This admission stops Ariana. She did know this already. Gideon had told her, but Hadeon had never spoken of it himself, and she never had a chance to speak about it with him. She sits up straighter, cheeks mottled and wet, and looks at his solemn face. “I’m sorry.”
He frowns deeper. “I’m sorry too.”
“I… You seem so collected. Normal. I forget that you’re in my position. Gideon told me, but I never…”
He stands and plants his hands on his hips, laughing sarcastically. “Normal? Ha. A life hell-bent on revenge is hardly normal.”
Ariana stands too, but her legs are so weak. She cocks her head to the side. “Really?” The anger has returned to her tone. “So all this talk of duty and honor and doing what’s best for Fiore has been bullshit, and this has really been about revenge?”
He arches a brow and grins with half his mouth. “My entire wretched existence has been about revenge.” Ariana, scowling, parts her lips to rant, but Hadeon cuts her off. “Right up until I found you. Then everything changed.”
Ariana wipes her eyes and cheeks with her free hand. “What do you mean?”
He shakes his head. “That very moment I lifted your stilettoed heel onto my thigh, I was not the same man. Bringing you home became about something more than my personal vendetta with the Sun Queen.”
She nods, her gaze sliding over his face. Such blatant changes he has gone through—the lightening of his once almost permanently dark brown eyes, the softening of his features, the calming of his temperament, and most importantly, the thawing of his heart. It’s undeniable that he is still a Warrior at heart, but he is no longer closed. How could she not have seen this more clearly or questioned the reason for these changes?
“We both know that by no means were we capable of loving each other straight away,” he says when her silent stare has dragged on for too long.
She focuses on his eyes—a delectable brown. “We each had some self-searching to do first. Strange, all this time I thought it was only me because my memory wants me to think that you were always perfect.”
He laughs loud and strong. “Far from, flower, but I’m trying my best. You, on the other hand,” he says, sliding his hand down her arm, entwining his fingers with hers and pulling her against his broad chest, “are perfect for me.” Lips brush against Ariana’s leaving a warm, tingly stamp of sensation. “But no more outbursts like that just yet. Look at this mess.”
Ariana peeks at the room from around his wide frame. “Oops. I did get a bit carried away.”
“A bit? The entire palace was vibrating. Come, sit down. We may all be safer if we go through your mother’s things together.”
Ariana grins bashfully. He has a point. She takes a seat at the reading nook again, and Hadeon sits beside her.
Ariana reaches inside the box and grips a piece of card. A colorful artwork, so intricate it looks like a crystal clear photograph.
“Oh my,” she whispers, palm on her chest, then blinks, trying to catch tears on her eyelashes. A picture of Ariana as a baby with her mother. Her mother is cradling her in her arms while looking steadfastly at Ariana. Ariana, no older than six months old, holds her mother’s adoring stare, a childish look of love on her features.
Ariana hands it to Hadeon to look at. He takes it and smiles. “You look so much like her.”
Ariana nods and strokes a finger across her mother’s face when he hands it back. “So much so. There are so many things I want to know. And I feel like I don’t have enough time. I need to strengthen the barrier spell.”
“Yes, but not while you’re weak. You’ll kill yourself trying. And that’s not an option.”
Ariana sighs. “God damn Sonnig.”
“Don’t worry about damning Sonnig, I’ve already done it,” Hadeon says, his tone scathing.
“It does make me wonder, though, what good is a barrier spell if our enemies may be inside?”
“We got them all.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can’t be. I have to trust my instinct. And not many people can evade Tuti’s perception.”
“Nyklus and Sora did. Whoever killed my mother and father did.”
Hadeon nods, his expression stern.
Ariana jumps to her feet and strides past Hadeon toward the door. “I need to talk to Tuti. I need more…” Her head spins and all the colors blend until they disappear under a swath of blackness.
When she opens her eyes she’s in Hadeon’s arms being carried to the bed. He gently places her on the mattress, devoid of its linens thanks to her storm earlier.
“You need to take it easy,” he says, planting a kiss on her forehead. “You’re still weak.”
“I…I thought I felt fine. I think I just stood up too quickly.”
Tuti rushes through the door with a tray of healing liquids. Beside her is Hadeon’s sister, her chest uncovered. That’s going to take some getting used to.
“I felt disorientation, dizziness,” says Tuti, fluttering to Ariana’s side, resting the tray of drinks on the nightstand.
“Yes, but I’m fine now. Just a little fainting spell.”
“Ariana, this is my sister, Marseon,” says Hadeon, gesturing toward the woman. She looks nothing like Hadeon. Dark hair, yes, but she has pale green eyes, fair skin, and is ever so slight.
“Hi, Ariana,” says Marseon, holding out her hand.
Ariana takes it and shakes it gently. “I haven’t had a chance to speak to you, but I want to thank you for saving my life. I’m truly grateful for what you did.”
