IT HAS NOT BEEN SINCE before my parents passed that I can honestly say I’ve felt anywhere close to happy.
But these last two weeks have felt like a dream. That is all thanks to Elvie and our courting. Every morning I wake up excited to see what the day will bring. I find myself rushing through training just so I can get ready for my evening with her.
I could not pick a favorite thing that we do together. Perhaps it is those quiet nights after dinner in the library where we read a chapter of our book and she is curled up against my side. Where we tell stories in the dark and try not to laugh too loud and disturb the librarian.
So many times it would’ve been easy to kiss her. To lean down as she stared up at me with those big silver eyes and took her sweet mouth in mine. I got close once. So desperate for a taste that I swore I’d do it as soon as I finished the chapter. But by the time I did she had fallen asleep against my shoulder, her soft hair tickling my cheek.
I at least got to experience the pleasure of walking her to her room and tucking her into bed. When I saw my copy of A Formidable Water open on her bedside table it took all my training as a warrior to hold myself from ravishing her right then and there. .
I will not take what she does not offer; thus if I am to spend the rest of eternity fucking my hand while picturing her lovely face than that is a more than reasonable punishment for what I have done. In those dark moments in my room, I sometimes believe she looks at me with need in her eyes. However, the more rational part of my mind knows it could just be the need for friendship. It cannot be easy for her being the only light elf here. The stares she is constantly receiving. I see them whisper as we walk down the hallway and it makes my blood boil.
Perhaps she does view me as a friend and if that is all I am to her then I will be grateful. But even that still confuses me. The more I think about it, I wonder why she doesn’t hate me. Why, even now as we sit in the garden planting riverhearts for Kaethe’s latest potion in the soft soil of the stream, she is choosing to be in my company.
There is a bit of dirt on her cheek as she wipes at it with the back of her hand. We’ve been working in silence for a few moments and I know I shouldn’t ruin it. But just like with anything concerning Elvie, I cannot help myself.
“Why don’t you hate me, Elvie?” I ask the question softly and her hands freeze in the dirt. Silver eyes shoot to mine.
“Why would you ask me that?”
“If I was in your position I would hate me.” I try to hold it back but it comes flooding out. “That night when you found out I had taken you through a trick, I would’ve kicked and screamed and fought. I would’ve tried to kill me. Had my family try and smuggle me out. Yet, you’ve stayed and chosen to remain with me.”
“Well, I can’t leave. Isn’t that how the bargain works?” she asks. I nod, shame rendering me mute. “Then I have no choice but to make the best of the situation. Sure, I could’ve screamed and yelled and tried to kill you, but what good would that have done me?” She wipes her hands on the white smock she is wearing and looks up at me.
“To tell you the truth, Arkain, there isn’t much difference between my life here versus my life in Lysan. I am different here, people watch me here, but I have the freedom to do what I want… except leave of course.” She smiles softly at that. “I don’t know. At least here I get to be a queen. Back home I’d probably be married off to whatever noble didn’t mind that I wasn’t a virgin. For all our refinery, light elves aren’t ones to break with traditions.”
She goes deathly still and her face pales.
“Oh gods, you didn’t think I was still one, did you? I meant to tell you, closer to our wedding night. Not that I am, of course, obligated to tell you but oh gods, I—”
“Elvie,” I grasp her shoulder. “I don’t care.”
She takes a breath. “You don’t?”
“No,” I say, and it is the truth. Elvie has a free spirit and I am glad she lived before she met me and I trapped her here.
Well, I can’t leave, can I?
Gods, I am a bastard for making her believe that. Turning back to the soil I dig my claws into it, readying it for another seed.
“That isn’t to say that the idea of another male touching you is something I ever want to think about.” She laughs.
“Believe me, Arkain, none of my lovers were anything like you.”
“None of mine were like you either.”
Elvie goes to plant another seed just as I do and our hands tangle. I laugh as we both apologize. Her skin is what stops me. Just another reason for me to feel like a complete bastard. Over these past few weeks Elvie’s coloring has changed. No longer does she hold that warm golden hue that runs in her family.
Kaethe is the one who noticed it first. Cornered me about it when I had come to check on her progress with the potion.
“She needs Lysan sun.”
“Why?” I had asked.
