My King (Two Prince's Book 1) (17 page)

My screams turn to strangled sobs.

Fire races up my shoulder, down my chest, and completely covers my face. It burns. Everything burns.

Miraculously, my feet brush the floor and I push myself up into a standing position. I still can’t see but I can feel the blood, my blood, ooze out of my chest. Not too deep, but deep enough to burn and bleed. Deep enough to scar me grotesquely for the rest of my life.

Deep, male laughter hits my ears. The sound of it cruel and vicious.

“I do love it so when they scream.”

Cracking my eyes open to mere slits, which is as far as they’ll go, I see not my torturer, but something else. The golden glow of eyes down the tunnel. The eyes of a predator. The eyes of an animal. Coming straight at me. More than one pair.

Once again, a smile, small in nature, graces my lips.

“Crazy bitch,” I hear right before hands latch on to my hair and the back of my head connects with the rough, brick wall. Pain explodes in my head.

Growls and vicious snarls fill the room.

Horrified screams meet my ears as, mercifully, my world fades to black.

Ian

She should be here for this. All of it. She deserves to be here at my side while we discuss our future. Her place will always be at my side. Now more than ever.

And she’d be here too if only she were awake. Why won’t she wake up?

Why?

Why?

Why Shayne had yet to wake up had plagued my thoughts for the last two days.

We don’t have time for this. She needs to wake up. I’ve put the Council off for as long as I can, but now I’ve run out of time. They would wait no more.

A door opens and the Council members fill the hallway, lining up before me.

“We’ve come to a decision.” Riley stiffens at my side, but I hold steady. What will be will be. “We will use the trials of the old.”

Beside me, Riley breathes in sharply. “But, Shayne…” he mutters.

“You have shown true strength, Ian Reighliand of the Shifters. Strength where it matters. Your bloodline is strong.
You
are strong. But it takes more than strength to be a King. Especially a King already mated. You will have tests and so will she. Your first test is to withstand hers. Complete it and you both shall move on. Fail and
your
tests will begin again mateless. You have one day to prepare your mate.”

Mateless.

Shayne.

I can do this. Easy. I can best anything they throw at me. Anything. But my girl has not been prepared for this. If she fails we’re fucked. Royally.

And she’ll be dead.

We should never have come here.

Shayne

Heavy. Everything is heavy. My tongue. My mouth. My head. My body. Everything.

The last thing I felt was pain. So much pain. Now I feel… normal. Absolutely normal. There’s no pain. None whatsoever.

Open your eyes.

An order. No, a command.

One I comply.

Steel. Eyes the color of steel, delicate features in the face of an angel, hover mere inches above my face.

“Sleep is good,” her singsong voice is like music to my ears. “It can heal what I cannot.” Her finger lightly taps my temple. “The mind. If it were up to me I’d let you rest for a week. But, alas, we’ve run out of time.”

I have no idea what in the heck she’s talking about. So, of course, I blurt out, “What in the heck are you talking about?”

Her lips tip up slightly as her eyes shine bright with unshed tears. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Suddenly my throat feels dry, and I croak out through unresponsive lips, “May I have some water, please?”

Her eyes narrow as she studies my face with intense scrutiny before nodding and leaning away from me.

“Here,” a deeper singsong voice says before a bottle of water is shoved in my face.

I take it, unscrew the cap with trembling hands and drink greedily.

My eyes grow round as I take in the male who gave me the water bottle. Tall, slender build. Bottomless teal eyes. Bright, shockingly white hair.

“Are you a fairy as well?” I can’t help but ask.

“But of course, My Queen.” The female informs me. “This is my husband, Traine. And I am Daisy.”

She sure doesn’t look like a daisy. More like an orchid.

“Pain,” I mutter.

“Come again?” Traine asks.

“The last thing I remember. You asked, and the last thing I remember is pain.”

Pain.

Yes, I’d felt unbearable pain. Then it hits me why I remember feeling in pain. I bolt upright in the bed I’ve been laying in. The thin blanket covering me falls to my waist, pooling around my hips.

Frantically clawing at the collar of the plain white t-shirt I just now realize I’m wearing I pull the collar away from my skin and stare down at my chest.

A jagged, light pink line starting in between my breasts runs down my middle.

A scar.

“I don’t understand.” Freaking understatement. “How long have I been here?”

“Two days. I healed you. But for whatever reason the scar remains.” Daisy’s cool fingers lightly brush my cheekbone below my eye. “As does this one.”

Before she can remove her fingers from my face I quickly place my hand over hers, stopping her movements.

