by Rachel Angel
“Are you upset with me because I haven’t contacted you recently?” he said, trying to find some reasonable explanation for her behavior. “It’s been hell out here, Harley. Every day, I’m losing soldiers, friends, even family members. It’s not that I’ve stopped thinking about you or loving you. The circumstances are just too impossible right now. But you mustn’t forget that I love you.”
“Love?” she cried out as she stood up and stomped her way to the other side of the small tent. “Oh, please. You’re from the enemy kingdom.”
“You know I’m not your enemy. You’ve been here before, Harley. You’ve visited this kingdom, my kingdom. You came to see me when your summer school session ended.”
“Summer school session?” Harley said. She took a bewildered step back and gaped at him. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“Fallen Fae Academy, Harley. We went to class together. You helped me with my classes.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never attended some falling academy.”
“Not falling, Harley. Fallen. We both attended Fallen Fae Academy,” Oak said.
“Either way,” she said as she walked to his dresser and looked at his discarded dirty clothes that lay over it. “I’ve never been to any academy, and I’ve never been here. I would never willingly set foot in this kingdom.”
“Harley, you met my family when you came. You met so many residents of this kingdom. They all loved you, and you loved it here. Harley, try to remember.”
She spun around to glare at him. “I told you. Stop using such familiarities with me. You have no right to address me simply as Harley.”
He rushed to her and once again got on his knees. “Princess Harley, my lovely princess. I’ll do whatever you ask. But please tell me that you acknowledge the love we share… our time at the Academy.”
“My life is and has always been within the boundaries of the Kingdom of Spring. And if you must know of the love that I have in my heart, it is reserved for two wonderful fae nobles from my very own Spring Court.”
“But…” He stood and grasped her shoulders, bringing her close to him. Certain that a kiss, a long and passionate kiss would rouse her, that it would bring back to her mind the love they’d had, he leaned in eager to capture her lips with his.
With surprising speed, Harley whipped out a small dagger and brought it to his throat, her eyes cold and menacing.
“Unhand me,” she grunted. “Unhand me this moment, you filthy barbarian fae. In what delusional world do you live in that you think you can touch me?”
Oak released her and held his hands up to show his compliance. “Okay. Fine.” He looked at her and shook his head. He no longer knew what to do, or how to approach her. Had she been hit over the head? Had she been drugged?
There was no explaining her strange attitude towards him.
In her hand, she still held the dagger tightly in her little hand, ready to kill if necessary.
“All right, then,” Oak said calmly. “Princess Harley. All right. I don’t understand what’s happening, but we’ll play it your way.”
“Play?” she said. “I’m not playing.”
Oak nodded. “Okay. What brings you here?” he said. “You came to the Kingdom of Woods of your own accord, right? Might I ask why?”
She looked suspiciously at him. “I was looking for something.”
“Really? And what would that be?”
She wandered around the small tent and finally turned to look pointedly at him. “My brother.”
“Prince Harris?” Oak said, a little stunned by her answer.
“That would be the one, yes,” she said.
“What makes you think he would be here in the Kingdom of Woods?”
“Never mind that,” she snapped. “Is he here or not?”
“No.”
She ran up to him and again slipped her dagger under his chin. “I don’t believe you.”
Closing his eyes, he slowly took a hold of her wrist and pulled the sharp weapon away. “Please, be careful with that.”
“You’re a liar,” she said as she slipped the dagger back into her waistband.
“Princess Harley,” he said. “If I may be so bold. Why would I have Prince Harris here?”
“For leverage. To use in negotiations. To create more division. To drive me mad. I don’t know, and I don’t care why. All I know is that I want him back.”
“No offense, Princess Harley, but if I had him here, and I wanted to use him to negotiate with you, wouldn’t I be sitting here negotiating with you?”
She stared at him.
“Look, the Kingdom of Woods is an ally to the Kingdom of Spring. We would never take Prince Harris hostage. We would never use him as a bargain chip.”
“Well, who knows what you barbarians would do with him.”
“Harley… Princess Harley,” Oak said, wanting desperately to reason with her.
“There’s nothing you can tell me that will convince me, you lout.,.” she shouted.
He looked tenderly at her. “You may see me as a lout,” he said softly. “But I’m a lout who loves you, who would do anything for you. I even refused to kill an enemy in this time of war out of respect for you. I had Kinglsey in my sight. It would have been too easy. But I didn’t. I know you love him, and I know his death would have hurt you.”
Clearly confused, she looked at him. “I don’t understand where you get the notion that I could possibly love the Prince of Sea.”
