by CY Jones
“Hello beautiful. What are you thinking about so hard in here?” He asks in greeting, and sits down on the bed beside me.
“I thought you can just read my thoughts?” I question, raising my brow.
“I can, but I would rather you tell me,” he answers, shrugging.
“You didn’t feel that way when I first met you,” I point out, thinking about how he was constantly in my head the first day I got here.
Giving me one of his cheeky looks, he turns his charming smile on me, and I’m putty in his hands. Chaos is the very definition of prince charming. “Fine,” I huff. “I was thinking about my grandmother and her being married to her brother,” I answer, making a face. “My father is literally a product of incest.”
"You’re thinking with a human brain. Shit like that is common around here. I even know a pair of soul bound mates that are first cousins,” he explains.
“Still, that’s not for me, not like I have any family left besides Cali and my psycho cousin,” I tell him, laying back on the bed. I’m in nothing but one of Tristan t-shirts. I miss him dearly and wanted his scent on me while he’s been away. Lucky for me, Chaos doesn’t seem to mind. He knows what Tristan means to me.
“Cali isn’t your blood, and I’m doubtful the Council or Queen Mab will be favorable of you if you got with Prince Avery,” he chuckles.
“I wish I knew my mother,” I say out of the blue. “I never even seen a picture of her. When I was younger I was ok with not knowing her, that my father was enough, but now I find myself thinking about a woman I know nothing about. A woman I want to avenge,” I tell him softly as I stare at the stars twinkling above. They look so real, and maybe with all the magic in this room they are.
“I never knew my mother either, but I do know what she looks like from portraits of her that my father gave me,” he confides.
“I’m sure she was beautiful.”
“She was. She had long dark hair the same shade as mines, and we shared the same facial features. Everyone who knew her always said she was kind. Maybe too delicate for the life of a royal.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. She had you, even with the threat over her head of what would happen. I’m sure she was stronger than anyone imagined,” I say, kissing him softly.
Moving his hands under my shirt, it doesn’t take long for him to deprive me of it and toss it onto the floor. For the rest of the night he doesn’t fuck me, but makes love to me, slowly marking my body as his, and taking my blood into his body, feeding off my life force. We become one, and when I drink from him, I feel a power like nothing before as he brings me to orgasmic bliss. I’m in love with Chaos, and I know he feels the same way. Drifting off in his arms, I think about my mother, and how life would have been if she was able to raise me with my father.
When I wake the next morning, Chaos is gone. His side of the bed is still warm, so I know he hasn’t been gone long. Stretching my sore muscles, I get out of bed and take a long shower. I try, and fail, not to think about the fight later on tonight. I know by now Hera has to have let Raven out her cell. Chaos was right when he said Raven will kill me no matter what the Council said. She would be stupid not to. I’m the only thing standing in her way between Kaiden and the crown, and she wants both badly enough to cause the Council’s ire. I don't know what to think. I love Kaiden, that will never change no matter how mad I am with him, but I can’t be with someone that sees wrong and does nothing about it. It goes against everything I am. The kind of person my father taught me to be. I would never sacrifice my morals for anything, especially a man, but I don’t want to die either. So tonight, I will fight Raven with everything I have. If I can’t wield my lightning powers so be it, but I will not fail. I will win even if I have to kill Raven to do so.
With that glum thought, I get dressed quickly in shorts and a tank top. Most of the nobles here like to dress formal all the time, and I, for one, am not jumping aboard that bandwagon. I’m not here to impress anyone. Especially some stuffy nobles who will not hesitate to put a dagger in my back. It makes me wonder who Tristan recruited to fight on my behalf and go against the False Queen. Besides the first night when he got sent to the dungeon, he hasn’t talked about it. I know he’s worried about others hearing, and with him being locked up, he won’t be able to protect me like he wants. Unlike Kaiden, Tristan is noble, and loyal to the point of insanity. Maybe Kaiden is too, except he chooses to be loyal to the wrong person.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Winter
Bored of being holed up in my room, I decide to take a walk around the palace. This time Orian is by my side so I won’t run into any nasty surprises like the last time. Thinking about Cardinal’s hands on me stills makes my skin crawl. Taking a left down the wing which I’m told is the residential hall where most of the nobility in the palace stay, I run into Willow. Just like at the ball, she’s breathtakingly beautiful, this time wearing a short sundress with patterns of flowers covering it. Her long strawberry blonde hair is down and free today, with vines and flowers woven through.
“Hey,” she says, happy to see me.
“Hey,” I answer back.
“Why are you out here all alone?” She asks, frowning.
“I’m not alone, I have Orian,” I answer, waving my hand over him like a showcase prize. Upon hearing his name, Orian looks up at Willow with curious, glowing, golden eyes. Shifting my eyes back on Willow, I’m glad to see she’s not afraid. Any other time, when I’m walking down the halls with one of my familiars, people go out their way to scoot past us in fear.
“Well, I’m surprised Kaiden or Chaos is not with you, especially today.”
“Kaiden can go jump off a cliff. Chaos well, I can’t say I wouldn’t mind his company,” I reply.
