Trust… He had to have trust.
He hoped the hours of training had sunk into the young man’s head and trusted that if something were to happen then Lorch would know how to defend himself. Elijah let out a low breath as they disappeared, and he felt something crawling up within him.
He supposed the feeling may have been sadness, but he did not allow it to rise to the surface as he turned and stalked from the throne room.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lorch’s breath whooshed from his lungs as his back hit solid metal, fingers tangled in her dark tresses as Arii pressed him against the wall of his personal suite. Their tongues danced, and fingers grasped at each other’s clothing as she tore open the front of his tunic. Far from Arii’s mind was the worry of damaging the expensive piece of clothing.
She gazed down at his lean chest and stomach, her eyes slowly tracking back up to his face.
Lorch’s eyes met hers, and what she saw had her pausing.
They were dark like the deepest churning seas.
His lips began to twitch in a grin as she pressed her lips to his collarbone. A groan escaped him as he brought her lips to his again, shrugging out of his tunic and letting it fall to the floor. Swiftly he set his crown on the side table to his right, the gold shimmering in the moonlight. Gently he turned her body around, proceeding to slide down the zip on her bodice. He paused, his head dropping to place a gentle kiss upon her shoulder.
Arii was reminded of how she stood with Elijah mere hours ago, his fingers gliding against the skin of her back. Her skin pimpled with gooseflesh as her head rolled to the side, a silent sigh passing her lips.
What she was feeling now with Lorch seemed wholly different to what she felt in Elijah’s presence. With Elijah, it was as if she were inching around a dangerous animal, her skin prickling with electricity and a strange thrill of danger. With Lorch, she felt warmth with a fluttering of excited butterflies in her stomach.
This feeling though was strange and new, something she had never allowed herself to feel, having only overheard it described by giddy barmaids in dark taverns.
Why was it now that as the King turned her to face him, did she feel she could allow a little of her walls to come down?
Her gown fell and pooled at her feel like molten lead, and she was suddenly standing half-dressed before him. As his eyes soaked up her body, his smile faded as something completely different washed over his features.
Awe.
Then his brows knitted in confusion.
She knew then that he saw the scars that marred her alabaster skin, little reminders from her past bathed in the moonlight. She had refused to heal them completely with magic, reminders of her life upon the pages of her own book. Each scar held a tale, and short of inking her own novel – this was the only way she felt her stories could be told.
In flesh, in blood, in defects upon her skin.
She was far from perfect.
She was far from human.
She was a Fae.
A Fury.
Under his flickering gaze, Arii felt stronger than she had felt in a long time. His eyes jumped to her hip, and she felt a moment of pause.
Lorch’s eyes fell on the dagger strapped to her thigh.
With deliberate slowness, she unstrapped the clasp on the leather strap, before placing the dagger on the nightstand beside his crown. Lorch did not move, fixed to the spot as his eyes tracked her movements.
Was he afraid? Had he forgotten for just a moment that she was a soldier first, and a lady second? When her eyes met his once more, there was fire there that she was not sure she understood.
“Gods, you’re like the goddess Nyx herself sent in the form of a woman, here to end my life,” he blew out a breath and whispered hoarsely, “You are incredibly sexy.”
Arii almost laughed at how close to the truth he had come.
She kept the amusement from her face as she sauntered towards him, her strides confident and hips swaying. Perhaps he was used to meek women? She was anything but meek, in truth. She imagined that was why he was drawn to her.
No, she was not like other women.
Oh, how easy it would be now to end him at this moment. She was right where she wanted to be naught a month ago - no guards and no one to stop her. So much had happened since her arrival, and the events they had witnessed in the short time had changed her perception of him.
Lorch’s eyes searched hers, hunting for any sign of hesitation within their dark depths.
They met with smouldering purple fire.
Outside, a resounding boom of thunder sounded, and a flash of silver lightning tore across the room.
Were the Gods sending her a sign? Perhaps they were stomping their feet in frustration as Lorch’s back hit the mattress, the Fury straddled atop him as they kissed with abandon. Their lips searched each other’s skin as if a drug laced their very flesh and they were feeding an addiction.
Lorch kissed her scars, his breath causing goosebumps as her teeth caught her bottom lip, stifling a moan. Flipping them so that he was upon her, leaning back to survey her beneath him with dark eyes.
“Where did you get this?” he panted, a thumb passing over a puckered scar just below her breast.
“Sword point after beating a man at a game of cards. He was a sore loser,” she sighed as he dipped his head and kissed the scar.
The way he looked at her scars had her heart fluttering. He looked at them as if they were stories on the page of a tome, eager to learn their origins. There was naught a hint of disgust in his eyes, and she was surprised to feel that she had expected it from him.
He chuckled breathlessly as his finger traced a small, thin scar on her abdomen.
“And this?”
Arii paused as she formulated a story for that particular scar, but all she could muster was the truth.
“My best friend gave me that scar… Well, that was before I found out she wasn’t a complete and total bitch.”
