Bride of the Traitor: A Prophecy of Sisters Novel Page 15

  She flinches and that is when I know that I’ve made a direct hit. “I will have my man compensate you for tending to my wellbeing,” I announce, turning my back to her and taking a step before I pause as she calls out to me.

  Looking back over my shoulder, I arch a brow and wait for her to speak her final words. “I fell in love with you, My King,” she breathes. “I am sorry that it offends you so.”

  “There is no offense, Duraina. But when a man has made it clear that he does not feel the same, a woman should never reduce herself.”

  I don’t say anything else and I don’t give her the opportunity to say another word either. I’m probably being harsh, but I have a feeling if I were too kind, Duraina would see it as an opportunity and attempt to beg me back to her bed.

  There is only one bed that I wish to be lured to, it being so close, yet so far away. My entire body aches with need just at the thought of my wife, of Sybilla.

  Glancing around, I notice that Lief has the horses saddled up and ready to ride, Frederick is also at his side, shoving a biscuit in his mouth, but Asher is nowhere to be seen.

  “Feeling better, Your Majesty? We thought we were going to lose you,” Frederick says, keeping his voice low.

  Nodding my head, I hold back my groan at the way my body feels heavy and sluggish, still. “I’m fine, why didn’t you take me straightaway to the castle?” I demand, my gaze shifting to Lief.

  Lief shrugs, his gaze traveling over my shoulder. I have no doubt that Duraina is standing behind me, mooning after me. “She saw us on the road, said she knew you and could help in healing since she was a healer,” he explains.

  I grunt. “Not sure if she is indeed a healer, but she talked of potions. Do not let her near the castle or Sybilla,” I order.

  Frederick and Lief both nod, their eyes wide. Asher strolls out of a house a few feet away, whistling with a little bounce to his step. Our attention shifts to him and I can’t help but chuckle.

  “Glad to see you’re feeling better, Elias.” He grins.

  Shaking my head, I smile. “As are you?”

  “Tip-top, Your Majesty.” He winks.

  “Shall we ride the rest of the way home?” I ask.

  All three men nod. “Let’s get you home to your queen,” Frederick announces.

  Mounting our stallions, we lean forward and race toward the castle. I ignore everything and everyone around me as I make my way toward Sybilla. My heart begins to race as fast as Storm’s pounding hooves along the path toward the castle.

  When we’re close enough to be seen, I pull back on the reins and slow down to a trot. I don’t want to appear as excited as I am to see her. Just thinking about my eyes consuming her curvy body, her golden hair and gaze. It causes my breath to hitch.

  Once we’re through the trees that separate the town from the castle, we approach the bridge and I stop Storm in his tracks.

  I feel my body heat at the sight before me. Anger boils my blood beneath my skin’s surface. “Elias, why’ve we stopped?” Asher asks.

  “Can you not see?” Frederick growls.

  I see movement to my side, presumably it’s Asher shifting to look forward, but I cannot look away. My wife, my gods damned queen is sitting astride Lightning, her mare, with none other than my cousin pressed close to her backside. They’re riding the same horse, together out in broad daylight, like lovers.

  Asher whistles next to me when he finally sees what I’m glaring at. “Maybe it’s not how it seems, Elias,” Lief suggests.

  I snort. “It is always how it seems, Lief.”

  Making a clicking noise, I guide Storm toward the happy couple. If I have learned naught in battle, it is that the art of surprise wins wars.

  SYBILLA

  “Gods bones,” Merek curses behind me, or at least I think that’s their version of a curse.

  He stops Lightning in her tracks and turns us to face the castle bridge. Lifting my eyes, I look up and I gasp at the sight coming my way. Thunderously coming my way.

  There is dust being kicked up behind them, but there is no denying that there are four men on horses and the one leading them is none other than Elias, my husband.

  “Take me back,” I demand.

  “Sybilla,” Merek croons.

  Shaking my head, I tug the reins out of his hands and lean forward. I do everything that Merek has taught me, and I race Lightning toward the castle steps. Merek shouts behind me, but I ignore him.

