Obsessed (12 page)

Liana bit the inside of her lip, wanting to rebel as she was led toward a throne and six empty chairs arranged in a semi-circle at the front of the chamber. How had Angelei known Liana was speaking to Aric in thought? Could all Elves read her mind?

Even Liana’s tresses remained still, hanging down her back and past her buttocks. She struggled to maintain her dignity although she felt as though she was on public display, completely naked for all to see. It mattered not that every other person in the room was naked as well.

Elvin men and women warriors stood guard at each of the two doors to the sides of the circular chamber. At least half a dozen warriors surrounded Aric, as though ensuring he would remain where he stood. Only Angelei and Tirnac accompanied Liana, and they left her alone and retreated once she was delivered to the center of the chamber.

Three smaller chairs on each side flanked the ornately carved throne before her. Before the throne sat an enormous golden urn, so tall that it reached Liana’s waist, its top as large as a barrel of ale. Liquid glimmered at the surface of the urn, and Liana caught the unmistakable perfume of jensai blooms.

The scent brought back a rush of memories of her flight from Aric, her fall into the vines…and naught else until she woke this very morn. Her cheek tingled where it had brushed a bloom, and she raised her fingers to rub the sensation away. She felt Aric’s keen gaze upon her back and she sensed the frustration roiling from him in endless waves.

A door appeared within the vine wall behind the throne. her breath caught and she took a step back. Golden light outlined the male and female Council members who stepped through the doorway. Every Elvin man and woman who entered the chamber was exquisitely perfect, each more beautiful than the last.

Gracefully they each glided in to stand before a chair, and then as one they sat. Like all the other Elves Liana had seen, each had a symbol on their foreheads and below—enrli, Angelei had called them.

The Elvin woman who perched on the edge of the throne captured Liana’s attention at once. She wore a sparkling circlet around her head and her hair hung in golden ripples over her shoulders and breasts, with only her large nipples peeking through her tresses. She had brilliant amethyst eyes, and the symbol on her forehead and between her thighs glittered purple, almost seeming to pulsate with light. She was a dazzling, ethereal being, and Liana found herself both enchanted and speechless.

I am Yanea, Queen of Seraphine,
the woman spoke in Liana’s thoughts.
Welcome, Tanzinite Seer Liana.

Liana startled at the Queen’s voice in her head. No one had ever been able to speak in thought with her, and she found the experience exciting and nerve-wracking all at once.

Inclining her head in a gesture of respect, Liana said through thought,
I thank you for your gracious hospitality, Queen Yanea.

The Queen stood and motioned Liana to come forward and stand beside the golden urn. Yanea signaled to Angelei, who brought forth a crystal chalice. When the Queen took the goblet, Angelei bowed and retreated.

Yanea dipped the goblet into the liquid in the urn. Blood red fluid swirled within the crystal as the Queen held it out to Liana.
Drink of the Seer’s potion,
she commanded.
Every last drop.

Liana hesitated, but her instincts, along with the hardness in the Queen’s amethyst eyes, made her take the goblet and put it to her lips. The bitter liquid tasted like dirt and smelled strongly of jensai. It chilled her mouth and throat as it slid past her tongue, and she began to shiver, feeling as though it iced her veins.

When Liana had emptied the chalice, her fingers were so numb she barely felt the Queen pry the container from her fingers.

Look into the sacred urn,
Yanea demanded.
As you vision, I will see whatever you do.

Liana’s mind whirled as she felt Elves take her by the arms and press her toward the urn. When her hands had firmly grasped the urn’s sides, Liana stared into the liquid, feeling as though she was gazing into a vat of blood. The potion sparkled and glimmered before her eyes. Liana’s vision blurred and her body trembled so badly she could hardly stand.

Cold. I am so cold…

But then what she saw made her soul freeze and her core turn to ice.

Naked. Chained to an iron bed, flat on her back. The room is dark, save for moonlight pouring through the single window, and her heart beats so fast it might explode from her chest.

The moon shimmers from silver to lavender. Soon it will be moonchange, and then he will come for her.

Liana struggles against her bonds, the metal cutting into the flesh of her wrists and ankles, and she curses her weakness. Curses fate for bringing her to the Sorcerer’s bed.

