The HeartStone Path

The HeartStone Path cont.

CHAPTER 25

The wedding the next day was beautiful.  I stood across from Prince Aerron in the line of ladies and lords who stood with the bride and groom.  The King and Queen graciously stood with them as their seconds.  I could see the look in his eyes throughout the ceremony.  He was picturing a different wedding. 

There were no attacks, though.  Only laughter and good wishes for the newlyweds.  The following feast and dance were what the wedding in the north should have been like.  I felt bad again for the Queen and her fated wedding to her King.

Cleo, now a common sight next to the Queen, stood with Cam and chatted happily with him.  Rhiannon was dancing with Lord Roman and, surprisingly enough, was laughing at something he said.  Aine was wrapped up in Rafe’s arms as he stood behind her and watched the dancers with her.

Prince Aerron sensed my mood and kept me on the side with the spectators.  His hand was resting comfortably on my waist but tightened when Tristan led Lady Gemadine to the dance floor.  “I can take you out to dance so you don’t have to watch,” he offered.

“I don’t care anymore,” I sighed.  I truly didn’t.

“You won’t have to watch much longer,” he said, nodding towards the middle of the floor.

The King and Queen had started the call for a kiss that would precede the parade that would follow the new couple to their rooms.  No one stood around to watch anymore, to make sure the marriage was consummated.  But the bridal parade tradition still hung on.

We followed along with the rest of the court while the people at the front carried the new bride and groom to their rooms.  People cheered and toasted them and yelled advice as they traipsed through the hallways.  Once safely in their rooms, with all of their gifts, the groom closed the door on all of the shouts with a smile.

“That will be us some day,” I overheard Lady Gemadine say to Tristan as they walked by. 

Tristan looked pained and tired.  I don’t know how he put up with her incessant talking.  It used to bother me, but it was funny by that point.  He made his bed.

“Hurry up,” I said to Prince Aerron, “It’s our watch tonight.”

He kissed my forehead and rushed off in to the crowd.  I lingered a moment, catching the eye of my sisters, before I turned for my rooms.  They knew that it was my turn for watch with the Prince.  Rhiannon and Lord Roman had kept watch the night before.

I reached the garden just as he dropped in.  “Ready for a boring night of staring at snow,” I asked him.

“At least I have an excuse to hold you,” he said, pulling me close.

I grunted when I landed against his hard body.  “And what is that,” I huffed.

“Body heat,” he said simply.  “I hate the cold.”

Ugh.  Fae.  I let him hold on to me even though I knew he was full of it.  He didn’t feel cold the same way the rest of us did.  I may have been long lived, but I still suffered in the cold like others. 

The snow continued to fall gently around us as we watched for any signs of a fire out in the forests beyond the city.  I was about to turn my attention to Prince Aerron, and the question that needed answering.  There were better ways to stay warm up here.  But then I caught the barest slip of smoke in the trees to the south.  I pulled away from him and jolted to the wall.

“Do you see it,” I whispered.

He nodded, shifted, and took off.  I waited patiently while he flew towards the smoke we had seen.  There hadn’t been any sign of demon scouts in weeks.  Not in any of the kingdoms.  Of course, it would happen on the night I was about to tell Prince Aerron something important.  I groaned and sent the signal to my sisters and the Queen.

By the time he landed back on the wall, I wasn’t the only one huddled in a fur lined cloak for warmth waiting on him.  Rhiannon had arrived with Roman, which I desperately had wanted to ask her about.  Cam stood close to Cleo and Rafe was holding on to Aine.  The only other person not being shielded from the blowing snow like me, was the Queen.  She put a hand over her lower stomach and stepped towards Prince Aerron as he shifted.

“How many,” she asked bluntly.

“Twice what we have seen before,” he said hotly.

The Queen swore under her breath.  “Take care of it.  I have to alert the other kingdoms.”

Prince Aerron nodded and reached for me and my sisters.  Without a word to those around us, we grasped his hands and arms and let him weave us out to where he had seen the demons.  I didn’t worry about those we had left on the roof.  This was normal by now.  All of them kept the secret for the Queen and her King.  I made the mistake of reaching out to my Tuillaryn on a whim.

I felt him in his rooms.  He wasn’t alone.  Lady Gemadine was with him, babbling about how happy her father would be and how they would have a new manor built on their land and on and on.  All I felt from Tristan was cool indifference, but she was in his lap and was pulling off his shirt.  I slammed the door on the bond and a hot rage filled me.

