by Serena Nova
He moved again, twisting and kicking out over the floor. He moved onto his hands and jump up in one smooth movement; sand flew up with him. You wouldn’t have guessed that, a man like Flynn, with a body like Flynn’s, would move that smooth and fast. He was all muscle. Well-defined muscle, and that was only what I had seen through his shirt. Why was the man wearing a shirt? I shook my head. I needed to get back into training myself. So, I moved into the ring again and took a stance. I closed my eyes and brought out my magic. I wanted to try that, I wanted to see how it was to train with my magic, my excitement getting the better of me. I stuffed the warnings from Gran towards the back of my head.
It would be the first time I would use magic in training. The first time I had used magic in a fight was with the Ilunias. I wanted to know what I could do when I used it in training. Could I use mine almost how Flynn had used his? I wanted to dance with mine, too.
I started to move, swinging with my swords, blocking, cutting the air in front of me. I danced around, pulled at the earth, fire, water, and air around me. Made them dance with me, used them to speed up my movements, to make my swords deadlier and my kicks stronger. I used all of my magic this time. It was easy letting myself go around Flynn. I had started to trust him, his silent presence a comforting place for me. I noticed I could be me when I was with him easier than with the others.
I twirled around, my hair was loose, so it moved around with me. I kicked, stabbed, and sliced. I went from one position into another, jumped up high, and crouched down low. My breathing had started to pick up, just like my heartbeat had done. It was amazing, the feeling of being free, free to be who I was. My mind calmed down, while my muscles warmed up. I moved faster, became stronger, and my magic moved around me. I felt so much more: the fox at the edge of the training field, the Protectors that walked the walls, the people inside the castle. Most of them were asleep. I stopped suddenly. I had felt Flynn, his heartbeat. It was steady, not out of breath like mine. I stood still, my swords still in position, still in the air. My eyes were closed, and my breath came fast out of my mouth.
I relaxed my stance, all the while keeping my eyes closed. I wasn’t ready to look at Flynn. Not after knowing he had been watching me. I didn’t want to see the judgement that would be in his eyes. I may have started trusting him, but I couldn’t handle the hatred if he had figured out what I was or who I was.
The only thing I had wanted to do was to run away. Because if he knew what I was, he would tell the others, and I would be killed. Why in purple canary’s name had I used my magic? Why didn't I listen to Gran and keep it all a secret? That was it, it would be the moment someone found out. It would be the end of me. Panic surged through me, my breathing became shallow. I stepped backwards, my bare feet moving in the sand. My swords touched the ground, slicing through the grains. I could hear them move along my swords. I moved my other foot where I could feel the edge of the circle, the edge of my magic. I still kept my eyes closed, I didn’t want to see him, didn’t want to know.
“Are you running?” someone asked, it wasn’t Flynn. I recognized his voice. Averey.
A tear had slowly made its way down my face, I still had my eyes closed. He must have seen my magic, too.
“No, she isn’t,” Flynn said, his voice commanding, and I opened my eyes. I was outside the floating lights. Flynn stood in the middle of the circle, looked straight at me. His dark eyes were even darker then normal, his face showed nothing of what he had seen. It didn’t show if he knew what I was. His smouldering dark eyes were the only indication that he had seen something. I didn’t find out if he liked it or not, because his gaze had shifted to the person behind me.
“Averey,” he said in greeting. I felt him moving towards me, his body heat brushed against my arms when he stopped next to me.
“You didn’t tell us you had this much magic.” Averey looked down at me, I felt his eyes burn into me. I didn’t look at him, I kept looking to the ground, to my toes in the sand. I moved them through it, wiggling them around.
“No,” I whispered.
“Why not?” he asked, his voice calm and even.
“Because I can’t,” I said and turned around and ran back towards the castle. I heard them yelling my name, I kept running. Back to my room.
I slammed the door shut and ran through to my bed. I dropped my weapons on the floor where they clanged on the stones. I didn’t care.
I had just blown everything, I had just made things worse. Why did I do that? Why did I show them my magic? They would never let me go, they would kill me if they knew who my ancestors really were. Sobs wracked through me. I hugged my knees to my chest and cried. With every sob I heard Gran’s voice.
“You need to keep it a secret.”
“You can’t tell anybody.”
“They will kill you if they know.”
“You aren’t safe in that world, Isa girl. They will hate you.”
“You are a threat to them.”
I sobbed again as her voice filled my head. All the things she had told me, that she had warned me of, ran through my head.
“SHUT UP!” I yelled at the empty room, I yelled at her, I yelled at me. I lay there for some time, tears streaming over my face.
Nothing had happened yet, I was alive, maybe he hadn't known after all. I looked up through watery eyes to see a man standing in my doorway. My eyes widened when I recognized him. I started crying again. Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a hard body. “What’s wrong sweetheart?” Averey asked softly. I didn’t know what to say to him then. What do you say to the ruling King? That you are the last Full-Blood Witch, that you are the heir to a throne he had? That his ancestors had killed mine, that they had hunted my grandmother, that they had taken away her freedom when she was forced into hiding. That they had taken away mine.
