by Aileen Rose
“That would be great, my Lord,” I say giggling.
I have woken up with such a great mood. Walking with him under the sun, holding hands, only adds to my happiness. I really don’t know where we are going. It’s like we are crossing a labyrinth, twisting and turning. I think he is taking me to one of his friends’ houses, which are hidden in the forest just like his hut. After meeting them, I am quite fond of them. The thought of spending more time with his friends is a joyous one, as they know Conor since he was little and they possess a part of him I am not aware of and anxious to find out.
He stops when we reach a path of light colored soil. The place looks oddly familiar. He faces me, looking deep into my eyes.
“I am the luckiest man on earth.”
He gently puts a lock of hair aside from my forehead. It’s a simple gesture, yet full of tenderness.
“When you told me that night at this very spot, that you would choose my path, I could not believe it,” he goes on.
At this very spot? Yes. This is where he had brought me the night I met him. Where the road divides in two paths. Why are we here?
“You really were like a nymph,” he says. “A mythical creature. All the other girls that I helped in the past were looking to learn what you did. But you…you belonged here. You were already one with the forest. I wanted to uncloak all the beauty that was hidden inside you and that only I could see.”
“Thank you, my Lord.”
His features twitch into a painful expression. My heart clenches. What is going on?
He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes momentarily.
“Calista, you know who you are now. And you know how to be happy. You deserve a better life. You deserve someone who will offer you the world.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I told you that night that you wouldn’t be able to leave until I wanted you to. But I promised I would get you safely back to your house. I release you, Calista. Take the other path and go back to your parents.”
“What?” I feel like I am falling in an abyss. This can’t be happening.
“You deserve to live in a palace. Not in a hut. I am poor. I can’t offer you anything.”
“Do you really want me to believe that? Conor, is it because I was sad for being far from my parents? Because I can just visit them and assure them I am fine. I won’t tell them the truth. I can say that you are rich and that you took care of me and we got married.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Calista. You can’t go back to being a princess and then return to me. How would it seem to you if you could eat delicious meals again and sleep in your comfortable bed? How could you want to come back to me?”
I look at him stunned.
“So, you don’t know me at all? How can you say such a thing? I don’t want to sleep in a luxurious bed alone or with another man. I want to be with you. Wherever you are.”
“Calista, just obey.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t obey you on this. I love you, Conor. How do you expect me to leave? Don’t you want me anymore?”
“Of course I do!” he shouts. “I love you more than I love myself! And that is why I can’t be selfish. I want what’s best for you.”
“If you truly loved me you would know what’s best for me,” I say weeping now hard. “We got married, Conor. Bound to one another forever. Did that mean nothing to you?”
His mouth becomes a straight line and anger flushes in his eyes. He grabs my waist and crashes my body against his.
“It meant everything to me. It was true, Calista. It will always be. But it was a ritual recognized only in my world and you don’t belong in it. I was impulsive and I let my passion for you to control me, without thinking what is best for you.”
I am sobbing now.
“No…I won’t leave. You can’t push me away,” I yell muffled words.
“Don’t make this any harder than it already is…Please, just go. You are free,” he utters in a pained voice.
My heart pounds fast as I am trying to breathe. Nausea comes over me.
“Baby, just obey. Trust me. It is for your own good. Don’t you think this tears me apart, too? I barely have strength not to fall to pieces.”
“Then if we both want to be together, what’s the point of letting me go?”
“You have no future here…”
“I have you. You are my future.”
I kiss him and he responds with excitement that lasts a few delicious moments.
“No. Calista, stop,” he says breathless. “We can’t go on. Remember…I will never forget you. Never. Here is the key to your bracelet.”
I feel like he just slapped me.
“The bracelet is a symbol that my heart belongs to you. Just because you want me to go, it doesn’t mean that it’s not true anymore. I am not taking the bracelet off.”
“I don’t want you to leave. Don’t you understand? You have to leave. Your destiny is different than mine. Otherwise you would have been born in the forest.”
“Conor…”
“If you love me, just obey. You parents need you. They have to know you are alive. You owe them.”
And then he steps back and gazes at me with almost grieving eyes. Without thinking, I fall on my knees and bow my head.
“Please, my Lord. Don’t let me go. I belong to you.”
He kneels too and raises my chin to look at him. He is in distress. A tear runs down his chin and I want to taste it so badly.
“Do you think you can go visit your parents and then come back?”
I crack a smile, hopeful again.
“Yes,” I hurry to reply before he changes his mind. “I am sure I can. I will find a way. Please, trust me like I have trusted you.”
“Can you be back in three days?”
“I will. We shall meet here during the sunset of the third day.”
“I will be waiting for you,” he says and approaches to kiss me. I close my eyes but I don’t feel his lips. When I open them, he has turned into a wolf.