Marseon waves away Ariana’s gratitude. “I’m a Healer. Healing is my duty.” She looks sideways at Hadeon. “And besides, can you imagine this sad sack over here if I didn’t? I was just getting used to seeing him smile.”
Hadeon grins and musses Marseon’s hair before kissing her on the cheek. “And can’t you feel that sibling love?”
Marseon turns back to Ariana and rubs her palms together, chanting something indecipherable under her breath. She unclasps her hands and places them above Ariana’s head, about six inches from contact. Warmth emanates from Marseon’s palms into her skull, down her face as the hands wander over her cheeks, then down to her neck and chest. Pain burns from within her chest as Marseon’s hands hover above Ariana’s heart. Ariana clenches her jaw and groans.
A nod combined with a grimace and Marseon removes her hands. “Your heart is still weak, Ariana. Much residual painful energy surrounds the site. A healing spell, if not cast soon enough, may not be able to completely mend the wound. And I’m assuming that’s what’s happening because you died—”
Ariana gasps. “I…died?”
Marseon’s gaze flickers to her brother, then back to Ariana. “I assumed Hadeon would have told you.”
Ariana shakes her head. “No. Nothing.”
Hadeon walks around the bed and sits on the mattress. “I didn’t think it was relevant. Sometimes knowing such things can delay recovery.”
“I fucking died?” Ariana asks again, pitch considerably higher.
Marseon nods as she purses her lips together. “Yes, Ariana. When we found you, you had bled out due to one of the main arteries in your heart being severed. I reconnected the artery and we replenished your blood supply. I had to restart your heart—”
Ariana looks up at the ceiling, breaths quickening.
“You’re alive now,” Hadeon says, taking her hand in his.
She turns to face him. “Yes, but I’m not much use if I can’t even walk across a room without fainting.”
“You’ll improve, flower.”
“Will I?” she shrieks. She looks up at Marseon. “Will I?”
Marseon hesitates with her answer. “I can’t guarantee that.”
“There’s got to be something I can do.”
“You really just need to rest, and then we’ll be able to get a better understanding of which way this is going to go,” says Marseon.
“I don’t have time to rest. I can feel it in my v
eins. Time is running out…for all of us.”
Marseon squeezes the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, her actions so much like Hadeon, despite the lack of physical similarities. “I know.”
Ariana looks back at Hadeon’s face, his forehead deeply furrowed. “Can you please bring me Spells and Such?”
Chapter 34
The spell book feels thicker between Ariana’s hands. She reclines back onto soft pillows with the book on her lap. The leather is warm and tingly against her skin. Hadeon and the others have given her some peace to review its contents. Opening the hard cover, she sees the first entry, which hasn’t shown itself before now.
SPRING BLOSSOM QUEEN
A full ripe bud, in spring she blooms into
Flower, consumed, possessed with verve and love.
A fertile, sexual form, teaming with life.
Power writhes inside so tantalizingly
Blissful it scorches her soul, scars her veins
And beats her heart with joy and might and lust.
To look upon her satin flesh as soft
As petals, and her supple curves, is to
Seek heaven and find it. She is all life,
All love, a potent force of magic and seduction.
More so she is strength, power, hot and fierce—
Unmatched. Love her, adore her, but fear her.
Ariana smiles. “Well, this is new,” she says to the silent room. She flicks to the next page. There is another new entry.
THE KING
His heart beats for his queen
His blood bleeds for her.
His lungs breathe for her.
She is his everything, his soul, his hopes, his purpose, his dreams.
He loves his queen completely, unceasingly.
And she loves him with commensurate severity.
Ariana’s bottom lip quivers as emotions spread through her soul. This entry is a perfect picture of Hadeon’s heart. This is what she feels in every kiss and every touch—utter, complete unceasing love. And yes, she does feel the same about him. They are a perfect paring of souls.
She flicks to the next page.
CLAIMING
You cannot stop it,
Nor take it back.
A man’s heart, spirit, flesh, and bones
Will choose his love
And with his essence
He gives her his everything
For always.
Ariana releases a long sigh. Hadeon couldn’t have stopped it if he wanted to. But the entry feels incomplete somehow. It doesn’t say anything about the lover needing to be of age, which is what anyone she has ever talked to about Claiming believes. Perhaps the norm is for men to claim their soul mate once paired on their wedding day. Ariana shakes her head and grins. And since when have I, or my life, ever been considered ‘the norm’?
Besides, she is getting distracted. She needs to know if danger is still inside the palace. In other words, people who know how to evade Tuti’s empathic abilities. As soon as she thinks the thought the pages flicker and fall into place on a page with a moving picture of a girl—not Tuti, but someone of the same heritage: fluttering wings, colors flickering around her petite frame, big blue eyes, and white hair.
“Oh, so now that I’m the queen you want to cooperate,” she says to the spell book sarcastically. Ariana has already read this entry about Lavizsia and their flawless emotional insight, but not this new paragraph.
