I clasped her hand in the ceremonial room, squeezing tight, while my soul roamed the fields in pursuit of her. She wasn’t gone yet. I could feel her life hanging in limbo, her fae half striving to hold on just a little longer as if it knew what I would offer.
And there.
Sitting by the spring, her eyes a gorgeous blue, I found her.
She played her fingers across the water, watching it form on her fingertips before floating up to the beaming sun. It’s beautiful, she marveled, oblivious to the chaos looming over her prone form.
You’re beautiful, I admitted, swallowing. Do you know why you’re here?
She shook her head, sending those alluring golden curls in waves down her exposed back. This
flowy dress she wore was unlike any I’d seen her in, but I wanted to buy her hundreds just to see it again. Because she was stunning. Strong. Luminescent.
I like it here, she whispered as if the words were a secret only for me. And maybe they were.
It’s one of our most sacred places, Claire. Not even I have ever set foot here.
Why now? she wondered, her voice holding a musical quality I longed to hear from her icy lips.
The priestess guided us here for our vows.
Mmm. She looked around, her expression one of awe and expectation. The water element in her was taking over and driving her instincts, knowing the reason for all of this even while the human inside had no idea.
I need you to repeat the vows, I told her, hearing them from the priestess now. Can you do that for me?
She murmured her approval, her bright blue eyes smiling up at me. The utter devotion in that gaze nearly undid me. I had to remember it was her element staring at me like that, not Claire. Because she never gazed at me in that manner. And likely never would.
“I, Claire…,” the priestess started.
And I began translating each word for my betrothed, needing her to hear them from my lips, not from those of a stranger.
I, Claire, accept the power that binds me to Cyrus, born of Spirit and Water. To cherish and respect, through all of the eras and time that may fall before us, until our souls do us part. I give unto him my fluidity, my grace, my tranquility, and accept his in return. My element is now his just as his is now mine, to the fae heavens may we never part. And I shall never forsake him for another, my water forever belonging to him and to him alone.
She repeated each word, the pledge engraving her name into a piece of my heart that I would never get back. Tears filled my eyes by the end, the very real ramifications finally settling over me as my own oath began.
I, Cyrus, former King of Spirit and heir to the Water Kingdom, accept the power that binds me to Claire, future Queen of the Water Kingdom. To cherish and respect, through all of the eras and time that may fall before us, until our souls do us part. I give unto her my favor, my serenity, my purity, and accept hers in return. My element is now hers just as hers is now mine, to the fae heavens may we never part. And I shall never forsake her for another, my water forever belonging to her and to her alone.
A binding energy flourished around us, swimming through our veins, flooding my thoughts and my heart, and forever tying me to a woman who never wanted me. And to a kingdom I never desired.
But I wasn’t given time to consider the future, the spring around Claire bubbling over into a wave of molten lava that threatened us both. I grabbed her and misted back to my quarters, the ceremony complete, and held her against me as her energy consumed mine.
Take what you need, I encouraged her, feeling her lethal yearning.
My heart raced as our elements locked, her water greedily absorbing mine as I cocooned us in a sea of warmth and allowed the waterfall in my chambers to soothe her ears and lull us both into a comatose state.
I’d done my part.
Now it was on Claire to survive.
But a warrior lurked within her, one my presence seemed to provoke best. And that warrior was now raging in my head, seeking out every reserve and drinking me dry.
I succumbed to the darkness, my last thoughts for Claire. You’ll have to do better than that, little queen. Take everything. Take more. And don’t stop until you can breathe.
Exos
Magic stirred around me, a desperate pull at my senses, and yanked me from my hole with a fierceness few others could possess.
Claire.