by Cate, Marnie
“I'm sorry,” she said, bowing her head and scurrying off.
“Come away from the door,” Kai said in a whisper.
“I need to go to him,” I said. “I need to bring him to his senses.”
“Mara, you can't go in there now. He is too angry. He won't hear you,” Kai said.
“I can calm him,” I insisted. Doubt filled my mind as I watched him interacting with the Vetur.
It is too late. We have lost Cole to the darkness. You are going to give up that easy? No. You can reach him. Go to him.
“I will convince him that you will submit to Snowystra. I can make him believe me,” I said.
Make him believe? How was I going to make him…?
Taking the vine from Kai, I began to bind his wrists. “I am going to bring all of you to Cole. This will show him how strong my power was to defeat his men…and how serious I am by bringing you as an offering.”
“Or leave now and forget him,” Cerin said.
“The love I have for Cole is stronger than any magic,” I insisted. “Why are you willingly to help me now?”
“I have nothing left to lose. You might be the answer I was hoping for,” he said. “Do not say I didn't warn you when your plan fails. You are playing again with dark magic you don't understand.”
Returning to the hall with the men bound behind me, the woman that Cole had struck rushed past me with a drink in her hand. I grabbed her wrist stopping her. “Give that to me and go.”
Seeing the anger in my eyes, she nodded and went to a dark corner of the room. Pushing back my shoulders and putting on a confident but dark smile, I walked slowly towards Cole. When Cole's icy eyes met mine, a frown formed on his face.
“If it isn't the great Marina Stone,” he said. Looking down at me, he nodded at Kai, behind me. “And she has brought her boyfriend with her. I see you quickly found another to replace me. I guess you needed someone to be at your beck and call with me gone? How lucky for him to be the strong man to pick up the shattered little girl that lost her grandmother?”
Taking the vines that bound the men, I ignored his cruel words. I climbed the stairs, holding out the drink to him. Counting the steps to him, I tried to keep my hard demeanor. When I left the thirteen step, I found myself standing on the platform face to face with Cole.
“Cole, I have come all of this way to be with you and this is the greeting you give me,” I said. “How disappointing. I have even brought gifts.”
I tugged hard on the vines pulling Kai, Dunn and Cerin forward, causing them to stumble at the bottom of the stairs. “Kneel before him,” I commanded.
“You brought me your Fire Elemental?” he said with a look of doubt. “You think I am naïve enough to believe this? You would never cross Danu. No. Poor, poor Marina, abandoned by mommy and daddy. Always so weak and fragile. You are not strong enough to do anything like that.”
The crowd around him snickered. Taking a slow breath, not wanting to show my anger, I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I brought him to you to prove that I won't let anyone stand in the way of our happiness,” I said, touching his hand. “All of it means nothing to me without you. It is you that matters…only you that ever mattered. Snowystra said she wanted me to join her court but it seems that she will have to make a decision since you don't seem to want me anymore.”
Walking around the throne, trailing my nails slowly along the cold metal, I inspected the area. As I walked along, I patted the Vetur on the head. “Yes, they would follow me. With her magic and mine, I would be unstoppable,” I said.
As I made the full circle, I stopped in front of Cole, cocking my head to the side. “Too bad, you seem to be done with me. We could have had everything together. You need to make a choice now. Will you leave willingly before Snowystra returns or will I have to have you removed?” I asked.
When he did not respond, I said, “Your choice. I will have to remove you from your throne myself.” Snapping my fingers, I called a ball of fire and prepared to throw it at him.
With a cold laugh, Cole took the drink from my hand and gulped it down. “Extinguish the fire. You know you don't want to use that on me.”
Grabbing me around the waist and pulling me to him, he picked me up and began to kiss me hard. The fire I was holding smoked and fizzled away. Fighting my thoughts of pushing him away, instead I kissed him back. His lips felt rough and the feeling of love I had always felt when he kissed me was gone. This was him claiming me.
