by Paige Watson
“I will find you again,” he said, smiling at me.
“I can’t live the rest of this life without you,” I pleaded. I bent my face to his and kissed his lips. He took my hand and interlaced our fingers.
“I remember the first time I ever saw you,” he said. “The flames of the fire danced off the strands of your long hair, making it shine. You were more beautiful than I ever thought possible and there you stood in front of me, glowing like an angel.” He removed his hand from mine and wrapped a strand of my hair around one of his fingers. “In an instant, I knew I would never be able to love anyone else.”
“Shh,” I said, lightly touching his lips. “You need to save your strength so we can get you out of here.”
“You’re everything I ever dreamed of.”
“Conrad,” I whispered. “You have to hold on, because you aren’t dying today. I won’t let you.”
“I know you don’t want me to, but you can’t stop this from happening.”
“I have to stop it,” I sobbed. “You’re supposed to propose to me and we’re supposed to get married and live out the rest of our lives together.”
“I wish we could.” He coughed, leaving tiny specks of red over his mouth. I gently wiped blood from his lips. “We tried once before, and he stopped us then too,” he whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“When you were Gabrielle d’Estrees and Aden poisoned you. You know how I said, history cites you as having died in childbirth?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You were with child,” he smiled. “You were about to give birth to our son.” He reached forward, to set his hand against my stomach.
“We were going to have a baby?”
“It would have been our first child.”
“And instead, you lost me and the baby,” I said, brushing away a tear.
“Some things don’t stay lost forever, My Lady.”
Aden had stolen too many things from us. I wouldn’t let him have a chance to prevent me from telling Conrad how I felt about him. “Thank you,” I said, as I ran my fingertips along the side of his face.
“What for?”
“For being everything I wanted and everything I longed for. You saved me from the lonely existence I’d been living for hundreds of years. I never really knew just how beautiful love could be until I met you, and I love you more than anyone else in this world.”
Blood continued to pour from his wound, no matter how much pressure I put on it. His white shirt was now stained red. There had to be something I could do; I couldn’t accept that he would soon be lost to me.
“I would die thousands of times, if it meant I could hold you in my arms just for a minute.”
“You have me in your arms,” I said, wiping at my tears.
“Yes,” he smiled. “I do.” His breathing slowed and his chest barely moved as he drew in a shallow breath. “I love you, My Lady.”
“And I love you, my husband.” I held his head in my arms and leaned in to kiss him. I kissed him like never before, and I wanted to savor in the feel of his lips against mine, one last time. His fingers caught in my hair pulling, me on top of him. I lifted my face from his and stared into his eyes. I felt his body release his final breath beneath me, and his eyes went still; they were glistening sapphires no more.
“Conrad!” I screamed out as I shook his limp body. “Take me with you!” Grief overtook me, and my entire body started to shake violently. I fell onto his chest as fresh tears gushed from my eyes. He was gone, taken away to a place where I could not follow.
The touch of a hand at my back startled me, and I jumped back from Conrad’s body.
“Evey.”
“Get away from me!” I screamed, as Aden’s hand reached out to touch me again.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said softly. He knelt beside me on the cold floor.
“Hurt me? Hurt me?!” The anger in my voice exploded as I flung myself at him. “Can’t you see you’ve already hurt me?” His hands caught my arms, as I struggled to strike at him. “You killed everyone I’ve ever loved.” I stared into his dark eyes, wondering if he even possessed a soul.
“They would never let you come back to me, and I need you, Evey.”
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“I don’t know. I’ve tried, but I can’t,” he answered. He loosened the grasp he had on me, and started to massage my wrists with his thumbs.
“Don’t touch me like that!” I screamed so loud, that my voice reverberated from every surface of the abandoned room. “I don’t want you to ever touch me again!”
“Evey—”
“You killed him, and I will never forgive you for that. Don’t you understand what I’m saying to you Aden? I hate you. I hate you so much!”
“You think what you did with him never hurt me?” He raised his voice to match the level of mine. “You think I felt nothing when he told me about how he made love to you in our bed? I felt like someone was yanking a knife through my stomach, spilling my insides onto the ground below.”
I jerked my arms away from him, and started beating against his chest. All the pain I felt, I wanted to inflict on him as well. I wanted him to suffer as I was suffering; knowing it would never cease. “I hate you,” I screamed, as I continued to pound at his body. I punched his wound as hard as I could. His body contorted with pain as he clutched his side. “Why won’t you just die and leave me be?” He stopped moving and turned to look at me. His expression transformed into one of sadness, and I could see the water building up around his brown eyes. “Don’t you dare look at me like that,” I demanded. “You don’t know what it means to feel pain. You only know how to inflict it on the people around you.”
“You’re right,” he said, moving closer to me. I pushed myself up from the ground; my eyes never turning from his face. He stood up in front of me and threw his arms around me. My body was thrust against his, as he embraced me. I fought back, but I couldn’t overpower him. The only thing I could do to free myself was to go for his wound again. I thrust my thumb into the hole in his side. He gasped and I withdrew my freed hand so I could continue beating on his chest. I slammed my fists into his body, hoping it would make me feel better, but it didn’t.
“You killed him,” I said, breaking into sobs. “You killed him.” My knees buckled, and he caught me in his arms, to keep me from falling. I felt him scoop me up and set my head on top of his shoulder. I buried my face in his shirt and cried. I wanted to cry until I felt nothing at all, until I became an empty shell. The life I hoped for was lost. All hope was lost. I would never again see my beautiful knight with glistening blue eyes, I would never again feel his hands against my skin, and I would never again hear his lips utter the words, “My Lady”. I was to be Aden’s for eternity, I was to be his prisoner.
I awoke in a panic and then felt strong arms wrapped around me. “Thank God, it was just a dream,” I thought. It was just a silly dream. I closed my eyes and pressed my body against his.
“I’m cold,” I whispered through the haze of sleep. Instantly, the pair of arms tightened around me, and the warmth of his body radiated over mine. I felt the soft touch of his lips on the back of my shoulder. After the dream I had, he was about to get woken up in a way he would like very much. I took his hands in mine, guiding them along the silky material that hung over the curves of my body. When his fingertips reached the bottom; they tucked under the material and met with the skin on my thighs. I rolled over to face him, but my body froze, as I was met with a pair of dark brown eyes. My voice died in my throat. It hadn’t been a dream; this was real. Conrad was gone from my life and someone else sought to take his place.
“Good morning my love,” he said, breaking into a wide smile.
“Hello—Aden.”
The End
Book One
The Concilium Series
Paige Watson lives in Johnson City, Tennessee where she works as a Registered Nurse. Seeds of Eden i
s the first in her trilogy, The Concilium Series. When not writing or working, she enjoys spending time with her friends and her dog, Elle. She is currently working on book two of the series: A Fallen Son.
