Liam sat next to me and tucked a blanket tighter around me. “What is going through your head, Princess?”
“I’m dying, Liam.”
“No.”
“Yes,” I said with as much force as I could muster. “The priestess told me . . .”
He stiffened. “Told you what?”
Should I tell him? He deserved the truth. He needed to know it wasn’t his fault when I died. “She told me that she’d awakened magic inside me, but I needed to feed it the five elements of magic or it would die.” I held his gaze. “And I’ll die with it.
“Dammit, Elena . . .” he cursed, but he sounded more resigned than angry. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“What good would I have done? Nothing would be different. But I need you to know it’s not your fault. This is out of your control.”
He got to his feet. “That’s not true! I could have kept this from happening to you in the first place!”
“You saw what the priestess did to you,” I said. “She threw you across the room. She was determined to make this happen.”
He sat down next to me again and took my hand. “You’re so cold.” He placed it between both his hands and began to rub them over mine.
I could feel him, the thing that gave him life. It was taunting me, and I moaned.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked in a panic.
“No . . .”
“This helps?” But he asked me in a tone that suggested he wasn’t talking about warming up my hand.
I remained silent.
“Dammit, Ellie. Answer me,” he pleaded. When I didn’t say anything, he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
The thing in me became more alert, greedier. I needed him. I needed the thing inside him. I arched my back, lifting my lips up to press a kiss to his neck. I moaned again when I made contact.
“Does that help?” he asked, kissing his way down the side of my face and to my cheek.
I reached a hand to his face, trying to draw his mouth to mine.
He covered my hand with his own, pulling back enough to look into my eyes. “I need you to tell me. Tell me that you need this.”
The words began to slip out, but I gritted my teeth and held them back.
“No, Ellie,” he said, kissing my cheek, my nose, the corner of my mouth. “Don’t hold back. This helps, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. I need this.”
His lips covered mine, and I kissed him with a desperation that overwhelmed me. I lifted both hands to his hair and held him close as his tongue plundered my mouth. I clung to him, swept away with sensations as his hand caressed my neck and his mouth worked a magic of his own.
This was my first kiss, and it was so much more than I’d ever expected.
He lifted his face, his eyes dark with lust. “Is this what you need?”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “Yes.”
“Why do you cry, my love?”
My eyes widened at his term of endearment.
“Surely you know that I love you, Ellie,” he said quietly.
I shook my head, speechless.
“I’ve loved you since the day we were re-introduced to you as your guardsmen. We were fresh graduates, given the job of guarding the princess. While it was an honor, I wanted to guard the king.”
I couldn’t help my tiny smile.
He grinned. “But the minute I laid eyes on you at our vows ceremony, I knew this was the only job I’d ever want, because it was the only way I could ever be close to you.” He kissed me. “But I never dared to hope for this.”
“This is treason, Liam,” I whispered. “You could be killed for this.” I took a breath. “I could kill you. This thing in me wants what’s inside of you. What’s inside of all of you.”
His smile faded. “I know. I suspect we are the ones to save you.” He paused, then lightly caressed my cheek. “Do you trust me, Ellie?”
A shiver ran down my spine. “With my life.”
“Your mother was right. I think we were chosen for a purpose. We were sent to protect you and to save you.” Then he strode to the door and opened it, calling out to his men, “Come back in. We have much to discuss.”
9
My guardsmen gave me worried looks as they filed back in, brushing snow from their shoulders before they made their way to the fire.
“I know how to help Elena,” Liam said. “But I will tell you after we eat. You need clear heads to discuss it.”
To my surprise, none of them protested. I opened my mouth, about to say I wanted to know now, but he gave me a you said you trusted me look and dug a map out of his pack.
Dax finished cooking his stew, and it didn’t take long for him to ladle out his stew into bowls and cups they found in the cupboards.
Liam ate while looking over the map with Matthew, and he sporadically looked over at me, his gaze a mixture of concern and lust. If the other men noticed the latter, they kept to themselves. I was dying with curiosity about his solution, but I decided to show him that I really did trust him.
After we finished, Liam somehow got everyone’s attention without saying a word.
“First of all,” he said, pointing to the map in front of him, “we’re still three days away from the temple and the priestess, and this early winter storm is likely to make the journey take even longer.”
Panic washed through me.
“We can’t shave any time off that?” Dax asked. “What if we got fresh horses?”
“The horses aren’t necessarily the problem,” Finn said.
We all knew what the problem was. Or rather who.
“Elena nearly died today,” Matthew said. “This journey could take a week or more. Her safety comes first.”
“If she makes it a week,” Dax said, then turned to me with an apologetic look. “I say we stay here and try to figure this out ourselves. We’ve all heard bits and pieces of the legends.”
“I think I have a plan,” Liam said quietly. “First, it’s important you know that if Elena continues like this, she will die.”
The men began to protest, but I held up my hand. “Liam speaks half the truth.” That caught their attention. “The fact is that the thing inside me is dying. Whatever I did to set that bandit on fire hurt whatever’s living inside me. And when it dies, I will die with it.”
