Page 73 of Dark Fae's Desires
“Do you love her?”
“What is it to you?” I narrow my eyes. I hadn’t expected such a bold question right off the bat. No one has bothered to ask me this yet when confronting me about the Princess. Not even her mother. He has balls, I’ll give him that.
“Ilove her,” he states, thumbing himself in his chest. “It gives me the right to inquire.”
“Indeed,” I mutter. “But I shan’t answer your question, raven, as it is none of your business.”
“I’m making it my business. If you love her then you will have my acceptance, in spite of my better judgment. You are ancient, and there’s something about you that I can’t figure out. Not just a regular Dragon, are you? You are hiding something. Does Savannah know?”
“She does,” I say, unable to hide the smugness, although how this very young man has figured out there’s more to me than meets the eye is a mystery and one I intend on solving.
He nods at me slowly, taking that in.
“Raize, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Let me tell you something, Raize. You are right in your assumptions about me. All will become clear, hopefully, sooner rather than later, but that is up to Savannah. I will not say anymore.”
“But do you love her?” he presses to my annoyance.
“I have heard what you had to say to me, and I appreciate the time you have taken to talk to me,” I reply. “Rest assured, I will bear this in mind when Savannah comes to her decision.”
“If you hurt her in any way…” His eyes flash with a danger that catches me by surprise. Balls, indeed.
“I can promise you that I will not harm her. She is special and quite important to me.”
“She iseverythingto me,” he states. “I love her completely and accept her decision to be with the other men. If you are under the assumption that you will have her all to yourself, then you are sadly mistaken. We are not going anywhere.”
“I admire your loyalty to her other men,” I say truthfully. “The Princess is a very lucky woman to have you love her.”
“I’m the lucky one,” he mutters, but pleased nonetheless with my ego-stroking.
“I do not intend to get in your way,” I offer up this reassurance as I like this fellow. He is passionate, and in spite of being very low on the proverbial totem pole, he has come to me and said his piece, knowing that I could eradicate him if I chose to.
He grimly nods once, reading between the lines. Then he Shifts again and flies off. I smile and wave, finding a bit of amusement in it. Then I sigh and lean on my staff. “We shall be together, my goddess, and when we do, there isn’t a single being that will be able to stand in your way to greatness. I will be your rock, your force, your desires, your love all rolled into one.”
With that said out loud, if not to her directly, I head out into the forest to ensure that none of my soon-to-be-goddess’s enemies are lurking. I will annihilate anyone who threatens her, and that includes the pretty peacock.
I’m looking forward to that day.
It can’t come soon enough.
Chapter 36
Savannah
Two days later I’m sitting on my grandfather’s throne raised up on a stage, in a silver gown with my hair coiled up on top of my head in a tight bun. The gown skims my body perfectly. It has a low neckline, but not a scandalous one, tight at the waist and then drops to the floor in a swirl of silver perfection. Ithadto be silver. I mean, black was all well and good, but I needed this color to signify my ancestor. I truly believe that Rath’Na is telling me the truth about Savenir. My wand is living proof of that. But more than that, I know now that he wouldn’t lie to me.
I look across the masses of people,mypeople, in the Great Hall. Easily over a thousand Dark Fae and it makes me tremble. But in a good way. I give them all a serene smile as we listen to my grandfather speak to them in the language of the Fae. He is giving his retirement speech and when he ends, he will replace my Princess crown of black roses and thorns with a very heavy looking silver one with purple amethyst stones, embedded around its entirety.
Casting a glance up at Jerrick, who is standing next tome, his face is grim, and his watchful eyes are darting around like lasers, looking for any sign of trouble. He wasnothappy that this ceremony was taking place in front of such a large crowd. He argued like a fiend with Gramps all of yesterday, but this is a huge occasion and needed to be celebrated the right way.
It upsets me that my grandmother isn’t here. She chose to stay away, in mourning for her lost daughter. I understand that this is difficult for her, but it still hurts me. My father is sitting proudly in the front row, looking happier than I have ever seen him. I hope that Delinda can get over herself for long enough to see that our mother needs to go back to her own life, her own family. Selfishly, I wish this not just for Mom, but for my father as well. As soon as she goes back to Earth, he will join her and that’s where he belongs.
When Gramps stops speaking and gestures to me to stand up, I look up from my musings and place my hands on the arms of the black, metal throne, easing myself up slowly. My knees are shaking, but catching Rath’Na’s eye, standing off to the side of the crowd, and seeing his delicious smirk at my very slinky silver gown, I get over my nerves as he Astrals away.
With a steady pace, I walk over to Gramps. He gives me a big beam and if I didn’t know better, I’d think I saw a tear in his eye.
