Bastard! He had taken a hint out of Katryna’s book!
Katryna, realising her brother’s plan, leapt into action and took off as fast as she could. Her bare feet sped her through the sandy grass towards the rocks, faster than she had ever gone before as the creek water flowed to her side.
The rocks grew larger. She was closing in.
She had to win this title!
Katryna kept her eyes on the outcrop, not looking away for anything.
Her legs ached; her feet hurt. But she willed herself forward. I’m going to win!
Within seconds, she had reached it, taking a deep breath, and cheering for herself at her victory. Willem had not yet reached the end. Katryna spun around to boast in his face.
“Fastest in the kingdom, fastest in the kingdom,” Katryna sang, spinning around in circles.
Katryna looked at the creek, awaiting her brother with an eager smile of victory spread out across her sun-kissed face.
The water in the creek continued to flow rather speedily, but she could not see Willem anywhere.
Has he not surfaced? He’s probably under the water waiting to scare me!
Katryna scanned the surface of the clear water. Every ripple and wave of the flowing water was taken in and checked, but still, Willem did not appear.
Another ten seconds passed before Katryna began to worry. Where was he?
“Willem?” Katryna shouted. She looked around, at the rocks, behind the trees around her. There weren’t many places for him to hide, but still, she could not spot him. Where had he gone?
“Willem?! Where are you?”
Katryna began to panic. She did not know what to do.
Her brain became overloaded as she checked every conceivable spot for her brother. She dove into the water, checking underneath the surface to find him.
Her heartbeat from her chest. Her breathing accelerated.
Katryna searched upstream to where Willem had jumped into the water at the start of the race. She saw nothing amongst the rocks and reeds, still nothing under the water.
As she went back to check downstream, Katryna saw it.
A half-submerged form almost hidden against the creek bank in a patch of reeds.
Katryna raced through the water, feeling every drop dragging against her body, pulling her backwards as if trying to prevent her from getting to her brother.
No, no, no.
As she got closer, she saw Willem face down and lifeless, bobbing up and down. The water around him was bright red and cloudy.
Katryna reached him, turning her brother over to see two eyes wide open and motionless. On Willem’s forehead was a huge gash, so deep she could see the white of his skull.
Blood spewed out into her arms and spread into the water.
Willem was white, his skin cold.
Katryna shrieked. She shook her brother’s lifeless body, still holding him in her arms. He was so heavy.
“Help! Somebody, please!”
Katryna shook Willem again. His arms were limp. His pupils grew wide and dark.
She smacked her brother hard in the face, trying anything to wake him up.
Katryna’s world was spinning all around her. The sound of the rushing creek transformed into agonising screams. The summer colours around her faded into black and white. Her mind went completely blank as every muscle in her body seized.
She froze.
Somebody jumped into the water next to her.
And then another.
City guards. Katryna could tell from their familiar uniforms.
They pulled the body from her arms. Katryna stood still, totally immobilised, waist-deep in the creek.
Hands pulled her from the water.
What is happening? What did I do?
Within what seemed like seconds, or hours, Katryna was back at Castle Bower, being carried in the arms of a city guardsmen.
Beside her was another guard, carrying her brother’s corpse. His skin was white like moonlight. Katryna could not take her eyes off him. Her mouth was held firmly shut.
Everything was blurry and time seemed to be both standing still yet speeding up all around her at once.
Katryna’s mother and father, Giliam and Mira, raced towards them as they entered through the gatehouse.
Katryna’s chest ached, and she vomited all over herself.
She heard screams… No, those weren’t screams.
The wails that came from her mother’s mouth were unlike anything Katryna had ever heard.
It was a primal, inhuman howl.
How could a human be capable of producing such a sound?
It was the sound of agonising grief.
Willem was dropped at their feet. Still, he did not move. The blood from his head wound had stopped pumping.
Katryna’s mother was on her knees, screaming. Her father, like her, was completely frozen stiff.
Mira shrieked as she cradled her dead son.
The world around Katryna was completely drowned out as she closed her eyes, escaping everything and heading into the darkness.
Her mother screamed as she wept. “Katryna, what have you done?!”
Chapter 13 - Candlelight
Wesley Seynard stood on the balcony to his sleeping quarters, his only company the starry night sky. He was bare-skinned, besides the pants he had on from that evening. The cool western air was like knives on his bare chest.
Wesley rested his face in his hands against the stone balustrade with decorative pillars shaped like spears, reminiscent of his House’s sigil. His head was still spinning from all the wine he’d had earlier.
The view so high up over Andervale was quite spectacular. The city sat on a giant plateau, surrounded by farmlands. As a boy, Wesley remembered being told an old legend of a subterranean titan named Stenua, trapped beneath the earth by the Moon Mother as a punishment for provoking Rea and Ixo, Eos’ two moons, to fight and destroy each other.
Stenua tried to escape his underground imprisonment, leading to plateaus and mountains to form across the land as he punched the earth from below ground. Andervale was built on one such rise.