“Aren't you bold? You have come to your senses,” he praised. Directing his attention to the Vetur, he cried, “When our Goddess returns, together we will lead you.”
Chapter 32
Cheers from the crowd, echoed in the tomblike room. Cole set me down on the seat next to him. I was now in the middle of women that were looking at me with such fear. As they moved away from me, he leaned over me and smiled. Cole was so close that I could see the dark circles around his frost blue eyes.
“We will reign here under the guidance of our Goddess. Snow will give us everything we want. She will give us our heart's desire,” he said, in a low ominous voice.
One of the women pushed between Cole and me. “I was here first,” she said, shoving me away from him. “You are Ceithre. You have no claim to the throne beside him.”
Pointing my finger blazing with fire at her, I glared and poked her hard, burning a small hole in her dress. “You will not talk to me unless I address you. You are done with him. Any grand ideas you had to be his queen were ridiculous,” I said. “He is mine. Playtime is over.”
Moving away from me, the woman glared and looked to the others. None of them were brave enough to try again to be close to Cole. Instead, they nervously watched on as the first woman regained her courage to confront me.
“Don't, Dima,” one of the woman whispered to the intruder. “You will just anger him.”
Dismissing the woman, Dima said to me, “You don't get to choose.” Pointing at Cole, she snarled. “He decides who stays or who goes. You are not one of us. You do not rule here.”
Standing before me, she filled her hands with her own magic. The green liquid she held bubbled and popped and I could feel its electricity. Calling a large gust of air, I sent her flying off the stone platform and landing hard onto the steps.
“He has chosen,” I said. “You can choose to live and get out of my sight. Or, you can be stupid and try to get in my way.”
Not backing down, she stood up to face me again. This time I threw another gust of strong wind at her followed by small sparks of fire and water. The wind pushed her back as the embers landed on her skin. The water had made the floor slippery and she struggled to keep her footing. She screamed in pain. Frantically patting out the flames, she fell to the ground cowering.
Laughing at my violent outburst, Cole pulled me to him. Turning and glaring at Kai, he said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “You are right. I did choose you. Now you need to prove that you are choosing me and get rid of them.”
“Master,” Dunn said, stepping forward and bowing. “If you allow the binds to be removed, it would be my honor to remove this insult to our Goddess from your presence to allow you to focus on what is important.”
Looking him up and down, Cole relented. “Fine. Take them to the pit. The dorcha will be awakening soon and the fresh meat will please them.”
“As you wish,” he said, motioning to a guard to remove the bind.
Holding his now free hand out to me, Dunn said, “Mistress, you dropped this.”
Dropping the snake ring into my hand, he said, “I will take care of this problem immediately. I hope this will win your favor and forgiveness for my failure.”
With those words, Dunn turned to Kai and punched him in the face. Kai fell to the ground and Dunn began to kick and punch him. Cole watched with a sly smile on his face as Dunn continued his attack. Cerin became tangled in the vine that he was still bound to and fell to the ground as Dunn continued to beat Kai. Fighting
back my urge to stop the fighting, I made my face appear stone cold. I thought of Blanche Drygen and the unfeeling aura she emitted. I even forced myself to smirk at each punch, slap and kick as Kai cried out in pain. The violence pleased the Vetur and they cheered as they watched on. Focusing my emotions on the fact that I needed Cole to think that I didn't care about Kai, I laughed with the crowd and even threw small fireballs at the fighting men.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Cole was very pleased by my reaction. After watching the brutal beating for what was probably less than three minutes, I longed to look away. Yawning, I held my hand out in front of me. I inspected my nails as if I was extremely bored with the show below us. Suddenly, an idea came to my mind and I decided to take a risk and push Cole to end this.
Tugging Cole's hand until he sat down, I climbed onto his lap. As he watched the violence below, I began running my fingers through his hair, kissing his neck. As I did this, a few of the bolder women moved forward and began to run their hands over Cole, trailing sparks of their magic. Glaring at them, they shrunk away.
