Betrayals of Spring (2 page)

I
begin to walk toward him since my feet seem to be cooperating now, but I notice
that something seems different about him. He walks toward me to close the
distance, but he stops a couple feet away. My fingers ache to touch him to see
if the vision will appear.

His
lips turn up in a smile.

“Good
morning, Meliantha. Thank you for meeting me.”

I
fidget from nervousness, and my voice squeaks when I say, “Good morning to you,
Kalen. I was going to head out this way anyway to tend to my gardening, so it
was no problem at all. What brings you to the Summer Court?” I ask.

He
pulls out a small silver box from his pocket and extends his arm out slowly to
hand it to me.

“I
brought you this,” he replies coolly.

His
eyes lock with mine when I reach for the box. I’m scared to touch his skin, but
I’m also excited to see if he’s the one. He has to be the one, I just know it.
I close the distance to grab the box, and then our fingers touch. I feel the
coldness of his Winter skin, but then…nothing. I release the breath I didn’t
realize I had been holding to look down at the silver box resting in my hands.
I don’t want him to see the tears that are beginning to form in my eyes. I open
the box to see a beautiful amethyst-colored jewel encased in a silver setting
with a silver chain. It’s very lovely, but it begins to blur as the tears build
in my eyes. I can’t believe I was wrong about him being the one. My heart
shatters and it’s taking every ounce of my being to keep it together.

My
voice quivers when I ask, “Why did you bring me this?”

I
instinctively look up to meet his eyes when I notice him stepping forward.
Kalen is a tall man who is about 6’2” which makes him tower over me about five
inches.

He
laughs and shrugs his shoulders.

“I
brought it as a gift for you. I thought things were going to change, but it
doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I guess I was wrong.”

My
mouth hangs open and I stare dumbstruck at his audacity. I can’t believe he
would be so flippant. He acts as if it’s not a big deal and that he doesn’t
care. I should have known from the beginning that he wouldn’t take this
seriously. I’ve heard stories of the flirtatious Prince Kalen, but with me I
thought it was different. I thought
he
was going to be different.

I
can’t believe how stupid I was thinking that Kalen, the prince of heartbreak,
would actually settle down with me and be the one the prophecy had foretold
would be mine. I thrust the necklace out to him.

“Take
it back! I don’t want it! I thought you were different… that you actually
cared,” I scream.

Kalen
rushes over and pulls me into his arms. I stand motionless as he leans down to
place his cold, Winter lips onto my forehead. The searing pain of his frozen
kiss has branded me a fool. I want him gone and out of my life.

He
lets me go but holds me by the shoulders.

“I
did care, my sweet princess, but I can see now that it was a wasted effort.
Besides, you’re a little too timid for my tastes. I’m sorry it has to be this
way, but it’s a good thing we found out now before things were taken further.”
He reaches down and touches the necklace in my hand. “Keep the necklace. It’s
the least I can do for the heartache I have caused. You need to forget about
me, Meliantha.”

I
look into his piercing blue eyes, but I see nothing. He smiles again, but
instead of seeing his playful smile, I see one of mischief and deceit. Even
though I’m dying inside, it takes everything I have to muster up the strength
to say what needs to be said.

“I
want you to leave… now! I will forget you and think nothing more of you from
this day forward. I can guarantee you that. Leave!” I yell.

He
bows.

“It’s
been a pleasure, Princess, but I will do as you wish. Again, I’m sorry.”

He
gives me one final glance and walks away, never looking back. The sounds of his
footsteps are silent as he leaves. I can no longer breathe from the anger
taking over my body. Why did I fall for him? Why can’t I be strong like Calista?
The heartache feels like a poison slowly travelling through my body and killing
everything in its wake. Why does it have to hurt so much? I take one last deep
breath and the world seems to stop as I let out the loudest, guttural scream
imaginable.

I
know the whole Summer Court can hear me, but I don’t care. The scream lasts for
what feels like an eternity. When my lungs are spent I collapse to the ground
out of breath and heartbroken. A broken heart is something I never want to feel
again, and from this moment on, I vow to keep my heart safe.

- Five Years
Later -

I jerk awake covered in sweat while the
memory of the dream comes flooding back to me. I have tried to forget that day,
but it always comes back.

“Mel, are you OK?”

I look over to see Finn’s amber-colored
eyes staring at me with worry. I try to force a smile to reassure him that I’m
fine.

“I’m alright, Finn, it was just another
nightmare. Go back to sleep,” I reply softly.

He quirks his eyebrow to let me know he
doesn’t believe me. He leans up to give me a kiss and I gently kiss him back.
His tongue traces my bottom lip and he moans against my mouth. Satisfied with
the kiss, he rolls over on his side and slowly drifts back to sleep. The deep
rumble of his breathing lets me know he is sound asleep. I wish I could fall
into the realm of dreams that fast. These days I am lucky to get even a couple
hours of sleep.

Finn is one of our warriors in the
Summer Court and has been for one-hundred and fifty years. We’ve been lovers
for almost five years. It began not long after the ordeal with Kalen. I guess
you could say he was there to mend my broken heart. According to the prophecy,
I am one of the Four. That means I will be drawn to another to complete the
magic I am destined to fulfill, just like Calista and Ryder. They are now King
and Queen of the Fall Court and have expanded their powers in the Land of the
Fae.

