A Flicker In The Still Forest: From Forest To Flames #1

by K. Lyn Hill

A second of fresh air would do him some good. He excused himself and made his way slowly to the courtyard, taking timed breaths. The water fountain always gave him peace when he felt like he simply wanted to drown in the daily stresses of life.

  As he approached the water, the sound of innocent laughter filled his ears. Ducking behind a column he observed. Aerity sat at the edge of the fountain with her skirt grazing her thighs, her feet dipping into the pool of water. Her far off expression zeroed in on the young girl with a huge smile on her face. The girl was splashing in the water around her, soaking Aerity’s dress but she didn’t even seem to notice. Tiny arms tossed water into the air and giggles sounded as the water hit her beaming face.

  "Come in! come in with me!" The little girl cried amidst her laughter.

  Aerity snapped out of her reveries as a huge smile spread over her face. "You look like a beautiful mermaid. Are you sure you’re not just trying to lure me in?"

  The little girl pressed her hands to her hips. "I wouldn't tell you if I were, silly. That would ruin the surprise." Aerity’s rich laughter tickled the air around him. He felt like he was intruding on a special moment although he had no idea why he would feel that way. There were guards stationed nearby, watching them with amusement as Aerity stepped deeper into the water. Lifting the girl up she began twirling her in her arms. As soon as she set the girl down, she began monkey climbing up Aerity’s leg.

  "Again again!" She shrieked and gasped as Aerity picked her up and twirled her once more.

  Setting her down, Aerity spoke softly, her clothing now drenched. "On second thought, maybe I'm the mermaid and you’re my secret captive."

  The little girl shrieked and started doggy paddling in the pond as Aerity chased after her. "Gotchya!" Aerity snatched the girl up as she clung to her neck for dear life. Aerity simply hugged her tighter and sat back on the edge with the little girl cradled in her arms. Using her free arm, she grabbed a cloth from next to the fountain and wrapped it around the girl. She began rocking her and singing a lullaby. Damien had never heard the words before, but he couldn't help but be mesmerized by her voice singing them. It wouldn't have mattered what she sang but the words were beautiful too.

  "If I were to sing you a tale about a little girl so bold, she would defy the world and ignore stories the ignorant told.

  She shone brighter than all the rest because she was willing to pass any test.

  Her strength showed in her works and her wisdom in her love.

  She looked for those to help and cared for the littlest dove.

  One day a man told her she could have anything she could ever want.

  She said please give all the homeless people room in a hut.

  Again, he said you can have anything you could ever dream.

  She replied can you make a world where no one is ever mean?

  He tried one more time to get her to understand, he said do you want riches? Health? Maybe even a man?

  And she answered back, can the riches be for those who need it the most and the health for those touched by the worst?

  Frustrated he shook her and said what is it that you wish for yourself?!

  In answer she said riches for the poor, home for the lost and for the sick, I want health.

  He snarled and said, ‘Foolish girl, no one can make all those things come true.’

  She just smiled and said, just watch, I’ll prove it to you."

  The words were beautiful and solemn as he observed her running a hand through the little girl’s hair. "You can come out now." Her soft voice jerked him to attention. Was she talking about him? "I know you’re behind the pillar. Just come out." She had to be referring to him. He felt like a little kid getting caught stealing cookies.

  He was about to step out of the shadows, when Siel’s voice stopped him dead in his tracks. "How did you know I was there?" His brother’s playful voice hung in the air, dripping with admiration as he approached her. He took a seat at her side. As much as Damien wanted to turn away, he couldn’t find it in himself to move.

  Aerity continued rocking the now sleeping girl in her arms, warmly looking at Siel with a wide grin. "You can feel when someone is watching you. I felt your eyes." She glanced up at him tenderly. Damien wanted so badly for her to gaze at him that way. Siel’s answering smile made him want to punch his brother in the face. He watched enraptured as a single tear grazed down her cheek. Siel reactively reached out and swiped it away. Her cheeks flushed with color as she shyly glanced away.

  "Why are you crying?" Damien strained to hear their words although he felt highly intrusive listening into their conversation but the pounding in his chest kept him right where he was.

  "My mom used to sing that song to me when I was little."

  Siel nodded in understanding. "It was a beautiful song."

  Damien couldn’t help but stare at her shaky smile. She was so beautiful and when she was gentle and soothing, it was miraculous. Yet again, he wished that smile could be directed at him.

  "Every time I want to do something for myself, I sing that song in my head and try to be the person she would have wanted me to be. Although I lost my mom when I was young, I had her for longer than Serenity did. She's so young and has lost so much and yet see how much joy she still holds onto life with. It's remarkable." Her expression of awe while absorbed in the girl, warmed his heart but then seeing Siel reach out and grasp her hand, made it run cold again.

  There was no faking what was here. Now. Staring him in the face. This was real.

  His fiancé and his brother had something real, tangible and it was him that had pushed them together.

