“You are divine, Rose,” he said, as his mouth found her perfect pink nipple, large and hard, and suckled it as her breast bobbed succulently.
He thrust himself deeper into her and he could feel the power of their connection, the deep, rich way in which their linked bodies brought them closer, the way she seemed to make him better with every lunge, with every touch. He breathed out as he steadied her hips and exerted light pressure, moving faster inside her. Her body’s rhythmic shudders and her coos of joy told him she was ready. A new fervor overtook him as he pushed deeper, faster, feeling the spark of heat between them growing. He felt like they were a single being, like she couldn’t be separated from him or vice versa. He clung to her as he climaxed, feeling her come beneath him.
He leaned forward, breathless, and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Rose.”
“I love you, too.”
Chapter 27
Eldred watched as the prince slept, peaceful and content. They were all asleep — Dwennon, Bayard and James. Now was the time. Now was when he had to do it. He felt the dread rising in him as he faced what he must do. He used his magic to silence the air around himself and James so the others wouldn’t awaken. Maurelle had commanded him to take the young prince’s life, and no matter what his own heart desired, he had to bend to her will in this act. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled a knife from a pocket deep inside his cloak.
* * *
James and Rose had found a blanket on the shore to lie on. Now, he cradled Rose in his arms, the top of her head just beneath James’ chin. He tipped forward slightly to kiss her soft, yellow mane, and breathed in her wonderful fresh scent. It reminded him of sunshine and kindness.
But as he did, he got an uneasy feeling in his gut. Something was wrong. Something was urging him to leave her, to awaken. Right now. He wasn’t sure what this strange force was that urged him to leave her. But whatever it was, it chilled him to the core and told him he must heed it. “I think Maurelle is near,” he whispered as he sat up. Rose turned to him, alarm on her face.
“How do you know?”
He shook his head and looked skyward. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I just know I must awaken, right now. But I’ll be back.”
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, it was dark. Only a sliver of moonlight crept through the clouds to illuminate the forest clearing. In that moment, James saw the knife in the fairy’s hands. The knife was raised high above the Eldred’s head, and he looked prepared to plunge it straight down into James’ heart.
“No,” James called out.
Eldred shook his head. “I mean you no harm, but my mistress controls me now and she wants you dead.”
Eldred sliced the knife through the air and James rolled away, barely avoiding the blade as it ripped through the blanket he’d been lying on and jammed into the dirt. Adrenaline coursed through James as he stood and took a step back. “Don’t do this,” he said to Eldred.
Tears ran down Eldred’s face. “If I could stop,” he whispered as he wiggled the hilt of the knife to free it from the ground, “I would, but I am bound to do her bidding. Forgive me.”
With that, Eldred charged toward James, knife pointed at his target. It was late, and while James should have been groggy from the dream sleep, or even the sudden turn of the situation, he didn’t feel so. He felt like he could see, really see everything around him, and that was to his advantage. He feinted right, away from the lunge, leaving Eldred to stumble past him, and then try to regain his footing
The fairy turned toward the man, and smiled. “You will defeat me,” he said. “It’s not your fault. If I could stop now, I would. But I must see it through.”
James stared at him, unsure he wasn’t dreaming now. Did Eldred just say James would defeat him? And smile about it? That made no sense.
Before James could puzzle out the strange statements, Eldred was running toward him again, his knife held aloft, ready to strike. This time, James decided to face him, sliding just to the side so Eldred missed when he stabbed at him. Eldred sailed past James and then forced himself to stop. When he turned back, James punched the arm holding the knife, hoping Eldred would drop it. He didn’t. He seemed to have a tighter grip, realizing his only hope was to hold onto the knife.
James held Eldred’s knife arm with one hand and punched the fairy with the other. Eldred grunted and pushed James away, but he didn’t seem to be fighting vigorously. His heart didn’t seem to be in it.
James shoved the fairy away, and said, “I know you don’t want to do this.”
