Book 4|5. The Consequences of the Past

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Chapter dedicated to BeautifulOnyx. Thanks, beauty, for reading and voting!

Chapter 147 – The Consequences of the Past – Ileana's POV

We followed Tavian through several grand passageways once more, heading towards a suite King Morenth had provided, a safe place while we waited for the sun to come and go.

I cringed internally. 'We' didn't exist for me anymore.  I wasn't a part of their group now. When they left, they would leave me behind. My chest constricted, the pressure tightening, threatening to drown me. 

I pushed air in and out of my lungs, slow deep breaths, working to keep my feelings of loss in check. I hadn't felt pain this crippling in many years, not since I realized the king, who I loved and mated, would never love me in return.

When Micage brought home a tiny helpless human so many months ago, I could never have expected her to be the one to save me, her to be the one to love me. But she had. The daughter of the man who rejected me, nonetheless. And soon I would have to tell her goodbye, forever.  My eyes misted with sorrow.

I kept my head down, my hair covering most of my face, and blinked furiously to keep my emotions in check. I couldn't fall apart now. I had survived once, forced my mind and body to become numb to my surroundings, I could do it again.

One more deep breath and I pushed every last ounce of feeling out of my mind. I exhaled in relief when the pressure released from my chest. 

I studied Tavian's profile as we walked. He was unusually quiet, his playful smirk missing.  Did the decline in his mood have something to do with the king's demand of me as payment? But that would be crazy. Why would he care? He just met me.

I shook my head. Both his and the king's eagerness for me still didn't make sense. My teeth nibbled on my bottom lip, I suspected I would find out their reasoning soon enough.

I was jolted out of my musings when a woman gasped, "Felaern?"

My head swiveled to the right, toward the sound of the woman's voice.  There were actually two women and a young girl in her teens.  They were seated on couches, in what looked like a reception area. There were two large doors behind them; I assumed that was where they were waiting to go.

The woman, who had called his name, stood, her hand trembling as she reached out toward him. But it was the woman still seated who captured my attention.

She had striking ivory hair, wound in intricate braids, pinned to the top of her head and cascading down her back.  Her clothing was minimal, next to nothing actually, consisting of silvery fabric that was attached to gold metal bands that swirled around her hips, breasts and forearms.

Even more startling than her sparse attire, were the breathtakingly beautiful white symbols covering her exposed flesh—she was an Immortal!  A powerful one. I had met only a few Immortals, but none with the number of designs etched into her skin. Every symbol represented a gift, a talent.  And she had many.

Her eyes were narrowed as she studied our group, but she remained silent.  The young teen seated next to her must have been her daughter, as she was almost the spitting image of her mother. Thankfully, she wore more clothing.  The girl was human. I could hear her heart beating as the blood coursed through her veins. Even without the tell-tale sign of her heartbeat, I would have known she was human, because Immortals could only conceive with humans, no other species, thus rendering their children human and mortal. 

All, except for Brialle, apparently. I cringed.  She had conceived twins with Armand. She was the only Immortal to ever conceive with a vampire, and had become the topic of prophecy.  

Felaern walked over to the woman standing. She gripped him by the arm and rushed, "I've been looking for you!  Ever since..." her breathy voice trailed off, and her eyes flickered down to the floor. A faint blush painted her cheeks. She brought her eyes back up, inhaled deeply and continued, "I can't believe you are here.  I was hoping to see you again."

I understood now. They had been intimate, and clearly, she wanted more. Not surprising, Felaern's exploits with women were legendary.  Although I had never been attracted to the cocky bastard. Maybe due to his infatuation with Brialle. He was just one more male that seemed to fawn over her.

Felaern's lips were set in a thin hard line. He removed her hand from his arm and replied sternly, "I can't talk right now."

"Oh." Her face fell and her lip quivered, "But, if we could just—"

He cut her off, even shorter this time, "No! I have things to attend to."

She recoiled as if he had hit her.

He ignored her distress, and turned to continue in the direction we were headed. He only got three feet before Killian blindsided him with a fist to his face.

Felaern's upper body snapped to the side with the force of the hit, but he remained on his feet. He straightened his frame, and wiped blood from his mouth, growling, "What the fuck?!"

Killian vibrated with fury, his amber eyes glowing gold, his black wings flickering in agitation.   He didn't answer Felaern's question. Instead, he took another swing.

Felaern was ready for him this time. He blocked with his right and counter-struck with his left, his fist landing squarely in Killian's jaw, throwing him back several feet.

Killian's wings expanded and beat twice in the air to keep him from falling. Once he was steady on his feet, he advanced again, snarling, "Is this what my mother has to look forward to?!  It wasn't enough that you had to cheat and drive her away, only to be captured by that monster, but now...now, she has to deal with your whores everywhere she turns!!"