  Bile burned in the back of his throat as he watched his brother’s thumb caress her hand. Pain was seared across her face despite the fact her mother here still lived. It was all so confusing. He shook his head. Siel believed what she said. He believed she was from another world. What if there really was truth to the ridiculous notion? What that would mean…

  "She looks up to you." Siel whispered.

  Moisture formed in her eyes. "I look up to her."

  That sentence humbled him beyond any other words he had heard before. A young child being coddled and held close, loved, appreciated. He had to admit she would be a fantastic mother, if the child they had would even be his. The thought of her having Siel’s children made his pulse speed up and his fists clench.

  "She's going to catch a cold out here all wet. Do you want me to help you carry her inside?" His brother was ever the charmer. A snarl curled the corner of Damien’s mouth.

  A magnificent smile appeared on her face, the tears slowly evaporating. "Yeah I would love that. Thank you." She was so docile when holding a delicate child in her arms.

  Clamping his mouth shut so he wouldn’t call out and make a fool out of himself again, he watched as they made their way into the castle in a comfortable silence. The weight in his chest seemed to smother him. Watching Aerity and Siel stand side by side, holding a child damn near brought him to his knees.

  Without wanting to witness anymore he began to turn when a voice spoke from behind him. “Maybe we should be more suspicious of all the time they spend together.”

  Clenching his jaw, he spun to face Elias. He hadn’t even heard anyone behind him. Damien thanked the stars it had only been him. Anyone else and he would have been fit to be tied. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean Siel and Aerity. We have already found her in compromising positions with your brother and other men.”

  He most certainly didn’t need to be reminded of that. Red colored his vision. “What exactly are you saying?” His voice was low and far too steady to be taken as anything other than a threat.

  If Elias picked up on his mood, he ignored it. “I’m saying that we don’t know for sure if she is pure. And I reckon we figure it out before you marry her.”

  Damien didn’t want to think about this right now. He had so much going on without having to deal with that possibility. If she wasn’t still a virgin, the treaty woul
d be void. Any heir procured would be held in question as to who the father was. “I thought you just said that you might have been wrong about her? That Siel would get over her soon?”

  Elias glanced at the spot where the two had just stood. “That was before I saw them like that.” His words were simple and yet the complexity in what they meant shook Damien to the core.

  ”I really don’t think Siel would take it that far.” He wanted to have hope in his brother if not in her, despite what he saw. Siel seemed more emotionally bound than physically. Although, Damien couldn’t argue Aerity’s beauty nor be surprised if a man was weak and succumbed to her charms. Still, he refused to show weakness to anyone. “He wouldn’t do that to me.” He added, hoping that Elias would let it die.

  No such luck. “I know you just saw the same thing I did, Damien. I think we both need to acknowledge that it’s becoming more than just Siel being Siel. He’s starting to form an attachment to her. You should keep your eyes opened. You have always been blinded by this girl.”

  Elias wasn’t saying anything that he hadn’t thought about already. He hated the idea of her and Siel near each other. The position he had seen them in while dancing still replayed in his mind, not to mention the way Siel’s hand immediately sought out her face and body with his own. The thought of Siel’s hands on her made him want to throw something again. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know Siel and Aerity aren’t exactly the most controllable pair.” Anyone with eyes could see that.

  “There are ways of creating a different result.”

  Damien wasn’t sure if he liked where Elias was going with this. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

  Elias paused before taking a deep breath. “If I don’t tell you my plan, then you can feign innocence when they retaliate.”

  Damien didn’t particularly like the thought of not knowing what Elias was going to do, but he also knew his friend had his best interests at heart and had a way of getting the unthinkable accomplished. Damien still would never know how his friend completed half of the tasks he was assigned but he always did. Not being liable when Aerity had a tantrum did sound appealing. His desire to keep all his body parts intact helped motivate his response. “Fine. Do what you will and report back to me.”

  A wicked smile appeared on Elias’s mouth. “Your wish is my command, Your Highness.”

  Something in Damien’s mind should have spastically waved around a giant, red flag at the way Elias said that, but he was too riled up by the water fountain scene to think further on it. The only thing he could picture in his head was Aerity being his and his alone. The thought made him smile. He didn’t give a care as to how Elias planned to complete this impossible task, just so long as it came to pass.

  Chapter Thirty

  Aerity

  Aerity woke the next day and rolled over, momentarily forgetting the company in her bed. Serenity’s lips parted on a soft wheeze slipping from her mouth as she slept. Her hair splayed wildly across her eyes in an unruly mess while little fingers tucked under her chin, squishing her cheek in a scrunched-up ball. Aerity used her finger to gently brush the locks out of her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile. The urge to protect this girl surged through her. The desire to hold and keep her safe struggled to drown her. When Siel had picked her up the night before, the little girl curled her arms into his chest and nuzzled his neck. A hot guy with a child was the sexiest thing ever and yet she couldn’t help but wish Damien had come out instead. It was common knowledge of what this marriage would mean to the people, and yes, he had been a real tool so far, but she wanted to see if he was someone she could grow to love. At least feel something for. Like the something she had begun to feel for his brother.