“This is boring,” I whispered in his ear, fighting my urge to call a strong wind and send the still hovering women flying off the stone like I had just sent Dima. “Make them all go away and we can make up for lost time. If we were alone, I could show you how much I have missed you.”
Kissing him hard on the mouth and even daring to pull his hair, he groaned in pleasure at my forcefulness. My calculated risk paid off. Cole stood up knocking me off him and cried, “Stop! Enough. Take them away. Out of my sight.”
Dunn stopped his attack and forced them to their feet. All of the men now had blood running down their swollen faces.
Facing my back to Cole, I hid my feelings of disgust and worry. Kai and Cerin were led were led away.
“What about them?” I said coldly, eyeing the women around us. “I want them gone, too.”
As the women fearfully stared at me, he stood up and said, “Join your brothers and sisters below. I want you all to be here for my announcement. Bring the box to me.”
Quickly running down the stairs, the women joined the Vetur surrounding us. The ones that had been hiding in the shadows slowly crept out to join the others. Standing on the edge of the stone, Cole stood before the crowd. Three guards surrounded one small woman carrying a small box. The crowd parted for them. The item she was holding was so tiny it seemed excessive to need three, large men to guard it.
Climbing the step, the woman stopped in front of us. Her silver and black hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her eyes glowed a pure white. “The choice you are making could destroy you,” she said ominously, as she held the black box out to him.
Glaring at her, he took the box, “Do you question the decisions of Snowystra? You question the Mother of Winter, guardian of loss?”
Repeating her warning, she cried, “The choice you are making could destroy you.”
“Send the Crone away,” he said, taking the lid off the box.
One of the guards picked the woman up and carried her down the stairs as she screamed. The Vetur looked at her in fear.
Reaching into the box, he pulled out a silver band with a large red jewel on it. Inside the jewel small bubbles danced around. Holding the ring to me, he said, “Does this ring please you? If not, I will get you a larger stone or a different color. Whatever you want. Tell me your wishes.”
Looking at it, I said, “It is nice but the ring I will wear for eternity should show the world how much you love and adore me. This ring does not.”
Once again, he reached into the box and he pulled out another ring. This one took my breath away. The stone was a solid red color. The diamond was beautiful but it was the silver band that gave me joy. On each side of the square cut diamond, there were small-encrusted diamonds forming the infinity symbol. This small symbol was the same as the one that was engraved on the small ring Cole had given me when he asked me to marry him.
“You didn't think I would give you that tacky piece of glass did you?” he said, slipping the ring onto my finger. “This is the ring I had always wanted to put on your finger. Marina, will you marry me and commit your life to the Vetur?”
Looking into his eyes, I searched for any sign that Cole was in there. “I will marry, Cole Oliver Sands—the boy I grew up with, the boy that was my protector, the boy I have always loved and I will stand by his side.”
For the briefest of moments, Cole's eyes flickered from the icy blue to a bright blue and he gently kissed me. This kiss was from the Cole I knew. It was not demanding and it did not feel as if I was being claimed.
Calling to the crowd, Cole said, “She has accepted my proposal. We will prepare for the wedding and you will all soon reap the benefits of our magnificent union. In the name of our Goddess, Snowystra, I present Marina to you as the future Vizier—the queen of the Vetur. Your time in the shadows will soon come to an end.”
Murmurs of excitement filled the room. As I looked at the dark eyes of my future subjects, I felt their hope. Feeling guilty that I was lying to them, I stepped back into the shadows.
“Planning a wedding of this size is impossible,” I said to Cole. “I do not even have a dress to wear.”
“All of that will be taken care of,” he said, as he took my hand. “Come sit and greet your subjects. I do not think you understand how powerful you will be. Soon you will find out.”
Sitting next to me, Cole handed a glass of a red liquid to me. Shaking my head, I said, “No, I am not thirsty.”
