Page 80 of Forgotten Embers
He planned to be there? He knew? Why had he never told her?
She was saved from the spiral of her thoughts by his continued monologue. “I made myself available to you, and you were so desperate that you took to me like a fish in water. I could have told you the sky was black, and you would have worshiped at my feet. I thought I had all the time in the world to formulate how I would go about taking Valmere once I had completed the process, but I had not counted on just how desperate and lonely you would be, and it would seem how desperate and lonely the prince was. At first, I felt confident he would push you away and his coldness would only drive you to me quicker, but it was clear he was in love with you and I couldn’t risk you falling in love with him and taking my victory.”
Fear welled deep in her. It was him, when he convinced her to leave saying Malaki planned to kill her and take her power. It was his plan all along and she had given everything away so easily. She felt like she was going to be sick, but self-preservation had her trying to grasp her power.
Wren tried to summon her flames to protect herself, but she knew she needed to be angry to have them at her side and what she felt now was more fear than anger. He meant to kill her. She needed to keep him talking. He had said Kai wasn’t far behind. Maybe she could keep him talking and there would be time, gods please let there be time.
“How did you know all this without the prophecy?” she asked, trying to keep the quiver from her voice.
She hadn’t succeeded, and he grinned, enjoying the effect he was having on her. “I was the one to have the king stumble upon it of course. That prophecy has been passed down in my family for generations and we have guarded it from everyone except the descendants of the seer. Imagine my surprise at finding out we were unsuccessful in killing out her line when you told me about the woman in the village.
“Ah well, at least she only had one verse. But I digress, I gave the legend and the prophecy to one of my spies who was a frequent visitor to the old king’s bed and she fed it to him till he ate his fill. He and his Bishop worked tirelessly to perfect their summoning spell and their plan. Would you believe the king had planned to seduce you himself until my spy suggested his son might be more effective in his youth? The king did not take kindly to that and he beat her quite badly, but then he agreed. I feared the king would be too possessive of you to allow me the access I needed.
“Malaki however, I knew wouldn’t care one way or the other about you and I could take my time. Well, then you know the complications that decision produced.”
His hand moved to his back and cold fear gripped Wren. Ice spread from her feet, but he didn’t seem to notice. Keep him talking, thought Wren. “How did the king expect to obtain my power if it can only be given through love.”
Wesley laughed, “Oh my gods, it truly was laughable. He thought that he could control his son enough that he could force his hand to help him control Valmere. I do think that man is very mistaken about his son’s sense of honor. Nonetheless, his fail safe was to kill his son himself, taking the power for himself. You see, the prophecy applies to all who wield the power, not just you. The king knew his son loved him and he could easily take the power for himself. Quite bloodthirsty, if you ask me.”
As he talked, Wren tried to gather the power of the ice into her palms and manipulate it, but the ice power in her had never worked that way. It was more of something that just happened to her. Still if she could use the ice underneath him to put him off his balance she might be able to grab the key from his pocket and escape. She needed more time and gods help her. She needed answers.
“Does Mary know?” Her voice was a whisper.
He raised his brow. “Obviously. I’ve already explained it was a family affair. How else would I get her to pretend to be interested in that idiot? I had to write to her to come move things along when I began to see the way Malaki looked at you. I knew my plan was in danger. Mary was kind enough to come and help my innocent lovesick act move ahead of schedule.”
She felt her ice answering her call and she slowly spread it to surround him without him noticing. Just a little more time and one more painful answer. “You knew you already had my love when I left with you. Why that night on the ship?”
He smirked. “Gods, you truly are naive.”
Her ice retreated and fire filled her veins at his words. She wasn’t sure whether to rejoice or bemoan the change in her plan. “You know, I wasn’t actually convinced you did love me. I thought making him the villain and you being with me would be enough, but you moped around so pathetically. I realized I had to solidify your feelings for me in order to be absolutely sure. I am glad I took such precautions because it would seem you needed a little bit more convincing. You were not a bad time, though, if it is any consolation.”
How dare he talk to her like that, how dare he trick her into giving herself to him? The fire roared in her and it burst from her palms wrapping around her arms.
He took a step back, clearly unprepared for her to be able to master her magic enough to be a threat. His worry at her power manifesting quickly diluted. His eyes that she always loved were a crystal green, light and full of calculation.
“He loves you. You know that don’t you, Wren? He was behind us in a matter of hours. If I hadn’t picked my ship carefully, he would have caught up to us. It must have been Maxon who betrayed me. My father gave him the first two verses of the prophecy to see if he would be willing to use his magic to help us when he joined our court a few years ago. He refused, saying that he would not meddle in the will of gods. Coward. I was very distressed to learn he had come with Mary. I thought him not knowing the third verse would be enough, but it seems he figured it out when we left. He must have told Malaki and he rushed to your rescue.”
Wesley’s smile once full of kindness was full of malice.
“Gods, do you know he was willing to give you to me if it meant you were happy. He confessed as much to me when you were recovering from your last burst of magic. That is when I realized I had to move quickly. To think you actually believed that forged letter, but then again I did work very hard on it.” Just like he knew it would, the words took her magic from her when her body radiated with shock.
She hadn’t known. She hadn’t realized. All those moments she thought were manipulations were real. His carefulness around her, his protectiveness, his affection, It had all been real and she had been a fool.
Wren had very little time to come to terms with the realization because a sharp pain burst from her stomach and she looked down to see a knife protruding from it, blood staining her white nightgown.
“Stupid girl,” Wesley murmured as he withdrew the knife. She looked up at him in shock and saw a triumphant smile on his beautiful face. She put her hands to her belly trying to cover the wound, but there was so much blood.
“I had us stop here when I knew you were close to waking so that he might discover your body and know that he failed. That he was prepared to give you to the very person that ended your life. That way when I come for Haradon, he will know to kneel before me.”
Wren stumbled and fell to her knees, black spots appearing around her and her head becoming fuzzy. This was the pain of her nightmares. This was how a goddess died at the hands of love. She opened her mouth to speak when she noted a strange metallic smell and warm liquid coming out of her mouth. Realizing it was blood, she knew that she would die here in this strange room, in this strange world. The pain began receding and she felt coldness take its place.
“Oh, gods, this power is delicious. You aren’t even dead yet and I already feel like I could do anything.”
He closed his eyes and Wren saw fire appear in his right hand. He marveled at it and smiled at her. Extinguishing the fire, he knelt in front of her and placed his lips to hers, his mouth coming away crimson with her blood.
“Thank you, my love.” With a wicked grin and his eyes glowing with new, untamed power he pushed her shoulders and she fell to the ground, blood pooling around her. As darkness took her, the last thing she saw was him unlock the door and leave laughing.
Chapter 38