Page 63 of Forged By Malice (Beasts of the Briar #3)

62

Rosalina

W hen I was sixteen, a terrible windstorm swept through Orca Cove. Vancouver Island had reports leading up to it for weeks. Papa was gone, so I’d had to prepare for everything myself. I’d bought cases of water, canned food, flashlights, and extra batteries. And a hefty pile of books, as well.

When the storm started, I was terribly afraid. Our whole cottage shook with the might of the gale. Tree branches rapped on the windowpanes like an unwelcome guest. I’d called Papa before the power went out, but it went to voicemail as usual. Then I’d tried Lucas, begging him to come over or bring me to the lodge. He’d told me I was being inconsiderate; a falling branch could scratch the truck his parents had just bought him. Also, I was sixteen and I should stop being a baby.

I was afraid. So, I wrapped myself in a blanket and crawled under my bed, so sure the little cottage would topple in on itself or the whole thing would fly me away like Dorothy. I spent the night like that, listening to the roof rattle and the whine of bending trees, and I thought the storm would never end.

But when I woke up in the morning, slipped on my gumboots and stepped outside, everything was calm. Yes, the path was scattered with twigs, and my lawn chair was down the road, but the little pond by our house barely rippled.

Then I’d seen my father’s tall frame coming up the path, backpack smeared with dirt. “Came back as soon as I got your message!”

“Missed the storm,” I’d said lightly. It seemed so strange to me, after the turbulence of the night before, how there could barely be a breeze.

Papa smiled warmly. “Eh, the storm always passes.”

The storm always passes. That’s what it’s like now, morning light filtering in through the windows of Castletree. Last night had been a storm. We’d blown and blustered and raged. I’d raged.

But now my room is so silent, I can almost hear the soft brush of the cherry blossoms hitting my floor. After I got the letter from Papa, I’d told everyone to leave me alone. Farron went to the library, and the rest of the princes went to their respective chambers.

My heart aches for each of them, for the sorrow in all the things we’d said.

A chill passes over me, and I pull my blankets up to my nose. Then I see the ice cracking beneath my door.

“Kel?”

Slowly, the door opens and the Prince of Winter stands in the entranceway.

“Come in,” I say.

He does.

“Are you all right?” I ask.

“I’m managing,” he says, then his icy gaze narrows as he takes me in. “But you’re not.”

“I’m … I’m…” I start, but I can’t even get the words out before a sob rips from me.

Kel lies down on the bed, and I clutch at him as he wraps me in his strong embrace.

I’d told them I needed to be alone, but the solitude had only turned me numb. Kel pats my hair as tears cascade down my cheeks. Not soft, delicate tears, but a full-out ugly sob. I curl into his chest, hands clasping his shirt, staining it with my tears.

And I let his words, spoken in that deep, gravelly voice of his, sink into me. “Your father will be okay. As soon as we get the news that Dom and Billy have brought him back to Coppershire, we can visit him.”

“Knowing Papa, he probably overindulged in some strange fae berries or something,” I mumble when I find my voice again.

Keldarion gives a light chuckle. “If his spirit is half as strong as yours, then he will be fine.”

“Where do you think I got it from?” I say, a smile forming on my lips.

He tilts his chin down, tangles of white locks falling across his brow.

“I’ve made a right mess of your shirt,” I say, patting the tear-soaked fabric.

He grabs my wrist and brings it to his lips. “Don’t trouble yourself.”

A flutter runs through me at his affection, and I hate that I’m not sure how long it’s going to last. We’ve both been trying to keep our distance, but we’ve fallen back here, in each other’s arms.

But now I know the truth, why he’s kept away from me. My fingers slip to the V in his shirt. The absence of his snowflake necklace is startling.

“Is Sira going to come for us?”

“I don’t think so. Even in the Below, she wouldn’t have dared to kill all of us,” Keldarion says. “She could not hold all the realms presently. Though her intent is clear, if the others don’t break their curses soon, we may not have the strength to protect Castletree. And now you understand why I cannot.”

“I won’t say you should have told me,” I whisper. “Some secrets are so close to the heart that it feels like we have to rip the entire thing out just to bear them.”

“Like the scars on your arm,” Keldarion says lowly.

I nod, feeling new tears well. “When you first saw my scar, I felt the pain of it all over again, every mark Lucas made. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you, Kel. I’m so sorry.”

He takes a long breath. “No, you should have known. I should have told the others years ago, but—”

I press a palm to his cheek, rough with stubble. “I’m here if you want to tell me more about it. I don’t expect all your truths, but please do not lie to me.”

“One day, I’ll tell you everything, all about Caspian. I did love him. I trusted him, and in the end, it almost destroyed my realm.” Keldarion closes his eyes. “I never lied to you, Rosalina.”

I wrinkle my nose. “What about when you said being mated to me was—what did you say again? Utter torment.”

There’s a low growl in his throat. He pulls me on to his lap. “Because it is utter torment. To have the most beautiful and kind and strange woman as my mate and not be allowed to do more than look upon her.”

“Strange?” I reply, flicking him on the nose.

“I would not have you any other way.”

We stare at each other, and I let myself enjoy this quiet moment in his presence amid the turmoil of last night. Finally, I open my mouth to speak and Kel silences me with a quick shake of his head.

“Don’t say it.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

He raises a dark brow. “That I should make love to you, forge our bond, break the curse, and you would be just fine in the Below.”

I stick out my bottom lip and cross my arms. That was what I was going to say. “I would be fine. I’ve escaped the Below twice already.”

“Yes, but the bargain doesn’t send you as you are. You would be enthralled to him. Think of the woman who showed up here, how desperate she was to see me. I never imagined that horrific result because I never imagined the bargain would be used in such a way.”

“Caspian wouldn’t…” I begin, but even I can’t be sure of exactly what the Prince of Thorns would do. He wouldn’t hurt me, but I’m less and less sure of his ability to protect himself in the Below. And he’s certainly not willing to help us, otherwise he would have rescinded his bargain with Kel ages ago.

But can they even break it? Or does the wording forbid that?

“Caspian wants you there for some reason,” Keldarion continues as if reading my mind. “He wants you there under his control, as his . I can never let that happen.”

I sink into Kel, my lips falling to the crook of his neck. “Wouldn’t it be worth it, though? One woman to save your entire realm?”

“It wouldn’t be worth it for me.” Keldarion grips my chin and makes me look at him. “If that brands me as a terrible leader, then so be it. But there is nothing I would not do for you. There is nothing in this world I would not sacrifice for you.”

I cannot argue it because the same devotion runs through me for all the princes of Castletree. “Kel.” His name falls from me, dripping with need.

With his hands in my hair, my face an inch away from his lips. His warm breath caresses my cheeks.

“And there is nothing I would not give to both of you,” a deep metallic voice says from the door. Slowly, we turn, barely moving away from each other. Ezryn leans against the doorway. “May I come in?”

A smile quirks on my mate’s lips. “Always.”