A Dance Of Twilight: (A Fae Dark Fantasy Romance Stand-Alone )

Chapter 70

My eyes opened to a world where I didn’t feel as empty inside anymore. I felt whole, as if all the pieces were firmly back together and the pain had disappeared. The sun shined beautifully above me as clouds in the shapes of rabbits, dragons and faces made their way across the sky.

I’d not remembered that memory, the memory of drawing Nicholas that gosh, darn, awful portrait. I hadn’t remembered our first kiss. I thought it was the one near the waterfall, but it wasn’t.

The kiss in our flower field was the first, where he promised to stay by my side as long as he lived.

Where did that memory disappear to?

“I fell in love with you that day.”

His voice whispered against my side. I felt myself curl into his body with ease, without question or wondering where we were as we both looked up towards the blue bright sky.

“You love me?”

I didn’t dare to look at him as I felt his arm wrap around my waist tightly. We’d never said such things to each other. I wondered if we ever would again.

“Did you seal that memory away?”

“I never meant to keep it from you. That was just the one I kept for myself. The one that got me through the moments when I felt lost and helpless that I couldn’t get back to you, to save you.”

“It’s alright. We”re together now, aren’t we?”

“Yes, we are.”

He kissed the top of my head, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach dance for him. I missed him, his warmth, his gentleness, the stable boy and the man I grew to love and adore.

“Did we win?” I asked and he flinched at the question. “Nicholas, did we at least win?”

Leaning up, I looked down at him. His face was filled with sorrow and loss. Looking around then, I noticed we were in that very field. The same field of our childhood. Only now, I realised something didn’t feel right, something was off.

“The truth is, I don’t know. I just wanted to be here with you.”

“Nicholas, we cannot leave our family to fight in a battle we created.”

He sighed, leaning up on his forearms, the sadness haunting his eyes as I looked at him sternly. If I wasn’t able to keep them all safe, it was his job to do that. He lowered his gaze from me and sighed intensely.

“I do not know how to get back.”

“I know a way.”

A large bellowing voice filled the field as light beamed down from the sky with the shape of a body hidden within it. The light blinded us both for a few moments until it faded. It still did not reveal to whom the voice belonged to.

“My children, I believe now is most certainly not your time. You sacrificed so much just to be with each other. Sometimes my magic has a way of working itself between people, connecting them, entangling their paths with one another so no matter how much you try, you will always find each other again.”

Quick to our feet, I bowed at who I believed the voice belonged to. Nicholas did the same without question. If this was truly the Goddess of Light, it was a blessing she was here.

“When you return, I will restore your connecting line, creating the bond that was set the moment you shared your first kiss.”

My breath caught as I looked at Nicholas. Our first kiss and the memory he’d kept from me now lived safely within the very chambers of my heart.

Without even a second to think, the Goddess summoned a swarm of what looked like butterflies towards us. As they wrapped around our bodies, I felt my heart thud in my chest.

I woke up lying down on the cold stone of the hall.

“Nic? Nic?!” My voice broke as I tried to reach my hand out, to find him, to touch him.

“I’m here. I’m here!”

Forcing my eyes open, I felt his warm hands touch mine and then my face before he pulled me into a hug tight enough to break ribs. The sobs of his sisters were behind us as I looked over his shoulder to see their faces of bewilderment, of confusion and amazement.

The portal was closed, dormant and dark. We sat in the middle of the hall while what seemed like sunlight beamed through the cracks in the ceiling—like magic.

Pulling away from me, Nicholas kissed my lips urgently, as if to check I was really there. Both our hands, bodies and clothes were drenched in our own blood, but our wounds seemly healed.

“Can someone, please in Goddess’s name, tell me what just happened?!” Genu’s voice shouted through the hall.

We didn’t fully understand it ourselves. Both Nicholas and I shared a look with each other and without using words, we came to an unwritten understanding. As his voice entered my mind, I cried.

“There you are.”

Taking hold of his hands, I interlocked my fingers with his and made a vow to never let go.

“The last thing I really remember was me stepping into the portal,” Nicholas admitted.

“How are you both here?! We watched you die!” Morgana was emotional as she kneeled down in front of us both, holding her hand over ours.

“The Goddess only knows,” I said with a small smile on my face, until my attention was drawn upwards to Dorian.

He was on his knees, covered in blood and bruises. Clearly he’d put up more of a fight than I imagined. Karim was crying over Panya’s body which made me happy. She deserved to die. Vanessa was pulling Nicholas from me to smack him and hug him tightly, breaking down as she did.

“Is that it?” April asked, as she looked around the room.

“We must seal this room so no one may ever enter it again,” Nicholas commanded as we all got to our feet and headed towards the door.

“Genu, please position your very best soldiers to guard the door, just in case,” Nic instructed his cousin as he linked his bloody hands in mine.

Genu threw up her hands in frustration as Marcus gripped Dorian by the scruff of his neck. He forced him to his feet and out the door in front of us. Karim continued to cry as one of Genu’s soldiers lifted up Panya’s body and removed it from the room.

“You may have the honours of payback towards your uncle if you wish, Ornella,” Nicholas whispered to me.

We stood outside the portal room, watching as the doors were closed behind us.

“No, he doesn’t deserve the mercy of death. Send him nightmares until he begs for death, but never grant him the pleasure,” I said, watching as Nicholas’s eyes darkened at my words. Kissing my knuckles, he stepped back. Nicholas and his sisters all joined hands and pointed their free ones towards the doors, sending out a mixture of light and shadows, sealing it forever.

“Let’s go get washed up,” April said finally as she walked away first, followed by everyone else.

Nicholas and I stayed behind for a few minutes to breathe and take it all in. I didn’t know what to make of the events that had transpired, and I was sure he didn’t either.

“You are not allowed to do that again,” he muttered, stepping forward to close the gap between us.

“Do what?”

“You cannot leave.”

“Well, I didn’t actually leave. I was kidnapped. I’m sure you know a thing or two about how that works,” I jested as I leaned up on my tiptoes to brush my lips against his. A strange sensation in my body as we came closer.

“You know, April told me we are mates. Destined to be together forever. How does that sound to you, wife?”

“Well, husband, that sounds perfect.”

Kissing me then, he pulled me into his arms as if he’d never kissed me before. I felt that twinge in my stomach. The heat between my legs grew. All I wanted to do was head back to our bedroom to get reacquainted with each other’s bodies.

“I’m afraid, Annwyl, we have duties to attend to before I can attend to the duties of my wife.”

Kissing the tip of my nose then, Nicholas held my hand tightly. We walked back up the stairs and towards the throne room, to start our new life together—finally.