After a moment, a loud thud came from behind the door and it very slowly began to swing inward. Though the room was lit, none penetrated the darkness being revealed beyond. It was as if it swallowed every bit of light and refused to let itself be seen. That didn’t help calm his nerves.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly stepped into the awaiting shadows and the darkness beyond.
IV
Tristan opened his eyes, a strong light piercing the blinds and making his head ache. Throwing up his hand, he tried to keep it from making it worse, but there was a bounce on the bed and his hand wavered; making it flash instead.
A small boy was bouncing between his legs, banging on his blanketed calves. “Papa, you promised to take me hunting today!”
He groaned and looked to the other side of the bed. Willow was sitting up, her eyes focused on a book she’d been reading the night before. Her gray hair had very few light strands of blonde left in it, and the crow’s feet around her eyes deepened as she glanced his way through her glasses. “Don’t look at me, you’re the one that made that promise, you get to keep it.”
“Okay kiddo, just give me some time to wake up, okay?” he asked the little boy, pushing back his covers and swinging himself up. His shirt had ridden up his larger belly and he pulled it back down to cover his exposed waist. His back was hurting and when he stretched out his arms, he felt a pull in his back. Looking down at his liver spotted hands, he flexed them experimentally and finally pulled himself into a standing position.
“Yay!” the boy screamed enthusiastically as he jumped off the bed and fled out of their bed chamber.
Willow snickered. “You sure you’re up to that old man? Traipsing through the woods with a seven-year-old? Why would you ever agree to it, you hate hunting? Why couldn’t you teach the boy to swim? Now that’s a useful use of your time!”
He groaned again as his back popped, and not in a pleasant way. He was slowly making his way towards the bathroom and his knees felt weaker this morning. “You know, I’d be more up to it if you hadn’t worn me out last night.”
A pillow flew across the room and struck him in the back. “I didn’t hear you complaining one bit, your Majesty!”
He chuckled. “I wasn’t complaining now, just throwing it out there.”
“Be careful today, your son is arriving this afternoon and he wants to show off his fiancé at dinner. I don’t need you getting hurt and missing out on that,” she called after him.
“Did Hope tell you when she’s coming back to pick up her son? Not that I don’t love the little tyke, but I miss his mother as well,” he asked as he slid the bathroom door open.
Willow’s voice carried after him, telling him of their daughter’s trip north and how important it was, that she’d be back when she was back. He barely heard it as he stepped before the mirror and looked at his aged face. It’d been thirty years since the Phoenix’s downfall and the jagged scar down his left cheek still looked fresh as if done yesterday. He felt older than he was and though he tried to argue against his growing limitations, he knew that there were some things he just could not do anymore.
All-night marathons were one of them.
He splashed some water on his face and thought back over the last three decades. He had a wonderful life, a wife, three kids, and two grandchildren. He was sure there were going to be more of those to come, he just wished they’d hold off for a bit; they were making him feel old. He popped his neck and glanced into the aging eyes looking back at him. If he was going to take his grandson hunting he’d best get to work and clear his morning schedule.
Striding from the room after a quick bath, he threw on his cloak and walked out onto the balcony. Willow had already gone for the morning, her own duties to attend too, and he wanted to just take a moment to look out upon the castle below; have one last bit of silence before plunging right back into things.
Griedlok was quiet in the early mornings. Gardeners were busy at work, as they always were come the light of dawn. But as far as foot traffic, that was all. They had been at peace since the death of the Phoenix and the bare minimum of soldiers were maintained as the populace strived to move on with their lives. Unlike Lancaster’s cold architecture, most of the elven houses were built either into trees, or with several surrounding each building. It appeared to be a forest trapped within the inner walls, but he knew that thousands of his citizens were sleeping or preparing to go about their days beneath the canopy beyond.
He had gotten a message from his brother and John wanted him to make the journey back to Lancaster on the anniversary of their father’s death, but he was having a hard time even now still coping with bringing those memories back to life. He had loved his father and though the two of them rarely spoke, in the end it had been his father’s love that had pushed him on and gave him strength to finish what Merlin had started.
Thinking of Merlin made him wonder where the mage was currently hiding.
They had only seen each other once since that last battle in the Phoenix’s castle and that was to ask him to send Hope north to speak to the Minotaurs about joining Erik’s Round Table. The negotiations had been stalled and the mage had insisted that Hope could end the stalemate and bring them back to the bargaining table. They were a tribal, warrior race, and they hoped to forestall future wars by including them in the remaking of their world.
Kore had arrived a few nights before, the grizzled veteran holding his grandson high for the whole palace to see. Tristan had smiled and greeted the old friend warmly and asked how the rebuilding of the Deadlands had been going. The orc was informative, better spoken, but there was a look in his eyes during the conversation and Tristan knew what he had really come there to see. He made the journey every few years in order to pay respects to the woman that saved his life during the last days of the war, and though it hurt his heart to take him there, he had finally given in and escorted Kore where he wanted to go.