I didn’t stamp down on the power filling me that I had never felt before.  The runes flared to life on my skin and I unleashed myself on the demon camp.  I moved with lethal efficiency through the bodies of lesser and higher demons.  Everything slowed down as I sliced through necks and cut down demons before they even knew what hit them.  It was like a dance, like Prince Aerron had tried to teach me so long ago.  Every move was effortless.

When it was over, I stood on the edge of the killing field I had created and stared at my sisters.  No one moved a muscle.  The Prince just stared at me.  Aine was finally spurred in to action and began searching through the bags around the fallen for any information.  Rhiannon shook her head and stepped out in the trees to look for any I may have missed. 

I waited patiently for them to finish their tasks.  Prince Aerron wouldn’t take his eyes off of me.  He looked at me with a mixture of awe, love and fear.  It was the fear that got me.  I had scared him on a deep, instinctual level and I could feel it in my bones.  No one wanted to touch me when it was time to leave as there wasn’t an inch of me that wasn’t covered in back ichor. 

I was about to reach for Prince Aerron’s arm when I felt something dark slide against my soul.  I fell to my knees, doubled over and was violently sick.  He reached my side first and held on to me as I retched over and over, black ichor and what looked like tar poured out of my mouth.  It was pain like I had never experienced before.  My body pushed to rid itself of whatever it was and I could feel it draining me. 

When I couldn’t hold myself up anymore, I fell on to my side.  The instinctual part of me reached out an arm and flung witch fire at the blackness that had spilled out of me and was now trying to pull itself together in to something.  Strong arms caught me and held me close.  I was numb and unbelievably tired.  I was vaguely aware of Rhiannon and Aine grabbing on to the Prince and weaving back to the rooftop garden.

There was a flurry of activity around Prince Aerron as he rushed to get me down the stairs to my room.  In my bathroom, Cleo and Rhiannon helped strip the ichor-soaked clothes off of Prince Aerron and me.  When I tried to pull away, Rhiannon screamed and told me to not let go of him no matter what.  She looked absolutely terrified, so I listened to her.

Aine raced back in to the bathroom, her arms full of vials, candles and little bundles of sage.  We were pushed in to the shower, under blessed hot water, and told to wash thoroughly.  It took everything I had to stay standing and leaning against the Prince.  I couldn’t figure out why I had to stay close to him, but Rhiannon looked scared enough that I wasn’t about to question her. 

I watched from the shower as my sisters, Cleo and the Queen moved frantically around the room setting out and lighting candles, lighting sage and running a steaming hot bath that Aine was pouring measured amounts of liquids in to.  A part of me was curious, but a larger part just wanted to go to sleep.

Finished with the shower, the Prince picked me up and carried me to the full bathtub.  Carefully, he settled in to the water, still holding on to me.  I fought hard to keep my eyes open and tried to focus on what my sisters were saying to me.  It frustrated me a little because I could see their lips moving, but I couldn’t understand anything they were saying.  Every time I started to close my eyes, someone made me open them again.

 Why was everyone so upset?

I was barely starting to feel my body again when I heard the door to my room bang open and angry footsteps marched towards the bathroom.  I watched Rhiannon get up and head out to face whatever was coming.  The door she slammed behind her didn’t muffle the conversation in the least.

“What in the Gods name are you doing here,” she demanded angrily.

“What is wrong with Mor?”, the other voice demanded louder.  Tristan.

“What do you care?  You haven’t so much as looked at her in months,” Rhiannon shot back.

“That’s not fair.  You know what…”, he started.

“I know what we were told and yet everyone has found a way around it except for you.  Our Tuillaryns have been helping us while you have been warming the bed of the Queen’s rival,” Rhiannon yelled.

“It’s not what you think,” he finally said.  “Please.  Just tell me how she is and what happened.”

“You don’t deserve to know,” Rhiannon said.  “Prince Aerron was there instead of you.  That’s all you need to know.  He has been there all this time, instead of you.  He saved her life tonight, instead of you.  Honestly, I don’t know why Morrigan refuses to break the bond with you.”

“Let me see her,” Tristan said in a dangerous voice.

“No,” Rhiannon said simply.  “Go back to your w***e.  We will take care of my sister.  We don’t’ need you.  She doesn’t need you.”

“She is my Tuillaryn,” he tried.

“Really.  You could have fooled me.  From where I sit, he is.  Not you.  Get out,” Rhiannon shot back.

“Just,” Tristan said, defeated.  “take care of Mor.”

“Don’t worry,” Rhiannon said hotly, “he will.”