Sobs wracked through me again, making my breathing ragged. He pulled me closer, his body heat wrapped around me, the scent of thunderstorms filled my lungs as I breathed him in. It calmed me, so I moved even closer, placing my head in the crook of his neck. I cried some more, letting it all go. Letting the stress of it all go. Not caring for a moment that it would probably be the last time I would see him. Because if I wasn’t killed, placed in a dungeon, or something else, I needed to leave. If they hadn’t figured it out, they would have with what they just had seen, I was a stupid woman.
I hugged him closer, moved my arms around him, and buried my head even further into his neck. His arms were around me, his hands slowly moving up and down my back. I had calmed down and my breathing had become easier. I pushed him away from me, so I could face him. There was a wet spot on his shirt, the stain of my tears.
“Sorry,” I mumbled at the sight of the dark spot, I tried to wipe it away. He grabbed hold of my hand and brought it down. He kept my hand in his, his thumb stroking the back of mine.
“What is going on?” he asked, his voice low, and his eyes full of concern.
This had my breath hitching for a moment. I had expected something else, hatred. Who would comfort someone if they hated them? I shook my head, trying to clear the still fuzzy feeling of the crying.
“I need to leave,” I said when I knew I could trust my own voice; that there wouldn’t have been any more tears. This had him narrowing his eyes at me. “You aren’t telling me something, sweetheart.” I looked at him, his grey eyes were soft and focused on me. I looked down at our hands.
He hooked a thumb under my chin, slowly lifting my head up, so I would look at him again.
“There is something you aren’t telling me. You don’t cry like that after a training session. Not you.” His thumb stroked my chin, almost touching my bottom lip. I parted them a little, too focused on the feeling of his thumb slowly moving over my chin. The heat it had awakened inside me felt as if someone had lit a fire inside. My body’s reactions to them kept getting worse, becoming stronger. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to go away and never see them again. Never stare into Averey’s grey eyes
, seeing the storm that lived inside him. Never see Flynn dance with his magic, never hear Cian’s voice, or see Rayan’s smile.
My mind had gone blank for a moment, when his thumb started to move over my parted bottom lip. His fingers were rough from working with his hands, from fighting with weapons. It made the sensation even better, the roughness that touched my soft lips. He watched my lips, and a shiver ran through me. I hated what I was going to do. I needed to leave and not go any further with it. However if I planned on leaving, I could give myself this, right? Give myself this one moment with him.
I reached out with the tip of my tongue and licked my lip just where his thumb was, and watched his eyes turn darker; two silver pools swirling with heat. His breathing became shallower. His thumb inched up a little more, touching my lip with more intensity. It made me shiver again. His other hand moved slowly towards my knee, where it kept steadily inching upwards. He started making small circles on my leg.
“What you do to me,” he grumbled out, his face inched closer to mine, his eyes still focused on my lips. My eyes lowered to his, those lips, full and soft. They had looked amazing to kiss. And he would have been my first kiss. I could feel his breath on my face as his thumb caressed my cheek. I had wanted to close my eyes and move forward, to touch his lips with mine. Instead, I pulled back, moved from the bed. His hand still hovered in the air, almost if he could still touch me. He dropped his hand and looked at me.
“I need to go,” I said to him, before I looked too deeply into those eyes, eyes that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I moved out of the room, still barefoot and in my pyjamas. I moved out of the room, away from him.
Averey
I got up after her, wanting to keep her there. To pull her back against me. I stopped when I saw her swords still on the ground. She wouldn’t leave without her swords. A heavy weight had lifted from my chest, and I breathed deeply. I moved out of her room, the feeling of her magic still lingered in the air. The memory of her lips so close to mine haunted me all the way back to my Quarters. When I walked in, the others were sitting inside. And from the looks they had given me, I could see that Flynn had told them what he had seen.
“Is it true?” Rayan questioned, his eyes lighting up.
“Is what true?” I asked him. I knew who Isadora was. From the moment I had seen her, I knew she was my Natural Bonded. And the morning had confirmed another thing I had suspected. She was the Great-Granddaughter of Seraphina Savill Royal; the last Queen of this world, the one our ancestors had murdered. No wonder she had wanted to leave. I wanted to know what they thought, if they had connected the dots.
“That she has four elements. Can control them like we can?” Rayan asked, he was almost bouncing up and down in his seat. I looked at Flynn, the big silent King, he shook his head slowly. Letting me know he knew, too, and that I didn’t need to tell them more. Not yet.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Is she leaving?” Flynn asked, his voice was low and sad.
“No. I don’t think so. She walked out of her room when I was there, but she left her swords. She wouldn’t leave here without her swords. Or without telling Astra,” I answered while I walked back towards the stairs. I needed a cold shower and a lie down. I needed to think about what we had to do next, how to keep her there, with us.
“I’m going to my room, I've got a headache,” I told them over my shoulder, I heard Rayan chuckle.
“Make sure the shower is cold,” he said, and I heard Cian laugh, too.
I shook my head when I walked up the stairs.
“Averey,” I heard behind me. Flynn had walked after me.
“You know who she is?” he asked me. I nodded. “Good,” he answered and moved back towards the room.
