Chapter Fifty-Three
Bellamy
One Year Ago
L ian and Noe were nagging, as they always did, Henry laughing beside them at my suffering.
Haven needs supplies. The army needs improved drills. An upcoming mission to Betovere needs to be planned. When will you date? Have you dated recently? When was the last time you even had sex? Wow, that long?
On and on and on.
As if we were not facing a possible war. As if those things and the war had not been invading my mind at every possible moment of each day.
Well, except for the sex. That mostly haunted me at night.
“Do you guys ever shut up?” I hissed, rubbing my temples.
The three of them laughed, like it had been some kind of joke. To them, everything was a joke. With all my heart, I did love them. They were family, more so than the one I had been born into. But they were all so exhausting, so infuriating, lately. I felt the elements stir inside of me, reacting to my anger and mixing with the magic that invaded my body.
The magic that my mother had ordered be put inside of me.
I felt the wards around my heart fight against it, like a wall blocking out poison. Looking down, I saw the black writhing inside of me like moving ink, itching to break free. I took deep breaths, attempting to calm myself enough to fight it off. If that did not work, then I guess I would need to go exert it somewhere.
I stood, not waiting for them to respond. I needed to get to Isle Reader anyways, or else I would miss the meet.
Throwing up my middle finger behind me, I quickly called upon that very poison, using it to portal. Below my feet the black marble turned into green grass, and as the darkness disappeared, I saw Reader River.
Easily one of the most beautiful parts of Betovere, the river split Isle Reader in half, a large zigzagging line of crystal-clear water that the Readers used to project their visions.
An interesting mix of power and magic, though the fae did not know about the use of the latter. I could not help but sigh at the many things they did not question, the lies that they allowed the fae king and queen to spoon feed them.
Then again, I myself was a lie. How many had been given the false story of my parentage? Been made to believe I was actually part demon? I thought they hated me now, I could not imagine the fury they would feel upon discovering I was fully fae.
Even worse, a fae that had been infused with their magic at birth. Who had stolen their gift from Stella.
Not that I had chosen it.
Not that I did not suffer from it.
Trying to maintain focus, I looked around, hoping to find the fae Noe had scheduled me to meet. Strangely enough, no one was there. The river seemed almost deserted, as if everyone had disappeared.
I made my way East, walking aimlessly. We had agreed upon the West end of the river, but being forgetful or late was not a crime. The alone time was far from unwanted, anyways.
“Hello, Your Highness,” a voice said from within the tree line. Of course, that was when the male would choose to show up.
“Hello. Pino, is it?” I asked, turning to face him.
The male was visibly aged, gray hair and wrinkles forming on his face. I was surprised, not many fae cared to live that long. I knew I would not let myself.
He wore fine violet-colored clothes, his name stitched in gold on the right of his chest. There was a peculiar artistry to them, one I could appreciate. If he was the one who made those, Winona and Lian would go haywire. To be fair, I also enjoyed a quality wardrobe.
“Yes, Bellamy, it is,” he said, his voice that intimidating tenor of a Reader.
Creepy creatures.
I nodded, offering my hand to take him to his new home. Pino stepped back, shaking his head.
“I must show you something first.”
Watching as he walked to the edge of the water, I tried to assess the situation. Was this an ambush? A trick? A way to gain my confidence or my debt? I was not sure; it had never happened before. After a moment of deliberation, I made my way to his side, deciding the risk was worth it to assuage my curiosity.
Pino got down on his knees, gesturing for me to follow. I begrudgingly did, my trousers instantly soaking up the mud. I scowled. As if this day could not get any worse.
Pino placed his hand into the water, which began to stir around him, a small whirlpool forming at his fingers. I gasped, having never seen the water in action. It was remarkable, watching the images form in the previously clear liquid.
I appeared, my fighting leathers on, standing with my Trusted. It was a normal scene, unremarkable except for one interesting addition. A female was beside me. She was beautiful, with big gray eyes and full pink lips. Her brown hair cascaded down her back, thick and wavy. She too wore the fighting attire of my Trusted, the leathers fitting to her body as if they were made for her.
“Who is that?” I asked, gesturing to her.
Pino smiled, a soft upturn of his lips that felt slightly condescending.
“She is everything,” he said.
The images changed, flashing scenes of me with the female. In one we danced, her golden dress wrapping around my ankles as we spun. In another she seemed to be yelling at me, though I could see my face held a smirk. Then the next showed the two of us…holy shit.
“Woah woah woah,” I said, trying to splash away the vision of me holding the female, bouncing her naked body up and down on top of me.
I felt my cock twitch in my pants, the image likely egging on the teasing from dumb and dumber earlier. Taking a breath, I again focused on the water as Pino laughed and the image changed.
Now it showed me, looking like a nervous lunatic, down on one knee. The brunette smiled, a dazzling show of white teeth and rosy cheeks.
Just as I was beginning to enjoy this, to revel in a future that I had previously thought unobtainable, it changed. I gasped, rearing back at the sight of the new image.
“Explain,” I ordered, my voice shaking.
“I am no mere Reader, prince of two realms.”
“Do not call me that,” I growled.
He shrugged, unphased by my sudden anger. The way he interacted with me set my hair on edge. It was as if he knew me. Not as a prince or as The Elemental. No, he acted as if we were friends, family even.
“I am an Oracle, cursed to see far more than a quick image upon touching another. What you just saw, it is a future I needed you to be aware of, for this will set in motion the beginning of the end,” he said, his voice still that eerie tenor.
“Who is she? What will she be to me? What occurs for that to happen?” I asked, questions whipping through my brain and out of my mouth like a fierce wind.
I felt the panic growing, the magic inside of me stirring with it. I needed to calm down, but how could I?
“She is Asher Daniox, the fae princess, The Manipulator. You will love her, and she will be the end of us all,” he said, the clouded look in his eyes slowly fading. I imagined that whatever trance his power put him in had released him.
Good, he was really freaking me out.
“Do go on, oh mighty Oracle,” I drawled, feigning boredom to mask the sheer terror that had enveloped me. He nodded, starting from the beginning.
As he told me of a history forgotten, a princess stolen, and a bloodline corrupted, I felt it all sink into place. I watched image after image in the water, seeing more than any one being should. Pino shared with me truths long since hidden, lies long since buried, and promises long since broken.
In the end I looked down, watching once again as the female I now loved more than anything sobbed over my body. My dead body.