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“Exquisite,” he murmured against my breast, tweaking the nipple with his tongue. I closed my eyes and basked in his ministrations. When his fingers found their way inside me, I grasped him, stroking him until he hardened in my hand. This time, I urged him onto his back. He lay on the floor, his violet eyes gleaming as he continued to work me with one hand. My legs trembled as I grabbed a pillow to put under his head. His thumb swept over the bundle of nerves at my entrance. My back arched, hips thrusting forward as I let out a surprised yelp. The pillow landed next to Araki’s head. He laughed, pleased with my reaction. Two could play that game. I grabbed his wrists, pinning him as I shimmied down to take him into my mouth. His laughter turned to groans as he grew erect. I pleased him with my mouth before sitting on his lap again. Araki’s eyes were blazing with want when I looked at him. We stared at each other as I positioned his cock at my entrance. I ached for him. When I took him inside me, we both shivered with pleasure of our connection. I rode him hard, and soon, we reached blissful heights together. And we lay gasping in each other’s arms when it was over. I pressed myself close to him. “As much as it hurts to know that so much of my life was a lie, I’m glad to know the truth now,” I said. “I just wish I knew why Opaline did all this. What does she have to gain from it?”
Araki traced his fingers down my spine, the light touch building heat in me again. “I think I know the answer to that. She’s after the crown.”
I pushed myself up to look at him. “Then why use me? Why not take it herself if she wanted to rule Halafarin?”
“No, you misunderstand.” Araki shook his head. “I don’t think she wants to be queen. She wants the crown. It’s more than just a pretty object. It’s a powerful magical artefact.”
Araki’s Truth
Araki
Reilyn’s legs stretched on the floor as she pulled a pillow beneath her chest. “What do you mean?”
“The Crown was enchanted. I don’t know if it was by Thebe or someone else. Thebe wasn’t a warlock, fae, or any sort of a sorcerer. He could have had someone else enchant it… but an artefact this powerful….” I lapsed into my dark thoughts. However it was created, dark magic clung to it. I could only imagine the pain and suffering it took to create such a thing.
Reilyn laid her fingers on my wrist, reminding me of her presence.
I let out a heavy breath. “I’m sorry. This isn’t something I’ve talked about with anyone since I first discovered the enchantments. It feels strange to bring it up now, but you deserve to know the full truth.”
Reilyn nodded once and waited. I took another moment to gather my thoughts, aware of Reilyn’s patience. “The darkest of spells were used to create power, unlike anything I’ve seen before. Whoever wears the crown on their head controls the kingdom. I don’t mean politically… If I were to wear that crown, every person within these borders and any citizen of Halafarin in other kingdoms would be enslaved to my will.”
Reilyn pushed herself into a cross-legged position. Goosebumps formed on her arms, her nipples hardening, but I knew better than to suppose it was due to arousal this time.
“May the Gods save us,” she breathed.
“I have never used it,” I told her, pushing myself into a sitting position. “I don’t want that power. I don’t need it. All my attempts to destroy the crown have failed, though. And now it stays hidden in a deep recess where only Klaus and I can access.”
“But the crown you wore at the ball?” Reilyn asked in confusion.
“The crown is not the one. I cast an illusion to make it appear as the one Thebe wore, but it is not. I ordered another crown to be made that was void of the dark power,” I explained.
Reilyn picked my jacket off the floor to pull about her shoulders. “But if Opaline had free access to the palace, she could find it and break through your protective barriers.”
“That is my fear,” I confirmed.
“We can’t let her have it.” Reilyn brushed her red curls from her face as she looked around and pulled her clothes back toward herself. But even as she did so, she struggled slightly. I winced. We had overdone it. She was still healing.
“Here.” I helped her to dress and lifted her onto the couch. “Lay down. We can’t get anywhere if you’re too tired.”
Reilyn pillowed her head as I dressed, “Are you comfortable telling me about your time in the Nightshade?”
A sharp pain shot through my chest. I bit back the instant resurgence of age-old feelings. But she had a right to know about that, too. “When I was young, I had difficulties controlling my magic. None of my teachers knew what to do with me. My father opposed my mother’s plan of training me with the Nightshade, but she did so secretly.”
I sat beside her as I continued. “Thebe knew about the Nightshade. But as far as I know, he only met my mother and Opaline. The Nightshade, at that time, was under the king’s command. I suspect he and Opaline were lovers.”
Reilyn frowned at that. “They couldn’t have been. Opaline but then, how well do I know her?”
I gave her a wry smile. “Opaline is whoever she wants to be, whenever she wants to be it. In any case, my mother and father were at odds with more than just my training. My father believed There was poisoning the land. He was a general, a first-hand witness to the slaughter of my mother’s people… sometimes I wonder if her insistence on serving Thebe was to save herself and me from that same fate.”
“Your father disapproved of Thebe?”
“He organized a coup against him. I wanted to help. I hated to see what Thebe was doing as well. My mother tried to get the two of us out on the night it was meant to happen. She cast a spell on me when I refused to go, hiding me.” I turned my face away as the raw grief swept through me again. Even for so many years since it happened, it still hurt. “Despite my mother’s attempts to stop my father, she was killed with him.”
Reilyn let out a shuddering breath. “Even though she was loyal.”
“Opaline told Thebe about her heritage. He stabbed her in the back even as she used her body to shield him from my father. My father was struck down as he tried to avenge her death.”
Silence fell between us. I had only learned of any of this well after the coup.