Voice thick and rough with emotion, I look into her steel eyes and whisper, “Thank you so much for healing me.”

Her eyes light up and she grins impishly at me. “Anytime, My Queen.”

Letting her hand go I fall back onto the bed. My sluggish brain scrambles to go over everything that’s happened.

I gasp and bolt upright again.

“Neelan.” I whisper in horror. “What’s happened with Neelan?”

Daisy’s delicate features pinch and her eyes harden. “I’m afraid he did not make it.”

I feel wetness leak out of the corner of my eyes. I knew he wouldn’t be able to survive such a wound, but having it confirmed was like having someone shove a shard of glass in my heart.

“You cry over the death of a man you do not know?” Traine’s voice is as sharp as a whip, lashing out at me.

“Traine,” Daisy quietly reprimands. “Be careful with your words, husband.”

“No. It’s okay.” I choke out past the lump in my throat. “He’s right, I did not know him.” I look Traine dead in the eyes and let him see all the pain I’m feeling. All the hurt and sorrow I feel about not only what was done to me but my fallen friend as well.

I let it all bleed into my eyes.

Some people say eyes are the window to one’s soul. Something, in this very moment, staring into Traine’s teal, teal eyes, I very much believed to be true.

“He was kind to me. I mean, yeah, he asked me questions, private questions, he had no business asking me, but he was kind. He defended me before he even knew my name. He looked at me in a way no one’s ever looked at me before. With something like adoration. He didn’t think I was a freak because I can hear other people’s thoughts. He told me I had a gift. And… And when they came… he pushed me behind him and told me to run.”

By this point tears are pouring out of my eyes and I’m crying uncontrollably. I know I’m rambling on but I can’t seem to stop the words from tumbling out of my lips.

“I tried to get to him. They wouldn’t let me go. I tried. He had a sword in… in his chest. I couldn’t. There was nothing I could do for him and now he’s dead, and it’s all my fault.”

And it was. All my fault. Neelan had been so very kind to me and as a result he’d ended up getting a sword shoved into his chest. Now he’s dead. Dead. Dead.
Dead.

“Back in the day,” Traine quietly cuts into my hysterics, “the Dwarfs lived and died by the sword. They fought in great battles for their King or Queen. There is honor in that kind of death. Neelan died trying to protect you, because he found you worthy of protecting.”

His eyes shine bright and eerie as they slowly comb over my face.

“The fact that your heart so openly weeps for the Dwarf says it all.”

“I told you, she’s special.” Daisy states proudly.

“That you did, wife. That you did.”

They move away from the bed, giving me privacy to grieve on my own. Privacy I greatly appreciate.

Inhaling deeply, I manage to control my tears and shut them off. My raw emotions leave me feeling vulnerable and exposed.

After I stop sniffling they cautiously approach the bed, hand in hand. They’re so similar in appearance they look more like siblings rather than a married couple.

Daisy lays a white garment at my feet. “We must hurry if we want to get there in time for you to light the pyre.”

And, now I’m back to being confused.

“Pyre?”

“Yes.” Daisy nods. “The funeral pyre.”

Oh shit. That doesn’t sound good.

I ask a question I seem to find myself constantly asking. “Where’s Ian?” The million dollar question.

“Dealing with the Council. We will have time to prepare you for that horrid mess after. Now we must hurry.”

Well, that didn’t sound good either. This place seriously sucks.

Apparently Fairies had no sense of modesty because as soon as I stand up Daisy proceeds to undress me then redress me again. Right in front of her husband’s watchful eye. Even though I’m completely naked for a moment in front of them I never once feel exposed under their scrutiny.

For some bizarre reason I feel safe with them. Even naked I feel safe.

I stand still as Daisy dresses me in a white, filmy, see through dress. The hem of the skirt brushes the floor, swaying loosely around my legs. The dress is sleeveless with a deep V- neck line, exposing a great deal of my breasts. And the hideous scar nestled between them. It’s an ugly reminder of what I’ve been through.

I hate it.

Daisy offers me no form of undergarments. Which I somehow find fitting for this insane asylum. I don’t care and I don’t ask. I’ve got bigger things to deal with than going commando.

When I’m dressed she pulls a chair over and gestures for me to take a seat. As soon as I’m sitting she goes to work on my hair. I can feel her paring and braiding it. Two French braids, one on each side of my head it feels like.

To my utter surprise, Traine drops to his knees on the floor at my feet. Lifting one foot then the other he slides strappy, gladiator looking sandals on each foot.