  Elias is here, the asshole.

  I don’t wait for Merek to climb off of the back of Lightning. Instead, I jump off and start to sprint before my feet even touch the ground. Rowan and Henry are laughing at their posts. I flip them off with each hand as I run past them.

  “Sybilla?” Jasmine calls as soon as I am inside.

  “He’s here. Hide me,” I shout.

  “Sybilla,” she coos, sounding just like fucking Merek.

  Godiva steps into the entryway, her eyes swirling again and I shake my head. “No, stay away from me,” I snap.

  “He is here for you,” she calls out softly. “He feels sick just as you do. He needs to be with you, Sybilla. He needs to be with the one that his heart loves.”

  Shaking my head, I pinch my eyes closed for just a moment before I open them. “He doesn’t love me, he walked away from me, he doesn’t even know me.”

  Godiva lifts her hand, her palm facing me and I try to pick up my feet, but they’re frozen to the floor. The conniving witch. Narrowing my eyes at her does nothing, she ignores my anger and continues to move her hands around, at the same time her eyes do that freaking purple swirling thing.

  “Open yourself to him, Your Highness. Your mind, your body, and your heart. Without your true heart’s match, the prophecy will fail, and ruin will fall upon our world.”

  “Why are you telling me this now?” I shout.

  Her lips turn up into a smile. “Your sickness will grow as will his, if you do not take pleasure in one another. Consider this my meddling, and my wedding gift to the both of you.”

  In an instant, her eyes return to normal, she drops her hand and she turns around before she starts to walk away from me. “Bitch,” I whisper to myself.

  My feet become unstuck and I take one step forward before an iron band is wrapped around my waist and my back is hauled against something hard. Inhaling, I whimper at the scent that surrounds me.

  Elias. My king. He’s home.

  His mouth touches the side of my neck, his lips staying against my skin as he begins to speak. “You have some explaining to do, Your Highness. Up to your chamber, I will visit you shortly. Lief and Frederick will guard your door and you are not allowed any visitors,” he growls right before he pushes me forward.

  Lief and Frederick, who I hardly know, catch me by my arms, surprisingly their holds are gentle. Without saying a word, they turn me toward the stone stairs and halfway drag/carry me toward my chamber.

  I don’t bother looking behind me. I have my dignity, kind of. What I don’t have is a husband who gives much of a fuck about me, until he sees me sitting close to one of his men.

  I don’t know why I ran. Maybe I didn’t want to deal with whatever fucked up shit he had to spew. Maybe I’m still hurt by the way he left me.

  Stepping into my chamber, I don’t turn around to look at the men behind me. Instead, I walk over to the window.

  This window is where I do my best thinking. I hear the door close behind me, and I know that I am alone. I won’t be for long, though. Elias will no doubt come stomping in here soon and he’ll demand things from me.

  I’m at his mercy. Jasmine, Katrina, and Ellyn have explained to me what is expected not only of women, but of queens in this world. It’s awful. It’s like I’ve literally gone back in time a thousand years.

  In some ways this world is better. The colors are freaking cool as shit, the trees, ground and sky sparkles. There’s real magic, and I’m a fucking queen here. In some ways it sucks major balls.

  There are
no tampons or indoor plumbing, no cars, and no airplanes. My family isn’t here and neither are my friends. Plus, there’s that whole, women are here to spread their legs and birth babies only, thing.

  I feel like I’m meant to be more than a vessel to carry Elias’ heirs, but in this world that is all that I am. That is all that he sees me as and when he’s finished with me, as aptly pointed out not only by him, but also by my girls, he will take care of me financially, but he’ll also seek out someone he wants to screw on a regular basis.

  That sucks.

  It sucks not only because I won’t be allowed to have my own affair, but it sucks because when he’s not being a major dickhead, I don’t want him to ever screw anyone else. It makes my heart ache to think that he’ll turn to someone else, even if it’s twenty years down the road.

