‘We need only keep him at bay,’ Lorsen yelled above the wind. But it was impossible, Leif was too fast. The group’s alarm was palpable as he flew beneath the huddle of men. Then, still dodging the arrows with ease, he clutched one of the eight by the ankle, separating him swiftly from the group. With his free hand he drew one of the gathered arrows from where he’d stored them in his back pocket and stabbed it hard into the man’s thigh. The man hollered in pain as Leif spun him through the air above his head, using him as a club to knock two of the remaining seven from their defensive positions. Then my prince flung the captured man to the wind.
Swiftly, before the two could regain their positions, Leif reached and snatched two more arrows from his pocket. Holding one in each hand, he plunged them simultaneously into the flesh of the two men he had dislodged from the group. One yelled as the arrow pierced his belly, the other tried in vain to remove an arrow buried deep in his thigh. But in moments both men had joined the first. I looked below and saw all three tumbling unconscious through the air.
The remaining five yelled instructions to each other as they stabbed desperately at Leif, arrows gripped in their hands, bows forgotten. But it was hopeless. Even as a group they were no match for my prince. One by one, they succumbed to the arrows Leif snatched from their own hands, only to be flung through the sky to sail as unconscious as rag dolls to the ground far below.
Leif was tiring but he was almost done, just one of the eight remained to prevent him from tackling the two holding me. He dealt with him as swiftly as he had the others, jabbing an arrow to the shoulder, before releasing the man to the sky. Then his attention was diverted.
My father approaches, Leif told me silently. I peered in the direction he was looking. A spot of light was visible in the distance. I was filled with fresh terror at the thought of facing his father. Still flying at high speed towards King Telophy, Leif gave his attention to the two men holding me between them.
‘Release her to me,’ he commanded, his voice a roar above the wind.
‘We take our orders from our king,’ Lorsen replied. But he slowed and I could feel his fear in the trembling of the hand that held me. Leif clenched his hand into a fist and answered the guard’s defiance with a blow to his face. Lorsen cried out and, in a reflex movement, released his grip from my arm. His hand flew to his mouth, where blood gushed from his nose and lips. Leif retrieved another arrow from his pocket and plunged it into the wounded man’s leg.
‘Go join your friends,’ Leif spat, as he watched Lorsen lose consciousness and fall to meet the earth. He turned his attention to the final guard, still now, save for his beating wings and shaking limbs. He held me tight around the waist. Leif peered at him, his eyes slits, and in a voice that could freeze lava said, ‘Well, Keelan?’
‘Apologies, my prince,’ the guard Keelan said, before handing me carefully to Leif. Both men hovered in the air, then Keelan bowed low and withdrew from us to wait for his king at a respectful distance.
Leif buried his face into my hair and held me to him in tired arms. ‘I have failed you, Marla. I am sorry.’
Trembling, I gripped his shoulders and said, ‘Leif we have to go, your father’s coming!’
‘He’s too close, Marla, practically here. I could never outfly him even if I were not holding you.’
I pressed my face into his neck and clung tight, like I could just disappear into him. ‘What will he do to me?’
‘He won’t hurt you,’ he soothed, holding me tight.
And that was all he had time to say, because King Telophy was upon us and looking directly at me. His eyes were the same dark brown as Leif’s, but where Leif’s were wide and warm and a constant reflection of his mood, his father’s were flat and gave nothing away. He was as tall as Leif, and handsome. The two shared the same dark hair and features, though unlike Leif, everything about King Telophy was sharp—his cheekbones and jaw, the line of his nose. In contrast, his mouth was wide and succulent—the kind of mouth you wanted to kiss—but cruel somehow. But perhaps that was because right now as he watched me, his lips were twisted into a sneer. I shivered. Leif’s father hated me—he absolutely despised me. The king shifted his attention from me to his son.
‘You did some damage to my guard, son.’
‘What else would you expect when you send your thugs after my betrothed?’ Leif’s arms tightened around me.
‘You know her identity,’ King Telophy said quietly. His voice held no emotion. He might have been commenting on the weather.