I expected them to protest that too, but they remained silent. Finally, Matthew said, “Then we won’t let it die.” He held my gaze.
“Believe what you will about the possibility of magic,” Liam said. “But there’s no denying that the priestess did something to Elena, and she did something to us as well.” He paused. “The legends say that magic will be reborn.”
“The mother of magic?” Finn said is disbelief. “You really believe that?”
“Honestly,” Liam said. “I’ve begun to believe a lot of things I never believed before. There’s no arguing that Elena has been affected. There’s no arguing that she is ill.”
“She looks better,” Tobias said. “Much better than when I pulled her from Matthew’s horse. Maybe all she needed was to get warm and get something to eat.”
Liam’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “That is what I wish to discuss.”
Liam was going to tell them about our kiss? My face flushed.
“No,” Finn said, looking like something had occurred to him. “She was better once we came back in, after you threw us out. What happened while we were outside?”
“What would you do to save, Elena?” Liam asked.
The four men stared at him in silence. I stared at him in horror.
“People believed that magic once existed. That the royal family—Elena’s family—was rich with it. Until the twin princes destroyed the kingdom.”
“It’s a myth!” Finn argued.
“Is it?” Liam asked calmly. “I studied the royal family tree. Six centuries ago, there were twin princes. And just like the legends say, the king—their father—was killed at the feast celebrating their eighteenth birth
day.”
“The king was going to announce his heir,” I said, suddenly remembering. “But one of his guardsmen killed him before he could make the announcement. No one knew which twin was the elder. Not even their mother.”
“That part is true,” Liam said. “I found the text in the royal library before we left the castle.”
“And the rest of the story?” I asked. “That both brothers started out loving one another, and suggested the other rule, but soon they were fighting and the kingdom became divided, brother versus brother in the castle and the kingdom.”
Liam nodded. “Within three years, the kingdom was destroyed and both brothers were dead. Their younger sister became the heiress of the kingdom.” He paused and looked around the room. “And magic died with the brothers.”
“You found that in the history books?” Tobias asked, sounding skeptical. “The part about magic?”
“Yes.”
“And was the dark mage in the history text too?” Dax asked.
“No, but there was a priest who exploited chaos for his own gain, then disappeared after he’d claimed he’d taken all he needed.” Liam paused. “He said he took the magic that was left in the world with him.”
“Then how is magic supposedly inside Elena?” Finn asked. “Don’t you see the contradiction?”
“That part wasn’t in the book,” Liam said. “That part is legend.”
“After the priest stole magic, a priestess vowed to save it,” Dax said. “She started a fire in the temple and created the stone arch to contain the barest hints of magic. Fragments of what was left in the world. She embedded it into the stone until the rightful heir of the Kingdom of Light appeared.”
“Elena has been to the temple many times before a few days ago,” Finn said. “Why now?”
Liam shrugged. “I don’t know. But the priestess in Medea might have the answer.”
Finn shook his head in disgust. “You really think the priestess of our village gave Elena magic?”
“No,” Dax said. “I think she ignited the magic dormant in Elena. She’s of the royal line. A line of powerful magic in the past. It makes sense her line would still carry magic. It’s just been blocked. The magic in the arch only brought it to life.”
Matthew finally spoke up. “Then why is she dying?”
“I don’t know,” Dax said. “That part doesn’t make sense.”
I gave Finn a sad smile. I hated to see how much he was struggling with this. “The priestess told me that some people are born with one element of magic and a few have two.” I paused. “The twin princes had all five. I think she thought I have all five too.”
“That still doesn’t explain why she’s dying,” Finn said.
Dax looked uncomfortable. “I’ve heard that in the past, kings married queens who were the opposite of their element. Their mate’s element strengthened their magic, and his hers.”
“So Elena needs to marry?” Tobias asked. “She needs to find her opposite element?”
“She doesn’t need to marry,” Liam said, refusing to look at any of us. “She only needs to mate.”
My eyes grew wide. What was he suggesting?
The other men swung their attention back to Dax for confirmation.
“If the legends are accurate, a mate with the opposite element would strengthen her,” Dax admitted reluctantly. “But only partially. Because she has more than one opposite. If the priestess is right, she has five.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment as that sunk in.
My humiliation was unbearable. “I refuse to listen to this.”
“Ignoring it won’t make it go away, Elena,” Liam said, staring into the fire.
“What you’re suggesting—”
“Is what you’ve been feeling since the temple. We’ve all just been afraid to put a name to it.” He turned to look at me. “The way you reacted after I sent everyone away only proves it.”
My face burned, and none of my guards would look at me.
“Then let me die,” I choked out.
Liam shook his head, his jaw clenched. “No. We’ve sworn to protect you with our lives.”
“And what if that’s what I need, Liam? What if I need to take your life?”
“Then we give it willingly.” He stood and moved in front of me. “But Elena, it won’t work that way. I think what she did made you aware of our own elements of magic.”