“Because she is sick, Your Majesty. The sun is different there. I read about it in one of my texts. Without getting exposed to it she’ll keep getting worse. The free magic has strengthened her magic but our cold sun is making her body weaken.”
There is a way I could fix this. Easily. It is a risk and one I’ll have to run by Wylan before I decide anything.
Holding the last riverheart seed in her hand, she places it in the ground before I cover it with damp soil. The musty earth smell is thick in the air and I wipe my hands on my pants as we both sit and admire our handiwork.
“My brother Briar used to eat so many of these that my mother was convinced he would turn into one.” Her lips tip fondly at the memory. Another thing I have noticed over my weeks with Elvie is that when she speaks of her family she has countless stories about all of them. Except for Garren. It’s none of my business but I’m greedy. I want to know everything about her that I can.
“You never share any stories about Garren. Were you two not close?”
Elvie sighs and sits back so that she can hug her knees to her chest.
“By the time I was born, Garren was already mated and doing his best to be the perfect ‘king in training.’ He didn’t have time for a sister. I think he always resented how much our father loved me.” She sighs. “I mean, you met him. He’s so fucking obnoxious he’s hard to get along with. I swear Sybil must have done something truly terrible for the gods to match her with him.”
I can’t help but agree with her.
“I knew him,” I say and she turns to look at me. “During the Orc Wars.”
“He never talks about it,” she says. My laugh is bitter.
“I suppose he wouldn’t have much to say seeing as how he was the one who left us to be slaughtered.”
“Arkain,” she warns, but I press on, unable to stop.
“I know about your kind’s rules on killing, but this would’ve been just. And even if he had turned into one of us he would’ve been celebrated as a hero. Instead of the coward who deserted us.”
“It’s not that simple for us. You know that.” She scrunches her brow, a confused look marring her features. “And what do you mean if—”
Something catches my eye in the corner. A black viper lunges from the water straight towards Elvie. With a roar I launch myself at her and she screams. Sending out a bolt of my magic, the snake is thrown back into the pond, albeit without its head, before it has the chance to embed its fangs in Elvie.
Elvie.
Who is now pinned beneath me in the damp grass. Her breathing is coming faster and her breasts press into my chest. Up close, those silver eyes are streaked with hues of blue and gold. Mesmerizing. I should get off of her, I must be crushing her. I go to lift myself off but her hands catch my arms, holding me in place.
“You saved me,” she whispers, her voice full of wonder. It is the breathy tone that makes my cock harden against her and that little gasp she gives in response breaks me. Embedding my claws in the dirt beside her head. Our foreheads press together, her breath tickling my lips.
But I wait for her to give me a sign. A signal that this is okay with her. When she curls her fists into my tunic and closes her eyes, I say a prayer of thanks to the gods.
That’s it. I’ve waited too long to be denied this.
My lips descend on hers and I am about to taste the sweetest—
Thunderous gallops break the spell. I whirl around ready to attack whoever intrudes on us when I see three horsemen approaching with Wylan leading the charge on a black stallion. With a curse, I disentangle myself from Elvie and help her to her feet, making sure she has sustained no injuries.
“He doesn’t like me very much,” Elvie whispers, nodding towards Wylan.
“Has he said something to you?” She shakes her head no but that does not stop the unease that spreads in my stomach. I know Wylan was resistant to my plan with Elvie but if he is making her feel uncomfortable…
The horses stop in front of us and the riders dismount. They all bow and I watch the sneer Wylan gives Elvie who, to her credit, does not wilt under his stare. She only steps closer to me as if I can shield her from it. And protect her from it I will.
“Wylan,” I say tightly, and his eyes move to me. “To what do we owe this visit?”
“If I could have a word, Your Majesty. Alone.” Again he cuts his glare towards Elvie who returns it with a glare of her own. I almost tell him that whatever he has to say to me he can say in front of Elvie but she answers for me instead.
“I’ll see you at dinner tonight, Arkain.” Elvie pushes onto her toes and kisses my cheek. Her lips are colder than they were when she did that two weeks before. I have to do something. “Thanks for saving me.”
I smile at her as she makes her way back towards the castle.
“Leave us,” Wylan snaps at the other riders, who retreat to the stream to water the horses. His white hair is pulled back, showing his old face. Gods, he looks worse than before. More miserable than ever. And there is a distinct coldness to him that I cannot remember being there before.