It was over the top and I had never heard Rhiannon be that petty with anyone before.  I could only attribute it to her fear of losing me.  The edge of it had been behind every word she had yelled at Tristan.  When she came back in to the bathroom, she was brushing tears from her eyes.

Slowly, I felt like I was coming back to my body again.  I could understand what my sisters, Cleo and the Queen were saying to each other.  Then I could feel the water around me and noticed how cloudy the water was.  I moved a hand through the water, marveling at the feel of it, when I realized that I could feel a distinctly male body holding me.

I shot across the tub and tried to climb out.  My sisters screamed and pushed me back in to the water where I huddled at the other end of the bathtub.  Shaking, I looked to them for an explanation as to why I was in a bathtub with Prince Aerron.

“You killed fifteen Shadow Elves,” Aine said quietly.  As if that explained everything.

“Their darkness tried to enter you,” Rhiannon explained.  “Your body rejected it, but it nearly choked out your life force.  When he caught you before you fell, your life force tied itself to his to sustain it.  Aine remembered the old spell to separate them.”

“We couldn’t separate your bodies until it was safe,” the Queen said.  “Even now, you can’t leave that bath until the water is clear.  Then we will know that you two have been safely separated and that you will live if you are not in complete contact with him.”

I shivered when the memory of what happened finally came back to me.  I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my forehead on my knees.  The words Rhiannon had said to Tristan made sense.  It should have been him that had saved my life.  Not the Prince.  It’s why I was bound to Tristan in the first place.

Kai pushed her way through the door and padded over to the side of the tub where I was huddled.  She laid down and put her face right next to mine.  It was as close as she could get while I still sat in the spelled water.  My sisters, the Queen and Cleo finally gave up their vigil and went to bed, leaving me with Prince Aerron and Kai.

I must have drifted off to sleep because the next thing I knew, I was being lifted gently out of the water and wrapped in a towel.  The Prince, already fully clothed, settled me on one of the overstuffed benches and set to drying my body and hair the best he could.  I stared numbly at the now clear water of the bath while he dressed me then brushed my hair.  I couldn’t find my voice to speak to him when he carried me to my bed and tucked me in.  I was surprised that he didn’t try to lay down next to me.  Instead, he called for Kai to lay down next to me to keep me warm and he kissed me goodnight. 

When I heard the doors of my room close, I rolled towards Kai and wrapped my arms around her, desperately needing the feeling of something safe and warm.  Bit by bit, full consciousness returned, and I started to be able to move myself around. 

Fully awake, I jumped from the bed and pulled on pants and boots.  My first stop was my little study where I wrote to Boudicca.  I told her everything and demanded answers.  When I was finished, I raced down the stairs to the Master without waiting for Boudicca’s answer. 

CHAPTER 26

The Master was absolutely distraught when he saw me and listened to what I told him.  Helian was deathly pale and refused to say a word.  I was even more frustrated that he hadn’t warned me about the Shadow Elves and what happened when they were killed.  Though it finally made sense.  It’s why the legions could never be defeated.  When a Shadow Elf was killed, its darkness invaded the being that dealt the killing blow and that being became the Shadow Elf.

“I didn’t think they had been released,” the Master mumbled.

“How could you not?!” I yelled.  “The third heartstone was found.  Surely that would mean that her legions are loose in the realms.”

“How many did you say you killed,” Helian asked quietly.

“Fifteen,” I answered.  “At least, that’s what my sisters told me.”

“And your body rejected the darkness?”, the Elf asked, a little more sure of his voice.

“Yes, but barely.  My life force, who knew that was a thing, apparently tied itself to Prince Aerron to survive.  Aine had to use a spell to separate them,” I said, crossing my arms angrily.

“I remember teaching her that spell,” the Master said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.  “I never thought she would need to use it.  It’s the same spell needed to break the bond with a Tuillaryn.  Other than death, of course.”

“What,” I said flatly.

“If it had been Tristan with you, that spell would have severed your bond completely.  You would have had to perform the rites all over again,” the Master explained.

“The prophecy,” I mumbled to myself.

“Yes,” the Master answered.  “Boudicca and I believe that that particular prophecy is about you.  Distancing you from your Tuillaryn would have been an over cautious precaution, but one she must have thought necessary.”

“But why the Mineralage family,” I asked.  “That doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Doesn’t it?”, the Master said thoughtfully.

