Like vowing my future warrior to be doomed to fail. He realized his thoughts had drastically changed since then, especially with the magnificence of her skill that he had not expected to witness in the arena. He knew his father would never approve of a woman protecting him, but he did not care. Especially with the way she moved, how the aura around her sang to him. Singing a tune that was not heard in the lands for a long time. Now with the warrior in his chambers and covered in blood. She held a fire blade in one hand and a violin she oddly carried in the other. His chest felt tight, he couldn't possibly understand what he was feeling, no less doing when he made her sit on the edge of the bed. Where he had wet a clean washcloth that sat on the basin in the bathing room and now cleaned her skin. Delicately, gently... like how you would clean a sword.
His warrior. His weapon.
"I am capable of cleaning myself." Her smooth voice broke the silence between them. He didn't answer immediately. Something had not made sense to him, yet he sensed no lie from her. Thus there being no reason to interrogate. He was satisfied his beauty slaughtered them all, it made him feel powerful. He felt powerful through her, he wanted to live through her. Breathe the air she breathes, see the world in her eyes. Taste what she tasted and touch her like how she liked touching herself...
He rinsed out the bloodied cloth in the porcelain bowl of water next to him. "No injury except a minor scratch," the prince noted in approval. The prince had not known what he would have done to the already dead men if they had put a mark on her. If he had the power to resurrect the men, he would. Only to torture and kill them again. "Are you alright?" His question was soft but firm. Morana froze noticeably before finally nodding slowly. His heart felt lighter then, making him realise that the tight feeling he might have had was genuine worry for the girl in front of him. It surprised him. He had always felt rage for her kind, the goddess blessed mutants that infested Terran like a disease. It shocked him that she wielded the kind of strength and power to take down the cliftolights, but what had shocked him the most was her terrifying beauty and how damned hard it was to keep his eyes off her. He never would have thought he'd be so internally tortured by choosing her as his warrior. He knelt before her, he didn't take into acknowledgement that this was the first time he had knelt for anyone other than his father. He gently dragged the washcloth down her already cleaned neck, watching the goosebumps on her exposed chest flesh out. He breathed in her scent, his eyes unconsciously closing and then opening to meet her deep bronze eyes, already looking down at him intently. With her so close, he felt the power in his blood travel through him like scorching flames. She was his antidote. She was his medicine that reignited the very fae lineage inhim. Making him feel primal. Wanton. Feral. The washcloth in his hand dipped into the tight V-shaped cleavage of her dress. Making Morana gasp softly, he felt her body tremble by the proximity of how close they were. She began touching his silver white curls and he thoroughly enjoyed it.
Too much...It seemed. The prince didn't think, he simply refused to. He cupped the back of her neck with his other hand and moved to feather his lips along her neck. His tongue darting out to taste her, his other hand delving deeper into her cleavage. Morana had let out a much harsher gasp this time, a gasp he wanted to inhale into his own mouth. To claim as his. To own it. He kept telling himself that if he had her once, then perhaps he won’t need to ever think about how she made him want her ever again. It made him think those thoughts would eventually be gone but his lust was too wild to make him remotely last long in intimacy withherand yet his lust was also too wild to die out.
"You are my enemy. One of the goddess blessed folk that plague the world. Tell me why is it so hard to despise you?" the prince murmured against her neck. He felt her tense against him, and suddenly he was being pushed away. The prince concealed his surprise and raised an eyebrow at her all while controlling the fire and heat that curled below his abdomen.
"Yes. Why would you want an arena freak?" Her words were so sudden and said with such venom.
"Did that hurt your feelings?" The prince had not meant for his voice to sound teasing but it did. It made her eyes narrow at him and fists clench at her sides. He did not have it in him to further clarify if his past words had hurt her.
It seems like it did...The prince thought to himself in misery.
"You are using me. For your own personal gain. And once you're done... You said, you were going to let me go." She was waking up. He slowly nodded. It had to be this way. It was the only option. He couldn't have her, not with Izlana being hisfuture queen. Not with all the sudden dangerous urges and heart constrictions he felt for her.
"I will end up going back to my family. My real family. The arena freaks."She threw his words back at him. The prince put his hands behind his neck and casually lounged himself on the floor. Red eyes challenged her dark doe eyes. Fire against the damp soil of Terran.
