Fulfilling Fate

I woke up and got dressed with care. Zion was fumbling with the buttons on his tunic and I smiled. I moved his hands and did it for him.

“Why does it have buttons?” he complained as I did it. “It fits just fine without them!”

“Fashion,” I said and he rolled his eyes.

When I got to the bottom, I lingered there. I was overcome with desire for him so I stood on my toes, pulling on his shoulders until our lips touched. He groaned and wrapped his arms around my waist. I pushed him onto the bed and he bounced, laughing into my lips. I straddled him and he ran his hands up and down my legs.

I broke from the kiss and let a trail of small kissed down his jaw and neck. He moaned as I got to where I bit him as we had made love. His hand started to slide up my leg under my dress and my breath quickened. He brought my lips to his again and rolled us over. I waited for him to take my dress up but he kept moving his hand up slowly. His tongue massaged mine and my eyes shot open.

“Zion,” I gasped.

“Shh,” he whispered and kissed me again.

I gripped his hair as he continued to bring me pleasure in a way I never thought he could. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I yanked his head to the side. I bit into his neck roughly, making him moan so loud it seemed to echo in the room. I drank deeply until he made me stop and bit into my throat, as well.

We both stopped, breathing heavily. I dropped my head onto the pillow, feeling the skin heal over slowly. He licked the blood away from my neck and I let out a long sigh.

“I love you,” we said in unison and laughed.

He pulled me to my feet.

“Wait,” I said. “What about-?”

He chuckled and kissed me. “My dear, if you were to do that, I would lose my mind.”

“It’s not fair,” I said but he shook his head.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s just go get this over with.”

I smiled and leaned into him as we walked down the hall. When we got to the throne room, King Greaves was standing by the window. It was tinted so that he could observe his kingdom without worrying about the sun. He heard us and scowled.

“It took you long enough,” he snapped.

“It was a long trip,” Zion said. “Shall we?”

“She isn’t coming,” he said, turning his scowl to me.

I did my best not to snap back as Zion answered.

“Yes, of course. I was thinking she could spend the time with your lovely daughter.”

The king looked to his daughter who grinned and got off her throne.

“I’d love to!” Rose said and rushed to me. “Do you like to play an instrument?”

“The violin,” I confirmed and she giggled.

“Come on!”

I barely got a chance to squeeze Zion’s hand before she pulled me away. She took me to a room on the bottom floor. The room was full of instruments. There were some I had never seen before and I was fascinated.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“Here,” she said, passing me a violin. “Oh! Left handed!”

I smiled. “Yes.”

I played a short bit for her, thinking about what I could say to her. She was watching with a grin on her face. When I stopped, she sat down on the couch, patting the couch for me to do the same.

“So, how old are you?” she asked me, leaning forward.

“Twenty,” I answered.

“No, I mean how old,” she said.

“Oh! I wasn’t turned until about four months ago. I was a human when I married Prince Zion.”

“Really?” she asked and sounded fascinated.

“Yes,” I said. “What about you?”

“I just turned 180,” she said proudly. She sighed. “You’re the first woman to be in the palace since my mother passed away.”

“What happened to your mother?”

“Father won’t say,” she said. “It was about a year after I was born so I never got the chance to know her.”

“I’m very sorry. My father has passed, too.”

Her eyes turned sad. “That’s terrible.” She glanced at the door. “Does your husband really keep you so closed off?” I bit my lip but she scooted closer. “You can tell me.”

“Not usually,” I said. “But I know that you have different customs.”

She huffed, blowing hair out of her face. “Father is so old-fashioned! He wants everything to be like when his father led the kingdom. Women were supposed to be submissive little people.”

“Do you have someone you fancy?” I asked after some silence.

Her immediate blush gave me my answer.

“He’s a guard,” she whispered. “Father doesn’t know, though, so please don’t say anything.”

I laughed. “Even if I wanted to, I doubt he would give me the chance.”

She laughed, too. “You’re probably right.” She nibbled on her lip. “Do you think the prince can talk Father into ending the war?”

“I certainly hope so. You don’t like the war?”

“Absolutely not,” she said firmly. “I think King Lebanon is right. We can’t just go attacking people at random. But he won’t listen to me. Maybe he’ll listen to a man.”

“I’m surprised,” I said. “I mean, King Lebanon is his father.”

“I know. But he’s stubborn and has this view of how the world should be ruled. He thinks humans are nothing but sport.” She pouted a little. “This war has completely ruined my social life, too. I haven’t received a single invitation since my father openly declared war.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. She reminded me of the young girls in the village. I supposed that, in vampire years, she probably was only fifteen or sixteen.

Rose continued to chatter away about what life was like in the palace and I half-listened. I was waiting for a sign from Zion. He promised to find a way to send one telepathically but I had to be focused for it to work.

Things are not going well, Avi. I think he knows. Get ready to leave. Now.

My heart raced as I thought about his warning. What could the king do? My answer came when the door was kicked open. Two guards came in, their swords drawn. Rose gasped.

“What is going on?” she demanded.

“She has come to spy!” one shouted, pointing at me. “We are to take her and her husband into custody.”

Rose frowned. “Don’t be ridiculous! She’s not a spy! She’s my friend.”

That was going a bit far but I didn’t bother to correct her. Instead, I stood slowly. Rose was glaring at the guards who now looked uncomfortable.

“Perhaps I should go find Zion,” I breathed.

“Yes, go,” she said with her nose in the air. “I will deal with these two.”

Where are you, Zion?

Back entrance. Go through the kitchens. Please hurry, draga mea.

I walked briskly through the halls, keeping my ears open for any hint of the guards. I heard some shouting and I dashed behind a suit of armor. Some guards went running by and I waited until their footsteps faded away. I ran to the kitchen and the servants screamed a little as I pushed by them. Zion was waiting just outside the door and grabbed my wrist.

“What about the guards?” I panted as we ran into the cold air.

“Don’t worry about them,” he said, his face angry. “They’re trained for these kind of things. We need to get to the forest.”

I glanced over my shoulder. “She saved me, Zion,” I said.

“Not now, Aviel,” he said. “When we’re home we’ll speak about it.”

“But-.”

“Not now,” he repeated firmly.

I was annoyed but kept running with him. When we were in the safety of the forest, we dodged between the trees. I heard shouting and looked over. I let out a small scream. They had found us and Zion swore.

“We’re almost there,” he said and I thanked the goddesses.

My speed and endurance may have been increased, but I was starting to run out of breath.

Zion came to an abrupt halt and I nearly stumbled over some roots. He was mumbling quickly under his breath and I looked over my shoulder when the voices got closer. A spinning void appeared in front of us and I saw the foyer in front of us.

“Go, Aviel,” he ordered but I shook my head.

“Not without you,” I said.

“Just go!” he shouted.

“No!” I yelled back. “We’ll go together!”

He was about to argue but I screamed as an arrow went right through his chest. His eyes widened as he fell forward, bumping into me. I felt my blood boil and realized what was happening. I had to get out of here before I did something that would only make it worse.

The portal was starting to close and I heaved with all my might, tossing Zion in first. I followed quickly and heard their shout of rage as it shut before they could follow.

“Aviel!” Lebanon shouted. “Zion! Eavana, get the supplies! He’s dying!”

“No,” I breathed but my vampire took over.