by Bailey Dark
“I suppose not.”
“Then, let’s prepare to eat when she gets here and inform the rest of the soldiers who are blissfully unaware of the change in leadership that they can be locked up, killed, or peacefully transition.” I nodded toward the soldiers that were tied up. There was a mixture of anger, resignation, and relief on their faces. Some were injured and in pain.
“Confirmed.”
“Do we have any injuries?”
“Just you, I think, sir.”
“Well, everyone else still got to use telekinesis.” I looked down at my blood-soaked chest and wobbled a bit on my left leg, trying not to sound insulted. “Find me a doctor. I need some attention.”
Bravo Ilisa signaled to one of the other Farians and he began interrogating a soldier to find their medic. I would get some medical aid, then we would feast and prepare to hand over control to a new General and strike up a trade deal.
One of the proudest moments I would ever have would be telling my best friend Prince Axis by comm that I had succeeded in my mission of striking up the trade deal and, even more than that, I was bringing home my Destin, my soul, the love of my life, for him to meet. We still had a few days and few chores to complete on Vailstor, but it was wrapping up.
I looked down at Zaya and kissed her on the forehead. Her turquoise eyes glowed up at me in full adoration. “Then, my dear Zaya, I will take you to your new home…”
Twenty-One
Zaya
Cartari’s eyes were as warm as the sun on my back as he watched me tentatively walk into the gently lapping ocean waters. Tide was just going out and the shores were frothy with the foam of a graceful day. I couldn’t believe how bright the sun was, how aquamarine the waters were, how gorgeous the crooning gulls who swooped by overhead were when they soared, or how magnificent the dolphin dragons were as they leapt from their bay and splashed back down, firefins burning red sailing out behind them.
I giggled and wiggled my toes. “It’s so warm!”
The sun was already baking freckles into my shoulders and across my nose, bringing out melanin I hadn’t even known I possessed, a new way of being kissed that I had never experienced. We were going swimming in Cartari’s favorite cove on the Bristola Oceans, that he had sailed us to in a little sailboat. I sat in the bow, fearlessly tasting the salt spray on my lips and luxuriating in the sea breeze that wouldn’t freeze me within minutes of exposure.
General Truloy had successfully taken over Vailstor. Bravo Ilisa and some of the others had stayed to help navigate the trade deal and confirm the negotiation that would bring my friend, Skarde the Berserker, to Farian. As far as I knew, we would be the only two Vailstorans on Farian. He might bring a contingent with him, but I doubted it: he wouldn’t need anyone with him to handle the job he had to do (which was to ensure the trade deal went as the Farians promised). I would look forward to seeing him sometime soon. I also looked forward to seeing how the Farians adjusted to a true Vailstor warrior. But, for now, it was just me, marveling at the warm blue waters, the colorful fish, coral, and plant life, and my ever grinning Destin beside me.
Cartari had asked me to come back to Farian with him and I had jumped at it. We had gone back to my family’s village so I could say goodbye to my father and friends, but I had felt distant from them since they sold me to slavery to Blatson… I would miss some elements of my home planet, but I was on a new adventure, now… Cartari needed some time to heal from his fight with the General, but he was doing well already. Curans had a swift healing process, as was evidenced by the many scars on his finely carved body.
My Destin walked up behind me and placed his fingertips under my sundress’s slender straps. He slid them down my shoulders and off my arms, letting them drop low to my wrists. The dress fell over my breasts, stopping just before exposing them entirely. He leaned in and kissed my shoulder, my neck, my cheek, my jaw, pulled my head around to kiss my mouth, then whispered in my ear… “Are you ready to feel sun kisses all over your skin?”
The water brushed at our ankles, the softest caresses, and I wanted to feel more of it.
“Am I not already?”
“You need to be looking perfectly sun-kissed when King Kajo and Queen Daphne come to meet you. You are the perfect ambassador of Vailstor, my Destin. Strong, sure, sexy as hell…”
I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck, slipping my wrists from the straps as I did so, letting the dress fall from my breasts, exposing them to the sun, my nipples hard to brush against his bare chest. I carefully caressed his new knife wounds with my fingertips. They were still healing, but doing much better.
