CHAPTER 30 #2
He exhales a laugh. “I suppose we shall talk about this after Koen heals. I am curious to hear how you got the Queen to allow this.” He glances over his shoulder. “Koen still needs more time in there. The wounds are healing slower than normal for him.”
I breathe out my nose, steadying the storm that is raging inside me. “Will he be okay?”
His head shakes. “Don’t worry…” He lifts his hand to grip my shoulder, but pauses midway and clears his throat before rubbing it behind his neck. “Don’t worry, he will be fine.”
He grabs his suit top, throwing it over his shoulder as the lights of the crystal beam turquoise hues against his marking and healed scars along his back. “I’ll see you two at the Pyre.”
My heart sinks, eyes widening as I steadily watch him go to leave. “Wait!” I hiss, my voice dropping so low I doubt anyone can even hear me. “Where the hell do you think you are going?”
He throws his head back. “You and Koen need to talk. I can’t train you while your eyes are locked on him each passing second.
You are distracted, which will be the death of you.
Most of the men won’t care if you have a curse that’ll haunt them if they kill you, they will do it anyway.
” His shoulders rise as he deeply exhales.
“Whatever is happening, move past it. I need him as much as you need him. I need you to bring the Koen I once saw come alive the second he met you. Trust me, he knows the trick on how to survive against the Fireninze.”
My brows pull together. “I don’t understand. He wanted me dead and now you want me to stay in here… alone with him?”
His lips pull into a satisfied grin. “Just burn him if he dares try.”
My lips part to speak, knowing damn well he knows I wouldn’t dare burn him.
I watch him leave as I am stuck on the words that want to pour out of my mouth.
With a loud grunt, I turn on my heels as Koen still steadily rests there.
His chin points upward, the muscles in his arms flexing as he lets out soft painful groans.
As if the water healing him pains him with each mend.
But being alone with him hurts me more than anything.
Damn it, I had one rule. Never to fall in love. I will not fall in love. But who am I kidding? I already fell, just not sure if it was in this lifetime or another. Or, damn it, both.
I need the truth. I need the stones.
I let out a shaky breath, nodding my head swiftly as I place one foot in front of the other and head his way.
My feet slip out of my boots and I unbutton the top of my suit, sliding it off and letting the dragon scales beat against the rocks below.
A loud thud crashes, echoing in the silence, but it doesn’t phase Koen.
My fingers glide over the stones, as well as my bare arm, brushing up and down to warm my body by the breeze of the storm rolling in.
However, the water rushes heat throughout me as my toes touch first, letting my suit pants weigh me down as my body emerges into it.
My black bandeau absorbs the water once my chest hits, and I let my palms and fingers glide along the surface.
I don’t fear the water anymore, and I push through, letting the glowing lights—like thousands of stars—dance around me.
Maybe that’s why I never burned. Not from the waters of Vitaei, not from the bridge scorched by fire… but because I have been cursed all along. Not because I am a damn Royal. I wonder if I am the first non-Royal to be cursed by the Gods.
Koen’s eyes remain closed as I shift my body in front of him, holding in the deep breath I need to exhale.
I have so many questions. So many things I need to say. Yet, here I stand in front of him, alive, and all I want to do is run. I want to hide.
I fear as soon as his eyes meet mine, nothing else will matter. He consumes me. His eyes control me. And now, even if I wanted to cave and let my heart take control, I’ll never be allowed to.
But he never glances my way.
My stomach tightens. My heart stops.
This is far worse than death.
Look at me. My heart flutters, begging him to just meet my eyes. I miss his eyes.
Living a life where he won’t even glance my way. A life where my fingers burn just with the urge to touch him and knowing I can’t.
Pure torture.
I can’t let my touch kill him.
“Yes, Spark?” he sighs.
I nervously pull my strands behind my ears. “Florian wants us to talk.”
“Ah… of course he does.” He lifts his head, raising his body from the comfort of his position. “What does my brother want?”
“I suppose he could feel the tension of us earlier.”
“You don’t say.” A thick brow of his lifts before hitching a breath, grabbing his ribs in agony. “The Vitaei used to heal me quicker, not sure what the issue is. Maybe the Gods are pissed at me.”
“Now, why would the Gods be mad at you? You protected me back there.”
