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  Publisher’s Note:

  This is a work of fiction,

  the work of the author’s imagination.

  Any resemblance to real persons or events is

  coincidental.

  Copyright 2020 – Ana Calin

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER I

  CHAPTER II

  CHAPTER III

  CHAPTER IV

  CHAPTER V

  CHAPTER VI

  TO BE CONTINUED

  CHAPTER I

  Cerys

  THE BOUQUET TREMBLES in my hands. The Hall of Ceremonies at the Fire Court stretches out in front of me like an endless tunnel cutting a sea of attendees in half. My ears buzz from the tension. This is it, this is the day I’m marrying Xerxes Blazeborn, the King of Flames.

  I hear the music as if I were under water. The organ keyboard fills the air with sounds worthy of a royal wedding, enhancing the feeling that what’s taking place here is holy, sacred. I breathe as deeply as I can in the tight corset, and put one foot in front of the other, my heart heavy with the secret I’m carrying.

  The secret of what Samael the Archangel of Death has asked of me through the traitors Marayke and Kareim Velduros, both of them standing on Xerxes’ side at the end of the Hall of Ceremonies. The great Altar of the Worlds shimmers behind them, between endlessly tall pillars that hold this realm together. They are long and arched at the top, framing the whirling dark portal. It emits a breeze that blows through my hair as I walk towards it, filling me with a strange energy. Something that feels equally alive as it feels dead. The breath of life and death at once.

  A sense of fatality grips my heart as I step onto the royal stairs to the dais, and come face to face with my groom. Xerxes, the King of Flames. The man I love with all my heart, and the man that I betrayed three nights ago. I shouldn’t be here, marrying him. I should be far away, fulfilling my promise to his enemy, but I just couldn’t bring myself to break his heart. To leave him at the altar. I needed to give him at least this.

  I swallow hard, clutching the bouquet as my eyes rise to Xerxes’ face, my heart slamming hard against my chest. I can feel our fated mates’ bond in my very bones. I belong to this warrior fae lord with the glowing bronze skin, a jaw that could cut through steel, and ebony hair that falls like silk to his powerful shoulders.

  He’s as tall as a god, dressed in his royal armor, an aura of shadow rising from him like smoke. His irises are like molten lava, revealing how dangerous he is. Only I know the depths of the old, tormented soul behind those eyes, and the idea sends pain all through me. I love him so much, and yet I was forced to betray him. My eyes fall to his beautifully sculpted lips, thinking about how they’re going to kiss me tonight. Our last kiss before he finds out what I’ve done.

  The whirling portal behind the columns starts emitting strange vibrations, drawing my attention. The sound is like music, its frequencies hitting my eardrums in a pleasant way. The sea of attendees stands up at the same time like a well-trained army, creating a deafening clamor of armor and chairs. As my eyes sweep over them from the higher ground of the dais I realize that’s what they are, all of them. An army. Xerxes commands a kingdom of soldiers and mercenaries, fae, mages and dragon shifters that have been fighting threats for millennia, and that he once used to try and take over the world.

  I bend just a little forward, looking past Xerxes and his best man, the fire fae duke Draven Ferox, to the two bastards that destroyed my future with the King of Flames. Kareim the High Mage of the Fire Court, and Marayke the Iron Maiden, Xerxes’ most trusted general, who is also in love with him. Just look at her standing there, in her shiny mail armor that compliments her lean warrior body, eyes trained on the portal. Unlike Xerxes and Draven, who gaze ahead with reverence, I see pain in her eyes. If things were different, I’d probably even pity her.

  I examine her up and down, my competition for Xerxes’ heart. I hate it that her short spiked hair somehow only enhances her femininity, the melancholy in her russet eyes making her resemble a poetess instead of a fighter. A sad poetess, tragic in her love for a forbidden man.

  Realms, how I hate the future that paints in my head. It feels like she actually has a chance.

