by Kira Nyte
Pansa snapped her fingers. The orb disappeared and Siofra’s bound figure shot off the ground. “Let’s go, Siofra.”
Rhy couldn’t help but grin at the sight of the fearful sorceress kicking her legs as she floated behind Pansa, helpless to break free of the bindings. Relief flooded her. The terror was over. The threat would be gone, though she mourned the crone she had known as a mentor.
Arrick was free of Siofra and he was alive.
Rhy tucked the Heart and the pin away in her pockets before settling on the ground beside her wolf. She lay, facing him, her head resting on his arm, her finger tracing every angle and curve of his face and lips. Her heart filled with love and gratefulness.
“It’s over, Arrick. When you wake, you will wake to a new world, a new life, and no reason to fear.”
The ground beneath them shifted. The uneven breaks in the soil and the thrusting roots flattened, providing comfort where all provision of her homeland had been destroyed.
Rhy smiled, her body relaxing in its rightful place. Next to Arrick. Always beside her spirit mate. She tipped her head up and placed a soft, chaste kiss to his lips.
“I love you, Huntsman.”
She tucked her head beneath his chin. She would not move until he woke. If it took all night, this was where she would remain. Protecting her Huntsman.
To her delight, his arm draped over her waist. She closed her eyes and smiled against his chest.
“Love you too, Princess.”
Chapter Eighteen
Three Days Later
Arrick found himself staring into a strange, watery oval that shimmered. He could see the forest beyond the substance, but it was distorted and almost…surreal. A faint pull at the front of his body caught him by surprise. The portal urged him closer with a gentle suction, called him to make that first step into a new future.
Since the battle with Siofra—as he learned from Rhyannon—he no longer felt the torturous connection and anxiety he had suffered for the last century. He sensed the wolf, calm and content within his soul, a far cry from the beast he believed it to be. With Rhyannon by his side, they would learn the wolf, a freedom he never had.
The additional pinch of woodland fairy in his blood? Yeah, he was still trying to figure that one out. His ears were perfectly human…when he wasn’t a wolf.
Rhyannon held out her hand for his. He entwined their fingers and kissed her fingertips.
“You haven’t been through a veil as a human since she lured you into Andallayne,” Rhyannon surmised. Arrick shook his head, barely feeling the weight of their bags on his back. “It’s like walking through a thick fog. That’s all.”
“Well, my trust is in your hands.”
Arrick followed his princess through the veil, leaving his world behind for the journey into hers.
* * *
The dark, shadow-covered world was almost unrecognizable. The silence that hovered around them as they stood in front of what once was her home—a beautiful open-floor castle built into the side of the towering mountain—left her skin cold and her heart solemn. The explosion of color from the flowers and vines that stretched along the outer walls and trellises was gone, now shriveled and black. Husks of what once thrived. Her people’s houses were desolate and sullen with no signs of life. The tiny light fae and dragons were nowhere to be seen.
Andallayne was nothing but a skeleton. A ghost of what once flourished.
“You will flourish again,” she murmured. Arrick’s strong hand in hers tightened. “We’ll restore Andallayne to her glory and more.”
Rhy led the way up the broken path to the entrance of her castle home. Arrick caught her once when the rubble beneath her slippered feet caused her to slide and tumble forward.
“I’ve got you.”
She nodded. “I know, Huntsman. You’ll always have me.”
“Of that, you can be sure.”
Stepping into the dank entryway nearly broke her heart. The stone and rock that created a once-grand greeting court lay in shambles. Chips and cracks and the sound of pebbles plinking to the floor pained her. Dead vines hung from the ceiling and pillars. As she walked by one immense pillar, she touched the brittle leaf of one vine. It crumbled beneath her gentle touch, pieces fluttering to her feet.
“I can’t believe she did this to my home.” Rhy sighed and shook her head. “I never imagined Andallayne vulnerable. I always believed this place to be indestructible.”
“Princess, look around you.” Arrick stepped up behind her and slipped his arm around her waist. He pointed to different places in the room. “It hasn’t been destroyed. It’s still standing. Damaged, yes, but not destroyed. I don’t think anything has the power to destroy Andallayne unless those who help it thrive are the ones who help it fail.”