His ears crinkle backwards, as if trying to capture a sound coming from afar. It doesn’t take me long to realize why he shifted. I hear a gallop in the distance. A white horse appears fast with a man riding it. He has fair hair and breathtaking blue eyes. He doesn’t seem a lot older than me. He can’t be…Could he be? I mean I had seen him younger in formal ceremonies I attended with my parents. Oh, he definitely is. The emblem on the horse’s saddle is that of our kingdom. He is the son of the King. This can’t be good.
Conor hasn’t moved a bit but he is growling at him.
“Miss, stay away from this beast,” says the prince.
I remain in my position and so does Conor. The prince takes an arrow and a bow from a case hung on his back and aims at Conor. He turns away to run from him, but the arrow scratches his ribs.
“No! What have you done?” I scream to the prince and move to Conor. He is still growling. Fortunately, the arrow hasn’t stabbed him. However, his wound seems deep and he is bleeding a lot.
“Go,” Conor says.
“I am not leaving.”
“Go with him. Our deal is off. I will not be waiting for you. You need to leave.”
Two strong hands pick me up and I push my legs in the air.
“Let me go!” I scream. “Let me go with him. He needs me. He is wounded.”
When he has finally let me down, Conor is not here anymore. He has escaped into the forest.
I fall on the ground and break down in unruly sobs. He is gone.
“He…needs…me…” I mutter.
The prince kneels beside me.
“If he needed you, he wouldn’t abandon you.”
“It’s your fault! We love each other and we were going to be together again. But you ruined everything! And you injured him.”
“How was I to know he was a shapeshifter? I have only heard rumors about their existence. I thought he was a wild wolf. I am sorry. Please, let me take care of you.”
He li
fts me up in his arms as if I am a helpless child and carries me to his horse.
“What’s your name?” he asks once we are both sitting on the horse.
“Calista. And you are Prince Ellard.”
“That’s right. Nice to meet you, Calista. Let’s get you to the palace. A nice, warm bath will make you feel better,” he says.
I know that nothing will make me feel better, but I remain silent accepting my fate as we gallop across the forest, away from Conor and my true self.
Chapter 14
The palace is enormous, made of white bricks and surrounded by ornate gardens. There are guards everywhere. Beside the entrance of the garden, strolling in the yard casually and guarding the main door of the palace.
The prince helps me get down from the horse and leads me inside.
I am not focused as to what is going on. My mind is with Conor. The prince gives some instructions to a maid and I follow her as she climbs a wide staircase that emerges in the middle of the entrance hall. Sure, I have been before to the palace, but only in the gardens and the bottom floor to attend formal parties and ceremonies. The second floor is luxurious as well but it is mainly composed of long hallways laid with thick red carpet that absorbs the sound of our footsteps.
We enter a bedroom with light blue walls and white sumptuous furniture. I watch her as she skillfully opens a drawer and hands me a towel and a robe.
“The bathroom is through that door, my lady” she says and points to a door opposite the bed. “I will go prepare a bath for you, with your permission.”
“Yes. That sounds good. Thank you.”
I am at a loss. What am I doing here? I should be at my parents’ house, not in the palace. Perhaps, the prince is right and the bath will help me loosen up.
After a long bath, I am somehow more tranquil. I lie on the soft bed and I stare at the ceiling lost in my thoughts. What do I do now? I have to ask the prince to take me to my home. Of course, now my home is with Conor. And he is wounded. What am I thinking? I belong where he is. I have to find a way to go back to him.
The door opens and the prince enters. He keeps his head lowered.
“Are you dressed?” he asks.
I have become so unaccustomed to noble manners. Conor would never ask. He would just barge in and ravish what is his. Ellard is a prince. A gentleman. He would never behave impulsively.
“I am wearing a robe. Is that fine?”
He raises his head.
“Yes. How was your bath?”
“Very relaxing.”
I sit up and he joins me sitting on an armchair by the bed.
“Calista, who are your parents?”
“Count and Countess Merrick.”
“Oh. You are the daughter of the Merricks? I know them. But I didn’t know you were missing. They must be looking for you.”
“Well, not so much. Otherwise, you would know I was missing.”
“My lady, you have to understand their position. They have a respected social status in the kingdom. I don’t suppose you expected them to tell the whole world about your disappearance. They possibly kept it a secret and told a lie about your absence. Like that you were studying abroad.”
He is totally right. My parents would never risk their position in society in order to find me. I wish I understood them as much as Ellard does. Then again, they are made of the same material.
“I will send someone to call them for dinner. There are some dresses in the closet that belonged to my sister before she got married. I am sure they will fit you. You have the same figure. Pick whichever you like for dinner. The King and the Queen will be present, as well.”
That is not stressing at all. Dinner with my parents and the King and Queen? I miss Conor’s hut and its serenity. Most of all, I miss being myself without false pretenses.
When he leaves, I fall on my knees and weep. Why, Conor? Why did you have to do this? We would still be together if the idea of letting me go hadn’t crept into his mind. He was right in a way. I understand that. It wasn’t fair for my parents not to know that their daughter is alive. Still, the situation got out of control.
