“You should go inside, it is hot out today, I do not want your fair skin to burn.”
She smiles, shaking her head as her hand falls from my wrist. Without another word, I watch her skip away and into the domum.
“She is right. You are a good man,” a deep voice announces.
There is no need to turn my head, yet again, I know the man that this voice belongs to. “You of all people know that is not a valid statement,” I grunt.
He chuckles, his low laughter filling the area and bouncing off of the stone walls of the domum. Marcellus’ fingers wrap around my shoulder and he gives me a shake as he stands next to me, looking straight ahead as well.
“Savona is lucky to have you as its leader,” he announces. “You will allow it to flourish.”
“I shall endeavor,” I rasp. “To make it up to the gods for my misgivings.”
“There is no such thing to make up for, frater.”
We do not speak again for a long moment. Then there is a shadow in the distance. A beast is in the air, I watch as it comes closer and I pull my gladius from its scabbard and charge down to the animal, though I do not believe it would matter.
This is a beast of epic proportion and he could kill all of us in one swift motion. The shift that I sensed, it is here in the form of this beast.
I have a missive from Aaric, the King of the Sea.
I pause, my gladius in hand and my feet braced for battle. A man climbs down from the beast and I jerk my chin.
Who are you? I demand of the dragon.
He snorts. Quest. This is the missive for King Aaric. He will explain.
I shake my head once. I want it from you, beast.
I hear him laughing in my head and then he snorts again, but he tells me exactly what I want. He tells me why they have come this far. He tells me a fantastical tale. I don’t believe him, not at first, but as he continues with his details, I wonder if this could be true.
So, you think this sister will be here? That she will magically appear?
I do not believe him. I do not believe his words of a prophecy, of the gods and goddesses plotting some big come-to-fruition moment. There is no reason for it. Why would it happen now? After thousands of years, it seems too far-fetched.
When she comes, send a message to King Aaric.
He jerks his chin and I watch as the missive climbs back onto his back and in an instant, he jumps into the air, expands his gigantic wings and flies away. Nobody said an actual word. The entire conversation was in our heads, just as I can do with my horse and the bears. I have never spoken to another animal this way before.
“Tiberius?” Marcellus asks.
Turning my head, I look over my shoulder at him. “According to the beast, we are to have a visitor from another world. Keep an eye out for any strange woman that suddenly appears.”
Chapter One
DRUCILLA
It’s been a month since I left Arizona. A month without hearing a single word from any of my sisters. I know deep down in my soul that something is wrong, something is terribly wrong, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I look around the beach, sitting on my towel, and hating the way that I feel.
A month ago, I would be showing off my bikini body, tanning, and drinking a cocktail. I would be enjoying myself, not having a care in the world. I would definitely be enjoying the looks of the men near me. None of it matters anymore. Nothing matters.
“Baby, you good?” a deep voice murmurs.
I look back at my very, very casual friend, Austin. He looks like an underwear ad model. The main reason that I started this thing with him, he’s hot. He’s okay in bed too, but he’s so pretty to look at that it almost hurts my eyes.
I’m vain.
I’m also selfish.
I’m the exact opposite of my sisters. They’re all loving and caring, they’re kind and soft. Then there’s me. I’m not the same, but I have my reasons, reasons that none of them even know about. I’m good with that, prefer it actually.
It’s better they don’t know.
Austin sinks down next to me, his golden abs on display before he slides his hand around my waist and tugs me against his side.
“You’re a real downer these days, baby.”
“My sisters are missing,” I snap.
He shrugs a shoulder, obviously not giving a flying fuck that my sisters are gone. Pushing off of him, I stand and strip my shorts off.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, why don’t you come wrap those long as fuck legs around me, babe.”
I wrinkle my nose, staring straight ahead at the water, and ignore him. Walking out, I close my eyes as soon as the warm water touches my toes. I don’t stop. I continue into the water, my feet moving. I can’t control myself. Something calls to me, I don’t know what it is, but it’s almost a whispering sound.
Austin yells out my name behind me, but I ignore him. He calls out my name again before he tells me I’m a bitch and I can go fuck myself.
He doesn’t matter.
I’m vain, but there is another pretty man somewhere out there.
They’re a dime a dozen.
He isn’t the only one who will tell me I’m hot, buy me drinks, and do me.
That’s all I use them for, nothing deeper, nothing more. When you fall in love, it screws everything up. It hurts too much and then you end up a gigantic ball of feelings, a complete disaster, and I want no part of it, not ever again.
The deeper I walk into the water, the louder the whispering becomes. I don’t know why I feel this need, why I am drawn to it, but I can’t help myself. I’m not typically someone who spends much time in the ocean, but my legs won’t stop.
Then they suddenly come to a halt. I turn around to face the shore and it’s as if I’m looking outside of my own body. I can almost see myself in the water, then everything goes black. I feel as though I’m in a dream, as if the water is swirling around me and I’m floating all at the same time.
Lifting my hand, I reach out to touch the water, but it just keeps swirling faster and faster and then everything stills.
