Maldows Isles

Chapter Eight

Amaria's POV

As I take in my surrounding I slowly place Ash and me back on the ground. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into his comforting embrace. My father steps towards me to do the same, the tears start then.

"Little lily I didn't want you to see this. I had no idea Sariyah would hurt her mother." He places his hands on my back.

"She's cruel, dad. How am I supposed to face her when she doesn't care for her blood." The tears are falling faster now. They hit the ground, but I had other plans for them. Concentrating on the water they begin to make a slow descent towards the scorched ground.

Calissa's eyes follow my tears, her eyes widening as she sees water from the nearby houses leaving their buildings. I concentrate harder, begging the water to cleanse the earth of Sariyah's evil. As soon as the water touches the scorched land, beautiful lilies and green grass take their place.

"Amaria..." Ash looks at me, smiling proudly, "You have another element. No one will question you being the rightful heir now."

When Ash says this the realization dawns on me. These are my people to protect, this is my realm. I may not know the first thing about ruling one, but I will do my best to save its people, my people, from Sariyah. No one will have to go through what my maternal grandparents and Ash's family have gone through ever again, not as long as I'm here.

"Dad, does Sariyah know you knew where grandma was hidden?"

"I have no idea, little lily. I've only come here once, right after I met your mother." He answers.

Nodding I say, "This is where we will stay for a while. I need to gain full control of my elements. When I feel confident in my skills, and only then, we will seek out the other villages. We will form our army, and when the time is right we will take back my realm." I stride towards the closest house, "Dad I want to begin training first thing in the morning, I will see everyone then." I enter the house before anyone tries to argue with me, heading up the stairs, I look for a room. Once I find one I step inside of it, only to find an empty child's room. This causes the tears to come again, I take a deep breath and leave in search of another room.

I hear the door opening and closing, "Amaria," Ash calls out.

"Upstairs, second door on the right," I call out as I go inside of that room. It is not another child's room, which hurts a little less. When Ash finds me I'm lying on the bed.

"I can't promise to shield you from all the hurt Sariyah has brought upon this realm, but I can promise you that I will be here fighting with you to right this wrong," he says as he lays next to me.

I roll over until my body is pressed into his side, throwing my arms around his waist, "I know you will, but I don't want you to feel like you are forced to because of this mate bond."

He tilts my chin up and kisses me slowly, my body instantly responding to his touch. When I sigh against his lips, he takes the opportunity to slide his tongue against mine, deepening the kiss. His hand finds its way into my hair, tugging it softly to tilt my head back more.

After a few more moments he pulls back slowly, his hand still in my hair, as his purple eyes lock with mine, "This mate bond has nothing to do with this Amaria. Yes, it draws me to you, but I want to be by your side. I have waited my whole life for you." I nod, still in a daze from the kiss.

"Okay, Ash. I believe you." Then it's my turn to kiss him. I push him down, swinging my leg around his waist kissing him harder. His hands grip my waist, causing me to moan. Next thing I know it's me with my back against the bed, him hovering over me. He trails kisses behind my ear, down my neck, my body is on fire. He stops then, causing me to grunt in frustration.

"What's wrong?" I ask as he lays next to me, pulling me back into his side.

"This is not how I want our first time together to be, Amaria," he says quietly. I look at him then, but he looks away from me. That hurts, does he not want me? I ponder on that thought as I move away from him.

Ash gets up to follow me, but I lift my hand to stop him, "Just going to get some air." I say, then I walk out of the room. I mean don't get me wrong, I understand what he means. He doesn't want our first time to be in someone else's home, who we don't even know. He wants it to be special, and so do I. I mean I haven't even gone all the way before. It's not for the lack of trying though. It just didn't feel right with them. I was ready to risk it all for Ash just now, and I just met him! It must be the mate bond.

I make my way back to the room. When I enter, Ash is staring at the ceiling. I crawl into bed, snuggling into him, "I understand Ash. I'm not upset."

"Good." He pulls me until my body is halfway covering his. We talk for hours after that, laughing and stealing kisses until we both drift off to sleep.