by Maia Starr
“I understand. I am ready to go,” Michelle said.
“Ravinn, the battle and the prisoners are in the hands of my commanders. I believe it is time we took these humans back to the safety of the village,” the king said.
“I couldn't agree with you more, King,” Ravinn said. Then he scooped me up into his arms.
“I will take the human Michelle,” Callisto said as he held his hands out to Michelle.
“Good, take her to the palace,” the king said. Callisto picked up Michelle in his arms.
“I am ready,” Ravinn said. His father nodded at him. Suddenly, Ravinn flew into the air. We were out over the open ocean heading back toward the village. I never thought that I would be so excited and grateful to be returning to the safety of the village. I could not wait to sleep in my own bed. I could not wait to figure out what was next for Ravinn and I. But as the village came into sight, I could only think about one thing: Talia. She was still on the island, and still was heartbroken. I did not know how Ravinn was going to deal with the situation. I began to grow nervous.
“I am taking Michelle to the palace,” Callisto said to Ravinn as we flew over the shoreline and beach of the village.
“I am taking Amelia to her tree hut,” Ravinn responded to him. Then they parted ways. Callisto flew in the direction of the palace while Ravinn flew with me in his arms. I buried my head into his chest, feeling the strong muscles and safety there. I let myself relax into him. Then he landed on the veranda outside my door. He opened it and carried me inside. I was relieved to see it. It felt like home to me. He laid me down on the bed.
“How do you feel?” he said as he moved to the table and poured me a cup of water. “Drink this. You have been through a lot,” he said, handing me the cup of water. I drank the entire thing in one gulp.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Yes, I am very very hungry. I am also still thirsty,” I said, handing the cup back to him. He smiled and poured water for me once more and gave it back to me. Then he went to the shelf and started to cut up some fruit.
“What about you? How do you feel? You have just been through a battle. You just slayed the dragon. I am worried about you,” I said to him.
"That? That was nothing. I have been through many battles, and I will be through a lot more than that in time. I am fine. It is you that I worry about. You are so fragile and vulnerable,” he said to me.
"I am not that fragile,” I said.
“You might be more fragile right now than you think,” he said in a strange manner.
“What do you mean?” I said confused.
“Do not worry about it now. We will talk a bit later. You have been through a lot. There is not much to eat in here. I am going to go down to the kitchens and bring you more food. I want you to get as much rest as you can. Take a hot soak and change your clothes. When I return, we have much to talk about,” he said to me as he walked over to me and placed a longboard with cut fruit on it in front of me.
“Like what? What do we need to talk about?” I said, not wanting to wait. I did not like waiting; it only gave me a chance to build the anxiety.
“You will see when I return. For now, just rest and eat as much as you can. I will return with more food. But there is something that I need to do first. It is very time sensitive.” I knew exactly what he meant.
“You need to find Talia,” I said to him.
“Yes, I do. I need to get to her before the king returns. I do not know how he is going to punish her. I want to warn her. I want to understand why she did what she did. It is important for me to know these things and I want to hear it from her directly. There is a lot of history between her and me,” he said to me. I could see the pain in his eyes. I could see the pain of knowing that the Draqua he thought he loved was not the Draqua that he thought she was. It must be a lot to deal with after being with her for so long.
“I understand. I understand more than you might think. Go, do what you need to do. I do not blame her for doing what she did. Maybe I would've done the same thing if I had been pushed to my limit. Go easy on her. The poor female,” I said to him. He walked over to me and placed a soft kiss on my head.
“Even though she has done unspeakable things and tried to take your life, you are still worried about her. You want her to have comfort. That is the most honorable thing I have ever heard. You truly do have a great heart, Amelia, and I will say that over and over again to you for as long as he will let me,” he said with a smile.
“Anyone would do the same,” I said to him.
“No, they would not,” he said.
“You are making it sound like you have never met anyone with a shred of humanity,” I said to him.
“The word human is in the word humanity. I have not known many humans, or at least been close enough to get to know them the way I have gotten to know you,” he said.
“I am looking forward to teaching you a little about humanity and how not to be so arrogant and rude,” I said, laughing.
“But arrogance is my most charming attribute. Don't you think so? It is what made you when I get into some arguments. Arguments that turned to passion. It was your defiance that attracted me to you, my fiery human,” he said laughing.
“I will take that as a compliment,” I said to him. This felt good. This felt right. We were still arguing, but it was in a very playful way. I think this was what we were leading up to from the very first argument that we ever had. This was exactly the side I had been waiting to see from him. Now he was showing it to me. Now he was being very caring. In fact, he was being so caring that it made me a little bit suspicious. Why was he treating me like I was a fragile piece of glass?
