He turned back to look me straight in the eyes. The pain in his eyes nearly brought me to my knees.
“Cassius, don’t.” I pleaded.
“Aurora, don’t what? Tell the truth? Every second that passes is one closer to Tommit taking you as his bride? The thought makes me physically ill. To think he could touch you, I would rather die than ever let that happen.”
“NO!” my shocked gasp escaped my trembling lips. Cassius rushed to me, standing only inches from my quivering form.
“I love you, Aurora.” he announced. I bit my lip from responding. “I have loved you from the moment you first walked into the kitchen. The thought of not living my life, with you by my side, is excruciating. I’m sorry. I know I promised to behave myself but I can’t help it. Being here, where my family was whole, remembering my parents and the love they had for each other—I know just how life can change in an instant. If I didn’t tell you how I felt and lost you, because of my silence, then I could never live with it.”
I was stunned. I never thought this moment would happen, not to me.
“Cassius, I…” How could I do this?
“Trust me, Aurora. Please,” his pained plea broke through the barrier I had been holding up for as long as I could remember. “Please.”
I took a deep breath and my heart shuddered. I was at a crossroad. My heart had been hiding from the simple truth. I knew my feelings for Cassius were strong. Part of me wouldn’t allow myself to truly immerse myself in them, knowing what my future held. I looked into his flaming eyes while desire flowed from every muscle he held tight. No breath flowed out of his perfect lips. Now was the time, and I jumped.
“I love you, too. I do, but this can’t happen. I am still trying to figure out what is real and what is a dream. I feel like Alice in Wonderland, and any minute I’m going to wake up and all of this—you—will only be a dream.” His eyes were blazing with passion.
“You love me?”
Of course that was all that he would hear.
I took a deep breath before whispering a single word, “Yes.”
Before I could say another word, he pulled me to him and his lips found mine. This time I didn’t fight him. I gave into my feelings and let myself feel for the first time. My whole body was on fire. It was painful…at first, it was as if my body had been forever frozen in a block of ice, and with this kiss, the ice was forever melted away. Our souls melded together. I knew whatever happened in the future, both of us had been forever changed. When we finally parted, my lips longed for more.
“I love you, Aurora. Forever.”
A new round of burning overtook me. My heart was swollen with all of the emotions it was trying to process. I knew I would regret it later, but I responded. “I love you too, Cassius. Always.”
As I said it, I knew it would always be the one truth I could always cling to.
*
Cassius led me out to the backyard.
There were bushes and bushes of beautiful red flowers in bloom. I found that strange, seeing how the leaves were already changing. It was beautiful. Large trees encircled the back yard. The deep crimson flowers created a half circle, keeping us safe from the darkness of the looming forest. Hand hewed logs were carved into benches, which made for a cozy conversation area. In the middle was a large fire pit. A fire was dancing, sparking and sizzling, in the early morning air. I could feel the heat from where I stood. I wondered who had already been here this morning to set it up. A large basket sat next to one of the benches. It looked just like the one my clothes came in for today. Cassius squeezed my hand and led me toward the awaiting bench. He brushed off the fallen leaves and motioned for me to take a seat. I did, and he reached from the basket and took a thick blanket and draped it over my lap.
“Hungry?”
I nodded and he chuckled.
“Don’t worry, I doubt Evver would let us starve.” He reached inside the basket and pulled out a large loaf of bread. It was followed by cheeses and a bounty of fruit. We both ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. My stomach was complaining. Cassius added more wood to the fire; it caused it to grow by three feet. Then, he sat next to me. We watched the fire for several minutes, listening to the crackling of the wood. He broke the silence.
“Tell me about your life before Paradan.”
It was a simple request, but one that terrified me.
“Why?”
“I want to know everything I can about you. You know everything there is to know about my life, but I know nothing of yours.” He was right. I feared how he would react to my confession.
“I’m not really sure it would help anything if I told you. My guess is you will take off running and leave me sitting here.”
He reached over, taking my hands in his. They were warm and he used them to pull my hands to his chest.
“That would NEVER happen.” His eyes were fierce, and so was his voice. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I figured I would do what you do when you pull off a Band-Aid. The faster the better. There was less pain this way anyway. I turned back to watch the roaring fire. I was afraid to tell him while looking into his icy blue eyes.
“It’s hard to explain. I told you I was running from someone. That is the truth. Where I lived there were several people who insisted on making my life difficult. I’ll never understand why. They gave me this, the last time I had encountered them.” I lifted my cape and shirt to reveal the scar on my arm. I heard him mutter something darkly under his breath. I knew if I turned to see his face I wouldn’t be able to continue, so I looked in the distance and resumed my story.
“My world is very different from here. Here there are fairies, giants, trolls and dwarves. They are all considered to be make-believe where I come from—parts of fairy tales. This is part of why I feel like I am dreaming. Most of this world doesn’t seem real.