I stretch as the warmth kisses my entire body. What a weird dream. Rolling onto my back, I let out a sigh as I open my eyes. The sun shines down on me. It’s so warm that I don’t even want to open my eyes, it feels comforting.
I’ve never been one to fall asleep on the beach, but I think that’s exactly what I’ve done.
Pushing myself up to a seated position, I force myself to open my eyes and look around. As soon as I take in the area around me, my eyes widen and I gasp.
I don’t think I fell asleep on the beach, actually. I don’t know where the hell I am. There is water in front of me, but this isn’t Florida. The water is bright green. It’s not algae green either, it’s really freaking bright green. It looks dyed.
“What the hell,” I whisper.
Turning my head, I look behind me to see where the other people sunbathing are and I gasp. There is nobody. I am alone. I’m on a beach, so there’s that, but this is definitely not Florida.
Looking down at the sand, I gasp again. Holy freaking shit. The sand is blue. It’s a cornflower blue. If I wasn’t staring at it in shock, and unable to breathe, then I would think it’s absolutely beautiful.
Because it is gorgeous.
It’s stunning, but all I can think about right now is that I’m sitting on a beach of blue sand with a green ocean in front of me and it’s definitely not home. Standing, my legs almost give out beneath me. I feel weak, physically weak as I look at the rolling hills and Greek-style stone buildings in front of me.
If I were into history, I would probably know what these buildings were exactly, but to me, they just look like fancy stone buildings with columns. I know without a doubt we don’t have these in Florida, not like this. Then, there’s the little fact that those rolling hills aren’t green, they are fucking purple—purple.
If I were someone who passed out, I would be down for the count. I spin in a complete circle
, looking around and wonder what the hell do I do next? What I want to do is sit down, feel the warm sun, and hope that I wake up from this. It’s a dream. It has to be… right?
I don’t.
Instead, I get out of the middle of the beach. I don’t know where I am or what’s going on, so I need to get out of view from whoever dumped me here. Because I know without a doubt, I didn’t just appear here out of thin air.
Picking up my feet, I force myself to walk. I need to hide. I need to find a place to hunker down until I can figure out just where the hell I am, and what’s going on. My heart starts to race with the idea of some crazy guy hiding and watching me.
Walking from the beach, I make my way toward the thick trees that line the beach area. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s a freaking jungle just past the warm beach. The trees are all pinks and purples mixed with some oranges for the trunks.
Reaching for a tree, I touch the trunk just to make sure it’s real. It is. It’s real and I gasp at the feel of the smooth wood. The smooth orange wood. At first, I think about the Queen of Hearts, maybe these are all painted, but I don’t think that they are.
“What on earth?” I whisper to myself.
I’m barefoot, in a bikini and walking through a pink, purple, and orange forest. My entire body shivers, but not from the weather. It’s still warm, even though the sun is hiding above the foliage of the trees above me. I’m terrified.
There aren’t any places to hide, there isn’t anything at all around me really other than rocks, grass, mud, and trees.
I hear it from a distance and I don’t quite believe it. Horse hooves. Galloping. And it’s all getting closer. I turn to the left and try to rush through the brush, but I have no idea where I’m headed. Is this the lesser of two evils, or is this going to be even more evil?
It doesn’t matter the direction I turn, the hooves get closer and closer, as if I’m being followed, as if I’m being tracked.
My heart starts beating faster, it slams against my chest.
I’m completely out of breath, my lungs are burning with each step that I take, with each inhale and exhale, and I wonder how on earth I can work out on the treadmill and machines and be so damn out of shape.
Then it happens.
I let out a blood-curdling scream in surprise. A strong band wraps around my waist and I’m lifted into the air before my ass lands hard on something. Tipping my chin, that strong band belongs to a golden bare arm.
Turning my head, I twist around and tilt back to look up at who has just plucked me from the ground, their horse at full speed and not slowing. Then I scream again. He tips his head, but I can’t see anything other than his black eyes.
He’s wearing a full-on metal mask with one of those red Roman type mohawks down the center. He looks like one of those sexy guys from the movie 300 or that show Rome.
I open my mouth to scream again, but he shakes his head hard and the way his eyes stare intently at mine, my breath is stolen as I continue to just stare at him in shock.
What the hell just happened?
Where the shit am I?
Who the hell is this?
TIBERIUS
This is her. It must be.
She is practically nude, running barefoot in the forest. I was just out for a morning hunt, something that I don’t do nearly as often as I used to anymore. I was called to the forest today and now I know why.
Curse the gods.
She is frozen in my saddle, her violet eyes wide and terrified as she looks up at me. She would be even more terrified if she saw my face without my mask. I’m a monster. A hideous monster. If she saw my face, it would give her instant nightmares.
I was hoping that the beast was wrong, praying that he was, but it seems he was not. She lets out a breath, her body trembling in my arms. I ride toward the domum. She belongs in my dwelling since she is apparently my intended.
Intended.
It is a joke of the gods. Clearly. I never intended on finding a wife, unless it was something that needed to happen for the empire. A woman to plant my seed inside of, bear me a boy with a spare, and that is all.