Growing up in Chateau Cardell and overlooking the magnificent city, while a blessing, was the norm for Wesley. He found it difficult to see the beauty as such.
Wesley’s quarters had a view of the Midsummer Gardens in the centre of town, with its tranquil ponds, tall palms, and rainbow plants, attended to by hundreds of gardeners each day. Like blood vessels from the heart, the gardens stretched out through the city in the median strips of the main thoroughfares.
Along the torch-lit city roads were horse-drawn carriages and carts, transporting food into the city for the celebrations the next day, from the fields and farms that stretched out as far as the eye could see to the north, east and west.
The people of Andervale had been rejoicing over the royal wedding. Despite the late hour, the city was alive with music, dancing, and wine. Market stalls lined every street and road. The celebrations would carry on for days, with the day after the wedding being host to the Uniting Tourney, the biggest festivity of all.
But Wesley thought not of the wedding celebrations, his spinning, wine-induced headache, or even the bitter cool against his fair skin.
All that he could focus on what he had just done with the child bride asleep in his bed. The situation had at first disgusted him, but he could not deny the gratification he had also received.
It made Wesley question everything he thought he knew. Something about having control over another gave him more pleasure than he’d ever experienced.
He thought back to the day his mother had died. Wesley had found her in her room, beaten beyond recognition and sputtering blood and spittle in moans of agony.
He had never confronted his father Tobius about it, despite suspecting that he was responsible. He had been a scared, naïve little boy, and in some ways still felt exactly the same as he once had.
He had sworn off violence on that day… yet the rush of takin
g Ciana on his wedding night had made him question his vow.
He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated, remembering Jodie. He could not help it. Whenever he tried moving forward with life, it always came back to her. Each passing day took him further away from the woman he loved. The woman he had always loved.
Jodie Blacktree.
Wesley was filled with remorse and a crippling pain. He wanted to cry but could not force the tears to come out. He wanted to scream but felt the air trapped in his throat.
He wanted to jump… but could not muster up the courage to do it.
Wesley looked up at the heavens above. In the sky was a strange, shining, red star, brighter than the rest. He could not help but postulate into its significance.
A message from the Moon Mother, perhaps? Red like blood, maybe a sign of the Bleeding he had performed with Ciana? He did not know.
Wesley put his hand into his pocket, remembering the piece of paper that Jodie Blacktree had slipped him earlier that night. He had not had the chance to look upon it yet.
He peered behind him through the balcony doors to make sure his new wife stayed sleeping. Ciana lay face down, unconscious beneath linens and blankets. She looked to be a deep sleeper.
Wesley pulled out Jodie’s note and unfolded it.
Come see me at midnight,
where we used to meet.
J.
Wesley was filled with spontaneous excitement. He re-read the softly written words. He and Jodie had not spent any time with each other since she was wed to Petir Blacktree… what did this mean?
What does she want? Another night, just her and I? Could this really be happening?
He was unsure of what to expect. His hopes of holding Jodie in his arms once again had faded with each passing day, but could this be the chance he had so longed for?
Wesley looked at the night sky and collections of stars. He spotted Egor’s Fang, a constellation in the shape of the dagger-like tooth of the sabrecat titan. If it was in the sky already, that only meant one thing.
Shit, it’s past midnight already.
Judging by the season and its position in the sky, Wesley could work out that it was already closer to dawn than it was to midnight.
Without thinking, Wesley climbed over the balcony’s stony balustrade, holding on tight with both hands. A fall from such a height would mean certain death for the prince.
“Just like old times,” Wesley muttered to himself, feeling the rush of adrenaline take hold.
He began climbing down, releasing his grip from the balustrade’s pillars, and grabbing a small handhold on the edge of the balcony. His legs dangled out over open air.
He wasn’t as strong as he used to be. It was a tough exercise. With his stomach beginning to churn, Wesley climbed underneath the balcony he had just been standing on, using the building’s rocky façade to cling on to.
His senses were still somewhat distorted, and everything was a bit of a blur. It made it difficult.
He steadily made his way down to the level beneath him before releasing his grip, jumping, and landing on another balcony some ten feet below his own with a thud.
He had made it.
Wesley got to his feet and took a deep breath in. It had been a long time since he had exerted himself in such a way.
The doors to the balcony opened and a hand grabbed his wrist, pulling him inside into a dark bedroom.
Jodie Blacktree closed the doors behind him and turned to look in his eyes with a smile spreading across her soft face.
The room Wesley had climbed down to was once used as sleeping quarters for guests but had not been utilised in many years. It was cold, dark, and damp, filled with dust-covered furniture and cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.
A single candle was lit.
“You’re late,” Jodie whispered.
“I know, I’m sorry.” Wesley did not want to explain why.
“I’m glad you came.”
Jodie held Wesley’s hand, caressing his fingers between her own.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been blessed with your presence, my lady. Each day I have longed for your touch, yours lips. I thank the Moon Mother all the time for blessing me with your existence.”