I knew that tone of voice.  He was trying to get me to see something that I was missing.  I mulled over the events from the time we arrived in the Realm up until the moment I came to in that bathtub.  We had been close in the North.  Then, on the day we left, Tristan had been extremely distant.  Cold even.  We had all read the same reports about Queen Arianna’s kingdom.  The different nobles and their places in the council.  There was a reason Boudicca didn’t trust the Mineralage family.  But how could she have known that I was going to face Shadow Elves?  That wasn’t part of the prophecy.  Unless she was betting on how reckless I can be when I’m angry.

I got up and paced the chamber.  There were so many different pieces I was trying to put together.  The prophecy spoke of a child that would be born that would possess the power to imprison Hel once again.  It warned against the fate of that child facing Hel too soon.  But I had never believed that that prophecy was about me.  There were other prophecies, of course.  Then there was that family.  I was missing something important that I couldn’t put my finger on.  Then it hit me.

“Ledgers.  I need to see the castle ledgers on the noble families,” I said quickly.

The Master smiled at me and nodded towards the door.  I flung my arms around him in a tight hug and ran up the stairs to my room.  It was dawn, so I rushed around my room to get dressed and ran to find my sisters and the Queen.  Thankfully, they were all in the Queen’s outer chamber sitting down to breakfast.  Aine dropped the roll that was halfway to her mouth when she saw me burst through the door.

“The palace ledgers,” I said quickly.

“What?”, the Queen asked.

I dropped a thick ward over the room and repeated what I said.  “I need to see the ledgers of every noble family on the council,” I said slower.

“But what does that have to do with…” Aine started.

“Wealth,” Cleo said with a smile.  “I knew there was something about the Mineralage family that I was forgetting.  They are an old family, yes, but before I was born, they lost their fortune somehow.  Some think it was gambled away by previous lords of the house.  Then, when I was young, their fortune returned and then some.  They became rivals to the royal family in terms of wealth.”

“Sounds odd to me,” Rhiannon said.  “What do you want to do.”

“We have to look at the castle records,” I said.  “There will be yearly audits of each noble family when they tithe to the realm, right?  And there will be accounts of major losses and gains, yes?”

“Of course, there would be,” the Queen said.  “Follow me.”

She led us through the empty corridors to the smaller chamber just off of the council chamber where all of the records were held.  We spread out and searched for any mention of the Mineralage family.  The one that Cleo found was obviously altered.  Aine could feel the difference. 

“This isn’t right,” Cleo frowned.

“No, it isn’t,” Aine agreed.  “This ledger is much newer than the others written at the same time.  So where is the original?”

“Where indeed,” said the Queen. 

We searched the chamber for hidden compartments, locked drawers, secret spaces and spelled parts of the wall.  I almost missed a loose stone in the far corner of the room.  It took me a few tries, but I finally found the right spell to open it.  But there was nothing there.  Whatever had been there had been removed.  Recently.

“We have no choice, then,” Aine said.  “We have to search their manor.”

“And how are you going to do that?”, Cleo asked.

“They are at court right now, right?” Rhiannon asked.

“Yes,” the Queen answered.  “According to etiquette and law, they serve at my pleasure and must stay at court as long as I require them to.”

“Then it’s settled,” Rhiannon said.  “Keep them at court.  Mor will weave us in with Cleo and we will search the manor.”

“I would feel better if you took Prince Aerron and Lord Roman with you,” the Queen said.

“We don’t need them,” Rhiannon said crossly.

“Yes, you do,” the Queen said.  “If you see something, I need the word of the General of my guard and the Fae King will only listen to his own son.”

“She is right,” Aine said.

I rolled my eyes and groaned.  “Fine, I’ll tell him.  We have to go tonight.  We can’t take the chance that Lord Mineralage finds out we were in here looking for something.”

Aine put the room back together to look exactly how we found it and erased all traces of us having been there.  The Queen used forgotten corridors to lead us back to her rooms.   The castle had started to come to life for the day and we would have to be seen throughout the day like normal.

The Queen, lovable genius that she was, demanded a walk in the gardens with escorts that afternoon.  Safely away from the castle and out in the cold that almost everyone avoided, I was able to talk to Aerron about our little rushed plan. 

“You’re mad, the lot of you,” Prince Aerron grumbled.

“Does that mean you won’t help us?”, I asked quietly.

“Of course, I’m going to help you.  It’s utter madness, though,” he said.

“I know, but we don’t have any other choice.  The Queen is running out of excuses to keep them at court.  Most families have returned to their estates or are preparing to leave,” I reasoned.  “Her council will stay on a little longer only because they are waiting for her to fail.”