He waits a moment before shaking his head. “You are a fool.” His wrinkled face morphs into a sneer. “War with the orcs is happening and we cannot have a king who is more preoccupied with his cock than with battle strategies. If you wish to fuck her, then fuck her and be done with it.”
“Watch how you speak about her,” I say, my voice cold. “She is to be your queen. You forget your place with me, Wylan. You always have.”
“And you forget my place. I advised your parents for centuries. Parents who would be ashamed to see their only son lusting after a light elf of all things, instead of preparing to protect the realm.”
“My parents would see Elvie for what she is. Someone who is brave and kind and compassionate.”
“Please, if you need to fuck something so bad, I can arrange for Vysha to come. She would be a better consort than that light elf bitch.” A snarl rips out of me and my vision goes red. The tight leash I keep around the beast inside me has snapped. I am barely aware that I have Wylan by the throat until I am hoisting him over my head. He claws at my hand to no avail, wheezing at me to let him go.
“If you ever call her that again, I will kill you,” I say, my voice no more than a growl. “It is by my father’s will that I do not spill your blood here and now.” I throw him to the ground as he gasps for breath.
“There are plenty of other advisors that can replace you.”
“You’ll regret this,” Wylan yells. Pushing back strands of his white hair, he mounts his black stallion and gallops away. The moment he is out of sight I realize he is right. I do regret not killing him.
I pace around in the snow. My beast is still demanding blood and I need to calm down. Elvie does not need to see me in this state. I’ve done such a good job of not showing this side of me, I can’t ruin it now.
Laughing tickles my arched ear and I can pick up the voices of the riders.
“Do you think he’s fucked her yet?”
“Why else do you think she’s still here? He’ll marry her and fuck her, until he grows bored. I say he’ll send her back to Lysan within a month.” Elvie, they’re talking about Elvie. Red clouds my vision once more as I make my way towards them. One is pissing at the base of the tree while the other two sit on the grass drinking out of a water skin.
Nameless soldiers who speak about my Elvie in this way.
“Have you seen her? She’s so small her cunt has to be the tightest thing. And pink. I fucked a human once who had one of those and let me tell you, there’s nothing like it.” He zips himself back up into his pants. “Maybe he’ll let us all have a turn with her before he sends her back. Show King Orvian how we like to treat his kind.”
“Cheers to that,” the other two say and I give my beast the release he wants. Bursting to the surface I feel my claws lengthen and my fangs sharpen. This is the form that killed all those on the battlefield that day.
This is the form that will slaughter these soldiers who speak about my Elvie.
“Cheers, indeed,” I snarl, finally making my presence known. The three of them spring to their feet. Muttering “my king” and bowing in my presence. The taller of the three and the one who started this disgusting conversation seems to be the leader.
“We weren’t serious, Your Majesty. It was just a joke.”
“Do I seem to be laughing?”
“No,” he swallows, his skin turning a sickly dull gray. Urine permeates the air. Fucking cowards.
“We’re sorry, Your Majesty. We’ll never speak about her again,” the one on the right pleads.
“No,” I agree, “you won’t be doing much speaking at all.”
My meaning dawns on the three of them at the same time and before they have the chance to draw their swords I’ve already made my move. The first one is easy enough to kill. I strike out with my claws, ripping through bone and muscle until my hands wrap around the organ I am looking for. With a snap and pull I rip his heart from his chest, warm blood coating my hands. He didn’t even have the chance to scream.
The next one I wrap my hands around his neck and twist. A sickening snap and his full body weight lets me know he’s dead. I bare my fangs and bite into his neck, metallic blood coating my teeth as I gnaw enough to rip his head from his shoulder. It joins his comrade’s heart in a discarded pile.
The last one, coward that he is, turns to run. Before he even makes it ten feet I have his spine in my hands, blood staining the grass below. The beast has had his blood and is satisfied. He tucks himself back into me and propels me forward towards the castle so that we may be reunited with our prize.
Elvie.
Two guards round the corner, no doubt hearing the commotion, and stop short when they see that sight I make. Bloodsoaked and panting. My victims’ bodies lay spread out on the grass at unnatural angles.
“Let this be a warning,” I say to the two guards as I pass. “If I hear even a whisper of anyone speaking of Princess Elveena with even the slightest disrespect, this is the future you can look forward to.”