‘Marla is mine. The assembly will free her, and you will have to abide by their decision!’
‘Do keep in mind that same stipulation applies to you . . . In the meantime she will be held in Telophy—as your guest, if you like.’
‘Do I have a choice?’ Leif said, his voice bitter.
‘There is always a choice, my son. We can hold her in the cells until the assembly if you prefer.’
‘You call that a choice?’
His father ignored him. ‘Hand her to me—you are tired from your battle.’
‘No!’
King Telophy smiled and said, ‘Come then,’ before turning away.
Where is he taking us, Leif?
To Mount Kosciuszko.
A few minutes later we landed at the summit of the mountain. Leif put me on my feet but kept me curled in his arms.
I glanced back over my shoulder and noticed King Telophy standing silently, arms folded, watching. Keelan waited beside him. Leif said, ‘He’s telling me to take you to Faera now.’
‘Promise he won’t hurt me?’
‘I will never allow him to hurt you.’
‘Take me then, Leif.’
‘You must open your wings.’
‘I have to take my top off in front of your horrible father!’
‘Does it make any difference that it means nothing to him?’
‘No!’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Stop apologising.’ I pulled my top over my head and tucked it into my jeans, then I leaned into Leif and allowed him to unhook my bra so I could release my wings. ‘So how do I do this?’
‘It’s like shivering when you’re cold, or sneezing when your nose itches. Once the process is begun it will just flow. You need to release the sunlight stored within you. That is the catalyst, like the itch behind the sneeze, let it come out of you and then the sun will capture you.’
‘But I don’t know how to let the sun out of me.’
‘Envision yourself doing it. This is natural to you, Marla—it’s no different than making a sound in your throat and releasing it from your mouth as speech. Clear your mind and think only of the process and it will be done.’
‘It’s really that easy?’
‘You have been born with the ability to travel with the sun. Hold tight to me now, and think of nothing but giving yourself to the sun.’
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I pressed myself to him and emptied my mind of my worries. It was just the two of us together. I felt heat pouring from Leif’s body, and in a moment, the heat from mine joined it as I let myself become one with the sun. It was easy, instinctual. I love soaking up the rays and this experience was just the opposite of that, a release of the sun rather than the absorption of it.
My feet left the earth. I couldn’t exactly feel myself moving, but I knew that I was. I was embraced by a tube of hot light, so bright that even when I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face into Leif’s chest, the brightness penetrated my eyelids, turning the light a bright red. It was not painful, or even uncomfortable, but it was shocking and very disorientating. I was glad when my feet touched the ground again a few minutes later. I arrived—still clutching to Leif—in a large clearing, surrounded on all sides by tall, dense forest and a multitude of Fae guards. Unlike the ten who’d come for me, all had slight differences in their dress and weaponry.
‘Are you all right?’ Leif asked, as I took in my surroundings.
‘I feel weird.’
>
‘You’ll feel better in a moment.’
‘What is this place?’ I tightened my arms around Leif’s waist as I saw his father approach.
‘We are in the Kingdom of Constantine, Marla, the entry to your continent.’
‘Why are all the guards dressed differently?’ I asked.
‘They are all representatives of different kingdoms,’ Leif said, before shooting a scathing look in his father’s direction.
King Telophy joined us. He said, ‘I have had to send Keelan to clean up your mess.’ Leif remained silent and after a moment his father continued: ‘There is no need for your concern, however. My men will be well once the toxin has worn off.’
‘As if I could care,’ Leif sneered. ‘Did you really think they could overcome me with their poisoned arrows? You could have sent the lot. It would have made no difference.’
‘More of my guard? But that would have been wasteful my son. Your strength is growing, I recognise this, but my desired result has been achieved. You are back in Faera, are you not? And with the girl.’
‘Marla, her name is Marla!’ The look on Leif’s face was ferocious. I would have been scared had he not been mine.
‘Your protectiveness towards her is honourable, but it changes nothing.’
‘You’ll never take her!’ Leif spat.