  Then again, her body reacted to Damien’s proximity, the buzzing spark that raced along her spine whenever he was near claimed proof to that. Just thinking about his body pressed up against hers forced her heart into a gallop.

  A knock sounded on the door and she crept out of bed, careful not to wake Serenity. As she swung it open, she came face to face with the general impatiently tapping his toes.

  Frowning she glanced up at him and the four guards flanking him. “What’s the meaning of this? It’s early and Serenity’s sleeping.”

  His menacing eyes lit with glee making her stomach flip. “That is why we are here. It is time the girl left the castle.”

  His haughty tone made her lips curl. Ignoring the fact that she was in her nightclothes, Aerity stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. It didn’t escape her attention how many guards’ eyes drifted lower. She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “First of all, the girl has a name.” She was so not in the mood for more bull crap. “Secondly, she’s not going anywhere.”

  She didn’t like the smug smile that appeared on Elias’s face. “I thought you might say that, hence the reinforcements.” Motioning around him to the guards. “I know you took out two guards before Princess, but I think four is a little much for just you to handle, don’t you?”

  Glaring at all the Guards, she forced them to look in her eyes as she spoke. “You want me to throw an orphan out onto the streets when we have a giant castle that can fit the whole bloody village?” They had the decency to at least look contrite.

  Elias ignored her. “That is beside the point. She is instructed to leave.”

  She curled her fists at her side ready for a fight. “I’m the freakin princess! I don’t take orders from you.”

  That smug smile grew even bigger. “You may not take orders from me, but you do take them from your future king.”

  Damien. Damien wanted Serenity to leave? He could be a brute sometimes, but would he really want to kick out an orphan? She couldn’t imagine the man who heated up her blood being that cold. “I don’t believe you. I’ll take the matter up with him.”

  Elias stepped closer to her, blocking her exit. “He demanded not to be disturbed, so either you escort the girl out or the guards will do it for you. You choose.”

  Anger coursed through her. “I swear to god, if you lay one finger on that girl I’ll....”

  “You’ll do what, Princess? Hire guards to tie me to Damien’s bed? These guards won’t be swayed by your charm.”

  They still believed she wasn’t the one to knock out the two guards. Even after seeing her fight. Oh how they underestimated her. “You don’t know who you’re messing with Elias. I would tread very carefully if I were you.”

  His smile could have forced the grim reaper running for the hills. “And neither do you. I won’t coddle you like the others. I’m not afraid to get rough. Do not push me. Now, will you escort the girl...or will they?” The guards all eyed her with caution.

  Clenching her hands into fists. “I will escort her when she wakes.”

  Elias seemed pleased with himself. “Now that wasn’t so hard was...?” Before he finished his sentence, Aerity reared her hand back and slammed her knuckles into his face. Surprise registered across his feature just before his hand shot up to catch the blood now dripping from his nose.

  “Nope. Not hard at all.” She called over her shoulder right before spinning into her room, slamming her door shut and turning the lock. She thought she heard someone chuckle and another curse but was too pissed off to confirm.

  The entire walk into the village was heart wrenching. As much as she wanted to see good in Damien, she just kept getting let down. Was there an explanation to this cruelty or was he just playing with her head? This was their routine. He would act like a heartless beast, then semi redeem himself only for the vicious cycle to repeat once again. Eventually, the time would arrive to stop living in denial, but she found that she had grown attached to emotion. The idea that she would have to sacrifice everything for this world she didn’t belong to and marry a man she might never be able to love, burned a fire deep within in her soul.

  Then she peered down at one of the reasons why she would do it. Her happiness wasn’t worth an entire group of people starving a slow p
ainful death.

  She thought of Carly’s family, Mrs. Clarel, and the beautiful little girl currently swinging from her hand. These people needed her to be strong. Maybe whoever brought her here would get bored and switch her back with the real princess. Maybe this was just a test to see how she would manage under pressure. She knew nothing anymore. Maybe someone was going to jump out and say that she’d been punked this entire time. One thing was for sure though. Whatever this was, she would get through it. She would smile and laugh and enjoy all she could out of the life she was thrown into because that’s what her father taught her to do; what her mother would have wanted. She wasn’t about to disappoint them.

  Not now, not ever.

  "I have to go back?” Serenity whispered softly and Aerity’s chest pinched.

  “I’m sorry Sweety. They said it’s not fair to the other village children for you to stay with me. I’ll come visit you though, every chance I get.” She wanted to say everyday but with how unpredictable her lovely fiancé was turning out to be, she didn’t want to risk it.

  Serenity’s hopeful eyes peeked at her through unshed tears. “You promise?”

  Kneeling, Aerity took her into a tight hug and whispered into her ear. “I promise.”

  As they got closer to the orphanage, Serenity noticed a friend nearby and waved. The brunette’s mouth gaped as she took Aerity in. Her eyes grew wide, short of falling out of her sockets when she saw Siel. “Why don’t you go say hi to your friend, we will be right here.”

  Serenity appeared skeptical. “You promise you won’t leave?”