Page 37 of Six Burning Candles

“When Porter died, I had my suspicions, but I couldn’t prove anything. It was little things, things that didn’t add up. But he was my dearest friend, and the godfather to Melrose. I was torn between the obvious signs Avaris was trying to show me and my heart, desperate not to lose another person. Thus why I followed her vision out to the temple; I had to be sure. I found the body and the candle, all evidence of his crimes. Then to return to the Cathedral in disarray, he claimed there was an attack. I knew what happened before Melrose arrived. Janus, even before his prime, could make ruffians think twice of attacking him. Much less in a garden. I simply needed to find Melrose first before accusing him.”

I nodded, dropping my attention to my knotted fingers. Letting the information absorb into my body was hard. Janus was my mentor. He raised me. Healsopit me against the others. He made it hard to see other clerics as anything other than competition. I needed to be the best. The hardest working.Perfect.If I wasn’t, then I wasn’t worth the faith he put in me.

Something moved and I picked up my chin in time to witness Melrose climb out of her father’s arms. I sat back instinctively as she crawled into mine. She smiled at me, and I realized how far out of the bag this particular cat got. I paled, glancing at Leonardo. Melrose curled up in my arms, head nestled on my shoulder. Her hooves delicately dangled off the side of the chair. Warmth seeping into my chest, she eased every inch of tension in my body and caused my heart to race at the same time.

Leonardo smiled. “I was wondering how you got my fiery, tempestuous daughter to behave with a single look.”

Melrose scoffed, but my beloved never stopped smiling. Ruby painted her cheeks as her fingers fiddled with the fabric of my robes. My heart fluttered in tandem to her finger’s swirling. She peaked up through her eyelashes and I was in love all over again.We’re being brave. We’re not ignoring Our Lady’s blessings. We’re…I am in love with Melrose.

“Sir, I really wish I could explain,” my voice trickled out of my mouth, wavering with nerves. Despite what Delainey said or that Melrose physically protected me, I saw what he did to Janus. I replayed the rage in his face. But, in that moment, I leveled my gaze on him and heard Melrose in my head.Coward.I took a deep breath in.Coward.I’d been a spineless fool before—Looking her in the eyes and lying to her face, saying that our dalliance meant nothing, it stung. It dug a trench in my chest that hadn’t healed. Then in the courtyard, Melrose was the brave woman who held a bowl over me, protecting me from the venom the best she could. The least I could do was be worthy of her strength.Worthy of her heart.“But I have been in love with your daughter for the last six years and I cannot suffer another day where I do not admit that to myself. Let alone you, sir.”

Leonardo chuckled, nodding his head slowly. I wrapped my arms around her in finality. This was me; this was my life, this was my devotion to the goddess. I loved Melrose St. Augustine, and I wasn’t about to let fear of repercussion stop me.

“I’m glad you too have finally accepted Avaris’ guiding touch and seen the truth.”

“Pardon?” I blurted out.

“Keida, you are a wonderful cleric, a powerful friend, and an even better ally. You are terrible at hiding your intentions. Youthink I don’t know pining when I see it? You couldn’t have been more obvious than I when I first met my late wife. When she walks by, you follow her with your eyes. I’ve known your intentions for a long time, Keida of the Frost. Now, the question is how deep do those intentions go?”

“What do you mean?” I curled my fingers around the woman in my arms. My intentions went to the bone. They were a part of my veins! She was blood pumping through me.

“I will need to appoint a Cardinal to the temple in the mountains. Historically, the Lunar Cleric from the Cathedral is considered first. But as I am Hierophant Rex, I am commanding you now, youwill not leavewith my daughter.”

“Papa!” Melrose scoffed, sitting up sharply.

“My church, my rules, Melrose!” Leonardo scoffed.

“Sir,” I opened my mouth only to stop.So, it is true. If I love Melrose, I can never climb the ladder in the order.And yet, that didn’t stop me from gazing at Melrose, eyes full of dreamy delight.I do not need position. I like where I am right now.

My troublemaker had a point. Why would I leave the life I have, the one I love and enjoy, for another just because of the promise of a ‘better life’. I have a better life right here.

“I would like to kindly decline your offer of Cardinal. I think Our Lady Avaris has seen to cement me here, in The Cathedral, where I am needed. Where my heart is.” I spared a kiss to Melrose’ heated cheek. Her shoulders melted. Honey orbs searching my face, she inspected me for any speck of doubt. There was none.Not anymore.

“Let it be done.” Leonardo slapped a palm against his desk. “Now, who is hungry? All this official Hierophant Rex business has robbed me of my proper snacking time.”

