Page 73 of His Dark Delights
For a moment, the world seemed to hold a breath, the air thick with unspoken words and the gravity of our connection.
“Lilly,” he whispered my name as reverently as a prayer, his voice a mixture of awe and disbelief. “What have they done to you?”
I faltered, the magnitude of his gaze a tangible force. “I am what I was always meant to be, Soren,” I replied, my voice steady despite the riot within. “A part of the fae world.”
He stepped forward, his brow furrowed with a mixture of indignation and bewilderment. “Regardless, you belong with me, Lilliana,” he insisted, the words a command wrapped in desperation. “This madness—it doesn’t have to be our end.”
The sight of him tugged at my heart, a reminder of the time we’d shared, the dreams we had dared to hope for. But the truth of my heritage, of my place within the fae, couldn’t be denied. Not even by a king.
“I am half-fae, Soren, and that is not something you can deny. Not something you can simply look past. Therefore, I cannot return with you,” I said, my voice firm even as it trembled. “Not while you wage war against my people. I am and always have been a part of the very world you seek to destroy.”
His face hardened; the burden of his perceived duty was evident in the harsh lines stressing his expression. “The fae are a threat to my people, to my kingdom,” he countered. “I cannot turn a blind eye to that.”
“You are the threat, bastard!” Lunaric interjected, spitting the insult toward Soren. I saw the moment the word struck true.
“How dare you—” the king began.
“I’ll not listen to another moment of this drivel!” The Fairy Queen shouted. Lower, she said, “You had your chance to talk. The Butcher doesn’t listen. He’s mine now.”
“Wait, Mother, no—” my hand shot out too late.
The sound of war horns cleaved through the stillness, an ethereal call to arms that echoed through the Fae Wild. Armies of fae and humankind faced off, prickling and tensing for the impending combat.
The air crackled with savage anticipation, sweetened with the scent of magic and cut through with steel and iron. A vicious combination that set my senses alight. A power within me stirred, a living, breathing force that reacted to the threat of battle looming closer.
Soren’s gaze remained locked on mine, a silent plea that cut through the chaos. “Lilly,” he called out, his voice a whisper against the advancing storm. “Don’t do this. Don’t let them do this.”
The fae forces surged forward, a wave of otherworldly might that met the human soldiers with a clash of wills and weaponry. Two sides met in the middle, a convergence of whizzing, rippling magic and clanging, clashing weaponry. An eruption of gruesome brutality building toward a massacre.
The magic within me evolved into an unstoppable tide that begged for release. With a breath, I reacheddeep, shoving my hands into that intangible force. I seized and tugged and unleashed the power that long lay dormant within me; the earth responding to my call with an orchestra of life and growth. Vines erupted from the ground, twisting and coiling with a will of their own, a testimony to the blood-bound connection of my heritage I shared with the land.
Colossal flowers burst forth, blooming in a riot of color, their petals unfurling with a beauty that belied their strength. The air was lively with the scent of blossoms and the hum of magic, an unexpected force that turned the tide of a would-be-battle into a brief skirmish.
I watched, my heart an active storm of desire and sorrow, as fae soldiers converged on Soren and Rhydan. The early stages of the battle blurred around me, raging into a clashing, thunderous bouts of fury that rumbled over the land.
Lunaric rose from his mount, taking to the sky. He whipped out his bow, shooting off arrows at enemy soldiers. He flew swiftly, cutting through the air in complicated maneuvers meant to avoid opposing fire.
Ellaria cut her eyes to me, noticing my wall of gargantuan vines and flowers erupting from the earth. She scanned the sea of crashing forces and snarled. Undeterred, she lifted her own hands, reinforcing my powers yet manipulating them.
“Mother—”
“Take him!” the queen commanded. A tide of fae knights descended on the front line of human soldiers. My mother’s flowers curved around Soren’s location, barricading him from the support of his army.
“Lilly!” Soren’s shout stabbed and twisted in mychest. I rode for him, seeking him out. Seconds before my fingers brushed against his, a fae soldier dropped from the sky. The clash of bodies knocked the king from his horse, and more fighters joined the fray.
“Grab the king and withdraw!” Ellaria lifted her sword high in the air. Writhing, twisting forces barreled over him, ripping us apart. He vanished under the violent sea of fae, seizing him at their leader’s command.
A scream ripped up from the depths of my stomach and scratched through my throat. Lunaric swooped low and grabbed my horse’s reins, guiding me back to the sanctuary of the Fae Wild. The victorious cheering and whooping of the fae followed my silent, shocked form as the last slithering vines of Mother’s blockade shielded the fae kingdom from the human knights trying to reach their captured king.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lilly
As much as I argued and begged, it did no good. Queen Ellaria had Soren taken to a cell in the forest palace. Lunaric kept me distracted in an endless loop of arguing throughout the day. I’d never been one to throw dinner plates all my life, but that night Lunaric ducked to avoid my roast aimed at his head.
After dinner, I couldn’t stand looking at Ellaria or Lunaric. They were family, but that bond was new. Their decision cut me, and it stung worse that they weren’t listening to me. I could have talked Soren out of a battle if given more time… we might have come to terms and ended the war if only they’d let me talk.
It seemed everyone in my life was quick to anger, quick to battle, and quick to war. At the rate my fate was going, I’d have my own pretty sword in hand to matchthe armor adorning my gown.
