Forever Fae (28 page)

My muscles scream at me and my body aches while walking up the winding staircase. It feels like tiny daggers stabbing me in the legs, and my lungs feel like I’m breathing acid.   I am in
perfect
shape, but the events of the past couple of days have worn
heavily on
my body.  I am also still wearing the bathrobe and I’m sweating like crazy.   Avery clearly sees my distress and continues up the steps with an arrogant sneer
.

“This is the dark sorcerer
’
s dwelling.  He wants you to stay here with him where he can keep his eyes on you, among other things.”

My feelings of dread double.  I have to eat, sleep and do everything under the watchful eye of the dark sorcerer
and
try to fight off his advances.  Not to mention he’s going to be stealing my powers the
entire
time.  It seems like there are certain places that have the strong binding magic that keeps me from connecting with Merrick and some places
that
don’t.  I surely don’t have the capability in here.  We reach the top of the steps and Avery knocks on the door.  Warren has curiously remained quiet du
ring
the entire
ordeal today so I can honestly say i
t’s perfectly clear that he’s not second in command. 

I hear a voice
telling me
to enter and I can only assume it is the dark sorcerer, Alasdair.  This is it. 
I take a deep shaky breath and I let it out.
I will be meeting the man that wants to destroy the Land of the Fae while taking me down the dark and dangerous road of despair.  My
legs feel weak and the dizziness is making my head hurt and my vision blurry. 
We walk into the room and
I see the dark sorcerer with his back to me.  He’s standing in the dark
,
so I can
’t really make out his shape because h
e blends into the shadows perfectly.  Avery pulls my arm and makes me move to the middle of the room. 
He
backs
away
and leaves me standing there alone.  I have never felt more helpless in my life.  I must remember to comply with whatever I am asked to do.  My ring is on my third finger and I feel it trying to protect me fr
om the evil that’s embracing me right now.
  I have my hands clasped behind my back and I’m gripping them so tight my hands are going tingly and numb while my pulse is thumping wildly at my wrist. 

With his back still to me
,
he sternly says, “Take off the robe.”

My head jerks to attention.  He hasn’t even looked at me so how does he know I’m wearing a robe?  His voice is deep and very masculine.  It sounds
full
of arrogance and menace
,
which tells me that this man is nothing but cruel and deceitful.  Yet, somehow, that voice sounds familiar.  I stand motionless for about ten seconds and then I slowly untie the robe and let it fall to the floor at my feet.  The dark sorcerer turns and as he turns I squeeze my eyes shut.  I hear his footsteps, hard and determined, making his way toward me.  The closer he gets, the harder it is to breath
e
because of
the thickness
of his magic
in the air.  He is so close I can feel his hot breath on my neck when he whispers in my ear.

“Open your eyes.”
             
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.  He’s moved to stand in front of me now and when I open my eyes I see someone I
am
not expecting to see.  I
feel
the blood drain f
rom my face and my eyes widen with shock.  He stands
there with a slow smile spreading ac
ross his face.  My thoughts are
scrambling around in my head
and I’m
trying to understand what I am
seeing.  How could this be possible?  My hands fall loosely to my side and my breathing stops.  He starts to reach for me, but I quickly step back.  I don’t want him to touch me.  My body begins to shake and the feeling of losing control is so strong I can’t stand
it
any longer.  The world falls out from beneath me and I’m taken into the dark labyrinth of a nightmare.  The dread and confusion poison my mind and the only thing I remember saying as I fall into blackness is the name of the man standing before me.

“Ryder?”

Chapter 21

Ryder

Waking up from the dream was both joyful and sad.  Hearing Calista say “yes” and that she loves me
sen
ds
my heart hammering in my chest
.
I yearn to be with her,
body and soul.  The
k
ing
demanded to know what we saw and everything that was discussed.  Elvena was the one to speak and relayed everything that occurred. 

The plan was simple: head into the Black Forest undetected and rescue Calista.  Arguments were spewed within the
G
reat
R
oom
on who would be the ones to rescue the
p
rincess
.  Warriors volunteered left and right, obviously wanting to be the great hero.  I’m tired of the bantering because it’s nothing but a waste of time. I march to the center of the room with my head tilted back and a sense of calm flowing off of me.  This is my task and no one is going to go after the
p
rincess
but me.  She’s mine and it is my job to fight for her.

I announce loudly so everyone can hear, “I’m going to the Black Forest.”

I look around the room and everyone goes silent.  Looks of understanding and sadness circulate through their eyes since this is most likely a suicide mission and they all know it.  King Oberon’s expression was one of grief and adoration. 

He somberly replies, “Thank you, Prince Ryder.  This is a very grave mission, and there is no way I can repay the debt of your courage and love.”

I think to myself for a few seconds and there is one way he can repay me. 

