After this morning and what we shared, I know you want me. I also know you don’t want to feel with your heart. I’m okay if you can only feel with your body.”

It was a lie. Thalia would not be okay if he could only give her sex and not the love she’d ultimately expect. It could destroy her, and he’d rather die than hurt a hair on her head.

That’s because you’re starting to care for her again, a tiny voice said.

He ignored it and started to lower himself to the blanket but froze when she next spoke.

“Okay… I lied. I’m going to beg you to come to bed with me.”

Bastien turned to look at her, and his heart clenched when he saw her expression beyond pained. She looked tortured with need to have the barest of emotional connections with him.

His heart wasn’t the only thing that reacted. A surge of lust flowed through him as she pushed the covers off her body. She was a sight to behold.

Helpless to deny her after all she’d been through and lost, Bastien wordlessly shed his clothes as she moved over to give him room. There was no triumph in her eyes, and he knew it was the right move when he read her emotion as happiness.

Bastien slid onto the mattress facing her. Thalia moved into him without hesitation, sliding her legs between his and pressing her hand to the back of his neck to bring him in for a kiss.

It was instantly electric with heat and desire. Bastien’s arms went around her, pulled her in tight. His cock hardened and ached.

His heart ached, too, but for Thalia and not himself, because he was convinced this was all he had to give her.

And he needed her to know that.

It may have been crude, but he needed her to understand. If she did, then she could harden her own heart against his insufficiencies.

Taking her hand from the back of his neck, he pushed it between their bodies and forced her hand around his erection. He groaned as she squeezed and stroked without any encouragement, but he gripped tight and held her still.

Thalia leaned her head back and frowned at him.

“This is all I have to give you, Thalia. You need to understand that.”

Bastien expected her to give immediate words of reassurance that she did indeed understand the way of things.

Instead, she shook her head and glared at him. “I refuse to believe that. You just entered this bed because you knew I wanted and needed it. You have much to give.”

Bastien didn’t like her reasoning—it meant that things would remain complicated. He was prepared to argue, but Thalia played dirty. With her magic, she thrust pleasure from her hand straight into him.

Hips thrusting forward from reflex, Bastien growled from the sensation and his hand fell away. Just that easily, he gave up control to the woman who could never be his in any meaningful way to her. He let her stroke him to near madness before he couldn’t stand it anymore and had to retake control.

He rolled over onto her, pressed her into the mattress, and kissed her into submission. It was his hand now that went between her legs, and he found her so incredibly ready for him that he almost lost his mind.

As Bastien pleasured her with his fingers, Thalia squirmed under him, pulled on his arms to cover her, and spread her legs wide to wrap around his back. All the wordless signs of encouragement, which he disregarded right up until she whispered in his ear, “Please.”

And that he couldn’t ignore.

With memories of all their times together flooding his senses, he joined his body to hers with one powerful thrust that had her arching into him.

Sliding one arm under her back and another to hold her leg hitched up over his waist, Bastien plunged over and over again into her. He fucked her as hard as he made love to her, and Thalia kept asking for more.

There was no real magic involved, but as if no time had passed between them at all, they seamlessly fell into each other. Bodies undulated in harmony, breathing synced, and when Thalia tumbled end over end into pleasure, Bastien dove right behind her.

Stars exploded in his eyes as he poured himself into her, and again, he felt something crack inside his chest.

Except this time, he wasn’t painfully reminded of the hollowness there. It didn’t seem as empty.

It left him disconcerted as he gathered Thalia to hold her close. There was still more vast wasteland inside that useless organ in his chest than not, and he was afraid he was beyond full repair.