Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea (39 page)

Collapsing against her, he wrapped his arms about her as best he could and breathed heavily into her ear while she drank from him, her body still intimately entwined with his and still trembling around him.

He scratched her neck with his teeth and lapped at the wound, too tired to do anything more than idly drink from her. She released his shoulder and licked the marks she’d placed there.

Rolling onto his back, he drew her on top of him and smiled at the way she curled up with a contented look on her face. Reaching one arm out, he pulled the blankets over them both and wrapped his arms about her.

He watched her sleeping for a few minutes, mesmerised by the little sighs she kept making and the way her lips were permanently curved into a smile.

Heaving a sigh, he thought about tomorrow.

It wasn’t going to be easy for her to face her family and see how many had left.

It was going to be even harder to take on his family and win.

He carefully removed a few strands of hair that had fallen down over her face and smoothed them back into place.

He knew that he’d defeat Kalinor.

He’d seen it in her blood.

Prophecy held her head high and squashed her nerves back down inside of her while she walked along the dull grey stone hallway. There was no point in fearing what she was going to find when she entered the main reception room of the house. She had no control over who had stayed and who had left. All she could do was accept whatever happened and lead her family into war.

She rolled her shoulders, trying to get used to the tight confines of the strapless black bodice she wore with her black trousers. Valentine had ruined her best shirt last night but she wasn’t complaining. He’d been right when he’d said that he could take her mind off the world for a while. Her mind had been so full of him and the pleasures of being with him that she’d not been able to think about anything else. She’d slept straight through the day in his arms, not one bad vision or nightmare marring her dreams.

Her boots sounded heavily on the floor, joined by the confident echo of Valentine’s and Venturi’s.

Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Valentine. He looked handsome in his red jacket and polished boots. She knew why he had chosen to wear them. They were more than the uniform of his position within his family. They seemed to give him the confidence to do anything and he needed that tonight. He was walking in step with her, his eyes fixed on the end of the hall. She could sense Venturi following behind them. When she had gone to get him from his room tonight, he’d mumbled something about his armour. She understood his reluctance to go into battle without it. She would feel better for having some kind of protection too. It had been a while since she’d seen him in the black stand up collar jacket that he had worn when they’d left Romania. It suited him more than she remembered

Valentine’s words about Venturi last night had caught her off guard and she’d felt like such a fool for believing she had feelings for the Tenebrae. Whatever she felt for him, it didn’t stretch beyond friendship. She didn’t love him like she loved Valentine. He was right. Now that she looked back on all the times she had been alone with Venturi, she recognised that he had intentionally muddled her feelings, making her confused about them and making her believe they were anything other than friendship.

She wanted to hate him for it, but it didn’t make her angry any more. She felt sad for him. He clearly had feelings for her, just like he’d implied last night. She felt wretched for knowing that she’d never be able to reciprocate those feelings and give him what he wanted most of all—her love.

Stopping in front of the door, she drew a deep breath and sighed it out, pushing away those thoughts and focusing on what was about to happen.

“Here goes nothing,” she said to herself and smiled up at Valentine when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Ready?” he said and she nodded. “Remember that it is probably my fault if any of them have left.”

Any of them? She was expecting them all to be gone.

Pushing the twin heavy wooden doors open, she kept her eyes forwards, not wanting to see just how few were left until she reached the platform where the throne was.

She could feel that there were more than just the guards and Serenity left, and it went a little way to calming her.

Stepping up onto the platform, she looked out over the people present and smiled inside.

Valentine was right, most of them had stayed. She looked over their faces and her fear about them leaving was replaced by fear of the upcoming fight. She couldn’t ask these people to go to war against the Aurorea. They weren’t warriors like her guards or herself. Many of them were newly turned, barely older than ten. She would be sending them to their deaths if she made them fight.

Her eyes moved to her guards, in particular Tiberius. He lowered his head in a slight bow and then stood straight again.

“Are you ready to go into battle?” she said to him and he nodded.

“Preparations have been made. We shall leave a small contingent behind to protect the house and those that stay.”

She looked at the people gathered in front of her.

“I cannot ask you to fight like I want to,” she said and sighed, her shoulders slumping into it. “To do that is to ask you to sacrifice yourselves. It’s something that I’m not prepared to do.”

She turned her head to face Valentine. “How many do you expect to be waiting for us at your family’s mansion?”

There was a flicker of doubt in his eyes that sent a chill running through her. Didn’t he think they could do this? Had he expected her family to be more like his? It had been many years since the Caelestis had been warriors. All of the time that her family had been growing weaker, the Aurorea had been getting stronger.

“At least thirty to forty guards, and then the elders. Ten of them are deadly and live in the mansion at all times. I do not think that the other people who live in the mansion will fight. They will flee. They are not warriors.”

“I have to agree,” she said, applying his last sentence to the people in front of her. They weren’t warriors. She sighed and called the magic to her hand, letting it soothe her and clear her mind. “Twenty guards of Caelestis, the lord of Tenebrae, Valentine Aurorea, and myself to contend with forty guards, all of the elders and Kalinor. We’re outnumbered at least two to one.”

She frowned when Valentine moved to stand in front of her.

“Worse than that,” he said. “I have to take on Kalinor alone. No other can touch him. If he were to be accidentally killed by another’s hand, then the bloodline would pass to the Chosen Son or Daughter of my house. I am not that son.”

She nodded solemnly. “Then we will leave him to you, and the rest of us will keep the others at bay long enough for you to take his life.”

Looking over the people in front of her, she realised that there was something else she had to do before going into battle.