  On the other hand, the reasonable part of me insists that I have no reason to be jealous of her. I’m Xerxes’ fated mate, and nothing can take that away from me, but considering what I had to do, how I was forced to betray him, Marayke might actually get a shot at him. She can use what I’ve done against me, and become his rebound.

  As for her brother, the High Mage Kareim, the side of his face that I can see is impossible to read. It’s the side that my familiar Nazarean slashed with his claws, disfiguring him. The other side is as pretty as his sister’s face, I don’t need to see it to know that, but I also know he’s much more vicious than Marayke.

  The portal hums louder, its vibrations coursing through me. Xerxes takes my hand in his huge warm palm, squeezing lightly. I look up at him to find his firey eyes full of passion. He understands the portal’s sacred vibrations better than I do, and his smile is reassuring, but guilt closes its tight fist around my heart. Seeing him so trusting, so dedicated to me, it’s unbearable. I look away, and I can sense that it bothers Xerxes.

  The special moment comes, and Xerxes turns to me, taking both of my hands in his and speaking the words that will bind us to each other officially. His voice, deep and resonant, reverberates through the entire royal court. He speaks out his oath of love and loyalty to me ceremoniously, his voice full of conviction.

  My turn comes, and I recite the words as well, swearing eternal loyalty to him, declaring myself his in body and soul. A part of the oath even states specifically that the past doesn’t matter, not even what happened yesterday, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.

  He holds out his hand, and Duke Draven places a small black box in his palm. Xerxes opens it, and a red gem flashes in the light. I gasp. There it is, my wedding band, a piece of the Firestone encased in the finely fletched golden ring. It’s like a stream of fire that circles my finger as Xerxes slides it on. I can feel its power rippling through me, and I can barely fight the tears from my eyes. With this piece of the Firestone he’s giving me power over fire. I can channel power from the elements as it is as a white mage, but only to direct it into the people I’m helping. Now, with this ring, I’ll be able to bend fire, call on its power to do my bidding.

  Sliding his hand gently under my chin, Xerxes lifts my head so that our eyes meet.

  “Why are you crying?” he whispers.

  “Because of how much I love you.” And it’s true. In so many ways.

  Xerxes presses his sculpted lips on mine, and the entire hall explodes into waves of applause. I turn to jelly as his powerful arms wrapped in armor tighten around me, lifting me from the ground. His kiss deepens, possessive and hungry. I can feel he didn’t mean to make a show of this kiss, but his desire for me burns as hot as mine for him. High realms, I want him so badly, I could open my legs for him right here and right now.

  I think about what I’ve done and begin resisting the kiss, and Xerxes notices. He puts me down, his eyebrows knitting as suspicion slides over his brow. I can still feel his gaze hot on my face as I look away.

  Duke Draven walks between us, tall, dark,
and as elegant as you’d expect from high fae royalty, taking both our hands and holding them up. The ripple of the crowd’s applause runs through me, the sheer magnitude of this event and this palace humbling me.

  The Fire Palace is majestic, probably the most impressive place I’ve ever seen. It’s so large that once you step inside it, it doesn’t seem to have an end. The ground floor, which is where we are now, is a labyrinth of huge halls such as the Throne Hall, the Palace Library, this Hall of Ceremonies, and many more. The kitchens, dining chambers and the servants’ rooms are supposed to be here on the ground floor as well, but I haven’t gotten to see them, even though I’ve been here for three weeks already.

  Colorful magic spells and stardust fly into the air as the crowd breaks into even louder cheers, stomping against the ground, and drumming with their fists against their armor, the sound bouncing off the walls. It’s deafening and overwhelming, like a whole city were cheering at once.

  Outside of this enormous palace, the entire volcanic realm is shaking with the King of Fire’s cheering subjects. They’re happy that Xerxes declared he would not be waging war against the other realms, and they heard it’s all because of his new wife, which means that I’m well-loved outside these walls, too—for now. The leaders of the other realms are still after Xerxes, as he still counts as wanted and dangerous, but no one in their right mind would dare come after him into the Fire Realm, which means that everybody is safe, at least at the moment.