There was to be a grand celebration in two days time, to commemorate the trade deal, and welcome me to Bristola. Prince Axis and Princess Ceritha had been very kind, but mainly I just wanted to spend all my time with Cartari. I was consumed by him, captivated by him, a piece of him now. I was in the land of charzbos, but I was protected and honored as one of them.
“Will you come into the water with me?”
“How about we spend some time on this blanket in the sand first?” He waved his hand to an entire set up I hadn’t even noticed, with wine and a food basket and ample space for us to enjoy each other’s bodies.
I took his hand, firm and strong in mine, and moved him to the blanket, him still limping a little, walking out of my dress as we stepped out of the ocean. I let the light yellow garment wisp into a pile on the sand as we fell into each other’s arms.
Cartari brushed my hair back behind my ears and kissed my nose gently. Sparks fluttered in my vision, that same kaleidoscope of color and light that was the Destin connection, blinding me for a moment with the idea of beauty that could be and would mesmerize me forever.
“I think--”
A trio of firefins burst from the water in the cove, sunlight glinting off their crowned heads, their long fins flourishing in the golden rays, water droplets prismatic in the light.
I smiled at Cartari as we watched them leap again and again as they made their way across the cove. Then I pulled him in for a long, slow kiss, our bodies pressed against each other in a perfect, sparking, Destin connection. His hands roamed down my curves, playing with my nipples, teasing a pinch to make me squeal. I quickly stripped off his pants until we were both naked on the blanket, my hand stroking his cock, rubbing the tip, working it, getting him to move against my hand, until he was begging to be inside me.
When he did enter me and I gasped out his name, my mind overflowing with his love, my tears brimming with happy tears, my heart beating fast, the only thought I could manage burst from my soul:
“I think I’m going to love it here…”
Cartari grinned brightly and kissed me as he thrust into me again. My words were true. My Destin would make sure they always were.
Also by Bailey Dark
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Chapter One
Briar
I sit still as Laurel leans over me to paint a red stain on my lips. The paint is cool, and her touch is soft. It’s something she’s done many times before, but today is different. Today I can see her hand trembling. My own stomach roils with nerves, but I try to push them down unsuccessfully. At my feet, Sera manicures my nails and massages the arch gently. She’s trying to calm me, I think. It won’t work.
"Gods, can you imagine?" Rose, my oldest sister, sighs, dramatically. She fiddles with my hair as if to help the servants do it up. "I bet he smells like rotting corpses."
I bite the inside of my lip, careful not to ruin the stain Laurel so carefully painted. She’s drawing kohl around my eyes now, giving me a dramatic look. She’s silent while Rose convinces my second oldest sister, Delphine, of King Kane’s horrific stench. I can s
ee the worry in Laurel’s eyes. I reach out and pat her knee, quickly so my sisters don’t see. They’ve never approved of my friendships with the servants.
“Do you think he really has claws and horns?” Delphine asks. Her naïve voice is sweet but strange; it’s always come from the back of her throat.
I watch in the mirror as Rose rolls her eyes. “Of course he does, you ninny. He’s got horns all along his back and a tail too.”
“A tail?” Delphine gasps, looking horrified. Her eyes flash towards me worriedly, but Rose wraps her arm in a vice-like grip.
"Don't worry about Briar, he wanted her, remember?" Rose cuts her eyes towards me. "Maybe he's a shapeshifter and will wear a skin to please her."
I keep my face a still mask, an expression I’ve mastered. Rose is trying to comfort me in her own way, but she’s always been too self-centered to practice it. Now, her attempt is half-hearted and clumsy. “I’m sure it will be fine,” I murmur.
Sera rises from her knees and inspects my hair. She tuts, giving me a familiar, scolding look. I almost smile, relieved that we can at least pretend it’s a normal day and not the Day of Collection. “What shall we do with these tangles of coal?” She asks lightly.
