4. Chapter Four
The dancers twirl, matching the music and each other to a perfected art.
They all have on the same tight red corsets with short blue skirts, but Evelia stands out among all.
Her ruby lips glimmer under the prism chandeliers of my throne room.
The women are all beautiful, but she is divine.
She’s a celestial from the highest heaven sent to mesmerize me with glimpses of her.
I wish to capture her and lock her away for only my eyes, but such an angelic bird would die caged.
It doesn’t stop the desire from stealing my breath when she leaves the room.
I want her with a yearning so great it consumes me with obsession, and I believe King Sarek knows it.
He sneaks her among the dancers each full moon to taunt me with temptation he’ll never let me have.
This night the insults will end, and he will give me what he should for remaining his closest ally.
Sarek sits back on the silver throne my servants bring in for him each time he visits, so we can discuss the state of the realm. “We must keep Queen Zantara from gaining any ground in the east. It’s vitally important.”
My eyes stay focused on the door Evelia left through. “You know that is my mutual goal as well, but that is more your responsibility with how her kingdom lines up with yours.”
“If my kingdom falls, yours will too.”
“Maybe, but with you being closer, you have a responsibility to protect the border. I've already supplied you with plenty of weapons to do so.”
He straightens in his seat and glares like he might change his mind about aligning with me. “What good is it for us to work together if you so easily shrug off our alliance? And your methods are becoming more and more unconventional. Perhaps I have chosen the wrong side.”
“My methods are working to keep her from gaining ground.”
“But must you bleed everyone? The goal should be to keep her from conquering our kingdoms, not build a power so great we become the conquerors.”
I toss my hands up in a shrug. “What’s wrong with adding to our resources and becoming unstoppable?
To soothe the need for power and restore the entire realm.
The world simply doesn’t know it needs us as its kings.
I’m willing to give you cuts from the treasures and lands for our lasting friendship. ”
“I am content to keep the kingdom of my birth, and this alliance was that for both of us. Let the other lands be. You’re sounding too much like her now, and her oppressive mentality is the reason I started the alliance with you in the first place.”
"The will of kings shifts with the winds seems to be your primary policy, Sarek.
" I lean back in my chair and sigh. “I feel we need a better bond to keep our treaty strong with how fickle you can be. I want what you promised me for the weapons. That will also create a deeper alliance that gives us both more of an investment in our lands.”
His face hardens because he knows exactly what I'm asking of him. “Tell me what you want to uphold your oath to me and my kingdom?”
“It's not a mystery to you what I want or what you agreed to. It's a normal thing that is often done to forge stronger bonds between kingdoms.”
“My daughter isn’t for sale.” He grips the arms of the silver throne.
“Then why do you expect me to stay motivated in protecting your land when you can't even keep your first promise to me?”
“Because uniting against the queen is a cause that benefits both our lands.”
I play with my fingernail and don’t meet his gaze. “Yes, I agree. It’s why we should ensure this stays permanent.”
“You will not have my daughter. Not with the dark displays of power you’ve shown recently. Hilhart being the latest. She is not a pawn to be used.”
“I agree, and that’s why she should have her heart’s desire here, where I will keep her father’s land prosperous and not add it to the trove of my conquests.
Let me give my blood in bond to her and her the same to me, so we will be bound as one in eternal marriage, and your kingdom will prosper unlike you or those before you have seen. ”
He rises from the throne, grabbing the scepter he takes with him everywhere to pretend he’s the most powerful.
“You will not have my daughter. Once again, thank you for your accommodations, and I hope you accept my other gifts as enough to keep our alliance.” He leaves, showing his back to me.
Such grave insults he dares to throw at me in my castle after I’ve remained such a generous host all these years.
His gifts are no longer enough, and I let him leave my presence thinking his words are final on the matter. He has no idea how much desire will lead me to what he blocks me from at every turn. I must possess Evelia as mine. I must bind her to me in the one vow no magic can break once it’s forged.
I disguise myself in my black cloak and hurry through the stone walls.