Rhy sank against his chest. His philosophical mind would forever intrigue her. “Shall we, then? I want you to see this place how I remember it.”
“I will.”
Rhy pushed aside the emotions that swelled at the devastation to her home and led Arrick to the heart of the castle. A large, open atrium was all that remained. It lay in ruins. The pride of Andallayne, and the treasure of her family, rested tall and stately at the back of the atrium where the mountain created a wall, weathered but not damaged by Siofra’s dark magic.
A protrusion of mountain rock formed a tiered fountain fed by the hidden springs and snowy runoff.
Rhy stepped over mounds of dead brush and plants to reach the fountain. She retrieved the Heart and the pin from the pouch tucked in her cloak pocket. The only signs of life came from the bowls of the fountain that glistened with moisture from the faint remnants of runoff.
“I hope this works.” She pressed the tip of the pin into the small hole Pansa had shown her. The lacework top popped open on an unseen hinge. Leaning over the edge of the fountain, Rhy stretched her arm out to the narrow stream of water and captured a drop of the glowing golden-blue essence. “Help me bring back Andallayne, Queen. Help me rebuild our home and allow our people to flourish again. Woodland Goddess, hear my pleas. Together, let us make Andallayne thrive.”
The Heart pulsed against her palm, a warm, dense pressure in answer to her pleas. The top closed of its own accord.
For long moments, nothing happened. Then, Rhy caught the shimmer of color emerging from the black rock and water.
The spectacle was beyond anything she imagined. She stepped back until she bumped into Arrick. Together, they watched in awe as a wave of glittering color and life spread through the fountain before pouring over the edges and spilled across the ground. Everything the rippling magic touched came back to life, unfurling, untangling, stretching, straightening until Rhy found herself in the midst of her old atrium, gleaming with brilliant colors and sweet fragrances and undeniable life.
Arrick gazed around, his jaw slack and his eyes wide in amazement. “Wow.”
Behind her, the trickle of water grew into a steady stream. The clear blue water swirled with the essence of pulsing gold.
“She’s feeding Andallayne.”
“Who?”
Rhy laughed, then sobbed with joy. “The Queen. The first Queen of Andallayne. She’s answered my plea, as has the Goddess.”
Rhy hopped into Arrick’s arms and hugged him. When she kissed him, she unleashed every reserve and worry she’d kept buried inside. Andallayne would flourish again.
Rhy ended her kiss and slipped back to her feet. “Come.” Sheer excitement overcame her. “Let us watch the magic.”
They followed the path of magic as it brought life back to the castle. Room by room, she watched the destruction repair and promise explode in color and light.
In one of the gathering rooms, she pulled Arrick through an open archway and onto a balcony.
She gasped. “Look!”
The magic spread like a blanket rolling out from the castle to cover every inch of Andallayne land they could see. Rhy swore she felt the earth release a breath it had been holding since Siofra’s
ruin. A gentle heave, a sigh, as life infused the land.
“This place is every bit as beautiful as you described,” Arrick said, his voice light with wonder. She realized it must be all the more stunning for him, who had experienced so much evil when magic was twisted to dark purposes. “Even more beautiful. But where is everyone?”
“I don’t know.”
The Whisperer hadn’t divulged that information. She could only wait and hope that Pansa’s words were true. As Andallayne healed itself, she would be reunited with her family.
Rhy turned away from the balcony and cupped the side of Arrick’s face. His honey brown eyes turned down to her and warmed her spirit.
“Leave the bags here. Let’s go outside and wait.”
Arrick piled the bags against the wall and, hand-in-hand, they made their way through the castle to the greeting court. Rhy sighed. Oh, the Queen’s magic was breathtaking. There were no signs of the previous damage. The pillars glowed as light poured in through the numerous open walkways, gilded trim and dazzling gemstones coming to life. Flowers bloomed and vines crept once more.
“Now this is stunning,” Arrick said. “By far nicer than the alternative.”
Rhy appreciated his lightheartedness. She needed it. She needed him. “I must agree—”
“Rhyannon?”