  I pace and pace, then I pace a little bit more. The sun sets, the moon rises high and still I am alone and my legs and feet now ache from the constant pacing.

  My stomach clenches, then growls, alerting me to the fact that I haven’t had dinner. I think about going to the door to see if Frederick and Lief are still there, but I decide against it knowing that they most likely are.

  When it grows even later and I yawn, for the fourth time, I decide to take off my pretty new light-blue dress and get ready for bed. I don’t know if or when Elias will be gracing me with his presence, but I find that the longer he makes me wait, the less upset I am and the more pissed off I become.

  The asshole.

  Chapter Nineteen

  ELIAS

  “Do you wish to explain what my eyes happened upon as soon as I rode up to my home this afternoon?” I ask Merek.

  I’m sitting behind my desk and he is standing in front of me, his spine completely straight, his body wooden. He jerks his chin up, his eyes glancing down at me from over his nose. He is expressionless and I wait for him to answer me.

  “Sybilla has never ridden before, Elias. I have been teaching her so that she will be able to ride when we need to visit any of your other holdings. That is what you came upon,” he attempts to feebly explain.

  Arching a brow, I wait for him to give me more. There must be more. Because what I saw looked like two lovers out for a jaunt.

  Then her running as far and as fast as she could to get away from me, that is unexplainable, except for one thing, she is spreading her legs for my cousin by blood, my brother in life. I can wait Merek out though, and I assuredly will.

  Less than two minutes pass and his body relaxes with a heavy sigh. He folds, sitting in the chair across from my desk, slumping down as he leans forward and places his elbows on his knees. Lifting his gaze to meet mine, he shakes his head.

  “I do not love her, if that’s what you’re asking me. But, I do admire her, I respect her, and I adore her.”

  I cannot hold the growl back that escapes my lips. “Adore?”

  His lips twitch, completely unaffected by my question and tone. “Aye, Elias. I adore the woman. She is strong inside. She has a zest for life, and she is curious about her new world. She is sweet, especially when she visits the children and homebound of your kingdom,” he recalls, looking past me and out of the window with a faraway expression on his face.

  I don’t like it. I don’t like how he knows more about her than me. I don’t like that he’s spent more time with her than I have. I don’t like a gods damned bit of any of it. I am angry, not only at him, at Sybilla, but also at myself for leaving her the way that I did.

  Pressing my lips together, I wait for him to collect his memories and face me again. Memories. That is all that he will have of Sybilla, he’ll no longer be alone with her, not if I have anything to say about it.

  “She is not yours to teach, nor to guide,” I say, keeping my voice even and as calm as possible, which is a feat in and of itself in this moment.

  Merek’s smile returns, it’s cocksure and I want naught more than to punch it off of his smug face. When he opens his mouth, I clench my fist to do just that.

  “She was lonely, cousin. A strange new world, someone had to help her. Her handmaids no not how to ride expertly. Who else was to guide her?”

  Standing, I slam my fist against my desk and lean forward. My calm and expressionless demeanor is a thing of the past. I am angry and I am showing my cousin every bit of ire that I hold for him at the moment.

  “There it is,” he oddly whispers.

  “What?” I snap.

  He shakes his head once. “There it is. You’ve been hiding your true self, Elias, your true feelings for this woman. I wasn’t sure if the prophecy was indeed true, or perhaps you were not the warrior meant for her.”

  “And now?” I ask with a snort.

  He stands, his body loose and his expression cool and calm. “Now I believe that she will be able to melt the ironclad gate that guards your heart. She will do it too, there is no reason to rebuke my words. Go to your wife, Elias. You look like shite.”

  Merek turns from me without another word and I watch him walk away. I think about his words with a frown. Could Sybilla slither her way to my heart? I ache without her, I feel ill without her, I know that much. Would it be such a stretch to think that I could care for her?

  “Your Majesty,” a voice calls out from my chancery doorway.

  Lifting my gaze, I see Godiva and Aleida hovering around the doorway, looking mighty guilty. “Enter,” I call out.

