Betrayals of Spring (3 page)

The Winter Solstice Ball is tomorrow
night and we are headed to the Winter Court in the morning which happens to
only be a few short hours away. Once the sun peeks over the horizon I will be
packing and loading up to head out with my family, my Guardian, Elissa, and
Finn. I have asked Naida, my servant, to stay behind so she could spend some
time with her family while I was gone. We are scheduled to stay for two days
and I can already feel deep within my gut that it’s going to be a visit from
hell. I will be staying in one of the guest houses with Ariella and Elissa
during the visit.

My eyes feel heavy and they burn like
someone has thrown a handful of salt in them. I rub them to help clear the
feeling, but I know it is from the lack of sleep. My body feels tired and it’s
beginning to wear down on my sanity. I need to be in top shape when we leave to
go to the Winter Court. I turn over on my side toward Finn’s back and I drape
my arm across his stomach as I move closer to his warm body. The golden band
wrapped around his upper arm feels cold against my chest. It was given to him
as a gift a couple years ago from the Dwarf Kingdom when my special arrows were
delivered. I found it odd they would give him such a fine gift, but I was told
from the messenger that Durin, the Dwarf leader, had made it for him in honor
of me. I haven’t seen Durin in years, but he’ll be at the Solstice Ball. I will
have plenty of chances to catch up with him. Finn moves his body back against
mine and lets out a contented moan in his sleep. I breathe him in deeply, and
the smell of a summer breeze fills my lungs along with his heady scent of being
pure male. I close my eyes and slowly drift off into a much needed dreamless sleep.

“Are you excited about the ball
tonight?” Breena asks.

Not really,
I think to
myself, but unfortunately I have to be. I’m already out of bed and picking out
clothes to wear to meet my parents. I look over at Breena lying in my bed, and
she gives me a seductive smile. She sits up slowly and lets the sheet fall from
her perfectly sculpted breasts to below her waist. The way she’s biting her lip
lets me know she is ready for round two, but right now I can’t think of
anything else other than the auburn-haired beauty with the amethyst-colored
eyes. Her face has haunted my dreams for years, and last night happened to be
one of those nights. I turn my head away from Breena and walk over to my
closet. The woman sure knows what she’s doing. Breena is a beautiful Winter fae
woman with long, straight brown hair that is the color of cinnamon. Her round,
hazel-colored eyes stand out from her creamy white complexion, but the more I
look at her the more I know I do not love her.

Tonight is the Winter Solstice Ball, and
it’s also the night we celebrate our engagement. With my back turned, she can’t
see the lie in my eyes when I reply, “Yes, Breena, I am ready for the ball
tonight.”

I don’t know how I ever let things get
this far. I was distraught over finding out about how close Meliantha and Finn
were getting, so I ran to the first girl I could find. Breena has always been
interested in me, so it wasn’t hard to get her into my bed. What makes things
harder is that she’s a councilman’s daughter which practically makes her
royalty. Our union will be looked upon as greatness, but if anyone finds out
about my distaste for her, it will cause turmoil within the court.

My parents are happy with my arrangement
to marry Breena, but they have also had reservations about it. They can
obviously see the torment in my eyes, but it’s my decision and I am going to
uphold it. The meeting with my parents will begin in thirty minutes, so I grab
a pair of jeans from my closet and I pull them on. I got the jeans from the
mortal realm, because everyone was wearing them when I visited not too long
ago. So many things have changed in the mortal realm from the last time I
visited. I grab a red t-shirt from the closet, and I slip it over my head. It
hugs my muscles which seem to be what the ladies go for now these days. I run
my hands through my long black hair, and I grab the thistleburch chord that I
always use to tie my hair back in. The tie comes from the thistleburch trees
here in the Winter Court and is known for its strengthening powers. Most of the
warriors here have some part of the thistleburch tree on their body to give
them strength and luck when in battle. It looks like a thin piece of brown
leather, and it always feels cold resting up against my skin.

I silently groan in annoyance when I
hear Breena getting out of bed and walking toward me. The woman surely doesn’t
have any issues with being naked. She wraps her arms around me and squeezes. I
can feel her breasts pushing up against my back, but it does nothing for me in
this moment. The thought of Meliantha takes all my focus, and to know I’ll be
seeing her for the first time in five years has me a little on edge.

Breena moves around to face me and says,
“I think I’m going to get dressed and head to my quarters to get ready for the
ball, unless…” She rubs her naked body against mine as she continues. “You want
to have a little fun first.” She raises her eyebrows in question and licks her
lips. If only the eyes looking back at me were purple would I be all up for it,
but I just can’t seem to get my mind focused.

I shake my head no and regretfully
reply, “Not right now, Bree. I have much to do before tonight, and I have to be
at the meeting with my parents in half an hour.”

She narrows her eyes at me and I can see
her jaw tighten as I speak, but she quickly brushes it off and goes to fetch
her clothes. I think she knows deep down that I don’t love her, but she hasn’t
mentioned anything to me about it. I watch her pull on her clothes, and it’s
hard to believe that I’ve been with her for almost three years. I love the
ladies, and I never actually thought of settling down with one until I met a
certain Summer faerie that I was deeply attracted to, but look how that turned
out. She is now in the arms of another man every night, and the thought sends a
burning anger through my chest. I grip the closet door and I don’t realize what
I was doing until Breena raises her voice to get my attention.

“Kalen! Are you OK? What are you doing?
You almost broke the closet door in half,” she exclaims.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts and
I relax the tension in my face to force a smile.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was
holding it so hard.” I loosen my grip on the handle and slowly drop my hand.

She doesn’t look like she believes me,
but she shrugs her shoulders and comes over fully dressed to give me a kiss on
the cheek. With a concerned look she says, “You looked like you were about to
kill someone. What were you thinking about?”

I shake my head, laughing it off while I
kiss her on the lips. I hold her face in my hands to assure her.

“It was nothing. Enjoy the rest of your
day, and I’ll see you soon.” I kiss her again quickly before she leaves the
room.

Now that Breena is gone I can have a few
minutes of peace before I meet my parents. These past five years have been long
and brutal. I am twenty-six years old, but I feel like an eighty-year-old man
in mortal years. The only enjoyment I have out of life is training my
warriors—since I’m now leader of the Winter Court Army—and spending time with
my white wolves. I’ve kept quiet about my thoughts of Meliantha and haven’t
spoken about her to anyone other than my wolves.

I walk over to my bedroom window to look
out at the snowy landscape beyond. I’ve seen the same land all the years of my
life, but something feels like it is missing. I look at the fountain that’s
frozen like always, and I use my magic to turn the ice to water. I watch it
flow rhythmically throughout the fountain. My magical abilities are with water
and animals. Using my magic used to make me feel free and alive, but now all I
feel is hollow inside. I would give anything to be able to feel whole like I
did five years ago.

I am no longer carefree and easygoing. I
am dead to the world with no sign of life. The Winter cold seems to be flowing
inside my blood turning everything to ice. Meliantha was beginning to thaw me
out with her warm glow, but now that she has forsaken me the ice has taken over
and left me freezing inside of a cold shell. One way or another I will talk to
her tonight. I have to find out what went wrong
.