Finn knows that one day I will no longer
be his, and that he has to accept that. Our time together is amazing, and I
enjoy his company as well as the intimacy. His attitude changes in bed
sometimes from being soft and sensual to being rough and possessive. It has
concerned me on numerous occasions. On the rough nights, our encounters tend to
be a little wild and heated. I can honestly say I have enjoyed some of those
nights, but sometimes it gets a little too rough. My sense of danger spikes to
a whole new level when he gets like that. Every time I mention it to him he
seems to not understand a word I’m saying. It’s like he can’t remember some of
the things he’s done. It doesn’t happen often, but I have learned to be more
alert around him when his mood changes.

I stare at Finn. He’s lying peacefully
in my bed. I wish that I could love him, but the feelings never come. I care
for him and have a deep respect for him, but I know in my heart that I will
never fully love him. I reach over to play with his silky, long, blond hair
that flows past his shoulders and is splayed across the pillow. He always keeps
it pulled back when he trains, but when we’re in bed together he lets it hang
loose because he knows that is how I like it. He looks ethereal when he has his
hair down. His face is always smooth and his smile is angelically beautiful. He
may have the face of an angel, but his fierce temper and battling skills would
claim otherwise. Sometimes I wonder why he stays with me knowing it will never
last. There are so many Summer faeries here that would kill for a chance to be
with him. Maybe one day he will find one. His hair glides through my fingers as
I gently twist it around. His blond hair is so white it illuminates in the glow
of the candlelight in my room. It’s so white it looks like snow.

I silently groan at the thought of snow
and it sends a sharp pain straight to my stomach. I wish to all the heavens and
the stars that I could just forget about a certain Winter Prince and that
dreadful day in the past. I close my eyes and I lean back on my pillow. I can’t
stop my mind from recalling all of the events from the last five years.

Calista and Ryder’s court has flourished
with love and life. They now have a two-year old son named after her fallen
Guardian, Merrick. He is the cutest little boy and what’s strange is he looks
exactly like a little version of Merrick, except for the eyes. His golden blond
hair is long and it curls at the ends, giving him a cherub look. His big, round
eyes are the ice blue color of Ryder’s and it’s the first thing everyone
notices in his tiny face. I can almost see Merrick looking out through those
eyes, and it makes me wonder if some of his essence inside Calista was passed
on to him. I haven’t been able to see him much until recently, now that I have
been allowed to travel. I was on house arrest for years because of the threat
of the dark sorcerer. It’s been five years now and nothing has gone amiss.
Being cooped up in this palace for that long has left me in a foul mood. I’m
twenty-five years old and I refuse to be treated like a prisoner.

I am no longer the shy and timid
princess of before. I now train for battle with the warriors, thanks to Calista
and her demands to my father, King Oberon. She disclosed how she trained with
Merrick for all those years and how she’s a skilled dagger thrower. I knew she
was strong, but I had no clue she was that skilled. It hurt that she didn’t
trust me enough to tell me, but I know she had her reasons. I train every
morning with my brother, Drake, and my Guardian, Ashur. Training has made me
strong, both mentally and physically. I have found that I’m excellent with the
bow and arrow, and just like Calista, I never miss my target. There is one
secret I have kept to myself and told no other. I have always had my ability to
do anything I desired with nature, whether it’s with plants, trees, grass, or
land.

I still have an affinity for animals as
well, but a new magic has occurred in me. I didn’t figure it out until a couple
of years ago when one of my sprites had a flying accident by running into a
tree. Her wing was severely damaged, and it didn’t look like she would ever be
able to fly again. I heard her wailing in the garden, so I ran over to see what
had happened. I saw her lying on the ground screaming in agony. Since sprites
are very small, I scooped her up in my hands and began looking at her wing. I
remember feeling a strong emotion surging through my body. I wanted to help her
so badly. Then, almost instantly, the magic happened. I could feel a buzzing
throughout my body like it was travelling through my bloodstream, and then out
of nowhere it blasts from my fingertips. The power exploded into the sprite’s
wing, and then, a few moments later, the wing was miraculously healed. I
haven’t used my healing capabilities since. I don’t know if it was a fluke, but
I haven’t actually tried to heal anything since then. This type of information would
be valuable to the dark sorcerer and it’s not something I want spread around
the Land of the Fae.

When I turned twenty-one four years ago
I had my Guardian Ceremony. I expected to see Kalen there, but he didn’t show
up. He had come to the palace one day long before the ceremony asking if he
could see me, but I strongly declined. Why he came to see me again, I don’t
know. Ever since that day at the gardens, I wanted to avoid him at all cost.
King Madoc and Queen Mab came, so I guess there was no need for Kalen to
attend. It’s definitely a good thing he didn’t come, because now if he says
anything cruel to me, I will gladly show him how I’m not weak anymore. Training
and eating more has filled my body out with curves and muscle. I had to get a
whole new set of clothes to fit my newly formed body. My old frame was frail
and breakable and thinking back to how I used to be disgusts me. How could I
have been so weak? Nothing and no one is going to hurt me now. I have never
felt more confident than I do in this moment. It’ll definitely shock Kalen when
he sees me tomorrow.