“I know this is not the most formal way, and in no way follows the rules of ceremony, but I don’t have time for that right now. As the master of this bloodline, I must choose a Chosen Son and Daughter. We have none right now and to go into battle without an heir to the house would be foolish.” She felt the look that both Valentine and Venturi gave her. She knew they’d keep her as safe as they possibly could, but there was always a chance that someone would get the better of her. She needed the peace of mind it would give her to know that her house would pass to a good leader should she be killed tonight. “I do not need to give it much thought. My heart has already chosen the people.”

She paused, giving herself a moment to collect her feelings and keeping the room in suspense.

“Tiberius Caelestis, from this moment on you will be known as Tiberius Caelestis, Chosen Son.”

He bowed and even though his face remained serious as always, she could see in his eyes when he looked at her that she’d touched his heart with her decision.

She turned to face the crowd again and then her Chosen Daughter.

“Serenity Caelestis, from this moment on you will be known as Serenity Caelestis, Chosen Daughter.”

The look of shock on Serenity’s face was priceless and something Prophecy would always remember. She knew that it was rare for an aide or servant of the bloodline to be elevated to one of the highest positions within the family. She held her hand out to her friend, smiling at her and letting her see that there was no other woman in her family that she would have bestowed the title upon.

“The ceremony will have to wait until after the battle with Aurorea, I’m afraid,” she said.

There was a murmur amongst the crowd and she looked at them, seeing the calm in their faces quickly turning back to fear as the atmosphere in the room grew heavy again.

“Many of you have not completed your training. You are too young to fight this battle with us. There are those amongst you that I do not wish to fight this night.” Her eyes moved to rest on Serenity. “Although I will need your help when the final battle comes.”

A few of the men and women in front of her moved through the crowd and came to stand at the front of it.

“What is it?” she said.

“We will fight. We have passed the training.” A woman with pale blonde hair held her gaze. “Many of us have the skills that you need and it will improve the odds.”

She smiled and looked at everyone. “All those who have the required skills and training, and are willing to fight, see Tiberius. The arsenal will be opened and the guards will be sure to give you whichever weapons you prefer to fight with.”

Valentine stood up beside her and the whole room went quiet when they looked at him.

He swallowed hard and then knit his brows. “I can only say this once. Leave those that are not willing to fight and focus on those that are. There is a man amongst the Aurorea who should not be harmed. He is my aide. His name is Cornelius. You will recognise him by the mop of blond hair he wears on his head and the fact he cannot successfully wield any weapon without hurting himself. Leave him be. As for the lord of Aurorea, I am sure you have all seen him before. He is mine.”

She brushed the back of her hand against his when the room filled with chatter again. Nerves were spiralling out of control inside of her, making her stomach and chest ache, and her breathing come quick. She couldn’t remember feeling this frightened when they had gone to war against the Tenebrae, and then she hadn’t known what she was up against.

And now she had more control over her magic.

She called it again and made it form the shape of the mark over her heart. It had been too long since she’d spoken to her mother and her visions had been so quiet recently that she was starting to worry. Without them, she didn’t have a clue what lay on the horizon. She didn’t know what came next after they had defeated Kalinor. With Arkalus and him out of the way, who else could be left to start the war?

Valentine’s hand appeared in view and he ran his fingers over the stone of her amulet. They cut through the star she had made and drew it towards him. The ribbons of magic turned red and tickled her hand with warmth, causing her to smile. It was a strange feeling but it calmed her almost instantly.

“When do we leave?” she asked and looked deep into his eyes. The doubt she had seen in them before had gone. There was nothing but steely determination colouring their green depths now. They were dark with his thoughts and she knew he was thinking about the upcoming battle.

“As soon as the weapons have been distributed,” he replied and closed his hand over hers, holding it. He turned it over and curled his fingers around underneath, brushing them against her palm. She looked down at her hand when his thumb toyed with the star on the back of the amulet. “You are trembling.”

“I’m not scared,” she said and let him see in her eyes that it wasn’t fear making her shiver; it was his touch. She stepped towards him, closing the gap between them and bringing her body against his. His eyelids drooped, almost hiding his beautiful eyes from her when he looked down at her lips. She pressed her free hand to his chest, feeling the muscles of it tense beneath her palm, and brought her mouth up to his.

His kiss was a slow, deliberate exploration of her lips that stirred a fire inside of her that she knew she would carry into battle. She needed this moment to fuel her when she was struggling against the warriors of Aurorea, so she would be able to easily call the magic.

The idea of losing Valentine to Kalinor’s hand made the magic spiral around her fingers. She could feel it knitting hers and Valentine’s hands together, fusing them in a way she wished were permanent. To be always connected, to feel his emotions as clearly as she could now through the magic, was something she dreamed of.

Someday, it would be a reality.

He drew back, pressing one last kiss to her lips before stepping down from the platform. She followed him, keeping hold of his hand and letting him lead the way through the crowd. The guards had brought the weapons up. She knew which one she was destined to wield.

Reaching Tiberius, she smiled when he gave her a broad grin and held the sword out to her with a flourish. It was her family’s sword, the one that could only be wielded by the lord or lady of their bloodline.

Now that was her.

This was her sword.

She took it from him and felt the weight of it, executing a few test strokes and raising her brows when she found it was perfectly balanced. The blade gleamed at her, singing as it sliced through the air, and she let it rest against her hand when she was satisfied that it suited her.

“It is a good sword,” Venturi said beside her and she looked at him. “I wish I had mine.”

She frowned and looked down at the array of weaponry. Taking up a sword similar to hers, she presented him with it. “Will it do?”

He did a few experimental thrusts and then looked at her. “It will have to. I wish that I had my men here. It would have helped you in this fight.”

“You will in time,” she said. “We will need all the warriors we can get if we’re to win this war and fulfil the prophecy.”