Felaern flinched hard, as though Killian made direct contact with him, even though he hadn't moved.  "We are in the fucking Dragon Realm!" Killian continued to rant furiously, "And even here, you can't go two steps without tripping over some woman you fucked!  How many are there?! How many is my mother going to have to deal with?!"  Killian ended his sentence with another vicious punch to Felaern's cheek.

Felaern didn't try to block him. He just let Killian hit him, and flew back, impacting a couch. Felaern stood to his feet, his eyes in agony, his voice broken, "I know."

His answer wasn't good enough. Killian lurched forward to attack again, but this time Tavian stepped in between them, an intimidating barrier, to be sure. "Not here!" Tavian growled.  "You want to fight? You wait until you leave!"

I glanced back to the woman. She had sat back down, her shoulders hunched forward and tears in her eyes. I couldn't feel sorry for her. I was sure there were thousands more just like her. Killian was right. Even if Felaern rescued Sofielle, they both might be too damaged to ever make their relationship work again. And from the look of pure torture on Felaern's face, he knew it as well.

My heart went out to Sofielle. I had never met her, but I understood having the one you loved, cheat, and having to see the 'other woman'. In Sofielle's case, there literally were thousands of other women Felaern had taken to his bed over the centuries.

Brialle tugged on Felaern's arm, whispering quietly in his ear. Orian and Scynth were pulling on Killian. Killian shrugged them off with a growl, but didn't go after Felaern again.

When Tavian was certain everyone was under control, we continued toward our destination.

..........

The day went by quickly. No one slept. We were all too tense. Everyone did get a chance to change clothes.  King Morenth had graciously given the entire group new attire, since most had holes courtesy of the flesh-eating butterflies. He also gave them clothing and provisions to take with them. I had actually been surprised at his generosity.  On the flip side, it also made me nervous—dragons never did anything for free.

All too soon, the time came to say goodbye. Tavian had agreed to guide them were they needed to go, even carrying a reluctant Loki again. We stood in the throne room once again. King Morenth sat quietly on his throne.  Queen Raine grabbed me in a fierce hug. Tears wet her cheeks. "I'm sorry.  I will miss you."

I held her back just as tightly, tears of my own running down my face. "Don't be sorry.  I will be fine. Find Micage.  You deserve to be happy."

She pulled back, wiped her hand over her wet cheeks and nodded.  When Raine stepped back, Brialle stepped forward. She didn't try to hug me, I think she knew better than that, but I was surprised at the emotion and sincerity in her voice as she murmured, "I wish you find happiness."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just nodded. I was startled when I felt a large hand on my lower back. I snapped my head around to find King Morenth had come up right behind me. It was his hand that now rested on my spine. His voice was low and deep as he answered Brialle for me, "She will."

Once again, there was no hesitation or doubt in his voice. I didn't have time to dwell on it though, because the rest of the group approached me with goodbyes and well-wishes of their own.

I fought to maintain my composure.

And then finally, it was over. 

And I was left alone, to start a new adventure of my own.

.

So, the NEXT chapter.... Cage!! And we will be back in Raine's POV.

While we wait, I thought I'd share a fun fact about the book. Just little tidbits.

Fun Fact #1: The 'tiger' element was not pre-planned; instead, each step was progressive and in the moment. In the 'Dulce Tigru' chapter, I wanted him to have a nickname for her that wasn't used in every other book, so I came up with Dulce Tigru which means 'sweet tiger'.

In the 'Promises' chapter, Cage and Raine see her mark for the first time in the shower. I had to describe it and didn't have any plot points attached to the symbols at that point. While I was pondering what to choose, I remembered I had used the symbol of a lion for Armand's mark, which made me think about tigers, which was just too perfect, because it matched her nickname.

And then there was Loki. He was another 'character' that was quite 'accidental', meaning I hadn't planned for him until I was smack dab in the middle of the chapter. I felt Raine needed something to call her own/something to comfort her—like a teddy bear for normal people. Tigers popped in my head, and again, the concept was just too perfect, because it fit the other two items already in place. Throw in a special 'tiger power' and voile'...super cool.

I love Loki, and have been thrilled to work him in to as many scenes as possible.  My favorite scene is when he bursts through the window when Raine is being whipped and then carries her while she heals. I like it because it fit so well with his protective nature, and also perfectly solved my problem of transporting her with her back being so hurt.

There is actually more thing to the Loki/Raine connection that I might incorporate in—which is why he is on this trek with them now—but I am not 100% sure yet. If I don't decide to use it, I will give you a fun fact at the end, telling you what it was.

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