“Thank you,” I murmur, oddly more embarrassed than I had been minutes ago when I stood naked before him.

As a reply he grins up at me.

Geez, these people are so strange.

“All done,” Daisy says softly from her spot behind me. “Would you like to look at yourself in a mirror?”

Remembering her earlier words about the scar on my face I mutely shake my head in a negative.

I’m not quite ready to look at myself in a mirror. Maybe I never will be.

“Then let us be on our way.”

Oh goody. Can’t wait.

*****

Oh man, oh man. I can’t help but wonder how it is that I keep finding myself in these crazy, life altering situations when I’ve spent the majority of my life shying away from most people and basically keeping myself to myself.

“Are you ready?” Daisy whispers at my side. Her hand gently rests on the inside of my elbow, guiding me forward against my will.

The answer to her question would be a big, fat, stinking
no
. I would never be ready for something like this. Never. Not if I lived to be three hundred and I’ve done this eight thousand times in my life would I be ready. Unless, of course, my heart somehow shrivels up in my chest and turns into a tiny black ball of ash encrusted in evil. But, I doubt anything like that would ever happen to me. Hopefully. With this strange world I now occupy, who knows.

“Shayne. Are you ready?”

Is she high? Hell no I’m not ready.

Then another thought occurs to me. In a group this large I should be able to hear voices in my head – the thoughts of others. But I don’t. Nothing but radio silence on my end.

“I can’t hear them,” I blurt. Too loud. People turn to stare at the freak show that is me. Great. Just great. Me and my big mouth.

Daisy squeezes my elbow. “I can keep it under control until we’ve the time for me to teach you how to control it yourself.” She flushes pink and her eyes shift to the ground. “That is, of course, if you will even want me to.”

“Really?” Excitement bubbles up inside me. “You can teach me how to control it?”

Her eyes latch on to mine. She licks her lips nervously. So out of character for the Fairy. “If that is what you wish, then yes.”

“Why wouldn’t I want that?”

“If all goes well you will be not only my Queen but
the
Queen. And I will be-”

“Daisy,” I say, cutting her off. The quiet murmur of voices around us drops off, leaving silence in its wake. Sighing in exasperation I mentally tune everyone else out. “Is there some kind of supernatural segregation system in place that I don’t know about but probably should?”

Daisy gapes at me. “A what?”

I should probably come with some type of warning label stating: Inappropriate, awkward, and freakish. Come close at your own risk!

Quiet laughter ensues around me. Daisy, wide eyed and horrified opens her mouth to speak but I get there first.

“I get what you’re saying.” And I did. I
so
got her. She was worried that when,
if
, I became
the
Queen I wouldn’t want her to train me. She thought I’d want someone more suitable for my station. Someone who is a ‘Royal’. Whatever the fuck that meant. Not that I care.

“You’re like Neelan.” My arm swings out to the pile of wood with a small body wrapped in white lays atop it.
Neelan
. My heart clenches. I’m still unable to look at him.

“You’re a beautiful person who has shown me nothing but kindness. Just like Neelan you stepped forward to help me when I needed you to. He tried to protect me and you healed me. Neither of which I will
ever
forget. Neelan was taken from me before I ever really got to know him and had a chance to return his kindness. But you are a different story. You’re here. You’re alive. And I hope, genuinely hope, that you give me the chance to be your friend. That you give me the chance to show you just how much your kindness means to me.”

“I would be honored to train you, and it would be my pleasure to call you my friend.” Daisy’s hand leaves my elbow and she twines her fingers through my own.

I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere along the way, during the crazy journey, I stopped being bothered by physical affection. Before I hit the road with the guys I couldn’t even stand the sight of displays of affection. Now people are touching me willy-nilly and I’m not bothered by it in the least.

My, how things have changed. I don’t know how to feel about this. Part of me is sad because I feel like I’ve lost something important. Like my shield.

“Let us do this,” Daisy whispers. Her eyes shine with the sheen of unshed tears.

I don’t understand her tears. I don’t really understand any of this.

“Shayne.”

Right. Back to reality. Daisy and Traine had walked me out of the mansion, past the immaculate lawn, and into the dense forest. We’d walked until we came upon a small clearing. A small clearing packed with people surrounding the funeral pyre.

A funeral pyre I’m now supposed to grab a torch, walk up to, and set ablaze.

And Daisy wants me to just waltz on up there like it’s nothing. In front of all these people. These people who are staring directly at me. People who’ve just witnessed my moment with Daisy.