Rose sniffs at Sera’s teasing words. “Mind how you speak,” she says through pursed lips.
“How do you think he would like it?” My heart drums rapidly in my chest and I touch my hair tentatively.
Sera’s shoulders stiffen at my question. “A man would be pleased to run his fingers through your hair. But perhaps we should make him work for it.”
“Alright,” I say, a small grin on my lips.
My tutors have taught me the mechanics of pleasuring a man, or at least mentioned it, but the details of it escape me. For most girls, it’s the eldest sister who takes the leap of marriage and beds a man first, but today it’s me. We’ve known since my birth that it would be me, and so my sisters have moved on from the slight. No one postpones an engagement to King Kane to simply marry the other sisters off. No one would dare. Despite his reputation and my fear, there’s a yearning in me to please him, to make him happy that he chose me twenty years ago.
Sera makes quick work of my hair while Laurel finishes my makeup. Delphine sighs happily at the sight of me, clapping her hands together. “You look as pretty as a princess,” she says.
I grin at her. We’ve told each other that since we were children, it always made us giggle that the commoners compared beauty to a princess. I open my mouth to reply when Rose ushers Sera away from my hair and puts on the finishing touches. She bites her bottom lip and pulls a pearl pin from her pocket. I inhale sharply in surprise as Rose slips it into my hair, completing the look.
“Mother would have wanted you to have it,” she murmurs. “And perhaps it will bring some luck with the Dead King.”
“Rose, it’s yours,” I protest. “I can’t take it.”
“Then let me lend it to you.” She steps out of reach. “And give it back to me when you return.”
Silence weighs heavily in the room. None of us know if I ever will return. No one knows what awaits me when King Kane arrives to collect on the deal he made all those years ago, the deal that saved my mother’s life for a time. I touch the pin in my hair tentatively. He can’t be that horrid, not when he saved my mother’s life and gave her sixteen years with us. Of course, he did it all in exchange for her lastborn.
“Come,” Laurel says politely, urging me to my feet.
I shiver in the thin, elegant gown, I’ve been laced into, and step in front of the long mirror. My sisters and servants study me appraisingly. I hardly recognize myself. The ivory gown accentuates curves I never knew I had, making my breasts look full and supple. Sera has done my hair into a halo around my head, little wisps of my black locks captured by the light. My eyes, already doe-like, are prominent now, and my lips look perfect and pouty. Everything compliments my pale skin and Laurel has left my rosy cheeks on full display.
I steel my shoulders. It doesn’t matter now, but it will matter later when King Kane and I perform the Unveiling in the privacy of his castle. For now, only my sisters and most trusted friends will see me before he claims me. The last in this realm of the living to truly see me. I swallow hard.
“You look beautiful,” Rose says stiffly.
Delphine nods encouragingly, her wide, innocent eyes silver with tears. “If he’s absolutely horrid, I’ll cough twice.” She takes my hands in hers and holds them tight. “Stay strong, Briar.”
I put on a strong smile even though I don’t feel it. Sera and Laurel return with my veil. A piece of fabric that will cover me from head to toe. It’s red, by the request of King Kane himself, and absolutely covered in precious gems and metals and pearls. The veil is thick and will be heavy with the additional decorations. Delphine places a tall, thin crown on the top of my head. The crown isn’t for decorative purposes, but to hold the veil off of my hair so it won’t ruin the styling.
I brace myself for the heavy fabric. Sera and Laurel drape it over the crown and I wobble under the sudden weight. Rose catches me. “I told you to exercise more, you weak little girl,” she hisses.
I grimace apologetically, meeting her eyes. All I see is cerulean blue, completely opposite of my gray eyes, before the veil shrouds me in darkness. I can hardly see the glow of light through the threads of the veil. My heart is in my throat as panic sets in. I've never been one for dark or small, cramped spaces. I wring my hands together out of sight until I've calmed. Sera sticks her head under the veil, and I look down on her, panic clear in my eyes. She smiles encouragingly and mouths that she’ll miss me. I nod desperately and force my eyes away before I fall into tears.
