“Congratulations on sealing your bond, Your Highness! What a momentous event. Are we having a celebration here tonight before we leave? Your mother will be so pleased to hear the news.” Frances truly perks up like he’s thrilled about the news, his face lit up with a wide smile. Although it could also be due to knowing he’ll soon see his family.
“No, not quite yet, the bond is definitely encouraging us in that direction but we haven’t arrived there yet. We’re going to finalize the bond when we get home.” A blush rushes to my cheeks, knowing exactly what the bond is encouraging us to do. Not something I want to specifically talk about with two men I've known my whole life.
“I don’t want to question your orders, Your Highness, but I thought we were supposed to stay here until the bond was completed. It’s tradition.” Baxter has a gleam of confusion in his eyes. I know they can tell things are better lately, so that’s probably why he seems confused about us leaving early. Itisa break in tradition, but one I want to change anyways. I never want my future daughter to endure an uncomfortable experience like this someday.
I let out a sigh, not quite sure how I should explain what’s going on. “I’ve found out Silas has become unhinged and has been plotting to try and ‘free the magic.’ I’m worried about what he’ll do in an attempt to conquer an impossible quest. I haven’t quite uncovered how unstable he is in his thinking on the matter, and it would seem imprudent to stay and find out.”
“Your Highness, if that's the case I think we should leave right now. Your safety is our number one priority, we shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. You’re to be Queen, the transfer of power has already begun which makes you a prime target for zealots who work toward ‘freeing the magic.’” Frances jumps to his feet with frantic movements.
His concern is truly touching, and I understand where it’s coming from. “Thank you for your concern but a few hours won’t make a difference. Silas has no idea I've caught on, and Marcellus would like the chance to uncover what his plans are. I don’t want to leave Marcellus behind. Just stay alert and we’ll leave as soon as we can tonight.”
Baxter is still kneeling so he lowers his head and Frances gives a bow before they both leave the room, closing the door behind them. Another item on my list is complete. Okay, so maybe my list isn’t that long... but the packing and the conversation took up my whole morning. My stomach growls reminding me it’s time for the midday meal.
I head out my door and Frances is standing there this time. “Ready to get some food?”
“You know I’m always ready to follow you wherever you need to go, Your Highness.” He nudges me in the shoulder. “You understand I just want to make sure you’re always safe, right? I don’t want you to feel like I was over stepping before.”
“Of course I don’t think that, Frances! You may not be blood but you’re still family and always will be.” This man, always so concerned over my safety when we’ve never even encountered a single threat in my short life. You’d think with the way he acts, he’s had to constantly fight off enemies for me.
We make it to the dining hall and I quickly take my seat hoping Marcellus will be here soon. I wish we could’ve had all of our meals alone while I was here. Soldiers file in and I try not to be obvious in my visual search for him. He must have come in one of the other entrances because he sneaks up behind me, and whispers in my ear, “Good day, my Cecily. I missed you this morning.”
My head whips around to gaze at him and I offer one of my best smiles. “Missed you too, my knight.” He takes his seat next to me and our food is served quickly. Much to my relief, the man who causes dread to pool in the pit of my stomach doesn’t show. “Where’s Silas? He hasn’t missed a meal since my arrival.” I can’t help my curious nature.
“He’s gathering some ingredients he still needs for the spell he plans to work on tonight. It’s typical for him to labor the whole day getting ready.” Marcellus offers a shrug of his shoulders along with his answer. He isn’t giving off any air of concern so I brush it off as normal behavior.
We eat quickly, not that it will help speed up time. I know we are both wishing we could rush the day along, although that's one thing my magic can’t accomplish. Trust me, I’ve tried. When Marcellus gets up to join his men in the training yard I let him know of my plans. “I’m going to head up to grab a few things. I’ll be out shortly.” He gives me a wink, the one that makes me melt every time. Ugh, I can’t wait until we can give each other a kiss upon parting ways.
As I head in the direction of my chambers with Frances, we run into Baxter on the way. He’s carrying the blanket and bag of materials I used yesterday and hands them to me. “I figured you’d be wanting this since you spent all afternoon watching the training yesterday.” He lowers his voice and says, “We want to keep things appearing as normal as possible.”
They both escort me to the shaded space next to the barn and head inside once I’m comfortably seated on the blanket. Marcellus glances at me off and on for the first hour they’re training, and as soon as they take a break, he walks over to me.