Hours pass with me kneeling by the bed, exhausted from all the tears. I should probably start looking for a dress. But the bed is soft and inviting. I climb on it, coiling and I close my eyes. I don’t want to fall asleep. I just wish to get some rest before the excruciating dinner that is about to come in a few hours.
I am in the woods and I run in desperation, trying to find him. Thorns scrape my legs and I can’t find him anywhere. I spin around, but nothing. And then I hear a faint howling. I hurry towards it.
I gasp when I see him. He is in his wolf form, lying on the ground, covered in blood. With no further delay, I rush to him and hug him.
“I found you,” I whisper relieved.
But he doesn’t answer. I look up and his eyes are closed. When I press my ear on his chest, there is only hopeless silence. He is dead. I was too late.
I wake up sweating. He is dying. I know he is. I have to get out of here. But I can’t do it now. Not when there is still daylight and there are so many guards outside.
I am calm now. I know exactly what I have to do. I choose a pink long dress with lace over the cleavage. It is fit for a princess. I take a look at myself in the mirror after I am ready. My eyes are still swollen from crying. Taking a deep breath I head downstairs.
In the hall, a maid informs me that dinner will be served in the main dining room and she guides me there. The first thing I notice is the longest table I have ever seen in my life. At least thirty people can sit around it. My parents are already sitting by the King and Queen.
What is the normal for parents who have lost their child for a month and have just found out that she is alive? To drown me with their hugs. But no, not my parents. My mother gets up as if she had just seen me in the morning and gives me a swift kiss on my cheek. My father shows just a little more sentiment, as he hugs me and asks me how I am. I know they are touched, but they would never allow themselves to show their feelings in front of the King and the Queen. Prince Ellard is sitting by his parents as well and he stands up bowing courteously to my presence. A servant pulls back a chair so that I can sit.
Delicious appetizers are served, that precede a lush main meal of roasted salmon. Fortunately, throughout dinner I am not asked to participate in the conversation. Actually, the King and my father talk about my achievements at school, at piano lessons and foreign languages. It feels like my father is advertising me. From time to time, I glance at Ellard, who is sitting opposite me. He is looking at me every time. I am embarrassed and lower my gaze to my food.
Calista, be patient. It’s only a dinner. It will eventually end.
I don’t listen to what they are talking about during dessert. I am distracted by my thoughts of Conor and how to get to him as soon as possible.
After we are done, the royal family retreats to their bedrooms and leave me and my parents on our own. We go to one of the living rooms of the bottom floor so that we can have some privacy.
There, they finally let their emotions take over them and hug me warmly.
“We were worried to death,” my mother says. “What happened to you? Why did you run away from the party?”
“Don’t you know why, mom? I had told you both over and over again that I didn’t want to get married like that. I wanted to be in love. But you didn’t listen to me.”
“And you had to leave?” My father intervenes. “Risking your life? You could have died, Calista. You are so selfish. You never thought of us and how worried we would be.”
“Perhaps, I am selfish. But I am a grown woman, dad. And I needed to find my own path. Not follow the one you had drawn for me. You have to admit that you were selfish, too. All you cared about was preserving our fortune.”
“Is what you think about us?” he asks. “That we only care about the money? You are an only child. What will happen when we die? You have no source of income and no one to take c
are of you. We only ventured to find you a proper husband, so that you would be protected and that you would have a rich life. Is that so bad? Is that selfish?”
“Alright, Dad. I’m sorry. However, you can’t tell me who I will marry. You have to understand that it is my life and I have to choose.”
“No, you don’t,” he says strictly. “Prince Ellard asked me for my permission to marry you.”
“What?” Oh, this is too much.
“I have already accepted. I will not let you ruin your life. You will get married at the end of the week. Until then, we will all stay here, where there is no way for you to escape.”
“How could you do this to me?” I shout.
“Keep your voice down, Calista. How did I do what? I don’t understand why you keep on complaining. All girls would envy you. You will be a princess and then a Queen. What better fate is there than that?”
“To be with the man I love. I don’t love Ellard. I just met him. And besides, I am in love with someone else.”
“Who? That shapeshifter?”
“You know about him?”
“Darling, Prince Ellard told us how he found you and what happened,” my mom explains, “He held you captive. You can’t love him.”
“He hadn’t captured me. He always gave me an option. I was with him at my own free will. Because I love him with all my heart. Mom, please, don’t you understand? Weren’t you in love with dad? Don’t you know how it feels to burn for someone so much that you can’t breathe without them?
“The relationship between me and your father is none of your concern, young lady.”
I can’t help a snort.
“So you weren’t in love with each other. You were married because of a matchmaking. That is why you don’t understand what I am talking about.”
“Yes, Calista,” she says, “I was married to your father around your age. We knew each other as our families were friends. It wasn’t that mad love you describe, but we do love each other.”
“Like brother and sister. That’s sad.”
My dad takes my hands in his.