That caught my guards’ attention.
“What?” Tobias shouted.
Liam turned to face them. “The guards of the royal family once had their own magic. If Elena is the heiress of the Kingdom of Light, she’ll need guards with magic too. What if magic isn’t dead? What if it was just hidden? Waiting for the right ruler for its rebirth?”
My mouth gaped.
He turned back to face me. “You’re the mother of magic. You’re the key to unlocking the magic of the world. Starting with us.”
“You’re asking me to . . .” My voice choked.
“No.” He knelt in front of me and reached for my cheek. “How much better do you feel with just me touching you? This is what you need. And what we need too.”
But it wasn’t just his touch. It was his kisses. And it hadn’t been enough. Not even close.
He dropped his hand and turned to face the others. “Here’s what I propose. Every night, one of us sleeps next to Elena.”
I started to protest, but Liam held up his hand to stop me. “Skin to skin contact is what seems to help her the most, though touching her in general helps too. But let me make this clear—” He looked every one of his men in the eye. “Elena will remain a virgin until we see the priestess. Have I made this clear enough?”
His men looked shell-shocked, and I’m sure I did too.
I stood, letting the blankets drop to the floor. “I’ve heard enough. I’m going to bed.” I looked around. “Is there a room?”
Matthew moved around the table. “There’s a bedroom with a fireplace to keep you warm, Your Royal Highness.”
Part of me wanted to call him on resorting to the formal title, but I felt safety in his use of it. While I’d been acting on my impulses, I’d expected Liam to be the voice of reason, keeping me safe from them. Now he was tossing me into them. I needed time to think.
I nodded and followed Matthew through the door into a room already lit by a candle on the fireplace mantle. My bags were on the floor, and I was ashamed I’d never noticed that my guards had been in here.
Matthew knelt in front of the fireplace, which was already stacked with wood. He lit a handful of hay with the candle and added it to the stacked wood.
I heard the men’s voices in the other room, arguing over me. My guards never argued, not like this, not so vehemently.
“Elena,” Matthew said softly.
I turned to him with tears in my eyes. “This is my fault.”
“Shut the door.”
I shook my head. I deserved to hear what they were saying.
“Shut the door, Elena.”
Matthew’s tone carried a command I wasn’t used to hearing from him, and I was surprised when I found myself obeying.
I put my back to the closed doors. He knelt in front of the growing fire, watching me with dark eyes, and my skin combusted.
A wave of dizziness washed over me. Matthew was on his feet in seconds, surprisingly agile for a man of his size, but I held up my hand. “Stop. Don’t come near me.”
He shook his head. “I held you in my arms for hours, Elena.”
“But there were barriers . . . I was unwell.”
“You’re unwell now.” He took a step toward me.
I pressed my back closer to the door.
He took another step closer. “I think Liam speaks the truth.”
I swallowed, my throat dry while the thing in my chest leapt with joy. “You think you have magic?”
“Is it so unbelievable?”
Several days ago, I would have laughed at him. I wasn’t laughing now.
/> He took another step closer.
My breath caught in my chest, and I closed my eyes. I should tell him to leave, but I couldn’t make myself do it.
“Elena, you scared us today.”
He was closer now, and I could feel the life force inside him—and for the first time, I felt it reaching for mine as well. I shivered.
“You’re cold.” He pressed his body against mine, and I fisted my hands to keep from touching him. “Wait here. Dax discovered something that can help.” His hands landed on my shoulders, and he moved me to the side to open the door, then closed it behind him to muffle the men’s voices.
I sat on the bed and considered lying down, but I was still unsettled after Liam’s thoughts on how to help me. Was Liam really going to insist that someone sleep with me? Would it work? The magic in me danced at the thought.
The door opened and Matthew filled the doorway holding a metal tub. My mouth dropped open. “A bath?”
He set it near the now-roaring fire. “You’ve been riding for days, wearing the same clothes. We’re used to such things, but you aren’t. The hot water will warm you and help your sore muscles. Dax found a hot spring close to the woods, so we’ll have it filled in no time.”
The thought of a bath was heavenly.
Matthew grinned at my reaction. “Give us about ten minutes to fill the tub, and you can climb in.”
Matthew and Dax took turns filling the tub. When it was almost full, Finn appeared in the doorway with a folded cloth in his hand. The thing inside me knew he was coming before he appeared in the room. Just like I knew that Tobias and Liam weren’t in the living area since I couldn’t feel them anymore.
Finn gave me an apologetic look. “I found this. I thought you might like it. It smells good.” He held out his hand and held it out to me. A bar of soap.
I took it from him and stepped back, trying to keep several feet between us as I lifted the soap to my nose. “It smells like roses.”
I realized he had a stack of folded fabric, and he set it on the bed. “There’s a night shift we found in the other room. And a cloth to dry off with when you’re done.”
Heiress of Light: Magic Reborn (Reverse Harem) Page 11