“I bet. That man is yummy,” she says, linking her arms through mine, and pulling us down the hall.
“Where are we going?” I ask, curious.
“To my room of course. There are too many unseen ears in the hall.”
“Ok,” I answer, dragging the word out. I didn’t see anyone, but I let her lead me away.
Willow’s bedroom is absolutely beautiful and unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s just like being out in nature, but indoors. Beautiful vines and flowers just like the ones in her hair trail along the whole room and into the beautiful wooden pieces of furniture. Above our heads, a giant chandelier made from ivory antlers hangs with sparkling fae lights. Moss carpets her floor, and a huge oak tree grows alive and well indoors with a hanging wooden swing attached by vines. Everything in her room is a living pieces of art.
“This is amazing,” I tell her, looking around.
“Thank you,” she blushes shyly while she leads us over to a medium size tree stump she uses as a table already set for a tea party of the likes that you would see at Hatter’s in Alice in Wonderland.
“Do you like tea?” Zephyrus asks from behind me, making me scream in fright, and Orian growls at my response.
“You might want to work on your senses if you plan on defeating Raven and living tonight,” he mocks. I don’t know what it is about him that makes me want to choke and kiss him all at the same time. Just like with my other mates, I feel a strong pull to him, but that’s utterly impossible since he’s Willow’s mate.
“Cat got your tongue, princess,” he says, sneering the princess part.
“Be nice Zephyrus. Winter is the only girl who has ever come to my room. I don’t want you chasing her away,” Willow chastises him.
Grumbling, the big brute sits at the table in a chair made from nothing but a bunch of wrapped vines woven together, amazing me by being able to hold his massive body weight.
“I didn’t hear you behind me, and yes, I do like tea,” I answer, taking my own seat.
“That’s because he poofed himself here,” Willow replies, passing me the tea pot.
“You mean like blinking himself around?” I ask curious.
Chuckling Winter says, “poof is just what I call it. Ze
phyrus has the power to blend in with the air and be the wind itself,” she explains.
“Wow, that’s amazing. Can all your brothers do that?” I ask.
“No, just me,” he answers dryly.
“His brothers have other powers,” Willow answer nicely. I don’t think the girl has a mean bone in her body.
“Wow, that’s something, Especially when I hear that’s rare,” I tell them, thinking about Tristan and his family.
“It is rare. That is why Queen Hera refuses to grant my marriage proposal to the brothers. She feels they’re all too strong to be wasted on my dying bloodline,” she says in a voice filled with melancholy .
“That’s bullshit. Aren’t you guys soulmates?” I shout.
At my outburst, Willow glances nervously over at Zephyrus who clenches his jaw in response. Finally Willow answers, “no, not all of them. Zephyrus isn’t my mate.”
“That’s…,” I say stopping myself, because I really didn’t have words to respond.
“That is one of the many reasons why we agreed to side with you when Tristan spoke with us. You can bring about a change. A fairness between our race. Queen Hera and the Council like to hoard everything for the chosen few. They feel like me having three soul bound mates is a waste since my powers are weak by their standards, so they will only agree to let me marry one of them.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Why do you even need permission to get married? Can’t you just go off and do it?” I question.
“Not unless we want to get Willow killed, which we don’t,” Zephyrus practically growls and I balk.
“It’s always been this way. Everyone who wishes to marry must first ask permission from the ruling monarch. If we would have went off and done it without permission, the Council would have sentenced me to die, and left them untouched because of their powerful bloodline,” Willow explains, and I shoot Zephyrus a dirty look. He acts like I want to get Willow killed. He can’t hate me over information I don’t know.
“Aren’t you worried that you’ll one day find your mate?” I ask him frowning. “What if you do marry Willow, and she appears one day? Marriage is a bond and bonds are forever, at least that’s how I’ve come to understand it.”
“I don’t want my mate. I care for Willow, and will lay down my life for her,” he answers tersely.
“Yeah, that’s nice and all, but do you love her?” I ask, raising my brow. I did not miss his wording, like he knows who his mate is, and with this pull I keep feeling towards him, I’m afraid that I may be the one, but I will never break up him and Willow. Not even if my heart and soul is demanding something different.
“I love her,” he says softly. “Just not,” he cuts off.
“Look, it’s none of my business,” I say, contradicting myself. “I personally don’t care who wants to marry who. This bloodline business is so archaic and stupid to me,” I reply, saving him from having to have to finish his sentence. I already have enough problems with the mates I am bound to. There's no room for any extra drama.
“Are you prepared for the Trials tonight?” Willow asks, changing the subject.
“As prepared as I’m going to get,” I answer nonchalantly.
“What the hell does that mean? You do know Raven plans on killing you tonight. That’s all she’s been talking about since she got released,” Zephyrus scowls.
“Awww, Zeph you almost sound like you care,” I tease, which only makes him scowl even more.
“He must like you. He never lets anyone shorten his name, or talk this much,” Willow whispers in my ear, which makes me smile. I like Willow, I’m sure we’ll be great friends.
“Chaos has been training me,” I tell them.
“What about Kaiden?” Willow inquires.
“What about him?”