“Darling, would you like to join me in saying hello to the horses?” He holds out his hand to help me up. His offer seems a bit odd since it looks like the horses are out in the fenced-in area, but I trust he has a reason. I place my hand in his and relish the buzzing of the mate magic. Our bond has strengthened so much from yesterday, that I no longer have to touch him to be aware of it.
We walk into the barn, and by the time we’re over halfway through, it becomes apparent it’s in fact empty like I thought. Before I’m able to question him, Marcellus grabs me by the waist, and has us hidden in the tack room with the door shut behind us.
My back is pressed so firmly against the door, I can sense the grain of the rough wood through my dress. Marcellus cages my body in with his hands braced on the wood on either side of my head. With a finger pressed to my lips, he encourages me to stay quiet as he puts his lips to my ear so I can hear his whispered words. “I have to say, Cecily, it’s a special form of torture being around you today and unable to kiss you.” A shiver runs through my body with the touch of his lips and warm breath caressing my ear.
One of his legs makes their way between both of mine and the pressure it causes makes me suck in a breath. Seems like he’s intent on passing along some of the torture. I open my mouth and dart my tongue out, before sealing my lips around the digit and swirling my tongue along it. My mate sucks in a sharp breath before hissing and pulling his hand away with a pop. I’m not done with him yet, so I place both of my hands on his shoulders to hold him in place and kiss his cheek before moving on to his jawline. With a grunt of frustration, he grabs the back of my head and crushes his lips to mine.
Before our kiss becomes fevered, he pulls away and kisses both of my cheeks before leaving a last one on my forehead. “I’m counting the hours, Cecily. They can’t pass quick enough for me.” I sigh, not wanting to stop but knowing at the same time he can’t go back to training with puffy lips. Well, more like I can’t go back out there with puffy lips. No one would notice his lips because his men wouldn’t observe him that closely.
He laces our hands together and opens the door to lead me back to my blanket again. A few more hours of training then he’ll go help Silas for however long, after that we can finally leave and start our lives together. We can figure out Silas’ plans later and work on a solution to the problem with the help of my parents. I just need to keep reminding myself to focus on the next step.
I've been sitting here working on a carry-all bag for some time trying to get the intricate stitching just right. Later, I'll add all of the spells when I’m in my workspace back home. I’m quite proud of the spells I crafted to go along with these bags. Once completed, they’re able to shrink items down as they are placed inside, and are small enough to wear around one’s neck even when shifting into different animals. I made sure to add spells to protect the items no matter what the wearer encounters. When traveling, I’ve often used these bags as gifts and even began teaching others on how to make them.
I’m fully engrossed in my work when the slimy voice belonging to Silas reaches my ears, causing a shudder of dread to crawl up my spine. Glancing up, I see him talking to Marcellus. After a short back and forth exchange, he turns to face me, and walks over.Oh, how lovely.It’s then I notice one of the kitchen staff carrying a tray with the makings for tea and a few pastries.
“Your Highness, I was hoping you would join me for some refreshments, I realize I missed the noon meal and thought you might like refreshments after sitting out here for so long.” As it happens, I’m a bit thirsty and the scones on the tray do look delicious. This’ll be one of the last times I have to tolerate his presence, so why not.
“Marcellus said you were busy this afternoon gathering ingredients for a spell you wanted to work on tonight. I understand how time-consuming that can be, so don’t fret about your absence.” I offer him in way of a greeting. I also wave my hand indicating he can join me on the blanket.
Silas takes a seat and the serving girl places the tray she was carrying on the blanket in front of us and then proceeds to pour the tea. After handing each of us a teacup with a saucer, she backs up to stand a short distance away, yet close enough to where she can anticipate any needs.
I blow on the tea to cool it down, not wanting to take a sip and burn my mouth. It also allows me to appear busy while avoiding conversation with Silas. Knowing we’re leaving tonight has me nervous, and when I’m nervous I tend to overtalk.You need to keep things normal, Cecily.I remind myself.
“You and Marcellus seem to be growing closer.” How astute of you, Silas... I absolutely adore it when people make obvious statements as a way to make conversation.
“Well, that's the goal of me being here, is it not? Completing the bond is a priority.” I finally take a sip of my tea, having cooled it down sufficiently. They must use a blend I’m unfamiliar with seeing as there’s a tartness leaving my tongue feeling a mix between dry and itchy. It inspires the desire to run my teeth over it to scratch the sensation away.