“Tonight, then,” he sighed.

“Yes,” I answered.

“How are you feeling,” he asked, pulling me closer with the arm he had around my waist.

“I don’t want to think about it,” I said.

“Oh,” he said quietly.

“Not about you saving my life,” I said quickly.  “I mean about what Shadow Elves being loose in the Realms mean.”

He smiled and hugged me tightly.  I was ashamed that I felt better when he kissed the top of my head and that he was going with us.

CHAPTER 27

That night, we wove to the Mineralage mountain manor.  Cleo wrapped a silent cloak around us when we set down outside of their walls.  I was worried about being seen for only a moment.  Cleo turned out to be a marvel.  We walked right through the front door and past the guards.

I ground my teeth when I noticed how the manor had been fashioned.  Not only did they have a full guard in their house colors, but they had their own court.  I briefly thought about setting everything on fire.  The Prince grabbed my hand and led me, my sisters and Lord Roman up the stairs in front of us to the second floor.  He was looking for an office or study or council chamber.  Something.  Anything.

His first guess was spot on.  It was Lord Mineralage’s private study.  Cleo expanded her gift to fill the room and I dropped a thick ward around it.  We spread out and looked through all of the books, ledgers and journals.  It was in his desk that we found exactly what we needed.  Prince Aerron found a false bottom under the desk and pried it open with blood runes.

We pulled everything out and set it on the desk.  The journals were especially illuminating.  Fifteen years ago, Lord Mineralage had indeed been as poor as the people who lived on his land.  His grandfather had bankrupted the entire family and the mines had quit producing.  There was mention of meeting a new partner, then the death of his wife.  Cleo was wrong.  Lady Mineralage didn’t die from a sickness like the entire kingdom believed.  She had been sacrificed for the mines to begin producing again.

Not only did the mines start producing, but three more were opened within the year of her death.  He detailed replacing the ledgers in the capital city and the court he started to build.  It was horrible to read.  The lies, the subterfuge, the plan to remove the Queen from the throne. 

Rhiannon jumped and ran to the door.  Someone was coming.  Aine whispered a spell to copy everything we had found.  Within moments, we had exact copies and transferred them in to a bag that Lord Roman carried strapped across his body.  Prince Aerron and I put everything back where we found it, Rhiannon and Aine rid the room of any trace of us and Cleo began to shrink the shield around us after I dropped the ward.  We snuck on to the balcony outside and waited.  The others wanted to go, but I had a feeling that we needed to stay.

Wrapped in Cleo’s shield, I watched as a tall man entered the room.  He checked that he wasn’t followed, then locked the doors behind him.  He looked normal enough, but the edges around his body were blurred.  It was a Shadow Elf masquerading as a Human.  This must be the partner that was mentioned.  I held my breath has he summoned a dark orb from out of the wood paneling near the desk. 

The orb drifted until it was right in front of the man.  He waved his hand and the orb began to turn slowly, the inside of the swirling madly like a chaotic storm.  The man began to pace around the room with his hands behind his back, completely confident that he was alone.  The voice that came through the orb was pure evil.

“Where is Lord Mineralage,” the voice asked.

“The Queen is keeping him at court.  We don’t know why yet,” he answered.

“Do they suspect?”, the voice asked.

“No,” he answered.  “They don’t know anything.  The scouts must be keeping them busy.”

“Any sign of the Order?”, the orb hissed.

“No, my lady.  They are absent from the realm.  I must say, it’s odd,” he answered.

“Odd, yes, but not unexpected.  We have his cooperation this time,” the orb chuckled.

“And you trust this, my lady?”, the Shadow Elf asked, turning to the orb.

“Of course, I do.  That ridiculous prophecy was too easy for our Lord to rush.  You dare question him.  Or me,” the orb hissed.

The Shadow Elf chuckled to himself.  “Her Races are such interesting and simple creatures.”

“Yes.  And easily controlled.  Is Mineralage ready?”, the orb hissed again.

“Yes.  The kingdom will fall when you arrive.  There has been absolutely no mention of the scouts at any council meeting.  The lord is on the privy council here, so he would know immediately if something was happening,” the Shadow Elf said, waving his hand like he was swatting away an insect.

“You chose well, then,” the orb said happily.

“I am pleased that you approve, my lady,” the Shadow Elf said graciously.

“What of this boy that the daughter is so taken with?  He is all I see or hear in her insipid mind,” the orb said angrily.