“It matters not,” Eldred said.
“Run into the woods,” James said. “Just leave.”
“You do not understand fairy oaths,” Eldred said, his voice shaky with sorrow. “I must do her bidding, for I have given her my oath.” Eldred lunged at James, and the prince dodged to the side. But this time, Eldred came at him with more force, the knife outstretched in front of him, with a clear intention of striking. James feinted right this time, but Eldred seemed to anticipate it, and grabbed James, dragging them both to the ground. Eldred was strong, much stronger than James had realized. Until now, he’d thought there was a chance that Eldred would win the war against Maurelle’s oath. But it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. Eldred now had a determined gleam in his eye. One that said he would succeed at his mission, no matter how much he desperately wanted not to.
James’ heart thumped in his chest, and for the first time felt afraid of Eldred, afraid of his determination. Eldred was on top of him, holding him down with inhuman strength, fairy strength, and James saw the knife held aloft, ready to take him if he didn’t muster resolve or strength or something.
He thought of Rose, of how horrified she would be if she could see him now, of how he was not just her last hope, but her only hope. He had to survive this so he could rescue her.
Eldred brought the knife toward James’s heart, but James used his bent arm to block the progression of Eldred’s hand. James arm seemed to be doing the job temporarily, keeping the knife at bay, poised just inches above James’ torso. But Eldred was stronger, and James’ heart knew this was a losing battle.
The knife inched closer and closer to James chest, so he bucked at the waist, causing Eldred to lose his balance and fall to the side. Eldred swung his arm around, trying to clip James with the knife, but James smacked his hand, knocking the knife from it. Finally, a lucky break. Eldred didn’t have any fairy powers that would be of danger to him, James thought. If he could just get the knife, he could stop him, and perhaps awaken Dwennon to talk sense to him. James scrambled for the knife fallen in the dirt, and wondered briefly why Bayard and Dwennon weren’t already awake.
James’s fingers were about an inch from the knife’s hilt when it flew into the air and floated into Eldred’s hand. “I don’t have a lot of physical fairy magic, but I can bring things to me.”
The fear welled in James’ gut as he saw the knife with the fairy again. This time, James didn’t wait for the fairy to charge. He decided instead to take the battle to him. He ran toward Eldred, hoping to dislodge the knife again, to do something that got this fairy away from him.
The charge seemed to surprise Eldred a little, but he adjusted quickly, widening his stance, lowering himself in preparation to stand his ground. As James rounded on his adversary, he girded his resolve and charged ahead, toward Eldred, toward the knife.
Though smaller than James, Eldred was agile, and he seemed prepared to stab the second James was close enough. James dived to the side just as he got near, kicking out his feet to knock Eldred over. He felt his shins connect with Eldred’s legs. The fairy toppled forward, falling on James’ legs, then yelping. James wiggled his legs out from beneath Eldred’s weight and backed away, sliding across the ground, facing the prone fairy. James stood, keeping his eyes on Eldred, who wasn’t moving.
James, his breathing heavy from the exertion, edged toward the fairy who was trying to kill him, wondering why he
lay so still, wondering if it was possible he’d fallen on his own knife. He looked at Eldred, lying flat and breathing slowly. On the ground, a dark blue liquid was spreading.
A wave of simultaneous relief and guilt washed over James. He approached Eldred more quickly and slowly rolled him over to find the knife plunged deep in his gullet with blood seeping from the wound. Shallow breaths escaped the fairy’s pale lips. His eyes opened and he stared at James.
“I’m sorry,” was all James could think to say. He hadn’t wanted it to end like this.
“Not your fault,” Eldred whispered. “I foresaw.” Eldred coughed, indigo blood spraying from his mouth when he did. “You will save Rose.”
Then Eldred closed his eyes, and James took his hand, holding it tight as the shallow breaths faded to nothing.
A moment later, Dwennon was standing over them both, staring at Eldred. “My God,” the older fairy whispered. “We must go now. Maurelle will be on the warpath once she finds out.”
