Chapter 11 #2
The stables were quiet, as there was not another person around.
Vixen was licking a salt rock while I brushed her coat.
The stable hands had already done it, and she looked immaculate.
It soothed me, but I needed to keep my hands busy before I broke something or someone.
Just as I began to relax, Acheron walked through the stable doors.
He wore deep green riding gear that contrasted with his reddish hair and black knee-high boots.
‘Get out. I have no patience for you,’ I spat. Acheron didn’t balk, but his usual arrogant demeanour was gone.
‘She didn’t betray you. She never would. We never spoke about you; we only spoke about the world we wanted to see one day. The world we wanted to see our children grow up in,’ he said as the blue flame roared within me.
‘You’re lying. Perhaps there’s one thing she didn’t tell you.
The same gift that gave me these blue eyes upon my ascension also granted me the ability to decipher the truth.
I know when you are lying, so do not play this game with me right now.
I have just challenged your little darling to a duel, and I would be more than happy to challenge you today, too,’ I said.
Pure shock took over his face; I was not sure if it was about my revelation regarding my gifts or the fact that I was to fight his lover in the arena today.
‘No, she never told me. She spoke of you only with reverence. She never told me anything about your battle strategies or plans. We drew that line long ago, content to live in our own blissful bubble during the rare moments we could steal to be with one another. The only time we ever crossed that line was when I asked her if you would ever be open to an alliance with me. She told me yes, if it benefited her people. I can be your ally, Skylar. I don’t do this for her; I do it for my people as well.
Please believe that there was nothing malicious or ulterior in my courting her.
It just happened,’ he said as the flame calmed within me.
‘Do you love her?’ I asked. A gentle yet genuine smile crossed his face. One I had never seen on him before in all the years I had known him. It was answer enough.
‘Yes, I do. Please go easy on her in the duel. I still remember how you left her after the last one during our time here, and I don’t think I can take it again,’ he breathed, true vulnerability flowing off him.
This was not the Prince Acheron I had ever known.
I suppose no one born and bred to rule is ever wholly themselves in front of their enemies and allies alike, but perhaps he was with her.
I liked this version of him much better.
‘She definitely hasn’t told you much about me if you think that is a genuine request you can ask of me.
No matter whether there was ill intent or not, she was my Master of War, and she lied to me, deceived me for years, and betrayed my trust. A trust I did not easily bestow upon her in the first place.
If it were not for these wards, if we were back in my lands, this duel would be to the death.
’ He paled at my response but nodded in understanding; it was a kindness that I had set the duel here and now.
He had undoubtedly heard the stories of my brutality, but they were never a reality that would affect him.
‘What do you mean she ‘was’ your Master of War?’ he asked.
I scoffed at the concern he had for her and the audacity to question me on my council. ‘If she was your advisor, would you be able to fully trust her again, oath or no oath? She will leave here with her life but nothing else.’
He rushed towards me, gripping my arms desperately.
‘Please, she doesn't deserve this! She has always wanted to fight for you, beside you. You can’t make her abandon her people; she would rather die. Please, Skylar, please,’ he begged.
This mighty man who trembled before me in the name of love was, in fact, begging me.
He looked into my eyes and kneeled, still clasping my hands.
My mouth gaped open at what had just happened and what I was seeing.
Royalty, especially from another realm, never knelt to another royal under any circumstances.
It was akin to saying you would follow them and not your own bloodline.
‘Please, anything. I will do anything to protect her. She can’t lose everything because of me; I will never forgive myself,’ he begged once more. He meant it, and I believed him in that moment; I truly did, and so did the flame.
‘Say the blood oath.’ His eyes widened at my request. A royal binding themselves to another via a blood oath never happened.
‘If you claim to love her the way you say you do, then you would have no trouble forfeiting your life should I die, seeing as that will be the day your love dies too.’ He contemplated this for a moment before slowly nodding.
He stood pulling a blade from his boot and sliced his palm open.
I unlatched the blade on my vambrace and sliced open my palm.
We clasped each other’s hands as he spoke the oath.
‘On this day and every day hereafter, I, Prince Acheron Khalil of Cazina, will protect Queen Skylar Azdaja of Maureia. Should I fail in this, I will accept the blood binding, forfeiting my life to the next world.’ With that, another tattoo of a red ring joined my little finger, nestled beside the one that marked my blood binding with Vivianna.
‘I still do not fully trust you or Vivianna, but this is enough for now. Know that I will call upon you shortly to test how far you are willing to go for this love and loyalty you have sworn.’ He only smiled in response, relieved that I had accepted the blood binding and given them another chance.
‘I will go as far as I need to,’ Acheron said with certainty. Something inside me stirred with an emotion I had never felt before. Jealousy.