“Go, do what you need to do. I will be here eating everything in sight, and then I will soak in the tub and go to sleep. I am very tired,” I said to him.
“Good. Get some sleep. I will return,” he said, and then he walked toward the veranda and flew away. There was a loud noise in the corner that startled me. I thought that perhaps something had fallen. I sat up in bed and looked. There was nothing there. I shrugged it off and stood up to take off my clothes and run a hot bath. But I was immediately startled.
"You think you have won, don't you?” a voice said.
I screamed. I turned to see Talia standing there. She was furious. She quickly took steps toward me before I could even process what was going on. She grabbed me by the arm and yanked me over to her.
“What does he see in you? I see nothing but an ugly and simple human female. I have seen some beautiful human females before, and you are not like them. You are plain. I do not see how Ravinn could like you enough to sleep with you when he has me,” she said.
I gasped as I realize that she knew everything. She knew that Ravinn and I had been intimate. This would make her even crazier and want to hurt me. I realize that was exactly why she was hiding in my hut. She was going to kill me.
Just then, the door first open and Ravinn stepped in. Talia grabbed a knife from her boot and held it against my belly. I sucked in a sharp breath of air.
“Talia. What are you doing? Put that knife down,” Ravinn said.
CHAPTER TWELVE
RAVINN KEED
I was feeling extreme relief to have Amelia back at her home. I now felt somewhat safe. She was far from the opposition. But I was not going to tell her that I thought perhaps she was pregnant. Maybe she already knew? Or perhaps it was too soon to tell. There were many possibilities, but I did not want to add to the stress that she had already been through, especially if she was with child. That would not be good for her. So I kept my mouth closed about the entire issue. There would be plenty of time to speak of it later. But for now, I knew one thing: I needed to make her comfortable.
And when I was done, I needed to take care of an even bigger matter. It was something that I was driving but that I knew I had to do. I had to get to Talia before the king did. I needed to speak with her. I needed to find out why she did what she did, other than j
ealousy. I wanted to know if she had changed overnight. But most of all, I wanted to make sure that she had a fair chance and was not punished in a harsh manner. She did not deserve it, even though she did put Amelia's life at risk.
So when I finally left Amelia to rest, I cautiously flew out of her home, but then I decided to walk on the veranda to the bridge. As I was crossing over the bridge, I heard Amelia scream. I ran back to her. I was in complete shock at what I saw. Talia was holding Amelia, and she had a knife. Talia and then I fed her belly, and my eyes grew wide. Talia knew what she was doing. She was going to kill Amelia, but first, she was going to make sure that she killed my offspring, if there was offspring inside of Amelia. At that moment, all love that I had for Talia vanished. She was showing me just how evil she was. I was seeing her through clear eyes for the first time.
“Talia, drop that knife. You don't want to do that,” I said to her.
“Why, Ravinn? Why her? I do not understand why do you let this week human get in the way of our love. We were to be married. We were the ones defying what the king wanted us to do. He wanted you to marry a human female, just as he wants all the Draqua to do. But we said no. We were going to oppose it and show him that we could pick our own love. Then you betrayed me! Why?” she cried.
“Talia. You have every right to be upset. I betrayed you. But it was I that did it. Amelia did nothing. She did not know anything about us. She is not the one to be punished. Punish me,” I said slowly stepping toward her.
“No! Don't you see that you have ruined everything? You and I were supposed to get married. You and I were going to join my brother with the opposition. We were going to prove that a female Draqua and a male Draqua could be together. But you ruined that! She ruined that! Don't you see that all of our problems started when she arrived? Do you not see that Ravinn?”
I continued to slowly walk toward her, careful not to make any sudden movements.
“Talia, you are mistaken. Yes, I did want to marry you, but I had no intention of joining the opposition. I did not know that your brother was still alive and with the opposition. I had no idea that you were planning on joining the opposition once we were married. Do you see that I did not know you at all? You hid yourself from me, your true self. I do not know you; who are you?” I said as I grew closer and closer to her. Talia was hysterical.
“Do you love her? Do you love this human female? Are you in love with her?” she asked.
I was silent for some time. I knew that if I said yes that it would drive her over the edge. I had to get into position.
“I am in love with her. I believe that she is carrying my child,” I said.
Talia let out a piercing scream of sorrow. As she did so, I used the distraction of her anguish and grabbed Amelia’s arm. I pulled her to me. I got in front of her. I put my own body between Amelia and Talia.