“Oh, that one.  Trustworthy, easily controlled.  He’s from a wealthy family in the Northern kingdom.  Vahl’streal.  He will be instrumental in your victory there,” the Shadow Elf said, bored of conversation now.

“He is not close with that Northern pup?”, the orb asked.

“In fact, no.  Rivals from childhood.  He and the King cannot stand each other.  Neither of them are happy about his appointment as the king’s guard,” he answered.

“How fortuitous, then,” the orb said skeptically.

“I thought it was too convenient at first, as well, my lady.  But he has since proven himself to be on our side,” he said confidently.

“This needs to be over soon, then.  I cannot stand that girl’s thoughts much longer.  That she thinks she will live to have this ridiculous wedding is absurd.  What have you been telling them, Vinor?”, the orb complained.

“Only what they need to know.  Which is nothing.  They are puppets, my lady, nothing more,” the Shadow Elf sighed.  “These Races are painfully predictable.  Offer a bit of wealth and power and they will turn on their own blood.”

“They never have grasped the concept of honor,” the orb spat out.

“Which works in our favor.  Everything is nearly in place, my lady.  Are you ready?”, he finally asked.

“One would almost think you miss me, Vinor,” the orb cooed.  “The southern kingdom is the perfect entrance, like you said.  I will reach the continent soon.  For now, let that girl plan her wedding.  They may actually prove useful once this is all over.  I am going to need slaves to rule in the realms.  She is easily controlled, so I may let them live.  The father has certainly proven his usefulness,” the orb reasoned.

“As you wish, my lady,” the Shadow Elf said, bowing.  “I will inform the Lord.  The court is in place here.  A wedding and a quick war, then this kingdom is yours.  The rest will fall quickly.  The Fae King has not interfered in the affairs of this realm for centuries.  He’s not about to start.  You were right.  He is too consumed with his own desire for power.”

“Excellent.  Your brief has been pleasing, Vinor.  I will be with you soon,” the orb said.

“As you will, my lady,” the Shadow Elf said. 

The orb stopped it’s spinning and traveled across the room to the wall where it had been hidden.  The Shadow Elf sat down at the desk and began to write the letter to Lord Mineralage to let him know his dark mistress’s wishes.

I grabbed everyone and wove us to an area of the forests close to the southern border.  I needed to kill something.  Luck had been with me and we landed close to another demon band.  I handed Cleo to Rhiannon and took off towards the camp.  By the time the others reached me, there was nothing left. Everything was dead.  Even their mounts.  I waited not so patiently for Aine and Rhiannon to gather up information.  When they were finished, I flicked my hand and turned everything to ash.  Prince Aerron took hold of my sisters and Lord Roman and reached for me. 

I wove back to the garden myself.  The others landed moments after I did.  It gave me long enough to see the faces of those we had left behind.  The Queen paled markedly inside of her warm cloak but didn’t say anything to me.  Aine silently handed her the information we had found, and Lord Roman told her about the conversation we had overheard.  Quietly, everyone left the roof down the stairs Rhiannon had conjured on the side of the tower.

I shook my head at Prince Aerron.  I didn’t want to talk, and I didn’t want him to touch me.  I wanted a bath.  And something else to kill.  I thought I didn’t care about Tristan and what he did.  I knew Lady Gemadine’s father had been planning something for a while, but this…this was too much.

When I got to my room, I started peeling off my nearly destroyed clothing.  Weapons clattered to the floor next to discarded clothing in a trail to my bathroom.  I just wanted to wash everything out of my hair.  The ichor was next to impossible to get out unless it was cleaned right away.  I decided I would burn my clothes rather than try to salvage them when I was finished.  I had been wearing a shirt I had taken from Tristan all of those months ago.  I didn’t flinch when it turned to ash like everything else.

I didn’t hear the angry voice behind me when I stomped in to my shower and turned on the water.  The hot water was glorious.  I stood under it and felt the tears slipping down my cheeks as the ichor was slowly washed from my body.  My tears spent, I turned off the water and decided that soaking in a bath was the best for relaxing.  I rolled my eyes when I saw Tristan standing in my bathroom.  Great.  I was hallucinating.

Tristan took an angry step towards me and yelled, “What in the name of all that is holy do you think you are doing?!”

Shit.  Not hallucinating.  “Um, taking a bath,” I said.

“You came back covered in ICHOR.  Again!” he yelled.

“Stop yelling,” I said, turning on the hot water.

“How long has this been going on?”, he demanded.

“Aerron?  Or killing demons,” I asked, testing the water temperature before sliding in to the tub.

“We will talk about that godsdamned fairie later,” he yelled.