Jodie blushed nervously, stroking his hand. Her very presence was almost angelic. The entire world was blurry around her.
Her jet-black hair was tied perfectly, flowed down past her shoulders. She smelled sweet, like summer fruits and exerted a sort of prowess that Wesley had always been obsessed with.
Wesley felt his heart racing and his blood pumping, just like when he was young, when he and Jodie had first made love.
But in the back of his mind came a scream. He knew not if it was his father, his new wife…or his own intuition.
The screams begged him, no. Don’t do it. You risk too much, it is over. She is married, and you are married. You have responsibilities now.
His hand in hers, Wesley leant in to kiss Jodie’s neck. He could not stop himself. Her perfume was sweet, her hair was recently washed and tickled against his short beard.
“I…I…” Wesley was speechless as he put his hand through her soft hair and kissed her gently on the lips.
He felt Jodie’s small body melt in his arms, before tensing up and stopping him.
“I… I actually asked you down here so that we could talk.”
Wesley ignored her, leaning in again for another kiss. His body felt out of his control.
Jodie pushed him back. “I mean it, Wesley.”
“Alright.” Wesley took a step back with crossed arms, awkwardly trying to hide his arousal. “What did you want to talk about?”
Jodie took a moment to compile herself and organise her thoughts. Wesley took in every ounce of her beauty. She was like a living statue, carved from the finest stone and chiselled into a timeless masterpiece.
She was blunt. “I don’t think we should be doing this anymore, Wes. This is not right.” Jodie looked down in despair.
“Then why does it feel so right?” Wesley asked. He took her again. The pair kissed, more passionately this time. He stroked her figure.
Jodie’s back arched as Wesley felt the inclines of her petite body. Her lips tasted of strawberries.
“All my life, I have loved no other,” Wesley spoke into her ear. “I have wanted no other, I have been with no other. When I am with you, everything in the world disappears around me.”
Jodie bit her lip. “I have never wanted anything more, Wes. You know that. But we risk so much. If Petir found out-”
“He will not find out, no one knows about us.”
“And if he does find out?”
“He won’t.”
“But what if he does?” Jodie stepped back from Wesley as she spoke. “I am to be next queen of Ashen. You will be the king of Caldaea, after your father. We are both married, and now we are siblings-by-law. We have a duty to our families and our kingdoms now. We are not young anymore, Wes.”
The words hit hard, nearly taking his breath away. Wesley heard the screaming voices from within once again. He could see in her eyes that she meant what she said. Maybe she is right.
“Even if duty means being unhappy and unable to ever have what I truly want?” Wesley asked. He stared straight into her gorgeous eyes.
“Duty is not without sacrifices. It is the steps we take and the decisions we make in the name of our Houses which echo through the ages, which consolidate our power.”
“What book did you read that from?” Wesley said with a smirk.
“Wes, I’m serious. This is serious.”
“We have nothing to fear, Jodie. We can keep this secret, like we always have.”
Jodie shook her head. “House Blacktree and House Seynard have only just reached a peaceful resolution to the border conflict. Is it not foolish of us to continue an affair and risk a chance at reconciliation?”
Wesley thought about her argument. He knew she was right on some level, but he continued trying
to counter every reasonable argument in his head.
He’d say anything to avoid ending what they had.
Wesley attempted another smile to make Jodie feel at ease. “You overthink, my lady.”
“And you underthink, my lord,” Jodie rebutted. “I fear our luck will run out. We risk so much- if our families found out it would ruin us. There would be war! We must think of our people now.”
“Fuck the people, I want you,” Wesley said, pulling her in closer by the hips.
Jodie could not resist a smirk. “You have a quick tongue, Wesley Seynard.”
“Let me show you what I can do with this tongue,” he replied, kissing her ear.
Jodie let out a chuckle as she felt his warm mouth kissing her face but soon pushed him back once again. “I’m sure you will make your new wife very happy.”
Wesley stopped, and stared into Jodie’s eyes. “Please, Jodie. I cannot live without you. I will not live without you.”
“Give it time, and you will find a way. We have made it this long without each other.”
“Yes, but only because I knew I would eventually see you again.”
Jodie shook her head. Their emotions were beginning to rise. Wesley felt tears well up in his eyes.
“Why did you even ask me to come down here?”
“To tell you… that it’s over, Wesley. We cannot… I will not do this any longer. If Petir, or Creator-forbid, if King Emery found out about us…” Jodie shook her head. “Imagine the damage that would cause. We would smear our family names for decades to come.”
Wesley felt himself choke up. It was as though he could not breath in enough air. He felt his chest ache as his heart began to sting.
“You cannot be serious, Jodie.”
“I am.”
A tear ran down Wesley’s cheek. “Every time you used to visit from Stonebridge, I felt myself get put back together. And every time you left, I felt myself shatter once again. I waited for you. I always waited for you, every time, as we grew up. Even after your marriage to Petir. I awaited your return so that I could hold you once more.”
Starfall (The Fables of Chaos Book 1) Page 16