It’s best if no one stops the mission I’m on by wondering why the king treks through the bowels of his castle.
I had her placed in the turret across from my bedroom window but merely watching her isn’t enough.
She moves from my view too often as she twirls and flies like a songbird.
The desire to defy her father and lock her in that room swells as I near the green round door separating her from me.
I pull the bluebird from my pocket and attach a small note to its foot before I send it through the keyhole.
The stars blaze in eternal glory, bright and beautiful in their passages of everlasting flames, grand and startling.
You are as the sun, queen of all those wondrous, always burning stars.
It's the truth she must know tonight. I send her small notes on a nightly basis, and I have yet to receive a reply. The bluebird, as usual, returns empty.
King Sarek takes all light with him by morning. They ride away on horses, and I watch as my stunning Evelia fades into the purple twilight.
I carry out the affairs of my kingdom and call maidens to my bed each night to soothe the need for Evelia.
They say nothing when it’s her name my lips sing.
In the darkness the thick black curtains create in my room, I can pretend they are her, though I imagine none taste as sweet or feel as delicious as her.
Each night, I send out the bluebirds. One after the other, they fly from my window to hers, delivering tiny messages about how my heart soars for hers.
How the inferno of my longing consumes all my waking moments and dreams. Not even hell’s fire burns as ferociously as my desire for her.
I am lost and smitten, far from reaching her, and it’s something that must be altered.
Unsettling news arrives two weeks after King Sarek’s departure, and I call my top generals into the war room to discuss a somber matter. We have maps of all the kingdoms hung on the walls. Smaller, more detailed ones surround a large one of the entire realm.
The thick black table serves as a place for scrolls to be passed around.
The hooded chairs are intentionally hard and uncomfortable to keep all my men awake during discussions.
Some are spiked for those who need even more encouragement to pay attention.
Insolence deserves to be matched with suffering.
Orlen, my main general, stands at the front of the room, marking five places on the world map.
“These are the five strongholds Queen Zantara has set up around our borders. Her focus has shifted away from King Sarek for unknown reasons. It seems they only gather against us now, and rumors speak that he may have broken our alliance in favor of one with her.”
I lean forward in my ruby chair. “Most likely, she wishes to take us first, as we are much larger. If they can make it through us, Sarek’s downfall will be a simple thing.
Any minor wind could accomplish his demise.
There is no way he’d dare to turn his back on the long and merciful friendship I have bestowed upon him. ”
“How do we combat every threat all at once?” Tenebris, one of my lesser generals, doubts our strength and mighty power. There’s no room for whispers of uncertainty to grow among my soldiers.
I rise from my throne, and the entire room of fifteen generals swallows their dread. “The same as we always do. We fuel our monsters with the blood of the stock we’ve raised. The mages may sacrifice anything they need to feed them.”
“Anything?” Tenebris is a fool amongst us.
“Yes, starting with you.”
“Your Majesty, I meant nothing by my words and only wish to discuss strategy.”
“And now you will discuss strategy in the afterrealm, knowing you played a highly needed role in furthering our kingdom against the light queen.” I flick my hand toward Tenebris, and he’s dragged from the room.
Human blood is especially powerful in any spell it is mixed in.
Tenebris will provide many lines of attack for us.
I study the map with my hand on my chin as I concentrate on the best strategy.
“Send a message to King Sarek and ask for a meeting to discuss the rumors.
In the meantime, we will bring down brutal force on Queen Zantara's land. None shall be spared. Burn her villages and cities alike and strike back against her armies with the greater strength of ours.” I give all my commands that will not bring any mercy to anyone who forges alliances with the queen.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” echoes around the room as my men leave to carry out my orders.
I grip the parchment, and it crumbles like King Sarek soon will. “Bleed them and then burn them to ashes for the healers!”
Orlen keeps his gaze on the silver stone floor of my throne room. “Which ones?”
“All of them!”
His head raises, but not enough to meet my eyes. “All of them?”
“Would you like to join them, or can you comprehend your job enough for me to let you continue existing?”