“I won’t talk to you as long as you keep yelling,” I said, closing my eyes.

He growled, but lowered his voice, “How long has this been going on,” he asked through clenched teeth.

“I don’t know.  A few months?”, I said, slipping lower in the water.

“And the fairie,” he growled again.

I groaned.  “Nothing has happened with Aerron.”  I wasn’t sure when I had become comfortable with referring to the Prince by his given name, but it was making Tristan turn delightful shades of red.

“But he’s been going out killing those things with you,” he said slowly.

I rolled my eyes.  So, now he cared.  “He happened to notice Rhiannon, Aine and me on the roof the first night we saw the first fire.  He wasn’t going to let us go alone.”

“The Queen,” he said.

“Knows and sends us out,” I supplied.

“Boudicca,” he started.

“Also knows,” I finished.  “The other kingdoms know and have been killing demons, too.  Scouts, we think.  Nothing bigger than a squad.”

I could feel the anger rolling off of him and I didn’t care.  He had been in the arms of that horrid woman and had the nerve to come to my room still smelling like her.  Like what I imagined a Keirhold whorehouse must smell like.

“What are you thinking, Mor,” he said quietly.

That did it.  “Don’t call me that,” I growled.

“What?”, he said.

“Don’t call me ‘Mor’ like nothing has changed,” I said through my teeth.  “Go back to Lady Gemadine.  I’m sure she is getting lonely in your bed.”

He growled and pulled me out of the bathtub and pinned me against the wall.  “Do you not pay attention to anything,” he said holding my wrists roughly against the wall.

I stared back at him angrily.  “I know that demons have been scouting every kingdom in this Realm, not just this continent, and you are setting a f*****g wedding date,” I said, my voice rising.

“I’m not marrying that awful woman, Morrigan,” he yelled back.

“Right, so you just let her in your rooms to f**k you for the hell of it because you don’t give two shits about her honor.  Or yours,” I said, pulling my wrists out of his hands.

“I’ve never…how did you know she was in my rooms,” he said slowly.

I rolled my eyes and tapped my right temple. 

He frowned at me.  “You closed the bond when we left the North.  I felt it.”

“I got stupidly sentimental the other night,” I said.

“I don’t…” he started.

“Oh, save it, Tristan.  I don’t care,” I said, turning towards my bedroom.

I made it about as far as my bed before I was spun around and pushed up against a wall again.  I glared at Tristan.  “This is getting old,” I said, trying to pull free.

“I will let you go if you promise to listen to me,” he said.

“Go cry to Gemadine,” I spat at him.

“Morrigan, please.  Five minutes, then I will leave, and you never have to talk to me again,” he begged.

“Fine.  But I’m not listening to anything until I can get dressed,” I said.

He stepped back, a horrified look on his face.  He just stood there, staring at his hands, as I got dressed in my night clothes and sat on my bed.  “Talk,” I said.

He pushed his hands through his hair, then sat next to me.  “Gemadine and her father, they have some plan to take the throne.  I read about it on the way down here in the notes Boudicca gave us from her spies.  Boudicca and King Curren asked me to befriend the Mineralage family by any means necessary because she was deeply suspicious of Lord Mineralage and his sudden change in circumstances fifteen years ago. I didn’t want to tell you about my plans because it had to look like you hated me. It turned out that Gemadine doesn’t like competition.  I haven’t figured out exactly what her father has planned, but he seems to think that getting his hands on the family wealth the king told him I have will further his plans.  I’ve been trying to learn more, but he won’t talk about the ‘family business’ until I’m family.  I just need enough to prove to the King and Queen who they really are, but I’m running out of time,” he finished sadly.

His head was in his hands.  He looked utterly defeated.  I sat there, running what he had said through my mind, and tried to piece it together with what we had found.  From Tristan’s point of view, all he saw was me getting further and further away from him, getting closer to Prince Aerron.  The court changing around him and nothing he could do because of the oath he had given Boudicca to keep everything a secret.  But I also know that he was corrupted somehow, and he had done something to prove his loyalty to Lord Mineralage.

I felt sick.  I had completely doubted my own Tuillaryn. 

Kai stepped through the balcony doors and stared at us for a moment.  She shook her head, slipped back in to her house cat form and made for the fire place.  Whatever we were doing, she wanted no part of it.

“Tristan,” I started.

“You don’t know what it’s been like, Morrigan,” he said.  “I have watched for months as you and the fairie have gotten closer and closer.  And there was nothing I could do.”