Rhy’s shoulders stiffened. If it weren’t for Arrick’s shift of attention over her head, she would’ve thought she imagined that voice.
“Rhy, darling?”
Lips pressed together and tears filling her eyes, she twisted around. Her parents ascended the stairs to the greeting court from a room she’d never noticed before. It must have been the magically concealed entrance to the cavern Pansa had shown her.
Rhy’s mother pressed her hands to her mouth, her stunning blue eyes glistening. Rhy couldn’t catch the sob that fled her chest. She dashed across the court and flung herself into her father’s open arms.
“My sweet, sweet girl,” he whispered, his voice strained. His arms squeezed her tight until her mother’s arms wrapped around both of them.
“Mother. Father. You’re okay,” she said on another sob. “I was so worried.”
“All that matters is that you’re safe, darling.” Her father eased her to her feet and leaned back. “Why did you come back? The danger…”
Rhy shook her head, wiping away the tears with the edge of her cloak. “Oh, Father. It’s a long, long story. One I will fill you in on over food and drink and celebration.”
“Does your story include the gentleman standing over there?” her mother asked.
Rhy laughed and turned to stretch her hand out for Arrick. Her Huntsman joined her, gladly taking her hand in a silent implication of possession.
“Yes, my story certainly includes him. In fact, the story begins the day we met,” Rhy said. She stepped out of her father’s arms to find her rightful place in Arrick’s. “Arrick, this is my mother, Radella Andal, and my father, Cascille Andal. Mother, Father, this is Arrick Luvell, huntsman, wolf, Andallayne fae, and my spirit mate.”
“Well, I’ll be stricken by the Queen’s glory,” her father said, holding out his hand. “I suppose we have much to talk about. Most especially your breed.”
Arrick laughed and shook his hand. “Trust me, Your Highness. Rhyannon had to fill me in on the fae part. That came as quite a shock.”
“I would imagine. And please, call me Cascille.”
Her mother laid her small hands on Arrick’s shoulders and kissed his cheeks. “I can sense your heart and your purity. Cascille, the Queen has granted our daughter a wonderful spirit mate.”
Rhy burst with pride as her parents openly declared their acceptance of, and pleasure with, Arrick.
“Before we celebrate, let us go out into Andallayne and welcome our people home. They have lived far too long in hiding. The time has come to live again.” He held his arm out. Her mother rested her hand on his forearm and they led the way out of the castle and into the new Andallayne.
Rhy stopped Arrick from following, turning to face him. She slinked her arms around his neck and pressed up on her toes.
“Are you ready for this, Huntsman? Are you ready for this new world, this new life?” she asked, tugging at the ends of his soft hair. A faint growl rumbled in his chest and his eyes flashed. That single look of hunger set her ablaze.
“Trust me, Princess. I’ve been ready for this for a long, long time. But…” He sank his hand into her hair and tilted her chin up, drawing her mouth to his. “I wouldn’t do it unless I had you by my side. So, yes, I’m ready. I’m oh so ready.”
She melted into his slow kiss, starved for another gentle sweep of his tongue, another moment of connection where the world disappeared and left them alone.
The soft sound of her father clearing his throat drew them apart. Rhy sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and dropped flat on her feet.
“Shall we?” she asked.
Arrick straightened his shoulders and held out his arm to her as her father had for her mother. “I wouldn’t want to keep your parents waiting.”
Rhy rested her hand on his forearm. “Let us begin our new journey. One filled with the promise of love and life. Forever.”
THE END
About the Author
Born and raised a Jersey girl with easy access to NYC, I was never short on ideas for stories. I started writing when I was 11, and my passion for creating worlds exploded from that point on. Romance writing came later, since kissing gave you cooties at 11, but when it did, I embraced it. Since then, all of my heroes and heroines find their happily ever after, even if it takes a good fight, or ten, to get there.
I currently live in Central Florida with my husband, our four children, and two parakeets. I work part-time as a PCU nurse when I’m not writing or traveling between sports and other activities.
I love to hear from readers! Find me at:
Website and Newsletter: www.kiranyte.com
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Contact: [email protected]