Page 65 of Petals of Innocence

Kes felt Anin step into him, intertwining her hand with his. He squeezed it tight. The golden flash revealed hundreds of Day Court warriors dressed in golden platemail armor. And standing in front of them was the Queen of the Day Court.

“Well, it seems my invitation was lost along the way, but do not despair, I heard of the celebration anyway. It seems congratulations are in order. I see the Night Court finally has a true King and Queen to sit upon its thrones. Even if the queen is a witch, of all things,” the Day Queen sneered.

“What are you doing here, Tatiana?” Ciaran said with his wide toothy grin filled with malice. “You know you are not welcome, or you would not have arrived with such a show of force. Speak your peace, and then leave us to our celebrations before you start a war between the two courts.”

“You are harboring the murderers of my mate!” The Day Queen couldn’t keep her voice from going shrill at the mention of her mate. She had a wild look in her eyes, and Kes saw how truly unhinged she was. She got a handle on herself before she continued. “The late King of the Day Court was murdered on your land by a member of your court, and a fugitive of the Day Court.”

Kes shifted to hide Anin behind him. There was no doubt who she was talking about. To Ciaran’s credit, he didn’t once look over in their direction, which would have given their slightly hidden spot away.

“Come now, Tatiana, you must know he technically killed himself. If he hadn’t been sneaking away with what was not his to take in the first place, he would still be alive. He was not killed by anyone’s hand. He was dumb enough to touch a spelled bit of string, which is no one’s fault but his own.”

Tatiana could barely contain her rage. “If you won’t hand over the fugitive, then I will take her myself.” Before anyone could even attempt to stop her, she moved in a flash directly in front of Kes. “You took my mate from me, and now I will take yours from you.”

Kes could not move a muscle. Somehow the Day Queen had use of blood magic, which had been deemed too dangerous centuries ago, because it disrupted the natural balance of the realm disastrously. His hand unwound from Anin’s against his will, and the queen reached and pulled Anin out from behind him. He couldn’t even speak to tell her all the things he hadn’t had the chance to say. The only thing he was able to move were his eyes, and they locked on Anin willing her to look at him. As soon as she did, he tried to convey everything he felt for her and tell her he would not give up until she was back safely in his arms. Anin’s eyes filled with tears and she nodded.

“Awe, isn’t this touching? This is what you took from me!” the Day Queen screeched in Anin’s face before pulling out a long black obsidian blade.

No one around them made any move to intervene. Either she had used blood magic on those close enough, or they simply did not care for what happened to Anin. It was Day Court business to them.

Kes glanced at Ciaran and saw him torn between protecting his mate, who clung to him with a fierceness he had yet to see from her, as if someone were about to rip him away. Kes knew there was no stopping whatever was coming, so he held Anin’s gaze for as long as he could.

“Hmmm…decisions, decisions. The bird or the nymph?” the Queen sang as she tick-tocked the blade between Kes and Anin. “Who gets to feel my blade?”

Anin tried to stand in front of Kes, clearly trying to protect him from the queen’s blade. It was interesting that the queen didn’t have complete control of Anin. Maybe the Day Queen couldn’t use her blood magic on her for some reason. He tried desperately to plead to the queen for him to take the blade, to spare Anin the pain. Kes was no stranger to the feel of a blade.

Anin quickly lunged for the blade, unfortunately, not fast enough. The queen grabbed Anin by the hair and pulled her back to the queen’s chest holding the knife to her throat. “It looks as though your mate has volunteered. How sweet,” she said, staring Kes in the eyes as she dragged the knife down Anin’s body before she buried the blade into her stomach.

Anin cried out, while Kes tried with all his might to break the hold the queen had on him, but all he could do was twitch his fingers. He locked eyes with Anin again, this time pleading for her to live.

The queen twisted the blade, which caused Anin to scream so loudly glass shattered.

“Ah, how I have longed to hear that sound come from your lips, dear sister.” The queen and all of her warriors were gone in another flash – Anin with them. The only thing left behind was her blood that had spilled onto the floor.

Kes sank to his knees as soon as his body was his own again. He felt as if he had been torn in half having his mate ripped away from him in such a way. He released his pain and anguish into a deafening bellow, which could be heard miles from the palace.

He felt for the bond and knew it was still there, only softer now. He tried to push as much of his magic down the bond as he could, hoping to help heal her. He had known she had to be more than just a nymph. It never occurred to him the reason the Day Court was after Anin was because she was possibly a better heir to the Day Court throne.

No wonder they chased her off the land; the land could’ve chosen her at any time. He wasn’t sure he could have protected her even if he had known who she really was. The queen’s use of blood magic had deftly kept him from being able to access his own magic or be any kind of obstacle in general.

He felt a fresh wave of anguish at not being able to protect her once again. He sent more power down the bond, if only to tell her she was not alone, and with it he sent the same words over and over, a promise he would keep.

“I will come for you.”