Meanmna: Book One of the Daearen Realms (19 page)

“What?”

“If I have to wear more clothing around you
, then you should wear more too because that . . .” I pointed at him up and down . . . “is distracting.”

“Are you saying you find me distracting?” Elwin had a mischievous smile on his face.
“Maybe I
like
being distracting.” He reached into his bag and took out a shirt and a pair of pants.

“New rule
: no scratchy, stiff, uncomfortable pants in bed. We can behave. You had better put the shirt on though.”

Elwin laughed and
pulled the shirt over his head when I asked, “Do we have to behave?”

“Yes, we have to behave.”

“Aren’t we technically already mates with the mazon crystal?” I asked as he slid into bed.

“No, we haven’t had the ceremony. While most fey do the ceremony alone
, you are the next spirit queen. Your grandmother needs to conduct our ceremony.”

“Do you want to?”

“Want to what?”

“Be my mate. Since it’s supposed to be my choice, I assume I need to be the one who asks. Do you
, Elwin, want to be my mate?”

“Yes!” Elwin pulled me into an
earth-shattering kiss, tucked me under his arm, and kissed the top of my head. I laid my head on his chest and felt the world melting away. I had to do something to distract us from our passion, so I reached behind me and grabbed my iPad.

“You’re
going to read?”

I pulled out of Elwin’s embrace
“Yes, we still have to be good, right?” I unlocked the iPad. “I’m on the last chapter anyhow. Love you.”

“Love you
, too.” Elwin kissed the top of my head and got into bed.

Before I finished
reading the chapter, my mate was asleep.

Saturday December 20, 2014

Elwin and I
awoke
before the sun came up. We packed our things while we ate some rolls left from last night’s meal and some jerky-type meat that we had bought in Brough. When we walked out, a guard was waiting outside for us with our horses ready.

“Princess,” the guard said as he did the
heart-fist-bow. “I was one of the guards last night who went to find the edge of the protective circle you cast. I rode out twenty miles from here and didn’t reach the edge of it. The other guards are still riding. A truly amazing feat. You will change everything, I know it. Please, if you are ever in need of me, I am at your service.” The guard knelt in front of me and I put my hand on his shoulder.

“If Ethan and Meghan will let you, I would be honored to have you serve as one of my guards in Meanmna. What is your name?”

“Darrius.”

“Please rise, Darrius.” He did and I gave him a quick hug
, then mounted my steed. With a final nod of thanks to the guard, Elwin and I were on our way.

Elwin and I rode
in a northern route until we reached the outskirts of the Meanmna realm and then we turned east. Meanmna sat at the northern most edge of Daearen, completely blocked from the rest of the realm by a small mountain range. My father and grandmother planned to send the royal guard to meet us at the base of the mountains. The guard would then transfer us over the mountains by sky train. At the pace we had set, we expected to reach the guard by sunset, and would arrive at Meanmna castle by
midnight
.

I
couldn’t believe it. I was going to be in my castle for my eighteenth birthday. I was going meet my dad and grandmother on my eighteenth birthday. If all went according to plan, I would also become Elwin’s mazon on my eighteenth birthday.

W
e stopped for lunch around noon and Elwin updated me on everything he had heard from our allies. Mick and Mica had found the abandoned town that Mick had heard about on the west side of Lake Hasani. It seemed that every fey there had recently dropped what they were doing and left all at once. Mick and Mica followed the trail of the townspeople, who were obviously on their way to Meanmna. Mick and Mica doubled back and should arrive shortly after us. Mike and Tessa found a similar scene in a small recently abandoned settlement along the eastern shore of Lake Hasani. Mike and Tessa were taking the most direct route to Meanmna, but they were on foot and would not arrive until Monday. Lilly went to Eitlean, the Air Fey castle, to inspect auras. She reported that Phillip, heir to the Air Fey throne, had a black aura. He was still in the realm—only those loyal to my family had left Eitlean. Lilly was flying and spying on the fey along the way to Meanmna and would report any dark auras to Darrius, who had been released with honor from Ethan and Meghan’s service and was on his way to join the Meanmna castle guard. Will was able to get close enough to see his uncle. He had a dark black aura, but had stayed at his castle, Pozzolana. Will was on his way to meet us and hopefully would make it in time to meet the sky train and journey with us.

Elwin and I finished lunch and were soon on our way.
I pushed my stallion a little bit harder as the sun’s descent approached the horizon. I was very anxious and wanted to arrive before dark. We were earlier than expected and made it to our meeting point before the royal guard. We dismounted and took our gear off the horses. I placed my hand on my stallion’s nose and telepathically said,
Thank you.

It was my honor, Princess. It would please me if you continued to use me.

I would love too. Can you come with us on the sky train?

No, I need to take a different route, but I shall arrive tomorrow.

I’m so terribly rude. I’ve never asked your name.

I belong to you, you shall name me.

Your coat looks like fire when the sun shines on it. I think Ember would be perfect.

Thank you, Princess
. That is perfect. Until tomorrow.

Until to
morrow, Ember.

Ember galloped away with Elwin’s black mare.
I could feel Elwin looking at me. I shifted my gaze to meet his. “I named him Ember,” I said.

“I named her Max. Is he coming too?” Elwin asked.

“Yes. Where is this sky train thing? What is a sky train anyway? I’m starting to get nervous. Oh my Goddess, what am I about to walk into? Holy crap!” The weight of the world had officially landed on my shoulders. My breath started coming faster, my vision was blurry, and I sat down so I wouldn’t fall over.