I moved towards mine, getting that cold shower. I laid down on my bed afterwards. I wasn't sure how to handle it all, how to tell the others of the plan that had started to form the moment everything fell together. I knew they would agree; the biggest question was, would she?
I closed my eyes, feeling myself drifting away. I thought of her. Of Isadora. Her body against mine, her soft moans escaping those lips I had touched. Her hands roaming my body, strong and powerful. My hands sliding across her hips, kneading her ass. Her breasts bouncing up and down while she rode me, her hair falling around her, and her face filled with pure bliss.
I opened my eyes, sighed, and got up to get another cold shower.
18
The stone floor was cold under my feet as I moved aimlessly around the Castle, not really knowing where to go. I really wanted to leave and go back to the forest, go back home. It would have been so much easier to leave. It would have made things so much easier just ignoring my feelings. Where there was nobody who made my body feel like it was on fire, nobody who wanted to know me, kill me, or whatever else they thought of. I would have been free, free to do what I wanted.
Free to be alone.
That made me stop in my tracks. I breathed in a hesitant breath. I would be alone, free but alone. Would it have been worth it? I would have been safe from the Kings, from the people who might want to harm me, but still, would it have been worth it? Before my thoughts could think that over, I heard something. I looked around, finding myself in the servant’s side of the castle. The kitchen noise sounded through the open door next to me. It wasn’t what I had heard. I heard a voice. One that would forever grab my attention, a voice I had hoped not to hear again this soon.
“She needs to be dealt with,” Icas said. I moved towards his voice, the door of the room he was in stood on a small ledge. I couldn’t look inside, but it was enough for his voice to reach me. I moved to stand next to the door, looking like I belonged there.
Goosebumps flew over my skin, the hair on my neck stood up straight. The voice that answered him wasn’t from here. The low hissing sound that followed every word it spoke slithered around me, crawling up my spine. It made me go stiff, and I wanted to wash it off me, get rid of that feeling.
“Some things take time. You know that. Don’t act harshly,” the voice said. I resisted the urge to hug myself and move away from that voice. “You said you don’t know who she is. Except that she is powerful. We need to be careful if we want this to succeed.” The slithering voice kept on talking, kept on giving me the shivers, made the goosebumps on my body rise even higher. “We will contact you. Someone is listening.”
And with that I turned around and opened the first door I could. My heart was racing. I hadn't known who that was, what it was, or why it had talked to Icas. The one thing I knew was that they had been planning something. Something that needed to be stopped. That had made up my mind, I couldn’t leave then. I needed to protect Astra and the Kings. Yeah, they needed protection, too. That was my job after all, what I had trained for my whole life. I fist pumped the air and murmured, to the dark empty room. “I’m a Protector, and I need to protect the shit out of this.” I giggled with that, my nerves running all over the place after hearing that voice.
My eyes had adjusted to the dark room, and I found myself in a storage closet. I leaned back against a cabinet and thought about what I had heard, what I knew about Icas. One more point against him. The list just kept on getting bigger. I closed my eyes, so I could think. What next? Should I tell the Kings even though I didn’t know how? They knew I didn’t like him. And what would I tell them? ‘Hi there, I just heard Icas talking to some creepy guy in a room in the servants wing.’ And what would they say? ‘Oh yeah, okay he’s bad, so let’s kill him.’ Nope. That wasn't going to happen. I shook my head. I needed proof. I needed that badly, and that was what I would be looking for. I needed something that could show them what kind of guy Nox was. What he had been doing with his wives, what he had wanted to do with Astra. And I needed to figure out who or what that creepy thing was. That was why I stayed. After that, I would leave. I nodded to myself, that was the plan.
I heard the door open, and I looked at the person standing there. My heart had started beating fa
st, and for a second, I thought it would be Icas. Only, I saw a girl standing there, a confused look on her face.
“Oh, hello,” I said and waved at her. “Just looking for my room.” I looked around. “I don’t think this is it.” I walked past her as fast as I could. She didn’t utter a word, instead she kept staring at me. I didn’t look back and walked to my room. I didn’t see Icas anywhere which was a relief. When I got back to the door to my room, my mind went back to why I had ran away from it in the first place. I stood still in front of that door, the door that led me to my room, to the place where Averey had almost kissed me. I touched my lips. I still felt the ghost of his finger on my lip. I closed my eyes, letting myself relive the memory. I was pulled out of it by a voice I wished I could punch right then.
“Still here?”
I sighed and turned to look at Thalia.
“Yes.” I placed my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow at her.
“This is your room, Miss.” The male servant that stood next to Thalia with her bags in his hand motioned to the door he was standing in front of. She looked at him and waited. I heard the man sigh as he placed a suitcase on the floor to open the door for her. I rolled my eyes at her when I turned back towards my door.
“Chief,” someone said to my left, before I could open my door. I looked at the Protector at the door to the Quarters of the Kings. “The Kings wanted you to know that you are allowed into their Quarters when you want. And that you are welcome to train with them if it pleases you.” He bowed his head. I was still looking at him, my mouth hanging open a little, my hand on the doorknob and the door slightly opened.