Chapter 28
Rose couldn’t believe what she had just seen. It was the most bizarre thing she had ever experienced. She’d seen the world through James’ eyes. Everything that he saw, she saw. Everything he heard, she heard. Eldred’s attack, his revelation that he was controlled by Maurelle, his death.
She had stood there in shock, wondering what to do or if she could help. She’d tried to conjure the wind to knock Eldred over, but it hadn’t worked. Not well, at least. At one point, she saw a few leaves blow across Eldred’s’ path. But it hadn’t been anything like what she’d wanted. She’d wanted to sweep Eldred away or have the wind snatch the knife from his hand. Instead, she’d been only able to muster a breeze.
A gentle breeze wouldn’t help them when Maurelle found out about Eldred, that James had killed her spy. A simple breeze wouldn’t help at all. She’d need the full force of her power to help James fight the evil queen. Only, she wasn’t sure how to make use of her power in the waking world while she was so deep in sleep.
She needed her mother’s help. But her mother had gone to try to reach Hilly. She paced in the meadow, her thoughts swirling with worry and the winds around her mirroring her mood. She wanted to know what was happening, but the vision that allowed her to see James seemed to have disappeared. He seemed completely gone from her, and she had no idea how to get him back.
* * *
Luckily, the attack had been near dawn. Eldred had waited until it was almost morning to carry out his murder plot.
Dwennon said they needed to leave immediately. “He used magic to keep us from hearing his attack, but that magic faded the moment he died. I worry that same magic may also alert Maurelle that something is wrong. We need to leave now. We can’t wait for more light.”
“Are you sure?” James asked.
Dwennon nodded, and James knew it best to follow the fairy’s advice. They needed to get to Rose before Maurelle learned of her servant’s death. James did his best to protect his own servant, ordering Bayard to return to the kingdom.
“Majesty, I have orders from the king not leave your side,” Bayard protested. “Already, there has been an attempt on your life.”
James shook his head. “You must leave. The woman who ordered the attack is a powerful fairy who managed to possess this man. What will you tell my father if she possess you and you murder me? Do you think he will forgive you?”
That gave Bayard enough motivation to take his leave and face the King’s wrath for leaving rather than the king’s wrath for staying and doing something awful.
Once Bayard had gone, Dwennon murmured, “I wish I had fairy stones. I feel confident you could use one to travel.”
“I thought humans would die.”
“But you’re not entirely human if you’ve been given a fairy gift, which you have,” Dwennon said. “But I didn’t bring stones with me. We must hurry to Rose.”
Dwennon and James traveled quickly on the horses, speaking little. Even though there was much to say, so many unanswered questions, James rode in silence, wanting simply to get to their destination rather than rehash all that had passed and the reasons for it.
They traveled for several hours without rest, and finally stopped to water the horses, though it was of great comfort to James, who was well weary of the saddle. He wondered how someone of such age as Dwennon continued so resolutely and without complaint.
As the horses drank, James turned to Dwennon. The old fairy had his eyes skyward, as if searching for something. Perhaps a sign only oracles saw. “Are we far from the castle?” James asked.
Dwennon sighed, looked at the horses drinking and spoke. “Further than I’d like to be. Another three hours, at least.”
James nodded. He peeked up at the sun, slightly to the west. It was some time after noon. He reached into his bag and pulled out a few strips of salted meat to eat, along with some nuts. The food did him good and lifted his spirits. Three hours ‘til Rose. ‘Til he awakened her and could hold her in his arms again. Their dreams had been sensuous, but they didn’t compare to the real thing.
James heard a horrible shriek, an ear-splitting caw-caw-caw, and looked up to see a flock of black birds overheard, flying fast on the wind and shrieking. It was a sight he’d never seen before, and he found himself unable to look away from the underbelly of the birds as they traversed the sky. He felt a tap on his arm. It was Dwennon
“We must go, now,” the fairy commanded, his voice sharp, as he tugged the bridle of his horse to draw it away from the stream.