The moon darkens to amethyst, and she knows he’s coming. Her stomach clenches and she begins to tremble as his footsteps ring in the hall like a hammer against stone. Every step closer drives the stake deeper into her heart and her destiny.

The rusty sound of a bar scraping against the door. Hinges creak and the door flings open, slamming against the stone wall. The Sorcerer strides in, naked, his cock fully erect, ready to plant his wicked seed into her womb.

His mouth slashes into a cruel grin. “Together we shall start a powerful race that will enable me to rule all of Dair.” He strokes her face with his soft fingers and she recoils from his clammy touch. “This I have seen, Tanzinite maid, as have you. It is no use to fight our destiny.”

Screaming, Liana fights against the chains. The Sorcerer laughs, his black eyes flashing red as he lowers himself between her thighs…

 “No!” Liana shouted and tore herself from the vision. Shaking with icy terror, she struggled against her bonds.

I cannot get away!

“Zjenni!” Aric’s shout pierced her confused thoughts.

“Enough,” Yanea said out loud, her voice as sharp as the snap of a branch.

Liana went limp as she realized she was back in the Council Chamber. Two Elvin warriors held her hands tight to the urn. Every muscle in her body was weak with relief that she was not in the Sorcerer’s bedchamber.

A vision. Only a vision.

But she almost choked on the lump that rose as she realized that her visions most often came true.

“Release me,” Aric demanded from behind Liana, and she sensed him fighting his Elvin guard. He was attempting to get to her with everything he had. “Can you not see it causes her pain?”

“Silence!” The Queen turned her gaze from Liana to those gathered behind her. “The Tanzinite maid must be allowed to see what else the sacred potion can tell her.”

Yanea’s voice lowered as she added, “There are always two paths. Two destinies. Never one.”

Once again, Liana was forced to stare into the potion.

A smile touches Liana’s lips as she rests her hand on her growing belly. Through the window of Sky Castle she sees her two-year-old twin sons at play with their Nordain cousins. Her sons are dark haired, like their father, but with pointed ears and sea green eyes like their mother.

Liana rubs her belly, wondering what her daughter will look like. Thinking of how much fun her child will have playing with her halfling and full Nordain relatives. Elvin and Nordain, Human and Nordain, Tanzinite and Nordain…Faerie and Nordain. No longer are the races segregated. They live, love and laugh together.

Hands squeeze her shoulders in a firm grip, and she looks up to see her husband. He leans down to kiss her, his lips firm yet soft against her own. “Zjenni,” he murmurs.

Her heart overflows with love and contentment until she looks back out the window and sees the dark storm on the horizon…

Zjenni,
Aric murmured in Liana’s thoughts, and she felt warm and secure in her dream of his love.

Faintly she heard the Queen’s voice. “Leave the King be. The Tanzinite maid’s visions are complete.”

“My love,” Aric said, and she felt lips press against her temple. “Wake. Please.”

Liana blinked away the shadows and found that she was secure in Aric’s arms. She looked up into his handsome face. Had he just called her his love?

“Zjenni. My most precious.” He smiled and pressed kisses all over her face. “I love you so much my heart aches with it.”

Happiness swelled within Liana, so much so she could hardly speak. “I—” Her voice creaked, as though rusty from disuse. “I—I love you, Aric.”

He kissed her, long and sweet. She wrapped her arms around him, lost in the sensation of his mouth and lips on hers, the feeling of his arms around her.

“Excuse me.” The Queen’s voice rang out, crashing into Liana’s senses. “Might we finish our proceedings?”

Heat flushed through Liana, and Aric grinned against her lips. Snickers and light laughter echoed throughout the Council chambers.

He squeezed Liana tight and helped her to stand, and she was sure she was as red as a jensai bloom from the tips of her pointed ears to her toes.

“Beg pardon, Majesty.” Aric gripped Liana’s hand as he bowed to the Queen. “I freely give up the Nordain Kingdom to my brother Renn, and will gladly go into exile to be with my heartmate, Liana.”

“That will not be necessary.” Yanea waved his words away with her slender hand, and Liana felt Aric tense beside her. “As I have long suspected, the prophecy is twofold.”

Hope and concern twisted inside Liana as her visions flashed through her mind.