“There was a place where I loved to go. In my world, I didn’t have anyone to turn to…I had no friends. An old wishing well sat at the top of the hill in my town. I could go up there and hide from the world, and no one would bother me—until the day I arrived in Paradan, anyway. There was nowhere to hide. So I hid in the only place I could think of and climbed into the big bucket inside of the well. I hid there until I couldn’t hear them any longer. When I tried to climb out…I fell into the well.” I waited for disbelief on his part, but he was silent. “I blacked out on the way down, and when I woke up I was in Paradan, and Cronan was standing over me. You know the rest of the story from there.”
I sat quietly, waiting for him to run off…to find the nearest authority to haul me off to the Looney farm.
“Ecraicias’ wishing well.”
“What?” I asked, more confused now.
“I know where you’re talking about. Do you remember where it was that Cronan found you?” His voice was excited and his eyes were sparkling with joy. After all I had told him, he was worried about the well.
“Why do you want to send me back?” the pain in my voice broke through his glee.
“Send you back?”
I could see the reality of my words hitting him over and over. I wanted to take it back, apologize, turn back time, even, and never say it in the first place. He reached out, taking my face in his hands. Cassius kept saying the word, “no,” over and over again. He pulled me to him, and when I felt his tears on my head I realized he finally understood the gravity of my words. I’m not sure what did it. It may have been finally confiding in someone. Or, maybe it was because I had finally realized the depth of my feelings for Cassius and he felt the same. Tears started falling, first one at a time. Then, it was as if my reserve levees had been breached. When I finished crying, Cassius’ shirt was soaked. I felt foolish. While I had been having my breakdown his grip had encircled me, protecting me from my storm. Now, his grip loosened just enough to bring my eyes to meet his.
“I’m so sorry, Aurora. On my honor, the thought of you going anywhere, except here with me, never entered my mind. When you said the wishing well it
answered so many questions. Tommit has been searching for it. If he finds it before we do…” his voice trailed off. Fear entered his eyes. “All we have done to try to reclaim the kingdom will be futile. Ecraicias wishing well is the most powerful piece of magic left in Paradan. If Tommit finds it and the golden Para’s, there would be little that he could not do. He would be unstoppable.”
My heart sunk.
I was already a witness to Tommit’s destruction, and that was without magic. So many lives had already been destroyed, families torn apart. When would the terror end? Would Evver and Cassius be the next set of casualties in Tommit’s power play?
“We can’t let that happen!” I jumped up from the bench, and in the process pushed Cassius off of the bench. “We have to do something! I can’t let anything happen to you…to Evver.”
There were so many people I had grown to love in my short time here. Cassius stood and walked toward me.
“We are doing something. I have been working on it. There are so many others searching for others to join the fight. We even sent some of our own to Fara seeking help. To be honest, one of the only ones fighting me—well… is you.” The crooked grin I loved was taunted me. “Are you still going to fight me?”
I looked at him and glowered. He made me crazy! “Cassius, you just don’t get it.”
“What don’t I get? Tell me. I know there is more you have been holding back from me. Unless you tell me everything, I can’t fix it. I didn’t go running off, now did I?” I couldn’t help but laugh.
“No— but...”
He held up his hands to stop me. “No buts!”
I turned to look at the still roaring fire.
“It’s—Drayben. He told me if I didn’t go along with the engagement and then the wedding, that he would kill Evver. Cassius, he is dangerous. He knew things he shouldn’t have. Things I said to Evver when it was just the two of us. If anything ever happened to her because of me…” I couldn’t finish the thought. “Don’t you know that I would rather die a thousand times than ever have anything happen to her? Or you…”
I couldn’t finish.
“I will kill him with my bare hands.” His voice was seething. Cassius gripped both of my shoulders and turned me back to him. Normally, his face was gentle and kind, but now it was filled with rage and fury…something I had never witnessed from my gentle stable boy. I wanted to say something to soothe him, but I was lost for words. I understood his anger—most days I shared it—but understanding and dealing with it were two very separate things.
He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me so tight I worried about breathing.
His whole body shook with fury.
Chapter 26
Drayben was on his way to King Tommit to give him an update on the search.
He didn’t have good news. Cronan and a large group of Destroyers hadn’t been successful in their search for the wishing well. They had searched every inch of Paradan, but the wishing well remained hidden. One of the Paras also remained an enigma. When they had been tasked at finding the wishing well, everyone knew it was a long shot. Magically hidden from the world, it was protected from anyone stumbling across it. Drayben knew he would be furious over their failure.
With every step, he was busy trying to salvage…something positive.
Drayben approached King Tommit, standing near one of the windows that looked out on to the kingdom. He was deep in thought and Drayben didn’t want to startle him. It was clear from his expression that he was lost in the dark passages which consumed his depraved mind.
Several minutes passed before he dare spoke. “Sire?”
Tommit shook his head as if he was shaking cobwebs from of his mind. He turned back to see Drayben fidgeting behind him.
“What is it?”
Tommit already feared the news Drayben was about to deliver. Nothing was going the way he had planned. So much work had gone into this. Revenge had fueled him for as long as he could recall. He had been disgraced in Rartan, denied the one thing he wanted. He still dreamed about what his life would have been if Solin would have agreed to Tommit’s request to marry Ellet. Just because he had no royal blood coursing through his veins, he had been denied.
