Betrayals of Spring

2. Meliantha

2

MELIANTHA

- Five Years Later -

I jerk awake covered in sweat, while the memory of the dream comes flooding back to me. I have tried to forget that day, but it always comes back.

“Mel, are you OK?”

I look over to see Finn’s amber-colored eyes staring at me with worry. I try to force a smile to reassure him that I’m fine.

“I’m alright, Finn, it was just another nightmare. Go back to sleep,” I reply softly.

He quirks his eyebrow to let me know he doesn’t believe me. He leans up to kiss me, and I gently kiss him back. His tongue traces my bottom lip and he moans against my mouth. Satisfied with the kiss, he rolls over on his side and slowly drifts back to sleep. The deep rumble of his breathing lets me know he is sound asleep. I wish I could fall into the realm of dreams that fast. These days I am lucky to get even a couple of hours of sleep.

Finn is one of our warriors in the Summer Court and has been for one-hundred and fifty years. We’ve been lovers for almost five years. It began not long after the ordeal with Kalen. I guess you could say he was there to mend my broken heart. According to the prophecy, I am one of the Four. That means I will be drawn to another to complete the magic I am destined to fulfill, just like Calista and Ryder. They are now King and Queen of the Fall Court and have expanded their powers in the Land of the Fae.

Finn knows that one day I will no longer be his, and that he has to accept that. Our time together is amazing, and I enjoy his company as well as the intimacy. His attitude changes in bed sometimes from being soft and sensual to being rough and possessive. It has concerned me on numerous occasions. On the rough nights, our encounters tend to be a little wild and heated. I can honestly say I have enjoyed some of those nights, but sometimes it gets a little too rough—my sense of danger spikes to a whole new level when he gets like that. Every time I mention it to him he seems not to understand a word I’m saying. It’s like he can’t remember some of the things he’s done. It doesn’t happen often, but I have learned to be more alert around him when his mood changes.

I stare at Finn. He’s lying peacefully in my bed. I wish that I could love him, but the feelings never come. I care for him and have a deep respect for him, but I know in my heart that I will never fully love him. I reach over to play with his silky, long, blond hair that flows past his shoulders and is splayed across the pillow. He always keeps it pulled back when he trains, but when we’re in bed together he lets it hang loose because he knows that is how I like it. He looks ethereal when he has his hair down. His face is always smooth and his smile is angelically beautiful. He may have the face of an angel, but his fierce temper and battling skills would claim otherwise. Sometimes I wonder why he stays with me knowing it will never last. There are so many Summer faeries here that would kill for a chance to be with him. Maybe one day he will find one. His hair glides through my fingers as I gently twist it around. His blond hair is so white it illuminates in the glow of the candlelight in my room. It’s so white it looks like snow.

I silently groan at the thought of snow and it sends a sharp pain straight to my stomach. I wish to all the heavens and the stars that I could just forget about a certain Winter Prince and that dreadful day in the past. I close my eyes and I lean back on my pillow. I can’t stop my mind from recalling all of the events from the last five years.

Calista and Ryder’s court has flourished with love and life. They now have a two-year-old son named after her fallen Guardian, Merrick. He is the cutest little boy and what’s strange is he looks exactly like a little version of Merrick, except for the eyes. His golden blond hair is long, and it curls at the ends, giving him a cherub look. His big, round eyes are the ice blue color of Ryder’s and it’s the first thing everyone notices in his tiny face. I can almost see Merrick looking out through those eyes, and it makes me wonder if some of his essence inside Calista was passed on to him. I haven’t seen him much until recently, now that I have been allowed to travel. I was on house arrest for years because of the threat of the dark sorcerer. It’s been five years now and nothing has gone amiss. Being cooped up in this palace for that long has left me in a foul mood. I’m twenty-five years old and I refuse to be treated like a prisoner.

I am no longer the shy and timid princess of before. Thanks to Calista and her demands to my father, King Oberon, I now train for battle with the warriors. She disclosed how she trained with Merrick for all those years and how she’s a skilled dagger thrower. I knew she was strong, but I had no clue she was that skilled. It hurt that she didn’t trust me enough to tell me, but I know she had her reasons. I train every morning with my brother, Drake, and my Guardian, Ashur. Training has made me strong, both mentally and physically. I have found that I’m excellent with the bow and arrow, and just like Calista, I never miss my target. There is one secret I have kept to myself and told no other. I have always had my ability to do anything I desired with nature, whether with plants, trees, grass, or land.

I still have an affinity for animals as well, but a new magic has occurred in me. I didn’t figure it out until a couple of years ago when one of my sprites had a flying accident by running into a tree. Her wing was severely damaged, and it didn’t look like she would ever be able to fly again. I heard her wailing in the garden, so I ran over to see what had happened. I saw her lying on the ground screaming in agony. Since sprites are very small, I scooped her up in my hands and began looking at her wing. I remember feeling a strong emotion surging through my body. I wanted to help her so badly. Then, almost instantly, the magic happened. I could feel a buzzing throughout my body like it was traveling through my bloodstream, and then out of nowhere it blasts from my fingertips. The power exploded into the sprite’s wing, and then, a few moments later, the wing was miraculously healed. I haven’t used my healing capabilities since. I don’t know if it was a fluke, but I haven’t actually tried to heal anything since then. This type of information would be valuable to the dark sorcerer and it’s not something I want spread around the Land of the Fae.

When I turned twenty-one four years ago I had my Guardian Ceremony. I expected to see Kalen there, but he didn’t show up. He had come to the palace one day long before the ceremony asking if he could see me, but I strongly declined. Why he came to see me again, I don’t know. Ever since that day at the gardens, I wanted to avoid him at all cost. King Madoc and Queen Mab came, so I guess there was no need for Kalen to attend. It’s definitely a good thing he didn’t come, because now if he says anything cruel to me, I will gladly show him how I’m not weak anymore. Training and eating more has filled my body out with curves and muscle. I had to get a whole new set of clothes to fit my newly formed body. My old frame was frail and breakable and thinking back to how I used to be disgusts me. How could I have been so weak? Nothing and no one is going to hurt me now. I have never felt more confident than I do in this moment. It’ll definitely shock Kalen when he sees me tomorrow.

The Winter Solstice Ball is tomorrow night and we are headed to the Winter Court in the morning which happens to only be a few short hours away. Once the sun peeks over the horizon I will be packing and loading up to head out with my family, my Guardian, Elissa, and Finn. I have asked Naida, my servant, to stay behind so she could spend some time with her family while I was gone. We are scheduled to stay for two days and I can already feel deep within my gut that it’s going to be a visit from hell. I will be staying in one of the guest houses with Ariella and Elissa during the visit.

My eyes feel heavy and they burn like someone has thrown a handful of salt in them. I rub them to help clear the feeling, but I know it is from the lack of sleep. My body feels tired and it’s beginning to wear down on my sanity. I need to be in top shape when we leave to go to the Winter Court. I turn over on my side toward Finn’s back and I drape my arm across his stomach as I move closer to his warm body. The golden band wrapped around his upper arm feels cold against my chest. It was given to him as a gift a couple years ago from the Dwarf Kingdom when my special arrows were delivered. I found it odd they would give him such a fine gift, but I was told from the messenger that Durin, the Dwarf leader, had made it for him in honor of me. I haven’t seen Durin in years, but he’ll be at the Solstice Ball. I will have plenty of chances to catch up with him. Finn moves his body back against mine and lets out a contented moan in his sleep. I breathe him in deeply, and the smell of a summer breeze fills my lungs along with his heady scent of being pure male. I close my eyes and slowly drift off into a much needed dreamless sleep.