Skye
“Arabelle Skye Mercier. The chosen one. I was jealous of you as a child.” The unfamiliar voice waking me was a welcome change from the dark nightmares of my sleep. My heavy eyelids parted an inch and allowed me the vaguest glimpse of a brunette’s profile standing at the foot of the bed I lay in. “Honestly, I was jealous of you as an adult too.”
She sighed and I forced my eyes closed out of fear of her withholding whatever she had to say if she knew I was awake. “The secrets of our family are not well-known. The witch would never explain why you were so special. She would never tell me why the future of my city lay in the hands of a girl who had never stepped foot inside our gates.”
Her voice rose, coming closer until I felt her presence at my side. “You can open your eyes, cousin. No need to feign sleep. Your scowling face gives you away.”
Parting my eyelids a second time was a chore. The bright room I lay in was blinding to my sensitive eyes. I squinted and blinked burning tears away until the young woman at my side came into focus. My cousin. She had the same chin as me. The same shaped face. I’d mistakenly attributed my features to Mother, but the proof was standing before me. The Mercier traits ran strong.
“Where’s Xander?” I asked on a sharp inhale. My mind had finally caught up, and this woman and her comments meant nothing to me.
“Your Guardian?” she asked, not hiding the touch of bitterness in her tone. “He struggles.”
I wiggled into a sitting position. Or, as much of one as I could manage. Everything was sore and the slightest exertion of energy wiped me out. “Struggles?” I asked on a labored breath. “Was he injured?”
Every moment after I released the Drakoon from Tabor was a hazy jumble of mismatched recollections. I pulled my hands out from beneath the blankets and studied them. The thick heat of Tabor’s blood covering my fingers remained vivid and I wiped my palms on the silken bedding although they were perfectly clean.
“You do not remember?”
Fear made my stomach drop before the butterflies which belonged only to him danced about in my chest. He was fine and he was nearby, and I would ruin this woman if she kept him from me a moment longer.
Using my anger to push further up against the headboard at my back, I raised my voice. “Where is my husband?”
Her jaw dropped. “Your husband?” she repeated with confusion.
“Lizelle.” The sharp voice of another entered the room from a drape covered archway. “How nice of you to visit with the Queen.” The woman tipped her head and my cousin’s posture stiffened in my peripheral view.
“I was going to call for you, Magdalyn.” Her lyrical tone too false for her words to be true. “Arabelle is awake.”
This was Magdalyn? I ignored the inflection my cousin—Lizelle—put on my given name in favor of studying the seer who had long been a part of my journey. Her face was also familiar with Mercier traits, though wiser. Deep lines around her eyes signified many days of worry.
Magdalyn waved her hand in the air. “Leave us,” she said as she moved closer.
“I believe I have the right to hear what she has to say.”
“How are you feeling?” Magdalyn asked, ignoring Lizelle.
My gaze volleyed between the two women on either side of my bed. “What I have to say about what?” I focused on Lizelle again. Her dark eyes slid to Magdalyn, then back.
“Have you come to claim Valeyah? You do not know the people here, you have not—”
“Enough!” Magdalyn hissed. “Now is not the time, Lizelle. This was my brother’s kingdom and Skye is his heir. She can do as she pleases. You would do best to remember that.”
Lizelle spun so fast her skirts flared about her ankles. I watched her ramrod back as she exited the room.
“Now, child, how are you?” Magdalyn’s wrinkled hand covered mine but my focus remained on my cousin’s retreating form.
“Lizelle?” I called before she disappeared through another arched doorway. She slowed. Her head turning until she eyed me over her shoulder. Anger radiated throughout her being and that anger was what made my own ease. I understood her. She was another Selene—someone who thought I threatened her world. Who was I to come along and take everything from everyone?
“I came to claim my life and that of the people of both our worlds. Safety from the soulless creature who threatened our peace. That is all.” Her forehead wrinkled. “I am not your enemy, cousin.”
She tipped her head so imperceptibly that if I’d blinked I would have missed it. “I will find Xander for you,” she offered and exited the room.
The room.
Now that the remnants of sleep were gone, I allowed my gaze to drink in the splendor surrounding me. The multiple arched doorways framed in silk fabric of gold that hung from ceiling to floor. The ornate carved wooden furniture. The oversized windows that carried a warm, gentle breeze heady with a floral scent. I would have mistaken this for heaven if I’d woken alone.
My fingers crept up my chest. “You saved me?” I asked Magdalyn as my palm covered the spot where Xander had plunged his dagger into my skin. The memory of that moment, that pain, was vague. Like it hadn’t happened to me. The Drakoon had been in my head and laying siege to my body when Xander did it. I’m unsure if I had control over anything. Although, faint vows of love played in my head.
“We did nothing. It was your sacrifice, and Xander’s, that saved us all.” Her gentle hands moved to the neckline of my sleeping gown and went to work unfastening the buttons. “Your Guardian was well trained. The dagger he used to stab you was forged from the most powerful of magic—the Kustur.”
At the shake of my head she elaborated. “The Kustur is a well, deep within the center of Valeyah. It is the magic that created the Guardian bloodline. Only those with pure intentions can wield it. That was why Johan trusted Wrenlynn and Dagean’s lives with the men he sent to Tyalbrook. If the Kustur’s power was alive within them, it meant they were honorable.”
“The magic knows.” Her fingers parted the fabric at my chest, revealing unblemished skin. No scabs, stitches, or scars. Only a line of fresh skin, pinker than the rest.
I covered a gasp with my palm. “How long has it been?”
“Three days.”
“How?” How could I heal so quickly?
“You were prophesied—a Guardian of Kustur and a Queen of all worlds—bound by magic so powerful none could overcome it. Where the Drakoon was only darkness, you and Xander are pure and light. His love for you is so pure, so unselfish, the magic … knew.” She brushed the swirl on my cheek. “The bond between you two is unexplainable, my dear. Forged for this day and this purpose.” She finished with a smile.
Her head lifted at a crash, then deep cursing, beyond my room. The echo of boots became louder and louder until Xander skidded to a stop in the same doorway Lizelle had exited.
“You’re awake.” His voice was weak as he blew out a deep breath. I nodded as tears flooded my eyes.
There was no time for words as my husband, my savior, threw himself across the room and onto my bed. He drew me into his arms roughly, his fingers tangling in my hair and his mouth claiming mine in an urgent kiss.
Xander rolled us until he was beneath me. His hands grasped my face and pulled me away from his mouth.
Magdalyn had disappeared.
“Don’t you ever dare me to find you again, wife.” He strained his neck, lifting his head until he touched his forehead to my lips. My eyes closed as I savored his smell, his touch, his warmth. “You are not allowed to run away again. Got it? Twice was enough.”
I kissed his skin and smiled. “So I can’t go anywhere without you ever?” I asked as his head fell back to the bed and I hovered over him.
“Is that a problem? Is there somewhere you plan to go?”
Allowing my entire weight to sink onto his body, I lowered my mouth to his. “I’m sure there will be many places I want to go in our long life, husband. But never without you.”
If either of us had other words to speak, we held them. Remaining locked in my golden bedroom, and each other’s arms, until long after the sky turned dark.