‘Enough! Marla is to be our guest,’ King Telophy asserted impatiently. He looked towards the edge of the clearing and, raising his hand, beckoned for someone to come to him.
I recognised Leif’s mother immediately. She was even more stunning than I remembered. Her dark hair fell in long shiny curls down her back, contrasting beautifully with flawless ivory skin, pale green wings and sapphire eyes. Taller than me and curvier, she wore the kind of dress guys go mad over—short, filmy and lacking any kind of back at all. She went directly to Leif and he released me so he could embrace her. He held her for a moment, and then turning back to me, introduced us.
Atara smiled and leaning close kissed my cheek. ‘I am happy to meet you, Marla.’
‘You too,’ I murmured, arms folded tight across my chest.
‘This is all very touching, my love,’ the king told his wife. ‘But do not make the mistake of getting too attached. It will only give you pain later. Leave her now.’ With her head bowed in a timeless expression of submission, Atara released my hands and stepped away from me.
Leif snapped. I cringed in terror as he roared and lunged for his father, catching him by surprise. He slammed against the king, sending him hurtling across the clearing. Guards hurried out of the way and Atara cried out. Leif flew after his father, reaching him just as the king got back to his feet. Then he went for him again, slamming his fist into his father’s face, knocking it sideways. There was a crunching sound and blood gushed from his nose. Furious, the king lost all self-control, unleashing his awesome power.
Frozen with horror but unable to look away, I screamed as the king delivered a blow to Leif’s belly that bent him double and sent him crashing into the wall at the edge of the clearing, the rough surface tearing at his skin and leaving a trail of blood across the stone. Allowing him no time to recover, King Telophy caught his son by the ankle and took to the air with him. He spun him high above his head until Leif was nothing but a vague blur. Then his father threw him. I screamed as I watched Leif’s body hurtle through the air and pound against the broad trunk of a massive tree with a sickening thud, before falling motionless to the ground. I ran to him, all embarrassment gone. But in a heartbeat King Telophy was already there, flinging his son’s lifeless and broken body over his shoulder as though it was the carcass of an animal. Atara held me back.
The king turned to his wife. ‘Take the girl,’ he commanded, then he disappeared into a sunbeam with Leif.
Atara looked at me with tear-filled eyes. ‘Leif will be all right, Marla. But come, we must connect with the sun to travel to Telophy.’
She took my hands into hers, and I forced myself to relax as I knew I must if I wanted to see Leif again. I released my energy and let the sun have me. Engulfed again in the tube of hot light, I cast my mind to the place I most wanted to be.
Wherever Leif was.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Leif was barely conscious. He lay at his father’s feet at the bottom of the long white staircase leading up to the castle—broken and bruised. His father nudged him with his foot and Leif groaned with the pain. My heart tore and tears sprang into my eyes. I knelt beside him and lifted his head gently into my lap.
‘Come, Atara,’ the king said, as he turned and walked up the steps. Atara, her shoulders slumped, followed obediently. Halfway up the stairs, King Telophy hesitated, sparing me a glance over his shoulder. ‘Inform my son that I will expect you both in the dining room before sunset. And, Marla, be sure to clean him up. I will not have him at my table in that condition.’ Then he carried on before I had time to reply.
‘Leif,’ I whispered when we were alone. My tears fell on the dark purple bruise that covered most of one cheek. I wiped them away with my fingertips, careful to avoid the cuts and grazes, many of them still oozing, the blood mixing with the debris embedded in the wounds. ‘Leif, say something, please.’
He opened his eyes a fraction. ‘I’m sorry, Marla,’ he said, his voice thin and barely audible.
‘Leif, please, stop apologising—I can’t stand it!’
He closed his eyes again. I sat in silence for a long time, his head in my lap, stroking his hair and face and bending to kiss him now and then.
After what might have been an hour or two, he opened his eyes and looked at me. He seemed more alive, less pained.
‘Are you all right?’ I whispered.
‘I will be.’
I smiled, relieved to hear some strength had returned to his voice.