EMOTIONAL SHIELD SPELL
Do wrap around my mind so tight
And hide my thoughts and feelings from sight
To shield from view what I think and do
A silent companion hidden from you
She smacks her palm on the page. “Gah, anyone would think you were working against me, spell book. Why the hell wouldn’t you have revealed this earlier to me when I needed it?”
EMOTIONAL SHIELD REVERSAL SPELL
Take away the mask
And see what’s inside
True thoughts and feelings
No longer will hide
Breathing heavily, nostrils flaring, she wonders how much has been hidden from her that could have helped her avoid almost having her heart cut out. Speaking of weak hearts, she would like to know if there is something she can do, a spell that will improve her health more. Despite Marseon and Hadeon’s doubt, it’s not impossible.
The pages flutter like the wings of a butterfly, flapping air up into Ariana’s face along with the faint scent of age, honey, and spice. The pages settle.
WARNING: POST HEALING SPELL
If death do bite
Before the spell takes flight
The body won’t fully heal
And poorly you may feel
But do take heart
And do your part
After the fact
To bring health back
A spell that breathes life
And reverses the strife.
But this spell does play God
And results can be odd
So be warned this day
There’s the chance that you may
Undo the prior gain
And be smothered in pain
From life you may depart
No more beating of your heart.
Goosebumps spread along her arms. There’s a chance a post healing spell could kill me?
POST HEALING SPELL
Stitch, repair, and glue
Until I am like new
So simple, but she will definitely not be using the spell if there is a chance she may die. She will simply have to remain positive that her injuries will heal in due course, like on Earth where there are no such luxuries as spells. But the old-school method of healing takes time, and time she doesn’t have.
But she does need to cast the emotional shield reversal spell. Tuti and Marseon need to be here with her first, in case the spell further injures her already damaged heart.
No need for bells or loud voices here, so she discovered when she fainted—Tuti is in tune with her silence. Ariana concentrates hard. Tuti, I need you, please. And bring Marseon and Hadeon, just in case.
Before she has completed the silent request, Hadeon is striding through the door to their bedroom, Marseon and Tuti close behind. He smiles when he sees Ariana, as though it is the first time he’s seen her in months, years even. Her weak heart warms with his love, confessed in every look and smile.
How incredible her king is: such height, broad shoulders, and a thick, muscled chest unable to be hidden behind his black wrap shirt and knee-length tunic skirt. I can’t wait until he makes love to me again.
Tuti looks at Ariana with an eyebrow arched. Ariana notices and lowers her gaze, cheeks burning. God, does Tuti feel everyone’s thoughts all the time?
“I can tune out when I need to,” she says, sweet laughter chiming in the room. “Like now. I’m tuning way out.”
Hadeon glances between Ariana and Tuti. “Am I guessing correctly that your thoughts were a tad obscene, flower?”
Ariana clears her throat, her cheeks still burning, and concentrates hard on the stitching in the bedspread.
Tuti chimes in again. “Nothing more than I sense from you, King.”
Hadeon grins with half his mouth, cheeky. “I have an excuse for all my filthy thoughts.”
“And what is that?” asks Tuti.
“I’m married to the Spring Blossom Queen. What man in their right mind wouldn’t be consumed with such thoughts?”
Marseon groans. “Okay. That’s enough talk about sex where my brother is involved, please. No offense, Your Highness, but the image this talk stirs is not pleasant.”
Ariana laughs and watches Hadeon as he sits beside her on the bed, a teasing smile tugging at his lips. “Fine. No more talk about sex.”
“So you wish to cast a spell to reveal anyone who may be hiding their true intentions from me?” asks Tuti.
“So there is such a spell?” asks Hadeon.
Ariana nods. “
I just read about it in the spell book. I think we need to know exactly who is on our side.”
“Yes, but are you strong enough to cast it?” Tuti asks.
Ariana looks to Marseon, who is standing back toward the wall. She strides closer. “Could I cast it for you? Or perhaps we can call for an Enchantress—”
“No. Only a queen can cast it. I believe that’s why some of the spells haven’t revealed themselves until now.”
Hadeon looks at Marseon. “What do you think? Can she cast this spell?”
Marseon sighs. “I’ve only ever read about a queen, centuries ago, who was strong enough to cast a healing spell after she died, exactly like Ariana did, and was brought back to life by an attending Healer. So I don’t know the full effects. I’m sorry. All we can do is—”
“Trust our instincts. Right, Hadeon?”
Hadeon nods and strokes a finger down Ariana’s cheek. “I think you’re strong enough for this. I saw what you did to the room when you got angry. I’m sure you can handle this spell.”
“I think so too. We can’t risk anyone running around the palace or village doing the Sun Queen’s bidding. We’re vulnerable enough.”
Marseon nods. “Fine. Then you do the spell. I won’t object from a health standpoint. Tuti, can you please prepare a nourishing elixir for when Ariana is done?”
The Book of Spells and Such Page 23
