Page 125 of Treasured
I kissed her nose. “I’m just going to stretch my legs,” I told her.
She rolled over, burying her head in the pillow. “Don’t go far.”
“I won’t.” The Tether wouldn’t allow it even if I tried.
Luna murmured something under her breath, easily slipping back to sleep. Drawing the blanket over her sleeping form, I pulled on a tunic and loose pants. Shadowing into the hall, I leaned against the door.
Memories of Athena’s death still haunted me. I’d avoided thinking of her for years, but now they came to me every time I slept. Like a friend I never wanted, days of long ago were forever keeping me company. Was this the gods’ idea of a joke? Were they trying to tell me something? I didn’t know.
Eventually, the tell-tale swishing of robes came from my right. I looked up as Genevieve stopped in front of me. “Is something wrong, Prince Sebastian?”
Other than the memories of the brutal murder of my first love?
“Not really,” I said, not wanting to bother the priestess with my multitude of problems. “I just couldn’t sleep.”
She nodded, and I noted the basket of vials in her hands for the first time.
Hoping to distract the priestess from asking me anything else about the past, I asked, “Are those the cure?”
Genevieve grinned. “Yes. Odette and the other witches have been hard at work. Because of them, all the humans in our region no longer suffer from the Wasting Illness. It’s a miracle.” She made a religious sign over her chest. “Thank Isvana, you and your wife came to us. This will bless many throughout Eleyta.”
“Luna will be so happy to hear that.” She’d worked so hard for this.
“We are the ones who are pleased beyond measure. If there is anything we can do, let us know.”
I thought for a moment. “There is something.”
“Oh?”
I explained my request, and when I was finished, Genevieve nodded. “Alright, it can be done.” She turned as though to leave before pausing. “Oh, and Prince Sebastian?”
“Yes?”
“I know we haven’t spoken much about what you and the princess are planning, but if these cures are a sign of what is to come for our country, Eleyta will truly be blessed in the years to come.”
With a curtsy, she hurried down the hall. Long after the priestess left, I stared down the vacant corridor. Could we truly usher an age of blessings into Eleyta? Was it even possible? Or was this country too broken, too scarred?
I pondered Genevieve’s words until Luna woke.
* * *
“Try to open up the Tether,” I said to Luna.
We circled each other in the large empty storeroom Genevieve had allotted us for training. The two of us wore lightweight leggings and tunics made for exercise.
She frowned, concentrating as she tried to do what I asked. It took a few seconds, but then that connection opened between us.
“Can you do it faster?” Every single moment was a potential opening for the queen. We couldn’t afford even that.
Her brows furrowed. “It’s easier if we’re touching.”
“I know, love, but we might not be close enough for that. Who knows what we’ll encounter when we challenge the queen? She has any number of tricks she can throw at us.”
All of them were horrible, deadly, and exactly the kind of situation I would never have taken my wife into on purpose. Except, that was exactly what was happening. We’d be returning to Castle Sanguis in less than a fortnight.
I had remained at Queen Marguerite’s side for over three centuries, and I knew exactly how she operated. I had seen her eyes grow cold and her face freeze as she decided someone’s fate. I had watched magic swirl in her palm moments before she made her final judgment. I had witnessed the deaths of humans and vampires at her hand for infractions that others would consider tiny, at best.
My wife wasn’t ready. Not by a long shot. I would do whatever I needed to do to prepare her. Reaching within myself, I tugged hard on the red rope tying us together.