  But soon something painful is going to happen, and these people will be robbed of the happiness and blissful perspective of the future that they’re experiencing now. But at least it won’t be war, and they’ll be safe, even though they will hate me forever.

  Xerxes and I walk hand in hand along the endless aisle back to the big doors through which I came in. I keep trying to swallow down the lump in my throat, reminding myself that I was forced into doing what I did, I didn’t have a choice, but the more I try to persuade myself, the worse I feel. Xerxes agreed to give up his life goals for me, and I betrayed him to one of his most dangerous enemies, which he is bound to find out soon.

  These are the final moments in which Xerxes still harbors beautiful feelings for me. Soon, his love will turn into hate.

  A new crowd awaits outside the Hall of Ceremonies. We step onto a golden chariot pulled by stallions made of shadow that takes us through the entire ground floor of the palace. The palace is a monument in itself, so tall that it pierces the clouds, winding upward like a black spiraling tower, its tip in the shape of a pyramid. That’s where a retinue of fire fae girls is taking me tonight to prepare me for my first official union of the flesh with the Fire King.

  I’ve never met those girls before, I don’t even think I’ve seen them around. This place is too big. I haven’t met anyone more than once, and I doubt I will from now on. Everybody knows me, but I don’t know anyone. Besides Xerxes, who’s had to stay away from me until the wedding night, the people closest to me are my enemies, Marayke and Kareim. I’ve seen more of them than of Xerxes lately, and it’s taken a bigger toll on my psyche than I like to admit.

  I don’t have any friends here, and I’ll probably never have any besides my familiar, Nazarean. When Xerxes asked me to marry him I decided my love for him was strong enough for me to spend an eternity in a realm so hot and full of dark forces, it’s the closest thing to Hell and Tartarus. I should probably take this better than I am, considering that I’m the daughter of Hades and all, but I don’t.

  I’m sure everybody can see that I’m completely out of place here, even though no one dares say it. My face glows like a silver moon from my white mage energy, and the shiny white dress with the glittery corset and the vaporous folds aren’t exactly helping me blend in either. My eyes glow like beads of honey, contrasting with the red and black eyes everywhere.

  “You’re a white rose in a sea of darkness,” Xerxes told me just a few days ago, while we were gazing out the window at the world of fire and rock all around the palace, thick clouds covering the sky. Daylight never makes it through the blanket of clouds. There’s only eternal night here, and yet the realm is bright from the rivers of magma, and the distant eruptions.

  Xerxes wraps an arm around my shoulders, his royal armor cold against my skin.

  “Everything all right?” he whispers as magic and sparks fly over our heads.

  “Yes,” I lie, managing a half-smile, but I can sense he doesn’t buy it.

  We’re almost at the grand stairs, where I’m going to throw the bouquet, and then the retinue of fire fae girls is going to take over, and accompany me up to the master bedroom, where they’ll help me prepare for the wedding night. Xerxes will be spending the next few hours with Duke Draven and his other courts, discussing the future of the realm, now that their plans have changed. I glance at Draven every now and then, not because I’m in any way tempted by his special brand of elegance and mysterious demeanor, but because I never imagined Xerxes having a friend. He never introduced Draven as such, but it does look like he’s the next best thing.

  I can already see the retinue of girls gathering by the grand stairs, which is where our chariot is headed. The lady who made my dress instructed me a little in the rituals and traditions of the Fire Realm, and she told me that the unmarried ladies of the courts, who are hoping to marry next, will be the ones attending to me on my wedding night. But there are courtesans in the group as well.

  “You’ll need to learn how to please your husband before you lay with him,” the dressmaker said. She smiled in the mirror, like an accomplice. “They will teach you a few things.”