It’s all real now. I’ve been thinking of and preparing for this moment my entire life, but somehow, I’m not ready for it. All year, I felt nervous and excited about meeting my future husband, wondering what he looks like and how he speaks. I’ve dreamt about the sound of his voice. But, Gods, I would give anything for just one more year at home.
“Come, Delphine,” Rose says. “We must put on our own veils.”
“Yes,” Delphine whispers. She leans close to me. “Remember, two coughs.”
According to custom, all unmarried women must be veiled during the Collection so as not to distract the groom from his bride. My sisters will wear detailed and lovely veils, but they will be the traditional ivory. The door snaps shut, and I know they’ve gone. I sag a little, revealing my fear to my friends.
“Don’t listen to them,” Laurel says. I feel her hand through the veil as she rubs my arm. “King Kane won’t have fangs, or claws, or a tail.”
“He’ll be handsome and kind,” Sera promises.
“Thank you,” I murmur, grateful that my two, true friends wouldn’t try to fill me with fear before I meet him.
“And remember, if you don’t wish to be wed after the three months, you can come home, no questions asked,” Laurel says eagerly.
I swallow thickly, throat dry. If I did that, my father would never forgive me, and no suitor would want a tainted woman. But I nod for them, to put them at ease. They make a few adjustments to my veil, making sure it truly does cover me from head to toe. The stone floor is cold against my feet, and I shift nervously. Brides don't wear shoes, entering barefoot into their groom's home.
I hear the door creak open, and Laurel and Sera guide me towards it. There will be a guard on the other side to escort me to the throne room where the Collection will take place. I shuffle behind the guard, between Sera and Laurel. They hold my elbows when we gingerly descend the many stairs leading from my room to the main floor. I miscalculate the distance for a step and scuff my big toe against the stone. I hiss, pain flaring and settling into a dull throb.
The guard’s loud footsteps halt and I know we’ve reached our destination. My stomach is filled with butterflies, so many that I fear I’ll vomit the meager lunch I was forced to eat. I’m grateful, for once, for the thick veil that hides my panic-filled eyes f
rom view. I don’t want my father to see how terrified I am. I think I’m practically green.
I feel a strong arm around me and lean into my father’s embrace. “Remember, what you do, you do for your mother and Ryrn,” he murmurs.
I nod fiercely, fighting back the tears pooling in my eyes. I can’t cry. It will ruin my makeup. “I know, father,” I whisper.
He pulls away and I’m filled with fear again. “Don’t be afraid. You’re a Princess of Ryrn.”
His words mean little to me now that I’m already drowning in anxiety, but I nod anyway. My sisters enter the throne room first, their heeled shoes tapping on the floor as they’re escorted by servants. My father follows, and the door closes behind him. I wait alone, Sera and Laurel were sent away. Through the door, I can hear my father’s booming voice as he discusses the terms of the Collection with King Kane. He makes a swift speech about the ties between our kingdoms. And then the door opens again.
I take a hesitant step forward, my feet never lifting from the ground, so I don’t lose my footing or sense of direction. I walk as regally as I can into the throne room, holding my head high. It’s the cold that almost stops me first. I hesitate, fear coiling around my heart. I’ve never felt cold like this before, the kind that creeps over you like a snake. I shuffle forward until I reach the soft padding of a carpet; my spot.
When I turn and face in the direction of my groom, it’s completely black. There’s no light filtering through my veil any longer, it’s as dark as night. I almost jump when my father’s voice rings out beside me.
“I, Alban Charleroi Deslionne, offer you a Daughter of Ryrn,” my father intones.
My heart pounds, waiting for my groom’s reply. “I,” a silky voice purrs from in front of me. I feel weak at the knees, relieved to hear a normal voice. Kane’s voice is deep, without grating on my ears; an addictive sound. “I, Kane Enfer of the line of the Gods, accept this Daughter of Ryrn.”