Melrose snorted, rolling her eyes. She scrambled out of my hands to scold her father for his need to snack at all hours of the day. But I couldn’t find any other words, not as her hand found mine and dragged me up to her side.Exactly where I belonged.

My Lady Avaris preserve me…I’m going to love this woman to my grave.

Chapter Twenty-one:

~Melrose, a year later~

It’shardbeingaflirty girl in a kingdom full of sticks in the mud.Every year on the first day of Wintersdark, the Order of Avaris hosts a ritual of blessing for the kingdom. Six candles are lit for the six gods that watch over us. A blessing is bestowed upon the flowers and crops, to help renew them for a harsh winter and Our Lady’s embrace. It’s a time of celebration and love. It’s a way to thank the gods for a good harvest to keep our bellies full through the winter. And best of all, it was the day that Keida of the Frost finally mustered up the courage to kiss me. Thebiggeststick in the mud inallthe kingdom.

A year later, I prepared for the festival much as I had the once previous…but with a special pep in my hoof-step.

I yawned, stretching my arms over my head. Sat up in bed, I found myself alone for the first time in ages. Most nights, Keida collapsed into my sheets. Rarely did I find her missing from my pillows when I opened my eyes. Even when thevisions plagued her, she sought me out for comfort.And warmth, but she refuses to admit I keep her from freezing to death. I’m a frost fae, Melrose, she says, I can’t get cold. Says the woman with her cold toes in my fur.Which made finding my bed empty a peculiar thing. Especially onourholiday. I furrowed my brows, slipping out of my bed. A trail of hardened candle wax led me to a large wash basin. The candle in question sat at the center of an entirely frozen bath. Suds and little rose petals were stuck in place in the heavy ice. I stepped up beside the tub to find a thick parchment note attached to the candle.

Dear my favorite troublemaker,Pluck up the candle and blow on the wick when you’re ready for a bath. Ensure the bedroom door is locked.Yours eternally,Keida.

I squinted at the candle with suspicion but did as I was told. Locking my chamber doors, I tugged my dressing gown off my body and returned to the tub. I plucked the candle from the ice. It took a bit of finagling and upper arm strength, but I managed to free it. Then, I simply blew on the wick, watching it smoke for a moment before it hissed to life. Magic sparkled around me, filling the air with sparkling stars that exploded in the air. When I glanced down, the tub steamed, foamy water that smelled heavily of rose oil and shea butters lapping at the side of the basin. I set the candle aside on the table full of my other soaps and stepped inside. Melting like chocolate in a warm pocket, I sank to the bottom.

Bliss engulfed me. A perfect temperature maintained by magic, delicate scent, and wonderfully bubbly. If I wasn’t suspicious at first, I grew paranoid as I felt something slithering up through my leg fur. I sat up, glancing down intothe red tinted water. There was nothing but bubbles, me, and petals in the water. Only, I distinctly felt it curl around my legs. I reached down, touching my leg to find nothing there. The feeling did not go away. In fact, it grew worse.Closer.It crept up my legs till my knees were pressed to the sides of the tub and I felt a tendril lick my cunt. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize what was happening. A nervous, giddy giggle fell from my lips as I sat back in the tub.

Two invisible tendrils of magic stroked me in slow, languid movements. My eyes rolled back in my head. A moan trickled out of my throat.And I’m the troublemaker.She obviously enchanted the candle. Not only was it meant to brew me the perfect bubble bath, but it was meant to fuck me. It was a game we’d been playing on and off for a year. When Keida was made to go off on official business, she’dblessmy cunt with her magic.To keep safe until I return, she said.And when I laid down to sleep, or while I was simply up and about, I’d feel it. Her magic thrusting inside me. Sometimes it was small, short-lived bursts that left me dizzy. Always a torturous, delicious tease until I finally got to bed where she’d let me have it.Oh, and have me she did; rough, hard, thrusting with abandon like it were her fingers buried inside me.I often had to bite a pillow—usually hers—to keep from letting all of the Order know Keida was taking care of me.It didn’t matter the distance, her blessings were always absolute.

Just like those nights when she refused to let me feel lonely, in that tub she showed that I was no further from her mind than she was mine. I knocked my legs against the side of the tub to let her magic have at me. One tendril curled around my clit, tugging and circling till my stomach clenched up. The other thrust into me without mercy. I took ahold of mynipples, tweaking them in rhythm with her thrusts until my walls clamped down. Washes of pleasure rolled down my body. I ached from the fullness as the tendril stayed firmly inside me till I’d milked it for all I could. When it finally slithered out from me, I nearly drowned in that tub. I was boneless, my nose barely floating over the surface of the water.