Elwin dropped his bag and rushed over to me. He sat down and took my backpack off. Then, he picked me up, sat me in his lap, and began stroking my hair. “Breathe. Just breathe, Sarette. I’ve got you and I’m never letting you go.”

“Promise?” I asked into his chest.

“Promise.” Elwin kissed my forehead.

I took a deep breath, lifted my head from his chest, and said, “Sorry. I felt completely overwhelmed there for a minute. I think I’m okay. I can do this.
We
can do this, right?” He nodded and I kissed his cheek. I took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “I love you.” I gave him a quick peck on the lips and stood. “Where’s the sky train?” I put my arm out to give him a hand up.

Elwin chuckled and took the help.
“The sky train will be here soon. We should put on our winter gear. It will get very cold on the way and it’s snowing up there.”

“I thought
you said the weather was always beautiful in Daearen. I hate snow.”

“The only place it snows in Daearen is on top of these
mountains. Your castle Meanmna sits on the other side. Going over the top by sky train is the fastest and easiest route to take. I can’t wait to see your face when you see Meanmna from that direction for the first time. It’s quite a sight.”

I dug into my backpack and found
the space bag with my winter gear. I pulled out the cape and shook it out. After I put it on and buttoned it, I took my pants off from underneath. I grabbed the snow pants and put them on underneath the cape. I met Elwin’s amused expression. “What?”

“The future queen changing
her clothes in the middle of the road. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Well, I never,” Elwin said and shook his head in mock indignation.

I walk
ed to him and snuggled into his arms. “You like it and you know it.”

“
As a matter of fact, I love it.” Elwin was leaning in to kiss me when we heard a train whistle. Then came a thunderous sound more intimidating than a train, but I couldn’t see anything.

“Look up
, Sarette,” Elwin said in my ear. A train appeared out of nowhere, only three hundred meters from where we were standing. It looked like an old-timey steam engine with a single passenger car being pulled behind it. It was red with gold trim and surrounded by windows. I could see several royal guards in front and others rode on the sides on a very small plank that went around the car.

“Wow,” I mumbled when I saw the train. Elwin handed me a pair of white boots to put on. “Thanks.” I put the boots on as the train came closer.

“Let’s go,” Elwin said and slung my backpack over his shoulder. He picked up his bag, slung it over the other shoulder, and put his hand out for me. I took it and we started walking to meet the train.

The train stopped near where we were standing
, but when we walked closer, Elwin stiffened. I asked telepathically,
What’s wrong?

I don’t recognize any of the guards.
Stay with me and stay alert.

A guard stepped out of the engine room and said, “Welcome, Princess Sarette.” A
ll of the guards did the heart-fist-bow.

“Thank you all
for coming,” I said with a smile.

“This way
, Princess. The entrance is around back,” a guard near the back of the train said. Elwin and I began walking and someone else said, “Let me get those bags from you.” I let go of Elwin’s hand as he took the bags off his shoulders.

“Princess, this way please,” the guard at the back said again. I began walking to the back
when I heard a grunt from Elwin. I quickly spun around to see that of the guards had Elwin in a choke hold; the other had a blade pressed into his chest. Elwin looked behind me and yelled, “No!” I felt a cold metal band tighten around my throat and my body was being yanked skyward.

It was hard to breath and I was
trying to get my fingers in between the band and my throat. Kicking, yelping, gasping for air, clawing, and doing anything I could to get free. Then I looked down. My heart felt like it stopped. Elwin had freed himself from the chokehold and was fighting five guards. There were too many of them. I watched as two men successfully grabbed Elwin’s arms and pulled him backwards. The other three were taking turns punching and kicking him.

I hear
d laughter coming from my left. Ray was walking around the corner of the train, wand in hand. “Not much of a personal knight are you, Elwin? Princess, so lovely to see you again,” He said with a bow. “You owe me a new pet, Sarette. I’ve been debating for the last couple of days between you and Elwin as a pet. I came to a decision. I think you will be much more
fun
to play with.” Ray gave me a diabolical smile and moved his wand. I moved in unison with the wand, over and down and toward him.

I could
still hear Elwin behind me, grunting each time he got punched or kicked. Tears were rolling down my face and I was still trying to claw this thing off my neck.

“Princess
, you can’t get that off; it’s made from magic. You see, after you demonstrated how strong your magic is, I got right to work,” Ray said while touching the neck band. “With it, I have bound your magic to you. If you try any magic to get it off—or use magic for any other reason—it will only affect you. Bounce back. Return to sender. It’s the magical equivalent of ‘I’m rubber, you’re glue.’ Whatever spells you cast bounces off me and sticks to you, very, very painfully. You didn’t actually think you were going to live happily ever after, did you?” He turned his wand and I turned to face Elwin.

Elwin wa
s bloody and still trying to fight the guards off. “He’s going to die trying to save you. Isn’t that sweet, Princess? Well, good news is, it’s better to not kill him yet.” Ray nodded at one of the guards. The guard pulled out his spirit blade and hit Elwin over the head with the hilt, knocking him unconscious.

“
So much better this way. When you and I get your grandma to bond us, it will break your bond with Elwin and kill him. He’ll need to suffer for several more hours and then you will kill him. Then you will live with the guilt of that for the rest of your life, however long
I
decide that will be.” Ray laughed behind me as I watched the guards take Elwin’s weapons and cloak. They each took a turn kicking him as they walked by to board the train. Elwin was just lying there in a lifeless heap. My heart breaking, I stopped struggling. Then I was turned to face Ray again.

“Done fighting already
, Princess? That’s okay. Save your strength for the wedding night.” Ray turned and walked ahead of me, whistling. My magical prison dragged me along behind him.