I shift back and forth and state, “Actually, Your Highness, there is.”  King Oberon raises his eyebrows in curiosity so I continue, “When I bring your daughter home, I want to fulfill the marriage bond with her.  I love her and I want to be with the woman who has the other half of my soul, because without her, I’ll never be complete.  Our lands need us and Calista needs me to complete
our
court.”

Admiration flashes
acro
ss the King’s face and he nods
in agreement.  “Very well, Prince Ryder,
I will grant your request.”

I begin to bow to the King when Merrick storms to the front, nostrils flaring and hands clenched.  He looks to the
k
ing
and lets out a guttural roar
.

“
N
o
!  I’m going with Prince Ryder to rescue her and it
needs
to be made clear to her that she has a choice on
who
m
to marry.
  I’m not going to stand by and let her marry someone because of some
p
rophecy
.
”
Then his entire
demeanor changed. 
He froze in place
,
held
h
is hand up to his head
and narrowed his eyes in concentration.  I’ve seen him like that before when he was talking to Calista.  Strong emotions float across
his face
, everything
from rage to despair
.
I’m anxious to hear what he has to say.

The
k
ing
stomps his foot angrily to get M
errick’s attention
.

His
face reddens with agitation
when he commands
, “Watch
yourself
, Guardian.  You may go with Prince Ryder to help rescue Calista, but you of all people know that Calista has and will always make her
own
decisions.”

Merrick bows his head apologetically and looks around at
everyone.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, but Calista just spoke to me.  The connection is gone now, but she says she is
OK
and they are headed through the valley to the Black Forest.”  He tilts his head back and sighs heavily, rage clearly warring in his body.  I feel the same emotion coming across me because I have a feeling that whatever he is about to say is not going to be good.

“She also says that Avery was there and
the
ir
meeting was not a friendly reunion
.  I think he might have hurt her, but she wouldn’t tell me.  Her voice sounded defeated and tired
when she spoke.”  Merrick turns
his head to look at me and then back to the
k
ing
. 

“She wanted me to say that she loves us all
and that she doesn’t blame anyone for what happened to her.”

Merrick bows and sheepishly walks
back to stand by the wall with the other warriors.  The feeling of helplessness is not somet
hing that a warrior welcomes because i
t is not in our nature to feel like that.  Elvena
ma
kes
her way to the front and
sp
eaks
to the
k
ing
privately.  When she
was done, King Oberon dismisses
everyone from the
G
reat
R
oom
.  He
sa
ys
his goodbyes to the council members and the
elvan
leader.  I sent my brother, Kalen, to our room to wait until I got out of the meeting.  I was planning on sending him home first thing.  Once everyone was gone, King Oberon had a private meeting with just Elvena, Merrick and me. 

We made our plans for the rescue and decided it was going to be just me and Merrick.  Taking a huge army would draw attention and cause more bloodshed.  Elvena knew of my invisibility affinity and said it would come in handy.  She also said she could enchant a trinket of Calista’s and if Merrick keeps it on his body somewhere
at all times
he will be able to obtain invisibility for a short period of time.  Hopefully, enough time to get into the village and rescue Calista.  We were also warned about how our magic will not work in the places where the sorcerer’s power is the strongest.  Those were
also
the places that Calista couldn’t contact Merrick. 

Several hours have passed and Elvena
br
ings
the magical trinket to Merrick that will allow him to be invisible.  It
is
a small silver locket with
Calista’s
initials engraved on it.  It
is
beautiful and I’ve never see
n
her wear
ing
it.  Merrick looks at with such longing. 

He mutters to himself, “I gave her this locket for her sixteenth birthday.” He
takes the locket, kisses it and
puts it in his pocket.  Elvena says that to activate the locket he must place a drop of his blood inside of it.  She’s not sure how long the effect will last, but she’s positive that we will have enough time to get through the village to find
Calista
.  Getting out is going to be the main problem. 

Merrick and I pack some of our belongings and I say goodbye to Kalen.  He is g
oing to head back to the Winter C
ourt and spread the news of the existence of the
dark sorcerer and Calista’s
capture.  My parents will not be happy
because
of what I’m doing, but they will understand why I have to do it.  I explained to Kalen the importance of me and Calista being together and what the future holds for us. 
I tell him
the vision of us being together is going to bring about a whole new world here.  Kalen
is
astounded by the pow
er of our magic and what it’s going to
create. 

I
walk Kalen to the door of the Summer Court palace
and hug him hard.  I know he will be safe going home, but I still worry.  I’m glad he will be able to spread the word and get everyone guard
ed
.  T
he sorcerer will be after my sister one day, be we don’t know when yet.
  We need to make sure our family is protected.  Kalen says his farewells to everyone else and walks down the steps to his horse.  He gives
me one last worried gaze and
then he
waves
goodbye.  I give him a forced smile and try very hard to make it look genuine.  He gets to the end of the road, looks back quickly and then rides off like the speed of the wind.