"Stay or leave. The outcome of our future will be the same," he simply answered. His heart painfully contracted with the words that now hung in the air. Their eyes seemed to be waging a conflicting battle.
Stay or leave...Was her choices.
Please stay, make my damned heart stop aching.His feelings that seemed to resonate deep down wanted to cry out. Her foot hesitantly stepped forward, but then, the hesitancy of it all made the step she had taken forward make her take more steps backwards. Where she had opened the door and left. Leaving him all alone, with his loud thoughts and pained heart. Her scent vanishing from the room. All the pent-up fire in his veins raged against his skin. He snarled into the silent room and punched the wooden floor, splintering the wood into large pieces. Adrion didn't sleep that night. And neither did Morana, who was suffering the inner turmoil of her past that tried to catch up with her. She feared if she slept, she would be dreaming of the Duvessan girl who tried to protect her from the lord. Feared that she would be taken again and killed just like the lord had promised. She didn't sleep, for the fear of her heart falling under the prince's spell of lust kept her awake.
It was too late for it. To keep my heart from falling. I barely knew why and yet there was an invisible pull toward him.Morana had thought. For she wanted him, more than she could admit.
And now she understood Inanov, and why this was a very bad idea.
Chapter 39
A Message of Hope
Witches are created and moulded from coven to coven. Each coven has their own signage and shifter quality. The Darkblood’s are snakes, Earthglow’s are foxes, PoisonIvy's are ravens, and the royal line of witches are said to be Phoenixes. Any witch born with different shifter abilities within their own coven are either banished or killed. May the witch lineage forever remain pure for our Maiden, Mother and Crone.
Established Article Scroll belonging to the Witch Hall Chamber Museum.
My heart remained thumping hard just like it had last night.
I breathed in the air that I once would have considered fresh in Abdera, but now all I breathed in was the blood that this cursed land seemed to absorb. My jaw clenched on its own accord when I scented Morvin before seeing him. He watched me with scrutiny and massaged the back of his neck. The fire blades strapped onto my black and gold armour seemed to beg to be used. Seducing me to command it alight and sink it into his tainted flesh to watch it burn and turn into char. Morvin hissed and rubbed at his neck. I smiled darkly to myself, I willed the mark on his neck to burn hotter. The blood promise that was owed to me meant he would die as long as those markings were on his neck. And I would make sure of it, even if it's not today. Fate would make us cross paths again and again, all until the promise has been met and blood is spilt. At least, this is how I thought blood promises had worked.
She would know, she has all the answers I seek.
My heart constricted in pain, the pain you get from missing someone who betrayed you. I got atop my stallion which had been brought out by Abderan guards who were too afraid to look me in the eyes. They had no doubt been told to be weary around me by their lord. I showed them my teeth in a smile that did not meet my eyes. I dragged a nail over my blades. No claws, but could still slit their throats in the broad daylight. I didn't want to leave this land after finding out the information I had gotten. There were Duvessan survivors being hunted. And I couldn't do anything about it. Not alone at least. The guilt in my core that had already existed began eating at me faster.
The soldiers readied themselves for the journey back to their homeland. The Kingdom of Apollo.
The Kingdom of Light.
The little girl in my mind did not scream, did not whimper or thrash around. She instead stayed quiet. I felt it. Felt herdread. The Kingdom of Apollo had been the only kingdom I had refused to visit since being an arena warrior. The land was said to be filled with Apollo's light: bright, powerful, and strong. My legs began to ache the way they always did when I was anxious and stressed. Apollo was the last stop on our journey, where the prince would see the king to report his conquests and accomplishments. Where he would introduce me as his warrior.
A sudden wind pushed against my cheek, making my hair blow against my face. I clenched my fist, and commanded myself,"You will have to be brave. For them."I had let my hair loose this morning, open for all to see, not hesitating like before, there were others like me out there.
And there was no possibility "he" would recognize me.After all these years. After all this time. I wondered if the prince's father still had those cruel red calculating eyes, if his rich blond hair was still long.
A sudden loud caw echoed from above me, taking me from my thoughts. I looked up in time to see a parchment paper wrapped and sealed fall into my lap. I stopped breathing. My body stilled as I studied the black seal of a crow encasing the letter. I broke it apart immediately.