His eyes drop to finally meet mine and the air from my lungs disintegrates. I am suffocating.
Damn it.
“Not because of that but… due to the vow I broke. And more that I am ashamed of.” He pushes off of the rocky ledge, his hands hovering over the surface as the light kisses his fingertips, and walks over towards me. “You heard what Lykia said.”
Ah. Lykia. A name I never want to hear again. Just imagining her lips on his, her hands on him, makes my skin crawl.
I could vomit.
I clear my throat swiftly. “You vowed your love to her. Why did you break it? Why would—”
He cuts me off. “Why would the Gods be angry at that?”
I nod as he takes his last step towards me. The water ripples around us.
“Because I was meant to bring the Sea and the Ice together. A promise our fathers made centuries ago that was written in the stones that fell from the sky and I chose…” His eyes fall to my cheek where the scar from Skydance is slowly healing.
“Not to follow my heart anymore, but to protect the stones and the Realms with my life. I disobeyed not only my father and the King of the Sea, but also the Gods.”
“That’s why Florian asked why you left Azure?”
He nods. “He knew they would have my head if I didn't continue protecting the Realms. My duty to survive as the bastard son was either to fight for the Realms, or bring the Ice and Sea together. My father chose the marriage.” The wet curls rest flat against his head and shoulders as his arm wipes away the droplets of water that fall from his hair. “I couldn’t…” He clears his throat, ripping his emerald eyes away from me.
“I don’t trust myself around anyone I care about. ”
“Oh, so is this why you have been pushing me away?” I tease, watching his eyes flickering away in annoyance as his lips tug into a playful grin.
“I just know you deserve better.” He drifts his gaze back to me while taking another step forward, our chests almost colliding. My throat tightens as his eyes soften. “You deserve to have Florian beside you every step of the way, not me. I will not be able to control what is inside of me now that…”
He squeezes his eyes, rolling his lips tightly between his teeth as he grunts.
“Now that… what?” I whisper.
“Now that we have seen you are what they claim you to be.” His eyes open, shimmering with a deep sadness.
He inhales sharply, his breath almost quivering as he rips his gaze away from me and lets his trembling hand run through his waves.
His voice breaks as he continues. “I wish with all my heart that I could protect you from this fate. But I am powerless against their control, unable to fight them for you.”
“Fight who, Koen!” I beg, raising my chin upward to him as my eyes flicker between his avoiding gaze. “Koen, look at me!”
His jaw ticks, veins swelling against his throat as he swallows, staring at everything but me.
“Damn, Koen, who!” I bellow, my throat constricting as I scream out.
“The darklings!” His eyes darken, glaring down at me. “Damn it Serene, the darklings. I know they are coming for you.”
“Why me!” My body shifts backward, almost stumbling underwater as my eyes widen with disbelief. I heave, feeling my eyes burn as I stare at him. “How do you know this! Is this why you have been so strange around me?”
His eyes close gently and his lips part as he takes a shaky breath. “I know because I can feel it. I sense their movements. I hear their anger.”
My wet hair sticks against my back as I try to shake my head. Lines form between my brows, my eyes narrowing into slits. “I don’t understand what you are saying!” I hiss, feeling my neck and cheeks burn.
“I am half-darkling. Half-ice.” His emerald eyes shut, his words almost breaking as he speaks. As if he wants to deny what he truly is.
I open and close my mouth repeatedly, stuck on the words. Frozen in thought. “Wh… what does any of that mean?”
He rubs his hands behind his neck, tilting his head side to side.
“My mother was half darkling, she was born from the strongest, yet darkest, magic possible. But also, she was the Queen of the Darklands. The strongest wielder of darkness there ever was…” He tugs his bottom lips between his teeth.
“Florian doesn’t even know she was the Queen, he only believes she was an orphan from the Darklands and Father fell in love with her.
That’s all he knows, and all he can ever know. ”
I drop to a sudden whisper. “Why are you so ashamed of who you are?”
“Because the darklings want all of the Realms for themselves. They crave the magic in the stones and want all the Royals dead so they can take over. The magic that the darklings can wield is like no other magic I have ever seen. No other curse I have ever seen. Only the Deskyiara bloodline was strong enough to destroy them.” He takes a deep inhale.
“Which is why they killed the bloodline off.”