Behind the palace stood a large statue of a tall, thin, Elven ranger with a ponytail and a smirk on her face. Sculpted at her side was a very large wolf, head down, mouth open in a familiar growl. Her bow was raised in the air, an arrow notched and ready to fly. A large shrike was positioned on her shoulder; it’s beak open in an unspoken battle cry.
At the bottom of the statue was an inscription:
“A beloved sister, A stronger leader,
A missed mother, A loyal and steadfast warrior,
Here lies Kylee of Griedlok
May her arrow always fly true,
And her spirit continue to inspire us all.”
They had all been there when the statue had been revealed and he could still see the anguish on Willow’s face over the loss of her sister. She had refused to see Kore, even to this day; believing that her sister would still be with them if only he had listened and not let his pride force him into a battle he could not win. The orc had been like that from the day they’d met him, but when Kylee sacrificed her life to save his, it had humbled the Orc King, and had fundamentally changed him forever.
Lost in thought, he didn’t hear the person walk up behind him until arms were sliding about his waist and pulling him close.
“I thought you had work to do this morning?” he asked with a smile.
“The only work I have to do is with you,” a voice cooed back, startling him from his thoughts and forcing him to turn around.
He found himself face to face with Melissa.
Chapter 17
Heart & Body
I
Tristan’s heart hammered in his chest. “What are you doing here?”
Melissa was dressed in a very long silk black gown, which revealed too much flesh for his body to ignore. If at all possible, she actually looked younger than the day they’d first met, and her eyes still looked at him as if she wanted to eat him whole. There was a wicked smile on her face and as she pulled him closer, he could smell roses drifting off her smooth skin. Her black hair was straight, loose upon her shoulders. She lea
ned in to kiss him and he felt helpless under her weighty stare.
Their lips met and before he knew what was happening, her hands were entangled in his hair, yanking his head towards hers, her tongue forcing its way into his mouth. Unwillingly, his right hand rose to the small of her back and pulled her closer, the other sliding up her side to cradle her even larger, nearly exposed breast.
He moaned softly as her lips drew him deeper in and he felt the blood ravaging its way south. Her hand went to her dress and with a flip of a finger, it slid to the floor, exposing her naked flesh for him to see and feel. Lust overwhelmed him and he remembered how many times he had imagined this moment and almost gone through with it.
Her hand was pulling him back to the room and he suddenly remembered where he was. He resisted, pulling on her hand and refusing to follow after. His blood was pounding through his veins and he knew that though his body was willing; his heart was not.
“I can’t,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“Of course you can,” Melissa whispered, stepping close once more and intoxicating him with her perfume. Her hands went to his pants and before he could say anything she was gripping him tightly. “I can feel that you want too and you have for a very long time.”
He fought the urge to give in. “I seriously can’t. We’ve discussed this. I’m married, I have kids and grandkids, I—we—”
She wasn’t making it any easier on him doing what she was doing and as she leaned forward, she began kissing her way down his neck, her other hand sliding his pants free. “Just stand there and relax. I’ll do all the work.”
His eyes rolled back into his head as her mouth found him and for a brief moment, she had him. Then images of his wife filled his head, their lives together, the love they had shared, and he knew that he would never be able to look her in the eyes again if he let this happen. He loved her too much to risk losing her.
He put both hands on Melissa’s shoulders and shoved her backwards. Her mouth was instantly gone and though her nails dug into his bare ass, nothing prevented her from smacking the ground hard as she fell. “Oh, you little—”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for us, and I value as a friend, but no more, okay? I love my wife,” he told her as she stared daggers up at him.
She wiped her mouth and rose to her feet, her very gorgeous young body inviting, yet no longer desired. “You know you don’t mean that. If you did, you wouldn’t be so excited to see me.”
“It’s an illusion, a trick of magic,” he answered promptly. “Merlin told you once to lay off your lure on me, but you never did, did you? It’s not real, it never was.”
Melissa stepped closer, not giving up, pressing her bare breast against his chest. “When we were down by the river, you didn’t think it was an illusion. You knew that I heard your wish to be with me when I was burning on the pyre and you asked me not speak about it. Well, I am now. You regretted not being with me when you thought I was dying, how are you going to feel if we don’t and I leave you again, this time forever?”
“It was a momentary weakness. I was young not sure of what I wanted, and you were very attractive and seductive. But I’m older now and I know now that all I ever wanted or needed was her. She has been and always will be the love of my life,” he told the witch, refusing to respond to her hands as they once more began to roam over his body. He had pulled his pants back up, but that didn’t stop her from trying to take them back off.
“I’m not talking about love, you don’t need to love me,” she cooed in his hear, biting lightly. Though it sent tingles up his spine, he focused on his intent and refused to show any kind of reaction.
He bit his lip, then forced himself to resist for the last time. “I can only be with someone I love, I’m sorry.”
