Page 2 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

Leaning forward, waving my hand over the pool, the scene rewinds and then proceeds how Arathorn suggested. “Who shall we send with the tincture?” I question, looking directly at Arlen.

He rolls his eyes and huffs. “We can send my niece, Laurel, to deliver the tincture and make sure our plans are carried out to the letter.” Arlen bows his head, having offered his niece’s services for part of the plan.

“Excellent,” is all I say before I wave my hand again, fast-forwarding through time. The Marelup Queen dies in labor, and our creation is born. Waving my hand again, moving time forward, we see our creation as a young child, shifting for the first time after being attacked by a cougar. She decimates her attacker and carries the head home. So far, so good. Weleap through time again until she’s about a hundred years old. Furrowing my brows, I study the tea the older woman keeps sending her. I rewind time to when the tea is packaged. Blood magic is at work, but to what end? Our creation’s beast loves her protector’s Bear; they’re mates, but something in the tea is blocking the bond. “Should we interfere here and free their bond, so it flourishes?” I question the others.

“No,” Tanyth states, then moves time forward and shows the importance of the stalled bond. We watch her battle time and time again, success after success. That is, until the Drow rise again. Hmm… She never took a dragon mate. Sebastian lives even after all of his deception.

“This blasphemy cannot be allowed to happen,” Arlen says, then waves his hand over the water moving through time at a breakneck pace. He stops at a particular point and allows a Polar Bear to get involved. The course of history changes dramatically. Our creation takes an Ice Dragon – Gold Dragon hybrid as a mate. They birth twins, which is unheard of for Ice Dragons to do. The female has all the markers of Skaldi, plus the attributes of the Titanium and Silver dragons that had long since been extinct.

“Perfect,” I say as I move time forward again, watching the hatchling mature and take her mate. Unexpectantly with the Drow’s abduction, she ascends far younger than we had anticipated. The amount of power that child holds is staggering. Simultaneously we release our grips on the table and look at each other in shock. We may have just have figured out how to end the Drow once and for all. I stare down at the blank reflective surface of the pool in awe of what I had just seen. In my gut, I have a feeling this may be me signing my own death warrant. All of this interference isn’t natural; then again, neither are the Drow. I can only hope the Goddess keeps me safe over the centuries to come. The other kings bow and leave quickly tocarry out their part of this plan. At sunrise tomorrow, I shall set my part in motion. After that, it’s all just a matter of time.

CHAPTER 2

Anca

Moldavia,July 17, 1791

My ancestral home resides at the top of one of the most treacherous mountains in the Moldivian range. Winding narrow cliffside roads are the only way to ascend the mountain to my castle. At the very peak, my family’s castle sits. Tall, proud, white spires reach towards the heavens, getting lost within the cloud cover. The main gates are hand-forged wrought iron depicting a pair of wolves locked in battle. The roadway leading up to the castle doors are made of cobble stone; the clacking of the horses hooves can be heard where I sit. I seek refuge within the castle’s library. So many centuries of knowledge are contained within these walls. The shelves are a myriad of colors on every subject you could imagine.

I’m stuck sitting here looking over the scrolls of the families whom have sons of proper age that make a good mate for me. The list feels never ending as I sort though the bloodlines, making sure no one is related to me. It’s such tedious work, and my father wants a list of suitors I’m willing to meet. Gently I shake my head, looking over what seems like a mile-long list. Out of all the females of my family, I am the oldest to ascend. None of the healers know why it took over a hundred and fiftyyears for it to happen. All of the mystics my family consulted had no answers as to why. I honestly don’t care; I don’t want to face the trials to select my mates. Whatever happened to falling in love naturally? instead of being forcibly brought together and hoping they click. I furrow my brows as I ponder my soon to be sealed fate. Today, hopefully, will pass quickly and without incident.

The click of the latch for the door echoes in the library, forcing my eyes to raise and watch to see who has come to disturb me. The high priestess of the clan enters without knocking, carrying a jug and cups.

“Have you made a decision, Princess?” the priestess states, a sneer crosses her lips as she narrows her eyes.

“No,” I state as tersely as possible. I don’t want to have to deal with the priestess at this moment.

“The king expects a list from you by sundown today. Otherwise, he will send for the males I’ve selected for you to meet.” The priestess tilts her head, looking at me, waiting for some sort of a reaction she can complain to my father about.

If she wasn’t warming my father’s bed, I would have slit her throat from ear to ear years ago. I roll my eyes, then I finally answer, resigning myself to my fate. “Fine, you and Father pick the males I’m supposed to meet. It’s not like my choice makes any difference; you’ll get your way in the end.” I stand and grab the scrolls I was looking over and walk over to the fireplace. Before the priestess can react, I toss the lists into the fire, watching them turn to ash. I turn triumphantly, smiling, placing both hands on the tabletop, and staring at the priestess.