Lorch’s brows rose at that. “She sounds delightful. Why do I find it hard to imagine anyone tougher than you?”
Arii grinned and flipped the King onto his back, straddling his thighs as she smirked down at him.
“Oh yes, she’d chew ore and spit out nails… She even scares me.”
Arii imagined Nem’s face glaring at her at that moment and suppressed an internal shudder. The woman would find out about this, she always did find out about things eventually. It was if the silver haired Fury had a sixth sense.
“That’s hard to believe, you don’t seem to be afraid of anything,” said Lorch, brushing a lock of hair over her shoulder before leaning up and skimming his lips along her collarbone. “Perhaps I’ll meet her someday…” he continued, words trailing away upon her skin. As his hand laced in her hair once more, pulling her to him, her lips crashed against his and she knew they were done talking.
Thunder shook the windows and caused her dagger to rattle against his golden crown on the nightstand.
Arii pressed all thought from her mind and just allowed herself to feel the physical pleasure, to drown in the warmth of his body and the flutter of his uncalloused hands over her skin. The scent of him filled her senses, vanilla and honey with a dash of cinnamon.
Everywhere on their bodies they could touch, they did, exploring every inch of one another in the flickering firelight as the flames in the hearth slowly dimmed to smouldering embers.
As his fingers laced with hers on the mattress and their bodies melded in the moonlight, Ariiaya Trillia, the emotionless Fae assassin allowed her carefully constructed walls of ice to crumble and fall - just for one night.
Perhaps she was not so different from those other women after all.
~~~
The next morning, Arii slipped from the bed covers and ran a hand over he
r recovering lips, still slightly swollen from the King’s kisses during the night.
She paused, seeing a small pile of clothing folded neatly on the settee across from the bed. A maid must have left the pile of clothing while they slept, having known the King had a visitor. Her eyes drifted to Lorch on the bed, a hand resting on his stomach as his chest rose and fell gently in sleep, his head tilted to the side, the lower half of his body covered by the sheets. Well, the maid must have carefully chosen their chance to bring the clothing. They had spent most of the night lost in each other, their bodies coming together with more stamina than she had thought the King capable of.
Her body felt languid, relaxed.
Strangely, almost sated.
During their coupling, her beast had hardly risen its head – remaining firmly asleep despite the ripples of pleasure Lorch had wrung from her body. During the time between while they recovered, skin coated in sweat and chests rising and falling, they had talked in hushed voices.
Arii learned that Lorch deeply cared for his sister and mother, and in an odd way he admired his bastard of a father. Another testament to the gold lacing of his heart. She supposed if it were not for his mother, Lorch Kruel would be far closer to resembling his father in personality, not just in looks like he did now.
Last night… what they had shared. She did not regret it. Not at all.
As her fingers brushed her lips, she envisioned flashes of memory.
Lorch’s eyes lifting to meet hers as he dipped his head between her legs – their gazes unbreaking.
His hand clutching her hip as they lay side by side, legs entwined and his low sigh against the crook of her neck, the brush of his sweat drenched brow against her own.
The way he looked beneath her – glistening and golden – as she sat upon him and moaned her pleasure to the Gods in the heavens above as her body exploded with stars, shattering like delicate glass.
Yet, her beast had not stirred.
She felt a flicker of regret at leaving Lorch while he slept, but she knew Elijah was going to be waiting for her in the ring for their morning spar.
She dressed swiftly, sliding the dagger against her hip and under the band of the simple cloth pants, tossing her mussed hair into a quick braid.
Arii glanced down at Lorch once more, his face smooth in sleep. Her heart squeezed, and she realised that she had entered this room last night with the intention of sating a burning need within her, nothing more.
Now, she was leaving having learned far more about herself than she expected. She knew deep down she was not heartless, no matter the years of training and suppression of her emotions. Lorch stirred something within her, and at first, she thought it had been simple lust, something that could be sated within his chambers.
What she had not expected was that she suddenly did not want to leave. She wished to remain, folded in his embrace as he pressed his lips to her brow, the way they had lain tangled together a few hours ago.
She was changing, and she was not sure that what was happening to her could be undone.
What this meant for her future moving forward, she had no clue. She had always been like a Kryvern at a gate, unthinking of consequences and just living in the now, with no thought for her future. She figured fate knew what was in store for her, and whatever that was she would face with open arms.
She had been moulded to never think or question fate.
Suddenly, she was dangerously close to doing both of those things.
Silently she slipped from the room, gently pulling the door closed as she turned towards her rooms, eager to change before training.
That was when she suddenly came face to face with Valdis Kruel.
Cool steel shackles snapped over her wrists before she could think, and the man’s lips curled back in a feral smirk. Her chest constricted and her mouth snapped open, her magic fleeing her body in a sudden, violent rush.
No, not steel.
Iron.
Valdis’ deep, drawling voice whispered against her ear as arms seized her from all sides. Red Guard soldiers, she realised through the haze.
“You have a date with Bonemire, little Fury,” he purred, before something struck the back of her skull and her vision plunged into darkness.