  In an ideal situation, this would be our first time making love, but by now many of the people here already know Xerxes and I gave in to our passion while on our quest for the Firestone. I’m not even sure how the info got out, but I think it was Marayke and her brother Kareim that saw to it. The more I look at them, the stronger I feel the one who hates me more is the two-faced mage. Marayke is too heart-broken to hate me. Part of me feels sorry for her.

  As the chariot comes to a halt and the fire fae girls finish gathering in the generous space between it and the grand stairs, I think of Nazarean, my familiar. He’s alone in the master bedroom, waiting for me. We didn’t think it wise that he accompanied me to the Hall of Ceremonies, it would have looked like Xerxes were marrying the both of us, but I didn’t have anyone I trusted enough to live him with either.

  Sadness overcomes me. I got married without anyone I love or who loves me by my side. Not my brother Zillard, not even my familiar were there. Until yesterday, I was certain Xerxes would be enough, but now, knowing that I’ll eventually lose him, I realize just how much I need the emotional support.

  It’s time for me to throw the bouquet.

  Some of the fire fae girls giggle, and some of them stare at me from under their lush black eyebrows. Golden skin, red eyes, dark-red lips that seem black. They’re beautiful, like young nymphs of the underworld. A third of them are wearing white, a third black, and a third red, the three colors of my bouquet.

  I look down at the roses, sharply aware of Xerxes’ armored arm around my shoulders, and of his love. I can feel it pouring out of him, out of his aura of shadow that radiates from him, and into me, encapsulating and protecting me. I squeeze my eyes shut. Realms, help me.

  I turn around and, with my eyes closed, I throw the bouquet over my head. I’m not even sure it’s how it’s done here in the Fire Realm, I’ve only seen these things at the few weddings I attended in the Flipside. It’s also how Arielle the Sea Queen did it the day she married Lysander the King of Frost.

  Gasps travel through the crowd around me, and a few of the attendees yelp. It doesn’t sound like they’re cheering anymore. Anguish spears my heart. What just happened?

  I turn around to see my bouquet on the ground. A drop of lava spreads over a white petal of a rose, like a speck of blood that catches fire. It eats at the pure white, then spreads to the other flowers. It’s almost painful
to watch, but I can’t take my eyes away from the disaster. It’s just like my love for Xerxes—beautiful, but tragic. Tainted with betrayal.

  “High realms.” My head snaps to where the sound came from. Marayke hurries over to the bouquet and lifts it from the ground, opening her palm right over the fire and absorbing it into herself.

  Relief courses through the entire hall, the fire fae girls staring with wide eyes, hands on their chests or covering their mouths. They’re in shock.

  “What in the high realms?” I whisper. “What just happened?”

  I look up at Xerxes to find him staring at the bouquet that is now in Marayke’s hands like he’s looking death in the face. She stares back at him with alarm in her eyes.

  “It’s a bad omen,” he says through clenched teeth. The muscles in his jaw tick, rippling under his cleanly shaven golden skin.

  It takes a few moments for the crowd to settle down, gasps and unrest traveling through it like ripples through a huge lake. There are so many people here, even their murmuring is deafening. The fire fae girls approach eventually, holding out their hands for me, inviting me to climb down from the chariot.

  When I do, I will be separated from Xerxes, and taken up the grand stairs to the master bedroom, where they’ll prepare me for our wedding night. Xerxes can’t look away from Marayke and the bouquet, but it’s the fact that she’s not even happy about it that worries me most.

  “I would like Marayke to go with me upstairs,” I declare.

  Both Xerxes’ and Marayke’s eyes dart to me. They’re both stricken. I realize it must seem cruel to her that I want her there, in the master bedroom, grooming me for the night, but since I don’t have a relationship with anyone here, let alone friends, she’s the only person I can talk to in confidence. She’s the only one who can explain to me what happened with the bouquet without sugar coating anything. The uglier the truth, the happier she’ll be to give it to me. Funny how my enemy has turned into the only person I can trust to tell me the truth in a place as huge as the Fire Court Palace.