She slapped him across the face, making his face sting and his vision shift. Then she bent over and began sliding her dress back on. “Do you know how far I had to travel to get here? My only reason for being here is you and you are just going to push me off like some tavern whore? I know you better than that Tristan of Griedlok, I know in your heart what you truly want, and it’s not that Elven witch. She’s been using her own magic on you since the first day you met, only she’s subtler about it. Wake the hell up and smell the roses! What you think is real is only a fabrication of a spell she cast on you.”
“You are the only spell caster here and I think it’s time that you go,” he stated firmly, making sure his clothes were arranged properly and wiping the smell of roses off his skin the best he could.
“If I leave now, I’ll never come back,” Melissa warned him. She must have seen the resolve in his eyes, because she suddenly sneered, shifted into a large black hawk, and took flight, nearly taking his head off with her talons as she flew past.
He turned to watch her go, sure that in his heart, he had made the right decision.
There was a cough behind him and he startled. Willow was standing at the doorway to the balcony, tears streaming down the corners of her eyes. Oh God, how long had she been standing there? Melissa had to have known, that witch!
She stepped towards him, her eyes never leaving his and the guilt he felt over what she must have seen filled his soul with terror.
“You pushed her away,” Willow finally whispered, a choke in her throat barely hiding her sobs. Then she rushed forward and into his arms.
His hand stroked the back of her hair and he knew that she could feel the excitement that had filled him press against her as they embraced. He couldn’t help but feel ashamed and embarrassed. He had never deserved her and that was one thing that he’d always known.
“Of course I did, I love you,” he managed, hoping that she would see how much he cared and not leave him for what had just happened. “How long were you standing there?”
“Long enough,” she groaned, still crying into his shoulder. “I forgot one of the scrolls the clerics needed signed and I saw you both on the balcony. My heart was breaking. I knew that you always wanted her and I was so afraid that you’d only settled for me because she left.”
He shook his head, his own tear sliding down his face. “You are my one true love and second to nobody. You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted.”
“I never believed it until now,” Willow whispered, looking up into his face.
He kissed her cheeks, tasting the salty tears, and slowly kissed his way across her forehead.
Willow forced him to look at her, her hand lowering his chin until they were eye to eye. “There was no spell that I cast on you to make you love me, you know that right?”
He chuckled. “Sure there was. From the moment I saw you I fell under your spell, because in my soul I knew that my soulmate had found me at last. Love is the spell in which we’re both under and one that I will never ask to be free of.”
She kissed him then and softly giggled.
“What?”
She shook her head. “She was just so young. Are you sure you didn’t want her? Because she looked to be Hope’s age now.”
He groaned and smiled. “Seriously, you don’t believe me? After forty years, you still don’t know how much I love you?”
She grinned back, showing that she’d been teasing. “I know, I’ve always known. That doesn’t mean that I don’t still love to hear it. Come on, let’s handle your excitement the right way and send you about your day with a deserved smile.”
He laughed and followed her into their room where they embraced once more.
I’m in love with Willow. She is and always will be, the only one I love.
II
He was standing before the closing door that led to his first trial, his heart hammering in his chest. His entire body was pumping blood faster than his heart could keep up, and he felt dizzy. Falling to one knee, he put his hands to his head and tried to get the vertigo to stop.
Images began flashing through his head, reliving every moment that he had ever spent with Willow. The fights, the make ups, the intimate moments
, and the times when they just lay on the grass; grinning at each other lost in conversation.
He then was forced to watch as Melissa entered their lives and began her seduction, trying to pull him away. He cringed with guilt at the nasty thoughts he’d had of her.
Then there was the pushing of Willow away after Kershaw, the detachment from her touch and embrace. The pulling away of his soul and the connection he’d felt with Melissa over their shared experiences. He then watched the battle with the gnomes and what came shortly after. He viewed it all in a detached way, seeing it all for what it was.
He lusted for the witch and there was no denying it. He accepted that and pushed it aside.
It was never going to happen and the life he wanted was the one he’d just experienced with Willow. The family they built, the life they led, that was what he truly wanted. He felt a sensation over his chest and watched as a black mist lifted free of his breastplate and dispersed into the air.
His heart was lighter, his mind purer. He had no more second thoughts, no more doubts. Whatever he had felt for Melissa was now permanently gone and all that filled him was the love he felt for his fiancé and future wife and their unborn children. He took a deep breath and focused himself, allowing that love to fill him to the core and bring a smile to his face.
The test had been so vivid! He had actually felt like it was real and that he had lived those thirty years in however long he’d been in there. He had fading memories of a life lived, the losses associated with them, and wondered how much they affected the person he had been before going in there. What would the other tests do if they were all like this?
He turned back to the dais and looked to the three remaining doors. He knew that he wasn’t ready for the mind test, the heart experience had been too impactful and he didn’t want to go in there until his mind and body settled down. He looked to the door with the mountain engraved on it. That had to be Earth.
Pure of Heart (the New Age Saga Book 2) Page 26