“They need more water,” James said.
Dwennon shook his head. “The birds are messengers for Maurelle. They have found Eldred and are carrying word to her. Their shrieks were to let us know they are watching.” Dwennon pointed overhead. James looked up, and while the bulk of the flock had moved on, two birds circled overhead.
“They’re watching?”
“And they’ll follow,” Dwennon said. “Our best option is to get to the castle before Maurelle.”
“Can we?”
Dwennon sighed. “If she stops to confirm it, to go see his remains, then probably.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Dwennon simply shook his head, a look of terror on his face.
James guided his horse from the water, mounted it, and set off with Dwennon.
* * *
“Rose?” Blissa called out as she suddenly appeared before her daughter. She looked around, feeling disoriented. She’d been in a higher plane, seeking contact with Hilly when suddenly she’d felt a tugging and appeared here in Rose’s meadow. Her daughter was sitting beneath a tree, her eyes closed in concentration.
Rose opened her eyes and looked at her mother, relief flooding her face. “I’ve been trying so hard to reach you,” Rose said. “I wasn’t sure if I could.”
Blissa stared at her daughter and then looked around at the meadow. It seemed the same as before, but Rose clearly looked troubled. “What’s wrong?”
Rose bade her mother to come over and sit. Blissa did, and then Rose recapped the things she had seen, about the way she’d seen through James’ eyes, how she’d affected the outside world, but only mildly. “I need your help, Mother,” she said. “I need to know how I can do it again. How I can make things happen in the waking world.”
Blissa patted her daughter’s knee. She wasn’t exactly sure what to think. Dwennon would know. He understood these things better. He was schooled in the ways of perception. That had been his gift, and he would have apprenticed under an oracle who understood. The gift of sight was simply about perception. About being able to see the flow of time, to grasp it and see varying points and possibilities. It was a type of sight. And what Rose had experienced seemed to be a type of sight.
“Mother,” Rose said softly.
“I’m sorry,” she said “I’m just trying to think of how I can help you. This isn’t my specialty. I was trained in people. In talking to people and using my gift to mediate and counsel others. I wasn’t trained in sight.
And what you’re talking about, connecting with James, seeing through his eyes, is a sight gift.”
Rose shook her head. “But that’s just it, mother. I don’t think it’s my gift. I didn’t do anything to get there. It’s as if he pulled me to him. As if the sight was him letting me see the world, not something I did.”
Blissa raised a hand to her chin and furrowed her brow. His gift? Was that even possible? He was a human. Though, she remembered vaguely, stories of humans being bestowed gifts from the Sacred Pool. But that was only when … “Of course,” Blissa muttered.
“Of course, what?”
Blissa swallowed and looked her daughter in the eye. “Maurelle has used the Sacred Pool to become more powerful, so the Sacred Pool decided to even the odds. It gave James a gift.”
“The gift of sight?”
Blissa shook her head. “No,” she said. “It gave him the gift he needs to defeat Maurelle. It’s made him a conduit.”
“I don’t understand,” Rose said, her body tensing at the thought. “What’s s conduit?”
“It’s like,” Blissa started, trying to figure out how to best explain what it was. “It’s like he’s a vessel. A vessel that can channel the powers of other fairies to protect himself.”
Rose pursed her lips, then repeated, “Channel the powers of other fairies.”
Blissa nodded. “Your wind,” she started. “It wasn’t very strong, right?”
Rose nodded.
“That’s because he didn’t know you were there, that you could help him. Instinct activated his power, his channeling ability, so you could see that he needed help. But he didn’t know how to accept it or that he needed to accept it. Therefore, your attempts at a strong wind died. Your force of will was there, but he didn’t know how to accept it, so that the power you wield could break through into the waking world even though you’re not near.”
Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story (Passion-Filled FairyTales Book 4) Page 16