‘Wait, I’ll be back.’
He moaned softly as I lowered his head to the ground. I grabbed my T-shirt from where I’d tucked it into my jeans, then went to the lake nearby and dipped it into the water. I returned to him and lifting his head back into my lap, I wiped first his face and neck, then his shoulders and chest, dabbing gently to remove the blood and dirt from his wounds.
He sighed and closed his eyes while I worked. ‘Better?’ I asked, when his wounds were clean.
‘Much.’ He managed a smile.
‘Can you get up?’
‘I think I’ll just lie here a while longer.’
‘Your father’s horrible,’ I said, after a while.
‘Awful,’ he agreed.
‘Poor baby,’ I murmured, as I leant down to kiss his forehead again.
He raised one eyebrow. ‘Marla, really.’
‘Well, you are a poor baby.’
‘I think I can get up now.’ He tried to sit, groaned and lowered himself back down.
‘Wait a little while,’ I said. ‘Where are you hurting?’
‘A better question would be where am I not hurting?’
‘Where would that be?’
‘Hmm, this thumb feels fine.’ He held it up and wiggled. ‘Ow, maybe not.’
‘Oh, Leif!’
‘I’m joking.’ He smiled.
After more time passed, he tried to rise again.
‘Wait.’ I lifted his head gently from my lap and, jumping to my feet, held out my hands.
‘I feel like one giant bruise,’ he complained as he took my hands.
‘You look like one giant bruise.’
He leaned on me heavily as we walked up the stairs to the castle. His mother met us in the entry and whispered commiserations to her son as she kissed and stroked him. Then we went up to his bedroom.
‘Lay on your bed, Leif, I’ll run you a bath,’ I offered.
‘If I lay down, I’ll never get up again,’ he said.
‘Yes you will, I’ll help you. Now do as you’re told.’ I took his arm, led him to the bed and encouraged him down.
‘Marla, I’ve never seen this dominant side. It must be the human influence.’
‘I’m under stress.’ I plumped the pillows for him.
‘I had better do as I’m told then.’ He grinned and lay down on the bed.
‘How can you take this all so lightly?’
He held out his hand for me. When I took it he pulled me down beside him. ‘Because, my love, I heal quickly, I’m much better already. By tomorrow I will be back to normal, and in a few days the assembly will vote to free you. We have nothing to worry about.’ He reached behind my head, brought my face to his and kissed me slowly. In the meantime I can show you Faera. Now relax and go run that bath you promised me.
‘Now who’s being bossy?’ I said.
‘Please,’ he added.
I lit the sunstones that encircled the enormous bath—settling on romantic—before filling the tub and adding a dash of the contents from one of the ceramic jars that lined the shelf above. I had no idea what the liquid was, but when it met with the running water, it smelled divine. Bath full, I went to get Leif.
‘I think I can manage now,’ he said.
He did look much better, the cuts and bruises already fading, but I took his hand anyway. ‘Let me help you. You’re not well enough to be left alone. Besides, your father said I had to make sure you were cleaned up.’
He smiled. ‘You don’t fool me for a second you know.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, leading him to the bathroom. When we got there, I pushed him down onto the edge of the bath and undid his jeans.
‘Marla,’ he groaned.
I said nothing, just tugged at his jeans until he lifted himself so I could pull them down his thighs, kneeling before him to remove them completely. His legs were all purple bruises and I bent to kiss the largest of them, before reaching for his underwear.
He grabbed my wrist. ‘You’re so bold,’ he whispered.
‘Years of living with humans,’ I said. ‘Besides, Leif, you did say you were mine.’ He went to speak, but I covered his mouth with my fingers. ‘Shh, consider me your nurse. I won’t look. I promise I’ll be good.’
He allowed me to help him, but his face was full of conflicting emotions as he watched me. For a moment I thought he was going to reach for me, pull me to him. But of course the guilt won and in a flash he had turned and slipped into the bath. But not before I caught a glimpse of him. I made a little squeaking sound in my throat.
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