Page 65 of Heir Of Sun And Moon
“This is well packed. And you have boots,” he points out, as if noticing them discarded at our feet for the first time.
“I thought it would be better to have them. Though I have to admit that they hurt my feet.” I reply, shrugging my shoulders.
He nods before a slow-growing smile breaks out across his face. “Were the bag and boots the ‘womanly’ things in your letter?” he asks.
I snort but nod in response.
“This is perfect, Sunshine. Keep this bag packed how it is. We will leave at sunset after my shift. We need enough light to get us to the edge of the forest, but once we are in there, the cover of darkness will help keep us hidden.” My fingers nervously fiddle with the fabric of Alexi’s shirt as I let his plan of escape sink into me. Flynn extends a hand to me, helping me up to stand before pulling me in for a hug. “For today, rest,” he says quietly, lips moving on the top of my head, “Bathe in the afternoon tomorrow since it will probably be your last warm one for a few days.”
I don’t know how I will be able to rest with everything that has happened. My emotions are even more tumultuous than before, rising and falling within me like the tide I often imagine. So many opposing thoughts and feelings are fighting for space that I feel I might burst at the seams from it. But I agree all the same because the truth is, I know I want to leave this tower, and I know I want to do it with Flynn. If those are the only two truths I have, then that is what I will focus on. Wrapping my arms around him, I close my eyes as I breathe him in. Being this close to him, letting him hold me and surround me with his very essence, is magic in itself. Somehow, it feels likeheinteracts with my magic.
My eyes shoot open as I realize I will have to tell him, eventually, about said magic. I squeeze him harder in response as fear takes root.Will he be angry that I am hiding it from him? Will he care that I have it at all?
After a few moments of protest, I finally let Flynn go and walk with him to the door. Looking out onto the landing, he sets his armor down on the ground again before his eyes find mine. Like he can’t help himself either, his arms wrap around me again as he steps in closer and takes a deep breath. A hand slides down to my lower back, and desire immediately comes racing back into my veins. My body is like sand struck by lightning; I’m completely altered under even the simplest of touches from him. I finally understand what the characters in the romance novels mean about being electrified from just a small bit of contact.
I shiver when his towering, broad form leans over me and his lips come to the edge of my ear. “The ability to touch you like this—to watch you react to my touch—is better than anything I could have dreamed of,” he murmurs.
My breath squeezes out of my chest at his words as my thighs clench together. And despite the fact that today has been a confusing mess of highs and lows, I would happily ignore everything if it meant I could be wrapped up in Flynn for even just a moment more. I arch my neck, giving him space to continue sliding his lips and nose down it. He breathes me in like I so often do with him, and the feel of it has me dizzy with a craving that can only be filled by him. Is this normal? To literally ache for him like this? To feel so complete when he holds me?
“When we are safe and away from this place, I want to explore every single inch of you.” His sensual voice unravels down my spine.Oh gods.My lips pinch together, holding in a moan that nearly escapes.
“Is that what you want?” he asks, peppering light kisses down my neck.
“Yes.” The word comes out breathy and laced with need.
“Good.” I can feel the smile on his lips as he presses one last kiss to my scorched skin before standing back up to his full height. “I will see you tomorrow at sunset.”
I close the door and slow my heavy breathing. There is a deafening silence that screams into my ears as it descends into the tower. It holds the guilt of nearly losing Bella again, the anticipation ofactuallyleaving, and the nervousness at being caught for it all. Like a tree breaking loose from the ground, it feels like the moments before it hits the earth—quiet before destruction. I undress, not bothering to grab a nightdress and just crawling under the comforter instead. Despite my earlier worries, my eyes do grow heavy and my limbs sink into the mattress as Bella rests her head on my thigh over the blanket. I guess I am more tired than I thought. Flynn’s face is all I see in my mind before I quickly fall asleep.
I awake the next morning, realization settling in that I slept through the rest of the night without interruption. My arms stretch overhead as the warmth of the sunlight streaming in through the window blankets me. It is my last morning in the tower. My last time waking up in this bed surrounded by these walls. For sure this time, because I’m not doing it alone. I should feel pure joy at that, and I do, but fear penetrates my thoughts as well. Maybe it’s from my failed attempt, or maybe it’s because I’m going to be leaving behind the only life I’ve ever known. All I’ve wanted is to be free from this place, and yet now that the time is almost here, a part of me wonders if I can even survive in the world outside.
You aren’t alone.Flynn’s words make me smile and my magic hums at the thought. I notice it feels so much stronger and brighter lately. The woman from my visits to the Middle said my magic is growing, but I didn’t give myself time to register what she was even saying until now. Closing my eyes, I try calling the light up to my palms. It responds immediately, the humming sensation mixing with warmth as my eyes open again to see the white shimmering magic. It almost looks like starlight or if you mixed the sun’s rays with the moon’s glow. I stare at it a moment longer before letting it slowly fade back into my body. That small use of magic feels like a release within me, and I again wonder if not using it every so often comes with consequences. The warmth inside me dances at the thought.Great, I’m talking with the magic now.Feeling absolutely deranged, I slide out of bed and head to the bathroom.