She doesn’t even try to squirm from my grasp, and I wonder if the gods have any rules on this union.
“I am going to futuo you,” I announce.
She doesn’t respond to my words, instead, her brows snap together and she shakes her head a couple of times. Then she opens her mouth and starts to speak. I cannot understand a single thing that she says.
Her words sound familiar, but I do not speak her language. The gods have played the ultimate trick on me, not only have they delivered this woman to me, but they have also ensured that we cannot communicate because we do not speak the same language.
With a heavy sigh, I shake my head and continue to forge ahead.
As soon as we approach the courtyard, I pull on Felix’s reins to halt him before I dismount. The girl slides off of him and almost hits the cobblestone ground before I catch her in my embrace.
I cannot hide her from the people that have started to gather around us. Nobody dares approach me, as they know it is not their place. I am the emperor, and although I am not a tyrant the way that my father was, I am also not approachable.
Scooping her in my arms, I ignore the silent questions and jerk my chin toward Felix. He neighs but doesn’t question my silent demand before he slowly trots toward his quarters.
My domum is quiet as I enter, though I can hear movement around and I go in search of Cassia, knowing that she will at least make sure this woman is comforted. I do not see her immediately, so with a heavy sigh, I carry the stranger toward the room in which she will now reside.
Mine.
I do not know exactly what the gods have in store, but if we are fated then they will no doubt desire us to create an heir. This will kill two birds with one stone, and I can make my people happy as well by taking this woman as my wife.
This may not have been the plan that I wanted, but as a warrior, I have learned to adapt to ever-changing situations. Thankfully, I have had a little time to prepare for this one. Climbing the stone stairs, I swiftly make my way toward my room.
Pushing the door open, I walk inside and deposit her on the bed. She lets out a gasp, tilting her head back to look up at me. Her lips are parted in awe and her cheeks tint pink as her gaze travels down my torso and stops at my hips before her eyes fly back up to mine.
I watch her mouth move again, the words come out far too quickly, but even if she spoke slowly I would not understand them. Crossing my arms over my chest, I shake my head once, then decide to leave her to Cassia. I will come back and visit her to sleep, to plant my seed inside of her, for my duty and nothing more.
Though, if that were just the case, why didn’t I put her in one of the other rooms? I have many empty ones. The answer is uncertain, I had planned on putting her elsewhere, but upon seeing her, practically nude, I just couldn’t do it.
She calls to me.
Frowning, I turn away from her and close the door, then place the outside lock in place, something that I don’t often allow on our doors, especially mine, but had installed just in case I needed it, like today.
Turning down the hall, I make my way toward the gardens where I know Cassia tends to spend her afternoons. She is indeed there painting as I arrive.
“Tiberius, take that awful thing off, you are not in battle,” she announces without even having to turn to look back at me.
I chuckle, not doing as she demands. “She has arrived. I found her in the forest as I was hunting.”
“I am sure she is glad you did not mistake her for an animal and slice her head off,” she hums.
With a snort, I take another step toward her. “She is definitely not from here, Cassia. She does not speak our language and the way that she was dressed…” My words trail off.
Only then does Cassia stop and turn to look back at me. Her eyes are wide as she licks her lips. “She does not speak our language? Surely y
ou iocus?”
Shaking my head slowly, I take a step back. “She is your charge. The wedding will take place in two weeks’ time. Ensure that she is prepared please.”
“Tiberius,” she breathes.
Jerking my chin, I take another step back in retreat. “She is in my quarters, and that is where she will stay unless she is under guard. I have not assigned a guard to her yet, so where will she remain Cassia?”
Cassia’s eyes narrow as she watches me. “I am not a child,” she snaps.
I chuckle. “Yes, but you are full of mischief. This is a serious matter, we do not know anything about her or the prophecy, past what the beast informed me of. We must be diligent.”
Cassia nods her head, her gaze never leaving my own. “Yes, I suppose we must. I will do my best to help, in any way. Please remove your mask, she must see you, Tiberius.”
“I am a monster, Cassia.”
“You are not. You are the kindest man I know. You give yourself to any who is in need. You love your people and your heart is beautiful.”
“My face, Cassia,” I grumble.
“Your face is that of a true warrior and you should always endeavor to be proud of all you have accomplished, cousin.”
I hum, closing the distance between us, then and only then, do I remove my helmet. Dipping my chin, my lips brush against her cheek. “You are far too good and pure for this world, dearest cousin of mine.”
“You are of the same, my sweet Tiberius. Now go and do your duties. I will care for your sweet new bride.”
Chapter Two
DRUCILLA
I sit on the edge of an oddly comfortable bed and I shiver. It’s not like it’s extremely cold or anything, but I’m in a bikini. I was also carried into a strange castle-type house, by a strange man. And when I say strange, I mean freaking strange.
This is like a palace of some kind, it’s gorgeous and beautiful, but it looks like something out of one of those old historical romance movies.
Bride of the Emperor (The Prophecy of Sisters Book 4) Page 2