“I know exactly how it feels,” I whispered.

“I came here to tell you to stay out of my head, but I saw you come in covered in ichor.  Again.  Rhiannon couldn’t hide everything the last time you came back.  This time, you looked so empty,” he said.

“I was,” I said.  I am.  More than he knew.

“No one can know,” he said, turning to face me finally.

“I understand,” I said, resting my chin on my knees.

“I never abandoned you,” he said, reaching out a hand to me.

I put my hand in his.  “I won’t tell anyone.”

“When I leave this room, it goes back to how it was,” he said, dropping my hand.

“But it doesn’t have to,” I said, grabbing his shoulders to turn him to face me again.  “We can do this together.  I can find out what’s going on with you.  We are supposed to be a team.” 

I wanted to tell him everything.  I wanted to show him what we had found and what had happened.  Surely, he knew of the Shadow Elf that was Lord Mineralage’s business partner.

“If they think that I have friends in the royal household, I will lose everything,” he said.  “They only tell me things because they think I want to see Gemadine’s father on the throne.”

“There has to be another way,” I said.

“If there was, I would have already done it,” he sighed.

“But,” I started.

“Just be careful.  Please.  I’m glad someone is watching out for you,” he said sadly.

“Tristan, please,” I said, taking his face in my hands.

“I know the Master is here,” he said, looking at me with profound sadness in his eyes.  “I have felt him.  Listen to him.  Anything he has to say.  For now, that is all I can give you.  Until I can give Gemadine and her father to the King and Boudicca on a platter.”

I felt tears in my eyes again.  “I’ll do what I can.  Aerron,” I stopped.

“Is what you need right now,” he finished.  “Don’t let him chain you to the Fae lands.”

“I won’t.  I don’t want that,” I said.

“I know you don’t.  But I know you love him,” he said, taking my hands away from his face.  “I see it when you look at him and when he looks at you.”

“I don’t,” I started.

“You don’t love him like you love me.  I know,” he said.  “I love you, Mor.  Never forget that.”

“I love you, Tristan,” I whispered.

He laid his hand over my heart.  I couldn’t take it anymore and threw myself into his arms, needing to feel him hold me if even for a moment.  He froze briefly, then held me tighter than I was holding him.  He buried his face in my hair and took a deep breath. 

“Gods, I have missed you so much,” he breathed.

“I miss you, too,” I said, my tears soaking the shoulder of his shirt.

He leaned back, looking at my face for a moment.  I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me, for things to go back to the way they were before we left Vahl’strael.  He kissed my forehead and then let go of me and set me carefully back down on my bed.

“I love you, Mor,” he said sadly before he turned to walk out of my rooms. 

The closing of that door didn’t kill me, but something inside of me shattered apart.  I stared at the door he had walked out of for I don’t know how long.  Someone knocking on it startled me out of my stupor, though.  I quickly wiped my tears and made sure I looked like I had just climbed out of a bath, not had my heart ripped out of my chest.

Prince Aerron was on the other side of the door when I opened it.  I nodded and let him in.  There wasn’t much else that could have been done to me at that point.

“The Queen has been told,” he said softly after I closed the door and settled the ward back over my room.

I only nodded.

“Are you okay, Mor?”

“I’m just tired,” I lied.

“What happened tonight?”

“What?”

“In the clearing…”, he prompted.

“Oh.  I don’t know,” I said.

“You were…I’ve never seen anyone fight like you do.  Not even Rhiannon,” he said.

“I don’t know, Aerron.  It just happened,” I sighed, settling on the couch.

He sat down next to me and pulled me in to his arms.  This time, it didn’t so much as give me a shiver.  No part of me reacted other than me noticing that he was touching me.  I felt hollow.

“It was incredible,” he said.  “Beautiful, even.”

“I didn’t realize killing could be beautiful,” I snorted.

“Neither did I,” he said.

I let him hold me tighter and blinked back tears when he kissed my head.  The urge to reach out to Tristan through the bond was unbearable.  I kept telling myself that what he was doing was temporary, but the damage had been done.  I hadn’t trusted him, and he hadn’t been there for me.  We were Tuillaryn, we would continue to fight.  But whatever we had found when we were in Vahl’strael, was lost.  Our bond was unraveling.

He picked me up and carried me to my bed.  I didn’t object when he laid down behind me and curled his body around mine.  It felt nothing like Tristan, but it wasn’t all together awful.  I tried to feel something, to conjure up some feelings, but there was nothing there.  He seemed to know that I just needed to be held, so that is all he did.