“No! It cannot be! She should not be the one to give you children! It should be me! It is not my fault that I cannot! It should be me! It should be me! It should be me!” she repeated as she moved, backing away toward the window.
“Drop the knife, Talia,” I said to her. She held up the knife, pointing it at me.
“Don't come any closer,” she said.
I stopped walking.
“You have completely broken my heart, Ravinn,” she said.
“You have broken mine as well. You are not who I thought you were. You have taken the female that I thought I was in love with and that I thought I knew. You have broken me as well,” I said to her.
“No. You don't understand. I can't go on like this. I heard what you said. The king is going to come for me. He is going to punish me. I am not going to allow that to happen. I will not live the rest of my days in a prison,” she said.
“If you run away, they will find you eventually,” I said to her.
“No, I am not going to do that either,” she said. “I still love you, Ravinn. I always will.”
Then she surprised me and Amelia. Talia aimed the knife high in the air and brought it down upon herself. She pierced her heart and fell to the ground.
“No! No!” I shouted as I ran to her. But it was too late. The blow was instant. She was gone.
“Oh my God!” Amelia said as she ran over to me and tried to revitalize Talia. But it was too late. She was gone.
“No, Talia. Why did you have to do this?” I whispered.
“Oh Ravinn, I am so sorry. I am so sorry,” Amelia said over and over. We both sat on the floor with the lifeless body of Talia. It was a horrible incident, and one that we would never get over. Amelia ran out onto the veranda, shouting for help, a few seconds later it was complete madness inside her hut.
Two days passed and the village was still in a period of mourning. There was a lot to take in after the battle and learning that Urtrik had still been alive. Then there was the death of Talia to deal with. She was loved throughout the village, and it was a shock to learn that she was opposition. It was a shock to learn that she took her own life. Nothing would ever be the same.
I had moved Amelia into my own hut where I knew that she would be safe. She sat with me for those two days in my own sadness. But finally, there was some good news.
“You were right,” Amelia said as she walked in.
“About what?” I asked.
“It is true. I am with child. I carry your offspring, Ravinn,” she said timidly.
I smiled. Then I laughed. “That is the best news I have heard in a long time,” I said as I hugged her.
“I am glad to hear it,” she said.
“Now I hope that you will stop defying me and agree to marry me once and for all,” I said to her.
“Yes, it is what I want. I no longer defy it. I just think that we should wait until some time has passed. It is not the best time right now,” she said to me.
“Perhaps you are right,” I said to her.
“And what about Ephane? Did you find him yet?” she asked.
“No. We cannot find him,” I said to her.
She referred to the fact that after all of the crazy mess, the king wanted to see Ephane in order to figure out what part he had in it. But after searching the island for him for an entire day, the King's warriors could not find him. I myself set about trying to locate him after that. I could not find him. It seemed that he had completely disappeared. After finding this out, Amelia was on edge.
“I don't think I will feel safe until he is found. I do not trust him,” she said.
“I understand. The King is going to continue the search for him. But Amelia, you and I must get on with our lives. We can't live in fear of him. We have to go on,” I said to her. She gave me a heavy sigh and then rubbed her belly.
“I suppose that you are right. It is just very hard to do so when there is someone else to think about,” she said.
“Yes, I think the same thing. But I am sure that Ephane is far away from here. We have nothing to fear from him,” I said as I gave her a deep kiss. Kissing her ignited a fire in my body. I wanted to take her right then and there, but we were interrupted. There was a knock at the door.
“Who could that be?” she asked.
“I do not know. Probably one of my father’s warriors summoning me,” I said as I walked to the door of my home. I opened it.
“May we visit with Amelia?” the voice said. I smiled.
“Amelia, it is for you,” I said opening the door wide. In walked Michelle, Stephanie, and Brenda. As soon as they walked in, the room grew very loud. They were talking over each other. Amelia laughed.
“Well, human females. I trust that you will keep my wife-to-be company while I go see to some of my responsibilities. Do not leave her alone. I have your word on that?” I asked, as I was feeling paranoid too. It had only been a couple of days, and I did not know if Amelia was truly safe and did not want to risk it.
“You have our word,” Michelle said.
“Thank you. I will make sure to bring back plenty of food,” I said with a wink.
“Yes! Plenty of seafood!” Brenda shouted. I kissed Amelia and then left the women to their chatter. I flew to my father's home.
“Son, how are you today? I worry about you,” he said, putting his arm around me.
“I am well today, father. The shock of the death of Talia has started to fade a little. I think in time I shall be completely well,” I said to him.
“And Amelia? How is she?” he asked.
“She is with child,” I said to him. He slapped me on the back and gave a hearty laugh.