He remembered a time when his actions here in Paradan would have brought him great shame; any light left in him had disappeared when news of Ellet’s death reached him. She had died from a riding accident. At least this was the story the kingdom was told. King Solin knew if word got out of how she had taken one of his prized daggers to her own heart, the kingdom would have been outraged. They would have demanded answers. None of which would have painted the grieving king in a positive light. The only way he had found out the truth, behind the tragic news, was through one of her ladies in waiting.
Ceile knew how much Ellet loved Tommit. She wanted him to know the truth. Ceile paid dearly for her omission. Her body was found a couple of days later, floating down the Kregte River. It was a slap in the face to Tommit. He had first met Ellet there while on a ride.
It was no accident that her body had been dumped there.
Lesser men would have given up and taken their blade to their chest, but not him. Instead, he allowed the bitterness to blacken every recess of his pained heart. He was not going to rest until King Solin was down on his knees begging for mercy. Only then, when he ran his own dagger through King Solin’s vile heart, would Tommit be able to relax again. It was one night while he was wallowing in a drunken stupor that he’d found Drayben. They were in a local tavern when Drayben was ranting and raving about King Solin. Tommit had stayed to himself, but followed Drayben out. A friendship was forged from their shared hatred of the dark king.
When it started, neither of them realized the extent either of them would have to go to in order to fulfill their plans. Hundreds had died at their hands and their command. Both of their hearts had been turned so wicked, it didn’t matter to them anymore, anyway. Staring out at Paradan, Tommit could feel his hold slipping. Drayben was fidgeting and he only did that when he had bad news.
“What is it?” He shouted, his whole body trembling.
“Sorry. It’s just…we have been unable to find the Wishing well. They have searched every inch of Paradan. I don’t understand it.” He hung his head down, not daring to meet his kings’ gaze. He expected a raging bull but got only silence. That scared him more.
“Sire, what are you thinking?”
Laughter escaped his mouth; it had an edge of hysteria. “What am I thinking? I am thinking that we have lost. King Solin will never kneel before me. All of our plans are crumbling before my very eyes. That is what I am thinking.”
He stared at his confidante awaiting a response.
“We aren’t done yet.” His words had more confidence than Tommit thought to be realistic.
“Why? Because we’re still lucky enough to be living in the castle? We aren’t bleeding on the ground in a ditch somewhere?” Is that why?” His tone was mocking and hard.
Drayben took a deep breath. “No, my king, we are not done yet. You still have a wedding, if you have forgotten.”
The look in Tommit’s eye showed that he had. He didn’t give him a chance to argue with him. He continued. “I say we move the wedding up to tomorrow morning. We can do just a small ceremony. I will officiate. You will make Aurora your bride, and in a few days you will introduce her to the kingdom as their queen. Hopefully, by then, you will already have an heir on the way.”
Tommit’s eyes danced with the possibilities.
“Yes. I like that. Maybe spending some time with Aurora will take my mind off of the other matters. I like this plan very much. Thank you, my friend. Do what you need to make it happen and I will see you in the morning. I could use a good night's sleep, seeing as how it will be my last chance to do so for a while.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively. They both laughed.
“Of course, your highness. Good night.”
Tommit left to head to his bed chamber. Drayben headed to Lote. S
he would have to be told about the rescheduling. He had her preparing the dress. No one else would be aware of the scheduling change.
He did not want the wedding disturbed.
Chapter 27
Aurora fell asleep shortly after she returned. For the first time, she slept peacefully and with a smile on her face. She had been too tired to tell Evver what had transpired while she was with Cassius, but one look at her glowing eyes and beaming smile and Evver knew it was good. She had promised her young friend she would fill her in, in the morning.
Evver had worked hard in the castle today.
She thought she would find sleep easily tonight. Instead, a feeling of unease had settled into her chest. The young fairy tried to dismiss it, but it persisted. Unable to find the slumber she searched for, she decided to go and get something to drink. Perhaps it would settle her enough to sleep. Reber normally kept a warm pot of milk on the stove top. She walked down the darkened hallway without the use of a candle. Evver had become accustomed to making her way in the darkness. As a young child, she used to be afraid of the dark, but as she had learned there were real monsters in the world; the darkness had become a comforting friend. As she neared the kitchen, she could hear voices coming from down the hallway.
She froze in her tracks as she waited to see if they were coming her way. The voices stayed static, unmoving. Evver took tentative steps as she inched closer to the warming light. Recognizing the voices, her heart sank. It was Lote and Drayben. Evver wanted to run in the opposite direction, but she was also curious as to why they were meeting so late at night.
“Tomorrow? If I work all night, then I can have it done.” Lote said reluctantly.
“Then you must. King Tommit and Aurora will marry in the morning and I want her to look like a queen.”
Evver inhaled sharply. Thankfully they didn’t notice. She did not stay behind to hear the rest of the sordid details; instead, she rushed toward the stables. It was the least guarded spot around the castle. Some nights, Cassius even slept there. She had to find him. He had to know. Evver moved as quickly as her tiny feet could carry her.
She prayed all the way that she would make it to Cassius in time.