~~~
Eyes flickered open, blinking back a haze of fog as Arii awoke to the sound of horses’ hooves crunching on gravel. Her back pressed against hard wood, her head pounded as if she had consumed more than a few tankards of sweet wine the night before. She groaned, then spat blood onto the floor of the carriage, right onto the polished boots of a Red Guard soldier sitting across from her.
The man’s face twisted as his head snapped up, meeting dark purple eyes and a slow, bloody smirk.
“You Fae bitch,” the guard snarled, shooting forward and cracking a gauntleted hand across her face, snapping her head to the side.
Stars burst before her eyes as Arii rolled her jaw, her head turning back to glare at the soldier, before proceeding to spit fresh blood onto the floor by his boots once more. The man jerked up but was held back by a second soldier before he could strike the Fury again.
“Blair, it isn’t worth it. Valdis wants her alive.”
The man grunted and shrugged off his companion, dropping back onto the bench seat reluctantly. His eyes did not leave the woman though.
Bonemire, they were taking her to Bonemire.
How had Valdis found out that she was a Fury? Her mind worked quickly, grasping at the fragments of memory, at anything that could help solve the puzzle.
The carriage jerked to a stop, causing the fragments of her mind to scatter like the stones beneath the horse’s hooves. The doors flew open as the guards moved to grab her arms, dragging her roughly from the transport.
She did not fight them, but oh how she wished she could.
Her body felt weak without her magic, limbs trembling and fluid like a newborn deer. She stumbled and the guards flanked her sides, dragging her towards the fortress.
Her head tilted up, eyes wide as the behemoth structure loomed over them, the opening into the grounds beyond yawned wide, ready to swallow them whole. The walls were dark grey and made of thick stone, a startling contrast to the shimmering golden castle they had left behind.
The structure loomed, solid and dark, parts of the stone chipped away as if by past onslaughts. Two towers stood either side of the square fortress, another two peaking in the distance, sentries to the inner ward and structure below. Soldiers paced inside them, keeping watch over all.
As they passed through to the gatehouse, Arii’s eyes darted to the platforms above as the guards paused to watch while she was brought into the inner ward.
Ahead, her vision stilled on Valdis, standing in his perfect Red Guard uniform, lips curled and eyes narrowed to slits. Her stomach churned, bile rising as the guards threw her to the mud before the Hand of the King.
“Welcome to Bonemire,” he announced, lifting his arms in theatrical welcome as all eyes now rested on them. He stared down at the woman in the mud, his expression unchanging, surveying the dirt coating her legs and hands, the blood caked on her lips as they curled back over her teeth.
“What do you want with me?” she hissed.
This only seemed to stoke the fire as Valdis laughed darkly.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before you would let your guard down and slide into bed with my son,” he sneered. “The perfect opportunity to catch you unawares, for you see, I am in need of you.” Here he flicked a hand over her, as if she were naught but a sewer rat. “Well, your body anyway.”
Cold hard dread doused her rage.
“How did you-”
“How did I discover you were a Fury assassin? Well, it isn’t what you know – but perhaps who you know.”
Swallowing her rage
, she glared at the man as he motioned to the soldiers.
“Take her to the cells,” barked Valdis, and hands grabbed her again. His blue eyes, so much like his son’s, watched as they passed and she struggled to walk proudly upright.
Perhaps the gods were indeed upset with her, causing her to question if her decisions leading up to that point had twisted the string of her own fate, and not for the better.
~~~
Iron manacles rubbed against her wrists, the flesh so raw from her struggles that it had begun to cut into her skin. Arii’s eyes squeezed shut as she reached inwards, grasping for a flicker, a single ember of her magic.
She felt nothing, as if she was a shell of her former self.
A wail left her, unable to accept that she was completely and utterly alone. The brief fleeing of her magic after the Kryvern’s claws cleaved her skin had nothing on this. Now she felt weak and shaky, the feeling of hopelessness weighing heavily, part of her soul torn from her and tossed far away.
Arii’s mind slid back to the fuzzy details of her capture. Valdis had hinted that someone had given her cover away, but who?
Her head rested on the solid stone wall, her mouth gaping as she sucked in a deep breath. The cells in the depths of Bonemire smelled of faeces and rot, the walls gouged in places as if something with claws had been housed here at some point and had marked the walls with its fury.
Her arms rested before her as the fight slowly ebbed from her body.
She wondered why they did not fix her with chains to the wall but supposed the iron on her skin was doing the job of keeping her pliant. It was only when her magic was gone completely that she realised how much she relied on it. How much a part of her the magic was.
Was this what it was like to be human?
She swallowed, her throat bone dry and her lips cracked.
The lock in the cell door creaked before the door opened and a soldier entered. He held a small bucket of water, the liquid sloshing against the sides as he placed it on the floor before her. Never had she heard a sweeter sound at that moment as she shot forward and clasped the bucket. When the metal sizzled against her fingertips, she cried out and let it fall, water gushing over the cold stone floor.
Love, Blood & Fury Page 34