  They slip inside, closing the door behind them. They make their way toward me as if I’m calling them to the gallows to end their lives.

  “Speak,” I demand.

  “We, well Godiva thought it would be wise, Your Majesty…” Aleida fumbles.

  I hold up my hand to stop her bumbling. Shifting my gaze to Godiva since she is obviously the brains of this duo, or perhaps she’s not, I haven’t quite decided yet. Before they tell me what they’ve done, I decide to tell them all that I’ve learned from the celibates.

  “So, if you keep her from her sisters, if you do not fall in love with one another, all of this could turn very bad for the entire world?”

  “Essentially, yes,” I agree.

  “Well, I did the right thing then,” Godiva snaps.

  Growling, I lean over my desk. “What did you do, witch?” I shout.

  “How have you been feeling, Your Majesty?” she asks, arching a brow.

  “What did you do to me, witch?”

  She smirks, obviously pleased with her craft, her spells, whatever in the gods name she’s done to me. “Naught to you, Your Highness,” she states. “But I have created a spell for your queen. A binding spell for her and her true love.”

  “I do not believe in love, so you’ve wasted your time,” I spit.

  Godiva smiles, it’s wide and almost catlike. “Your gut tells you otherwise, Your Highness.”

  “How do I fix it?”

  “Allow yourself to feel for your bride, Your Majesty. You’ll find that Queen Sybilla is worth your efforts and vulnerability.”

  The witches don’t wait another moment. Together they turn around and waltz out of my chancery as if they own this castle. Sarding witches.

  “Jarin,” I bellow.

  My butler appears, his eyes wide as he’s unused to my sour moods. In fact, I’ve not been in a sour mood in years, usually I take it out on a woman, needing release to raise my spirits. Though, the only woman that I want is one that I do not wish to see at the moment.

  “Whiskey, Jarin. Bring me an entire bottle.”

  He dips his chin and a few moments later my chancery is full of my men, including sarding Merek, and we drink. A lot. All of us, even Lief and Frederick whom I instructed to lock the doors of Sybilla’s chamber from the outside so that she could not leave.

  SYBILLA

  I don’t sleep a wink. Somehow this is a very bad habit where Elias is concerned, me not sleeping and me feeling like absolute shit. Narrowing my eyes at the still closed and locked door, I stomp my foot.

  The sun has risen, though it se
ems humid, which hasn’t been normal and I can almost taste the water in the air and smell the rain.

  The castle is beginning to wake outside and in, and yet I’m still here stuck in this stupid fucking room. I stomp my foot again with a huff before I walk over to the tall wardrobe that holds all of my dresses and undergarments.

  I don’t know how I’m going to tie the ribbons in the back of my dress by myself, but I’ll be damned if I stay in my nightgown and wait for the asshole to grace me with his presence.

  Fucker.

  I struggle with the dress, tying the ribbons in the back to the best of my ability, which is pretty damn awful if I do say so myself. My breasts do not feel supported at all, in fact, if I had a full-length mirror, I’m sure I would be appalled by how they look in this dress.

  Reaching for the silky panties that the dressmaker included with my undergarments, I tug them up beneath my dress before I slip my feet into a pair of suede brown booties. Smoothing my hands down my pale gold dress, I wonder what is to become of me next.

  Being thrust into this strange, unbelievable world wasn’t enough. I had to be tethered to some asshole king who ditches me. Now he’s back and locks me away in my room, ignoring me. Narrowing my eyes at the door, I decide that he can just go right ahead and fuck himself.

  My stomach clenches as soon as I think those thoughts. Placing my hand over my belly, I let out a whimper as the pain consumes me. It’s more intense than I’ve ever felt before, it’s crippling and my knees give out beneath me, causing me to fall to the stone floor.

  Closing my eyes, I take several calming breaths. I inhale through my nose, exhale out of my mouth in an attempt to ease the pain that has suddenly wracked through my body. Balling my hands into fists, I clench my teeth as I continue to breathe and eventually, the pain eases.