Page 12 of Bonded By Moons

Fighting between truths and lies, I finally admitted the events of last night knowing this would end in punishment. “She ran from me the second our mate bond locked into place. I chased her but she got away from me before we could make any formal introductions and begin the aquancy rituals.”

Glass shatters. The walls shake. The fae orbs flicker.

“WHAT!” My father bellowed. “SHE RAN FROM YOU?!”

I’m sure everyone in the twelve districts could hear the disappointment and rage pouring from his voice. Even my brothers snickered and stopped eating their meals, failing to feign disinterest which my father prefers.

Artie approaches the back of my chair. He clears his throat. “Your majesty, if I may.” Artie waits for my father to allow him to speak. The king waves his hand, permitting Artie to continue.”This could be exactly what we need to continue the royal line and strength your claim on the throne. Maybe this is truly a blessing from the moons. You know how rare it is for faeries to be born now.”

My father huffs from Artie’s interruption but doesn’t dismiss him. His majesty seems to be in deep thought for sometime as we continue eating our breakfast together in rage filled silence. Finally, as the butlers begin removing our plates, my father turns to face me yet again. “I will allow this.” I hold my breath because I don’t think I heard him right. I nearly choked on a piece of bacon.

“The stars and moons must have something special in store for the Bryton’s line of rule, since the glow of your rings are brighter than any I've ever seen.” He paused, collecting his thoughts and continued. “You must bring her to me at the winter solstice ball. I will be opening our court again to gain strength and gain support from the lunar members for upcoming plans I have for Faerelle. You will need to make your introduction into society and present a well mannered, happy couple as well. I will make my final decision on whether you are to be mated properly by the next eclipse and produce your own heirs. Now, leave me.”

“What plans do you have in store, father?” my brother Aspen bravely asks.

“Enough, leave. Now.” My father growls at us.

We are dismissed and unfortunately have to leave our mother alone with him. We quickly depart the dining hall together. Followed by our individual personal guards, we headed to the west gardens of the palace where combat training usually takes place in the morning. My sister, Roserra, says her goodbyes and heads to her wing of the castle to continue her studies. She’s training to be a scholar faerie.

I have 5 days to find Ember, bring her to this ball and capture her heart. I hope she’s prepared for court life. Things are about to go really fast and I need someone fearless to take on this life with me. I need to find her today.

I will have to go searching for Ember after today’s lessons. I’ll follow the electrical current that now flows through my body at the simple thought of her.

“What do you think father is planning after all this time? Keeping us locked up like fucking princesses trapped in a damn tower.” Sage, my youngest brother, contemplates as we walk to the training field.

“I’m not sure what the cause of this is, but it must be significant in order for him to break down the invisible walls he’s built around this family.” Aspen walks beside me as we watch Sage run ahead, face us, and begin walking backwards with a smirk on his face.

“I just can’t wait to meet the ladies of the court. Maybe I’ll find my mate too.” He shoots me a wink and a goofy smile. He clearly got his charm from me.

As we neared the glass doors that led to the training field, Sage lets us pass him before he jabs the back of my knees and they give out on me. I smack the stone floor but spin quickly, kicking his legs out from under him and busting out in laughter. My youngest brother loves to play games with me, pushing the boundaries of my brute strength. He’s shorter than me, but almost equal in muscular density. He rolls onto his hands and knees before pouncing onto me, pinning me down. His dirty blonde and orange hair is pulled back in a low ponytail. He grins down at me before punching me in the shoulder and jolting over my body toward the garden doors. I just missed snatching his ankle by the hair of my fingertips. I chuckled then yelled after him, “You little shit!”

It’s not that he actually wins fights against me, but I know he gets more confidence when he wins every once in a while.

My brother Aspen extends his hand to me and helps me up from the ground. “I know you let him win, but sooner than later he’s going to get the better of us both.”

I huff a laugh and head through the large stained glass windows that lead to the training field. My two younger brothers and I train here everyday unless we have other studies to attend to. This is the best part of the day because father isn’t here to ridicule and challenge us at every imperfection. He trusts his royal guild and our personal guards enough to train with us. The royal guild is full of the most powerful fae in all the land, always recruiting new strength once they’re discovered at local universities.

Artie, Sage and his personal guard Gimm, are gathering the strength elixirs we’ve been assigned to master these months. Known asstratella, the strength enhancing liquid is blood red and sparkles alight with flowing silver and gold flecks. I approach the table they’re standing at and grab a vial.

This red bottle of liquid provides a surge of strength that lasts only a few minutes but it’s extremely potent and overwhelming to the senses. You must be well versed in controlling and honing the effects of power enhancers added to your body. Otherwise, you can harm yourself and others around you in ways you don’t intend to.

Since I’m a builder-talented faerie and already a brute fae, this elixir practically makes me a towering rock. The first time I tried it, I punched through a fucking tree. Yes, a tree. My brothers are still mastering the effects of the elixir, but I’ve got it down like a third element of magic at this point. I’ve always been extremely aware of my body and how to use it to overpower others. So, withstratellarunning through my veins my brothers barely stand a chance.

The training ring is a limestone platform in the center of the west gardens. Surrounded by luscious flowers and weeping willows, which are kept up by the earth faeries sworn to serve the Estrallume throne. My brothers and I head towards the center of the ring, crossing over the emerald green phases of the moon which are inlaid in the stone.

Aspen prepares to train with his personal guard as Sage and I follow to do the same at our separate corners of the ring. Artie smirks at me as I approach him, “Ready to get your ass handed to you?” he says with too much glee.

“I love playing with my food before I bite, that’s for sure.” I chug down mystratellawhile Artie waits for the effects to kick in. I begin stretching and eyeing him like he’s my next meal. Our guards are meant to fight us with raw, unenhanced magic first before moving on to challenge each other with the effects of strength enhancement coursing through our veins. It’s important as the king's sons, that we are able to control our powers against any opponent of equal, lesser or more strength.

Arms crossed, he waits for me to stop being a cocky asshole, which will never happen.

I finish my stretches and snap two balls of fire into my palms, shining bright with icy blue flames that caress my forearms. Artie grins at me, ready for the fighting to begin even though he knows I’m going to kick his sorry ass.

I charge forward with so much strength that I close the distance in 3 strides, slamming my fists against his airshield with a grunt. Blue fire bursts off the shield, bright sparks cascading in all directions. His air shield cracks quickly due to my increased strength and Artie is forced to evade my next attack with a gust of wind, skirting himself to the side of the ring.

He propels himself on a cloud of air to somersault over my head and lands behind me. Now that I'm cornered, all he needs to do to win this quick match is shove me out of the ring. The second your opponent's feet touch the grass of the training gardens, they lose. It’s never been me though, so he should know better than to assume he has the upper hand here.

Conjuring a ball of bright and neon blue flames, I send it spiraling towards his feet, causing him to jump away from me. I use the moment of relief to dash to the center of the ring, taunting him to follow me.

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