“You wonder why we make all the decisions for you, Princess; you’re brash and impulsive,” she says, flailing her hands in the air. “You’ll never make any male a good mate with the way you are.” The priestess waves her hand dismissively in my direction. “You need Alpha males to put you in your proper place and guideyou to make the best decisions.” She bares her canines at me as she looks back at the ornate pitcher she brought with her.

The priestess pours two cups of the scented tea she has brought with her. With a flourish and a smile, she places my favorite flower-covered teacup in front of me, filled to the brim. Suspiciously, I look at the cup before me, staring at the dark amber fluid within; then over to the priestess, studying her features. The priestess makes a big deal out of sipping at the tea before her. I scrutinize every movement of every muscle in her face and throat, trying to discern if she actually drank the tea or not.

I have never liked the priestess and her bossy ways; the trust has never been there, she always seems to have ulterior motives. The priestess is very close to Grigore and his family. Every waking moment she’s encouraging me to take Vladimir as my mate. I ponder as I look down at my tea. It smells okay, and it would be rude not to drink it. Several moments pass before I raise the glass to my lips and drink the sweet tea. The priestess’s expression changes, and a wicked smile plays upon her lips. Fuck, she tricked me. Deep in the recesses of my mind, my wolf begins to howl and rage. Something is wrong; my fight-or-flight instinct kicks in. I find out quite quickly that I can’t summon my beast anymore. Suddenly, the fight drains out of me, and I just don’t seem to care anymore.

The priestess moves to my side and walks me out of the library. In the hallway, she hands me off to my handmaiden. “Dress her appropriately; she’s meeting the mates her father has selected for her tonight.” The tone of her voice chills me to the bone, the lack of emotion is frighting. I move, not of my own volition, following the handmaiden. The further I walk, the less I seem to care about what’s happening; I’m numb to everything.

ThePriestess

The handmaiden nods and moves off with Anca, heading to her suite. After handling things with her, I head towards the west wing and into a secret passageway; one no one seems to know about. Looking left then right, I slide the secret door open and walk through. The door moves slowly and closes on its own with a soft whoosh, sealing me inside. Several twists and turns later, I enter a large room in an older part of the castle. The smell of mildew and mold hangs heavily in the air as I push open the large oak door.

The room used to be the original war room. The walls are still covered with maps of the kingdoms along our borders. A small weapons rack still sits close to the desk loaded with rapiers and dirks. Several suits of armor are placed between the bookcases from different points in our kingdom's history. The man standing at the head of the table is Grigore, captain of the king’s guard. “Did you succeed?” Grigore stands tall, broad shoulders back as he puffs his chest out, looking down at me.

“Yes, she drank the tea and herbs. I have the handmaiden preparing her to meet the mates you picked out for her, M’lord.” I make sure to bow deeply and gradually stand up to face him again.

“Good. Of my three sons, I only trust Vladimir to handle this unruly bitch.” Grigore motions to Vladimir who’s leaning against a bookcase not far from his father. His chiseled features scream predator and to run at the first chance you get. His eyes bore into you, hollow and filled with hatred. Grigore starts to speak again, snapping me out of my inner monologue. “If we didn’t need an heir from her to ascend to the throne, I’d say kill them all. Letthe gods sort the bodies out.” Grigore looks to his left, where his sons Vladimir, Josef, and Jacob sit together.

Vladimir is smug and almost a spitting image of his father, hatred and all. Josef and Jacob are twins, though much smaller than Vladimir. I glance back over Grigore’s three sons then back to him quickly.

“I must take my leave before anyone goes looking for me.” Carefully I start to back up, attempting to cut this meeting as short as humanly possible. It’s probably the smartest move that I have made today. Never give a predator your back; you never know when they may strike.

“Oh, I forgot to inform you: you’ll be teaching my daughters blood magic. They may need it in the future.” A twisted smile plays upon Grigore’s weathered lips as his yellowed teeth are exposed in a creepy manner. “A father only wants what's best for his daughters; they need to be able to handle any situation that may come up.” He looks over to his daughters, Elena and the elder dame.Grigore must be a lot older than I had initially thought, I say to myself.

I lightly bow my head to Grigore and his children, then exit the room swiftly. I run down the stairs heading towards the dungeons. Just past the primary cells off to the side sits my private study as well as laboratory. Several books are thrown onto the table, most on blood magic as well as transmogrification.

A gentle knock sounds at the door which catches me off guard. I look up from the book I am reading, startled to see Laurel standing there wringing her hands together.

---