Nodding his understanding of her confused state, he looked down at the floor. He didn’t know what else to say to her to make her see.
Then he looked up at her. “You know that the Dark Fae Wizard appeared in the royal kingdom.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “Yes,” she said cautiously. “I know that. But how do you know?”
He shook his head, dismissing her question. “Did you know that I had my army retreat from battle following his appearance in your kingdom?”
“So?” she said, her brow furrowed with confusion.
“Don’t you see?” he said. “I knew that things weren’t right in the Kingdom of Spring.”
She seemed confused for a moment before finally raising her chin in proud defiance. “And why would an enemy of mine, an enemy of my kingdom, do such a thing?”
“Because, my lovely princess, I am not your enemy. Not only is my kingdom an ally to yours, but I am a friend to you.” He looked lovingly at her. “In fact, I love you.”
Frowning, she turned away from him.
He thought he’d broken through. Whatever it was that had erased him from her memory, he thought he’d seen a spark, a glimmer of the Harley he’d known.
But when she turned back to face him, her face angry and void of any affection for him, he knew he’d failed.
She stared at him for a long moment, then abruptly turned and left the tent.
Chapter 12
Kingsley
Kingsley was seated behind his massive and heavy oak desk in his large army tent. Despite the immensity of his tent, only three lanterns burned; two behind him and one that was hung over his desk that was covered with maps, orders, requisitions and other forms to be signed.
His tent was otherwise dark as was his mood. For the time being, he had no desire to see the four poster bed with its down comforter, the ornate dresser filled with fine garments or the plush velvet armchairs in the sitting area.
He looked up at his men. They were wise and experienced men who’d seen clashes between the kingdoms before. They’d seen minor skirmishes and major battles. They’d confronted vicious enemies and had seen many victories but had also known a few losses.
But the last years of peace had softened them and left them somewhat unprepared for the unexpected turn in this war.
Kingsley looked at them seeking solutions. He didn’t like the way this particular war was playing out. There were devious tricks and dangerous illusions at play, but the blank faces of these wise men to
ld him that they were all at a loss.
He turned to his strategist. With a few white hairs still clinging to his age spotted head, and his faded blue eyes, the old man still had a keen sense of everything that was going on around him.
“Sir Edgar,” Kingsley said softly, tiredly as he sought the advice of the oldest and wisest man of his kingdom. “Please tell me that you have a way out of this.”
“Prince Kingsley,” Edgar said in a gravelly voice. “I wish I could. This is an unfortunate turn of events that no one saw coming. With the Dark Fae Wizard glamoured as one of our own, as one of our soldiers…” Shaking his head, he glanced down at the large desk and tapped his heavy knuckles against the hard wood before returning his gaze to Kingsley. “It’s difficult for us to control anything right now. There’s uncertainty everywhere. We’ve tried to weed the Dark Fae out. We’ve interviewed countless young men to no avail. The Dark Fae Wizard is in our midst and there’s little we can do about it.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Kingsley said. Scratching his head, he stood and paced behind his desk.
“That makes it difficult to deal with the queen,” a subordinate said.
Kingsley nodded. “I can’t blame the queen for coming after us after what the Wizard did, but it still leaves us with too few options.”
“We’ll continue our search for him,” Edgar said with firm determination. “He’s bound to make a mistake and reveal his true identity soon enough.”
Again, Kingsley nodded, but he wasn’t convinced.
A commotion at the entrance to his tent disrupted the meeting.
“What’s going on?” Kingsley called out into the darkness, annoyed by the interruption.
“We’ve caught an intruder,” a young guard said.
“Then deal with him,” Kingsley shouted. “Don’t bother me with such trivialities.”
“I think you’ll want to see this one,” the other guard said.
“I have other things on my mind,” Kingsley shouted as he walked around his desk to confront the two young guards.
The guards entered the large tent until they stood beneath the light.
Kingsley looked at their captive and gasped as he took a step back. “Harley?”
Her pants were torn, her hair disheveled and her face smeared with dirt, but it was definitely her.
“Harley, what are you doing here? How’d you get here?”
Before she could utter a word, Kingsley turned to his men. “Out!” he ordered, desperate to be alone with her. “Everybody out.”
“But, sir,” one of the captains said. “We really need to…”
“I said out!”
The room cleared, leaving Kingsley staring at Harley in disbelief. His heart did a series of somersaults and his hands were instantly damp and sweaty.
“I’m baffled,” he finally said.
Biting the corner of her lip, Harley looked around. “You’re certainly living the high life up here while your soldiers are dropping like flies.”