After bathing, I put on one of the more simple dresses I own, a light purple one with small eyelet details throughout and a simple square-cut neck. To keep my mind distracted, I start cleaning the tower for the last time. I’m so lost in thought, my attention focused solely on using a broom to get a cobweb out of a high corner, that I don’t hear the king coming until he’s already opening the door. My eyes dart to the loft where Bella is laying on my bed before they fall back on the king. I steel myself for whatever this visit will entail, moving to lean the broom against a wall. He confidently walks into the tower, his trusted guards blocking the door behind him. I notice there are only four now instead of five, so the guard that captured me yesterday must still be tied up.
“Rhea, we have much to discuss today,” he starts, clasping his hands behind him as he begins to walk around me. I keep my body still, trying to shrink in on myself to take up as little space as possible. “Do you know what is happening in a few days’ time?” he asks as he drags a finger across my upper back. My mind whirls for a response, and when I don’t answer, King Dolian smacks the back of my head. I jerk forward with the strike, keeping my eyes down at my feet. “Answer the question, Rhea.”
“Do you mean the Summer Solstice?” I hate the way my voice comes out small and weak. I despise how my uncle has come in like a vicious storm and washed away any of the excitement I was feeling just moments ago.
He walks around me in determined steps until he comes to my front, his shiny black boots nearly standing on my toes from how close he is. The king’s thumb pushes under my chin to lift my head up until I’m forced to look at him. The sunlight streaming in from the balcony hits his face just right, making his eyes brighten—the skin beneath them left in the shadows. It’s frightening and ominous. His other hand trails down my arm, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I fight the urge to push him away from me. I can tell that my magic is paying attention to everything that is happening but, as of right now, is making no move to try and make itself known. Not that I would allow that anyway.
“Do you know,” he begins again, cutting into the piercing silence, “that this Summer Solstice marks twenty-two years since your parents died at the hands of mages?” I grit my teeth together becauseof courseI know. Otherwise, I don’t move, afraid to do or say anything else. Afraid to see where this conversation is going. “Which means it’s been twenty-two years since you were born.”
The beat of my heart is furious, and ringing starts in my ears as dread begins to crush my chest and filter ice into my veins.
“Do you know what turning twenty-two means in our kingdom?” he challenges, leaning forward and invading my space more and more. I try to inch backwards imperceptibly, but he notices and curls his fingers around my arm to jerk me even closer to him. “I grow tired of asking you the same question twice,” he hisses in my face.
“It is considered the time when women come of age. When women may—” I hesitate, swallowing the bile that is working its way up my throat. “When women may marry.” A macabre smile twists his lips, causing my stomach to bottom out. There is no way he is suggesting—
“We are to be wed soon after the Summer Solstice, my darling. Or should I say, My Queen.” He tugs me impossibly closer to him, until I can feel his warm breath skimming my face, the fabric of his finely made clothing brushing against my skin. This time, I struggle to get back from him as my mind tries to come to terms with what he is suggesting.
“But you are myuncle!” I squeak, a horrifyingly terrified noise. “Youcannotmarry me.”
He chuckles, but there is no mirth on his face. “I am the king. I can do whatever I want—withwhomeverI want. Besides—” He pauses, ticking a corner of his lips up before speaking again, “it wasn’t that long ago that ruling families wed within their own bloodlines to keep things pure.”
Despite wanting to pinch my lips closed to keep them as far away from my uncle as possible, I can’t help but let my jaw slacken in shock. I always assumed that I would be safe from this particular type of touch—despite his lingering glares and confusing words—but I’m just now realizing how utterly ridiculous that thought was. Of course I’m not safe from him. I never was. I never have been. I neverwillbe. As long as I stay here, I will be damned to fit into a role I was never meant for. I may be the rightful heir to the throne, but I was never meant to rule withhimby my side. Those times I saw a look flash in his eyes that I didn’t know how to define—I know what it was now. Desire and yearning—all things that I have now seen in Flynn’s gaze; except with him, I am undone. With Flynn, I return those feelings. With the king, I would ratherdiethan let him touch me in that way. I would rather impale myself on one of these guards’ swords over and over again before allowing the king’s body to touch any part of mine.
Abruptly—like he knows where my thoughts have gone—he lets me go, the movement so quick that I stumble trying to regain my balance. There’s no time to react before his hand comes down on my face. The pain lances through my head and neck as the sound of the slap reverberates off the stone walls. I turn back to face the abhorrent monster wearing king’s clothes that dares to call himself my future husband. His chestnut hair glints in the sunlight; his cheeks—visible above his trimmed beard—are red from anger while lust swirls in his hazel eyes. Everything in me recoils from him except for my magic, which is now fighting to get to the surface.