“Explain…if you please,” Aric said, sounding as though he was clenching his teeth.

Yanea walked to her throne, sat upon it, and crossed her elegant legs at the knees. She leaned back and folded her hands in her lap. “If the Sorcerer abducts Liana and mates with her at moonchange, she will bear his children, bringing about certain doom for life as we know it.”

“I will die before I allow him to touch Liana!” Aric shouted, his face red, muscles bulging with fury. “I will drive my blade through that bastard’s heart.”

“Allow me to finish.” The queen held up her hand. “If you, King Aric L’tiercel of Phoenicia, claim the Tanzinite maid Liana as your heartmate, ’tis possible all our futures will be very different. And for the good, I believe.”

“Twins,” Liana murmured as warmth filled her. “We will have twin sons.”

“Sons?” Aric whispered, and Liana looked up to see his startled face.

The queen smiled. “Liana does not yet bear your child. You must wait until moonchange to mate, and her body will take your seed.”

“Moonchange?” Aric looked from the Queen to Liana and back, an unbelieving look upon his face. “She will bear my children and we shall rule together? We need not go into exile?”

“Aye.” Yanea inclined her head. “As I said, you must not mate again before Moonchange. And you must keep Liana safe from the Sorcerer Zanden.” The Queen’s amethyst eyes darkened. “For he seeks the Tanzinite maid as we speak.”

Surrounded by an Elvin guard, Aric held Liana tight in his arms as they rode Baethel toward Phoenicia the following morning. Aric reveled in the feel of her soft body and wished he could bed her at that very moment. It had been mere hours since they set out on the two-day journey. Gods knew how he would make it until moonchange.

Late morning sunlight peeked through the forest canopy, spattering the ground with light and shadow. Smells of pine and cedar met Aric’s keen senses, along with the scent of rain on the horizon. Sounds of horses whickering and the clop of hooves filled the air as two dozen male and female Elvin warriors accompanied Aric and Liana on the journey to the Nordain Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Sky People.

Each warrior was clothed in full battle gear and bearing a sword along with bow and arrow, to protect the Nordain King and future Queen against the threat of the Sorcerer Zanden and his irani. Some Elves were mounted on horses, while others traveled on foot, slipping through the forest like spirits in the mist. Away from the Elvin Kingdom of Seraphine, the enrli symbols upon the Elves’ foreheads were almost invisible to the naked eye.

So few Elvin warriors were not enough to withstand a full assault by Zanden’s army, but Queen Yanea’s fleetest messengers had been sent ahead to warn Renn to ready Phoenicia’s warriors. The Queen had used her own Seer’s powers to determine that Renn had returned to the castle—but without Jalen. Aric could have flown to Phoenicia in no time, but he refused to leave Liana for even a moment. He would protect her from the Sorcerer with his dying breath.

Clothed in a diaphanous Elvin traveling gown in a sea green color that matched her eyes, Liana leaned back in Aric’s embrace and sighed. She still wore the gold and ruby circlet around her head, and he wondered if she knew the significance of the band. He had been surprised to see it upon her when she entered the Council Chambers yesterday, and had taken it as a sign that the Elvin Council would consider his plea.

Aric was beyond grateful to the gods that he was returning to the Sky People and that he had not betrayed their trust in him. The mere thought of being disloyal to his people had been a jagged knife, twisting in his heart with every breath he took. He thanked the gods for bringing Liana into his life, and that their joining heralded new hope for their world, strengthening the bonds between all races.

But first he had to protect her against Zanden. Queen Yanea had warned that even once Aric and Liana conceived their children, the Sorcerer would be a threat until his death.

And somehow, Aric would see to it that Zanden died, whether by Aric’s own hand or by the hand of one of Aric’s trusted warriors.

Aric’s attention came back to the soft and sensual woman in his arms as they rode Baethel. “Why did you try to leave me that night in the forest?”

Liana sighed and relaxed against him. “I did not want you to have to give up your kingdom for me.” Her tresses gently stroked Aric’s arm and curved around his wrist as she spoke. Her small bottom rubbed against his cock with every step the stallion made. Aric’s erection grew unbearably hard, and he groaned his frustration.

“Mmmm. I feel you against me.” Liana wiggled in his lap. “How much longer until moonchange?”