“I thought he would train you too, since he wants to marry you so badly,” Willow elaborates. “I mean he is the reason why Raven is after you."
Rolling my eyes, I cup the warm tea cup in my hands and take a long sip. “I don’t want him to train me, or be anywhere near me for that matter. He’s not the person I thought he was,” I respond sadly, and the room grows silent.
“You have to be the first one with a working vagina to ever turn Kaiden down,” Willow says chuckling, in an effort to lighten the mood from my heavy thoughts.
“Yourself included?” I ask, raising my brow.
“I went through a phase when I was younger, but quickly got over it,” she quickens to say as Zephyrus growls low in his throat. “Do you think it will be enough? Everything that Chaos taught you, I mean,” Willow says softly.
“It has to be,” is all I say in response.
Besides the heavy topic of conversation on whether I’m going to die tonight or not, and the realization that Zephyrus might be my soulmate, I had fun hanging out with Willow. It was the most peaceful I’ve been since I got here. It was nice hanging out with another girl. I missed Cali dearly, and Willow is a great filler for that void. When I leave, I leave better than the way I came.
“Your room is in the other direction,” Zephyrus says, popping up beside me.
“I know that,” I answer, annoyed he followed me.
“Then why are you heading this way?”
“Why are you so nosy?” I counter instead of answering him.
Grabbing my arm, he pulls me into a secluded corner, and presses a button to some secret passage.
“What the hell?” I growl, surprised Orian didn’t attack him for grabbing me. The passage is narrow causing him to stand so close in front of me I can feel the air from his breath on my face.
"You’re on your way to the dungeons, am I correct? Probably to tell Tristan something you don’t want anyone else to hear.”
“Yes,” I frown, wondering how he knew.
“Well, this passage will get you to the dungeons undetected. It lets out on the same side Tristan is being kept. As long as you and your beast are careful and quiet, no one will know you even went down there.”
“Why are you helping me?”
Moving closer his lips briefly brushes mine. He smells like fresh air, and it fills my nostrils. “Because, I know what you are, and I know you know it to, but I can never be yours,” he answers before crushing his lips to mine. His kiss is brutal and demanding, like he’s taking out all his frustration of finding me on my mouth, and I allow him to. When I moan, he pushes his tongue in and soon it’s a battle for dominance, but as soon as it starts, he stops and abruptly moves away from me, leaving me staring wide eyed at him and breathing hard.
“Just follow the passage, you can’t get lost,” he says with a rough voice, before turning around and leaving the way we entered.
What the actual fuck? I can’t say I didn’t like that. In fact, I wanted to do more. Thank goodness he pulled back, because I damn sure didn’t have the strength to do the same. I don’t want to hurt the only friend I have here. He belongs to Willow, but someone seriously needs to tell my vag that. Following his instructions, I walk quietly through the passage, and just like he said, it opens up to a corridor near Tristan’s cell. Keeping a lookout for any guards, Orian and I step out into the light.
“Tristan,” I whisper, walking over to his cell.
“Winter, what the hell? Where did you come from?”
“Some special passage Zephyrus showed me,” I answer cupping his cheek through the bars.
“Look, I don’t have a lot of time,” I tell him as I extend my hearing out. I can hear the guards walking around, and I know it won’t be long before one comes to check up on Tristan. “I don’t trust Hera to honor our deal. Not knowing that you know where my dad is. She will do anything to make sure his whereabouts stay secret. Having me here is one thing, but my father is a whole other ball game.”
“She has to let me out. She’s bound in a deal.”
“Yes, but what’s to stop her from capturing you later?”
“She knows I’m your mate. She won’t kill me. Not if she doesn't want you and
Kaiden to both die, and besides the crown, Kaiden is the only thing she cares about.”
“She can do far worse than kill you, trust me, and before you ask what, just know that it’s horrible and I do not have time to explain. I need you to promise me that as soon as she lets you out, you’ll blink yourself to Skully’s ship.”
“Skully’s ship,” he parrots with questions burning in his eyes.
“Yes. When I leave here, I will send a couple of guards there to wait for you. As soon as you blink to Skully’s ship set sail to the island where my father is and bring him back here. I can’t let Hera get her hands on you. You mean everything to me. You were right. You are my weakness, and I’ll be damned if she hurts you to get to me.”
“What are you not telling me?” He asks. I can hear the pain in my voice and I know he doesn’t want to leave me.
“A lot, but please Tristan, promise me that you’ll do this for me, please,” I beg.
Pulling me closer, he kisses me with just as much passion as Zephyrus, but his is filled with so much love. “I’m your knight. I’ll always do as you command, sweetheart.”
“I love you,” I whisper against his lips. Pulling away, a tear escapes my eye, and he lightly brushes it away with his thumb. This is so hard. He’s not even gone yet, and my heart is breaking.
“We will be with each other again,” he says with so much conviction I start to feel slightly better about sending him away.
This is the right thing to do. I can feel it deep in my bones. We all have our separate missions. Our own journeys we need to take, whether we like where it takes us or not. Orian softly growls beside me, warning me, and I can hear the sound of rattling keys and footsteps headed this way.