Dumbfounded, he looked at her. “What are you talking about?”
“Your tent,” Harley clarified. “Look at this place. A full-sized bed, three throw rugs, tons of silky cushions. And what is that I smell? Scented soap? Ah, yes. Wouldn’t want to be out on the battlefield smelling like a common infantryman now, would you?”
His bewilderment deepened. He’d not seen her in days and all she wanted to talk about was the lavishness of his tent? It made no sense.
“You certainly aren’t prepared to sacrifice much for your kingdom, are you?” she went on.
He shook his head and cocked a confused brow as he approached her. “I haven’t seen you for far too long and I’ve been worried sick about you. I’d heard you’d been captured, then heard you were missing, then… Nothing. No one knew anything about your whereabouts. No one knew whether you were alive or dead. And you now stand here and want to comment and criticize my military tent?”
“Not the tent. You, Kingsley.” she said.
He couldn’t help but notice the hateful tone she had in speaking his name, as if it disgusted her to do so.
“What kind of general lives so lavishly while his soldiers struggle to stay warm and aptly fed?”
Caught off guard by her words and attitude, he stepped back again. He barely recognized the woman he loved so much.
“First of all,” he said. “This is the tent, lavish and all, that the army chooses to offer me. Secondly, my soldiers do not struggle to stay warm and well fed. Believe me. They are very well taken care of.”
She shrugged and looked away.
“Harley,” he said, finally taking a step closer to her. “I don’t want to waste time talking about my tent or that of my soldiers. I want to be with you.” He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her lips. He hungered for her like never before and was overwrought with emotion. The past days had been torture. Not knowing whether she was alive or dead had left him with little appetite and difficulty sleeping.
“I’d feared the worse,” he said quietly. “When the Dark Fae Wizard… I just… I couldn’t imagine. I didn’t even want to consider the possibility that something awful had happened to you. It was too heartbreaking. But then I had to face that reality. I wanted to stop everything and go find you. I heard that Red and Zed had found you, and while I would have preferred to find you myself, I was nonetheless relieved to know that you were all right. And then you disappeared again. In addition to all that, the Queen of Spring, your mother, came to battle with the Kingdom of Sea. It’s all so horrible, Harley. The Dark Fae Wizard has glamoured himself into one of my soldiers. Do you know what that means?”
Harley stared silently at him.
“Your mother came with the intent of destroying my army, but, out of respect for her and you, I had to hold back from destroying her army. I know the truth. I know what’s really going on. I just don’t know how to deal with it all. I can’t just sit back and allow her to kill all my men and women out on the frontline.”
Shaking his head, he smiled tenderly and came closer to her. “But all of that is unimportant right now. The important thing is that I have you, right here.” He pulled her tightly to him. “In my arms, where you belong.”
He kissed her cheek, her ear and down her neck then up to her chin until he finally took her mouth. His tender kisses intensified as his hunger for her grew.
But as he continued to kiss her, he realized that she was as stiff as a board. Her lips remained tightly pressed together and she did not reach out to hold him.
“What’s wrong?” he said gently, pressing his forehead to hers. He reached for her arms, to urge her to wrap her arms around him, then realized… “Oh, my. They’ve tied you up.”
She pressed a dry grin and waited as he untied her hands. But still, she did not rush to put her arms around him.
Confused, his eyes filled with tears of happiness and questions as he looked at her. “Please, tell me what’s wrong? Why are you so distant?”
“I’m distant, Prince Kingsley, because you’ve taken it upon yourself to lay your hands on me. You’ve taken it upon yourself to place your lips on mine.”
“But, Harley…”
Her eyes narrowed as she glared coldly at him. “I’m here to retrieve Prince Harris of Spring.”
“Huh?” he said, backing away.
“If you have him, I suggest we negotiate his release at this very moment. I’m willing to sit down with you now to negotiate on the behalf of the Kingdom of Spring.”
“Harley,” Kingsley said with a stunned shake of his head. “What are you talking about? Why would I have Harris?”
“I don’t want to argue with you as to why. The important thing is that I find my brother and bring him back to the Kingdom of Spring. Now, do you have him or not?”
“No. I don’t,” Kingsley said. “But, Harley. Damn it. What’s going on? Aren’t you happy to see me? Did you really come all the way out here just to look for your brother?”
“My brother is my blood, my family. I would do anything for him.” She glared up at Kingsley. “And can you really think of any other reason why I would cross enemy lines?”
“Enemy lines?” Kingsley said. “We’re not enemies.”