Page 10 of Throne of Dreams
“You will scream for me,” he purred, bringing his mouth close to hers. “You’ll beg me to stop.”
Maeve spat, a mixture of blood and saliva landed on the corner of his mouth. “I’ll kill you.”
He licked it off with his tongue. “Not if I kill you first.”
She knew he meant it.
Darkness descended upon them and then there was nothing.
ChapterFour
Tiernan jolted awake.
The city of Niahvess slumbered beneath a waning moon, yet his heart thundered as though he had a nightmare. A faint sheen of sweat slicked his forehead and his dark hair clung to the sides of his face. Shaking off the strange sensation, he climbed out of bed. He shoved his hair back, slowly pacing his room. He hadn’t dreamt in years. The last bad dream he remembered having was watching his father scream for him, and his mother weep for him, while he was tortured by trooping fae in the all-encompassing Autumn forest.
He could still feel the sting of the blade. He could still hear his father’s bellows of rage. He could still see his mother’s silent tears, and when her tender heart broke, it splintered through him.
Tiernan paced the wooden floors of his chamber, determined to shrug off the rising sense of fear. But he wasn’t the one who was afraid. It was…
Without thinking, he grabbed his sword from his shelving of armor and bolted into the adjoining bedroom.
Maeve was in her bed and her room was empty, but her sleep was fitful. She thrashed. She whimpered. Her body jerked and flailed as though some unseen force had complete control over her.
He stood silent in the shadows of her room, listening to her nightmare. Fearghal whispered into her ear as he butchered her. Maeve’s voice, however, was louder. Her threats and promises were just as vile.
Cautiously, he stepped closer to the bed, and for the first time in a long time, he didn’t know what to do.
He sensed his twin before he saw her. Shefadedinto Maeve’s room and stood next to him.
“I felt it.” Ceridwen spoke softly into the stillness. His sister was terribly pale, as though she stared death in the face. “I felt her fear. Her terror.”
“Yes.” Tiernan didn’t know what else to say. He’d never experienced this kind of helplessness before.
Ceridwen crossed her arms, pulling her delicate satin robe tighter around her. “He haunts her dreams.”
Tiernan’s blood simmered and the compulsion to destroy clawed to the surface. He ground out the words, “I know.”
“She’ll have her vengeance.”
There was something odd about the way Ceridwen spoke; it was matter-of-fact. His head snapped her direction and she shrugged, all nonchalance.
“I’ve seen it.”
He nodded, then looked back to where Maeve tossed over in her bed once more. “Can you help ease her fear? Can you help her sleep peacefully?”
Ceridwen’s blonde brows arched in the low light. “Interested in her well-being now, are you?”
“So she can rest,” he clarified. “We’re going to train later today.”
Ceridwen didn’t believe him. Her knowing smile said as much. “Of course.”
His sister’s magic filled the room, and the balm of her presence gently settled over Maeve like a sweet lullaby. It was a comfort, a loving caress, and it blanketed her, easing her terror. Melting away her trauma. Gradually, she settled into a state of calm. Her breathing grew even and deep. She curled into herself, tucking both of her hands under her chin.
Tiernan’s heart twisted.
Once she was sound asleep, Ceridwen asked, “How did she get into the cove today?”
An excellent question, and one he couldn’t answer.