Putting the cold liquid to my lips, he said, “Drink.”
“What is—” I said. Before I finished asking the question, he poured a small amount of the thick liquid into my mouth. The liquid seemed to solidify as if I had just swallowed sticks of ice. My body felt like I had been dunked into a tank of icy water. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself trying to warm up. In response, I felt the magic inside me begin to push back. It felt like a ray of sunshine was inside me pushing against the cold.
Again, Cole put the glass to my mouth, he said, “Drink this and you will feel warm soon.” As I pulled away, he said, “As I thought, all of this is a game to you. You are not here for me…for her. You have no intention of being loyal to Snowystra or the Vetur.”
“No, that is not true,” I said, yanking the glass out of his hand. “If you would have asked me to drink it, I would have. Instead you chose to force me.”
Putting the glass to my lips, I slowly began to drink the vile liquid. My magic once again fought against the cold invading me and I willed it to pull back. Imagining Earth creating a shell of protection around the Water, Fire and Air running through me, I slowly began to feel the magic retreat and I was consumed by the snowstorm going on inside me.
A sharp pain began to radiate in my chest. Not now, I thought. Slowly breathing, I focused my eyes onto Cole. I was not going to allow myself to slip into the darkness. Not here…not now.
Essie, please tell me you are all okay, I pleaded in my mind. Tell Kai and my father that I am sorry for what happened. I am to marry Cole here. If I do not come home soon, please find a way to bind my magic. I am worried I am going to end up like my mother.
Handing me another glass, Cole insisted, “Drink more and you will no longer feel the cold.
“At least tell me what this is,” I said, my voice beginning to slur.
“It will strengthen you. Soon, you will have much stronger magic inside you,” Cole said, taking the empty glass from me. “Tell me what you desire and it will be yours.”
My eyes began to feel heavy. “I want to sleep,” I said, closing my eyes. Leaning back on the throne, I fought to keep my eyes open. The pain in my chest returned and filled me. Clutching my chest, I screamed, as the world around began spinning.
Cole's hands tightly gripped my shoulders and he began shaking me.
“Did you bring me the wrong drink,” he screamed. “If you have killed her, you will all pay.”
Whispering in my ear,
he said, “Do not leave me. I need you.”
The words of the Cole I loved were the last thing I heard before I slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter 33
I awoke in a pure white room. There was no one here. No sound. No smells. A complete room of isolation. Surveying the room, I looked for any exits. There was just silence.
“You are playing a dangerous game,” a male voice said. “My daughter is the result of a mother full of so much pain and sorrow. She can be contained but not eliminated. What do you think you will do playing with darkness? Do you think you can really resist the temptations? Do you think you can withstand her cruelty?”
“Alaunius?” I questioned.
“Yes, child,” he said. “You paid attention to my beloved's story I see.”
Noticing for the first time since I awoke that I was dressed in a white shapeless gown and my feet were bare. Touching my hair, I felt it was twisted into a tight bun.
“Am I dead?” I asked. “If not, where am I?”
“You will be faced with a decision. Your choice will affect more than just you.”
The room filled with a black smoke and I found myself unable to take a breath. Hands came from the darkness grabbing and pulling me.
“Help us,” the voices cried.
Something began to slither along my leg and up my body. I fought against it as it continued up my body. Wrapping it around my neck, it began to tighten, choking me. The harder I struggled, the tighter it twisted.
As I gripped harder at the constriction, it began to move, allowing me to take in air. I found myself staring into the red, glowing eyes of a snake.
Hissing, it said, “You will not be able to save them…if you don't save yourself.”
Chapter 34
“She is breathing,” a woman said. “Send for him. Tell him that she is waking.”
Opening my eyes, I found myself propped up in a large bed covered with a silver and black blanket and dozens of pillows. A long dresser covered with trinkets, gems and jewels was next to a window covered by a heavy dark red curtain. From the ceiling, long icicles hung down emitting a soft glow.