STICK: MC ROMANCE NOVELLA (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 8) (94 page)

Chapter 10     Traitor is Your Name

The people rejoiced, even though they were surrounded by the Emperor’s ships. The Princess was arriving this day and she would save them from her tyrant brother. She was bringing a new army with her to prevent the cruel Emperor from taking over their lands. Princess Tamara was their savior.

As she rode next to her bodyguard, the cheering crowds made her nervous. It was true that she had managed to rally the people’s hopes, but that was only because of their faith in her parents. As she drew nearer to the battle, she had an ominous feeling that she would not be able to save them. What did the elders think she was going to do? Even Niyol believed that she had some trick up her sleeve.

Fearing that this day would only bring with it the massacre of these people on this island, she rode on with a heavy heart.

The road to the harbor was thronged with people surrounding them as they rode down to see the attacking fleet, where her brother awaited her. It had been arranged for them to parley on neutral ground on a small fishing boat not far off shore. As she approached the docks she could see the boat out near the harbor entrance.

She boarded the simple vessel that would take her to him, Niyol by her side was all she needed. They left the loud cheering behind as they set off to the meeting with the Emperor, her brother. She wondered if she should trust this meeting, was it a trap? She had Niyol by her side but was she just leading him into danger too? If her brother was as powerful as these people believed, then they both may perish here today.

The smell of the sea air and the wind on her face felt good, calming her nerves and somehow pushing aside her doubts. She liked the weather, all elements of it, sun, rain, wind and snow. She had always loved the feeling of whatever kind of day it was, in her modern world, weather felt so good on her skin.

As they neared the rendezvous she could see a single figure stood on the deck of a boat. At last, there he was, and she was not impressed. He was not an old man, but nor was he a youth. Yet he carried his body like a young man. As they stood opposite each other, she could see the hatred in his eyes.

“Sister,” he said, greeting her with the one word. “You are as beautiful as I have heard, I only hope you are also wise,” he threatened.

“I cannot call you brother, as you don’t feel like a beloved brother,” she dared say to him.

He laughed at her.

“Nor can I call you Emperor,” she interrupted his laughter, “you are not my Emperor as I don’t have one,” she said, honestly. “I will simply call you traitor, and murderer,” she finished, not wanting this meeting to linger on.

A deathly silence surrounded her, as those who could hear awaited the response of the Emperor. He looked at her and laughed again.

“Such a shame that our first meeting should end in your death, and with it all the hopes of these foolish people gathered here. I shall kill you this day, sister,” he informed her. “Then you will not need to call me anything, as you will be no more.”

With that he turned to go, but before he left he mumbled something under his breath and a dark ominous mood fell over her.

“I leave you a gift, sister, I wish for you to see the people cower before me, before I kill you. I have cast the same spell that I cast on all of the islands, and I have you to thank for that. I have never been able to get so close to Citheera to enable me to enchant them fully, but now thanks to you, they will soon fall under my thumb. Observe, as your people all cower under my rule. Watch them,” he said, waving his hand at the island. “When you return I think you will find that you are, once again, alone.”

Chapter 11     Discovery of Magic

True to his word, the people had lost all hope as she returned to the island. His spell was spreading like a disease as she watched even the soldiers backing away. The people were leaving, they did not wish to battle any more.

She turned to view the ships as they neared the harbor. This was it, this was how he simply took ahold of the people and its lands. It must use much of his energy to keep this evil deed going. Anger began to boil within her as she saw the self-same people, who only an hour ago were joyous and hopeful, become fearful and were now running. The elders remained unscathed by his spell, but what use would the old be in battle. Even Niyol remained untouched, yet he could not fight a battle single handedly, but she could.

Yes, she knew now what she had to do. It was clear in her mind, so much so, that she wondered why she had ever been uncertain. The image of her parents came to mind, smiling over a new born baby girl, her. The kindness of her father’s face, the love in her mother’s eyes. For the first time in her life, she knew who she was, and what she was capable of. 

Now, it was time for revenge. She would rid this world of the evil Emperor, and no one would mourn.

Niyol watched as his lover stood and raised her arms with an ethereal glow around her body, she emanated a power that had never been witnessed before. As she did so, the very air changed, the atmosphere felt heavy and clammy on his skin. The skies yellowed and black clouds suddenly covered the previously clear blue skies. The angry clouds surrounded the ships as lightening shot out of her raised fingers and into the darkened skies. He knew then what she was, and he knew that she would win this day. She was a Weather Mage, she could control the very seas, the skies, and the air within the world. It had been said that such mages were only myth, yet here he witnessed one, first hand.

She stood on the harbor and controlled the skies. The waves began to rise, but not a single drop of water touched her body. The people witnessed their Princess as she crashed the waves into the Emperor’s ships, and he was powerless to stop her. His magic to control the minds of the weak would be of no use, with the forces of the elements crashing against his fleet. Niyol stood in the rain and rejoiced as he was drenched by the winds that howled around the harbor. Yet still, she stood in pure sunlight as she sank each and every ship, saving her brother’s until last. The people stood on the cliffs and watched in awe as the Emperor’s ship was risen in to the air by a huge maelstrom, and then it was spun around and around, until it smashed into millions of small pieces that fell across the sea.  The Emperor was gone. Princess Tamara was truly their savior, how could they ever have doubted her?

She collapsed onto the ground as the winds died down and the rains ended. The dark clouds dispersed instantly and the sun reached everywhere, hot rays cast a warm glow over the assembled people. Niyol rushed to her, bending down as he scooped her into his arms, before chanting his well versed words.

The people witnessed her body guard lifting their leader from the ground, they gasped as they suddenly saw them disappear into thin air.

***

Tammy awoke to the aroma of pizza. As she breathed in the wonderful smell of pepperoni and cheese, she could hear the television playing an animated film, one of her favorites. Lifting her head, she saw that Niyol was in the kitchen, singing along to the movie.

She stood, her legs a little shaky, as she made her way to the kitchen and stood by his side. As soon as he saw her, he grabbed her in his strong arms, and swung her around and around.

“You did it, by the gods you did it. The Emperor is no more, and the people are free.”

“What about your world, Niyol, shouldn’t we be there celebrating?”

“Our world, Princess Tamara, or should I say Queen Tamara?  No, we are on holiday, leave it to the politicians to sort out the mess. We will be home soon enough. For now we have all the pizza we can eat, and you should see the supply of chocolate I have for you.”

She leaned her head on his strong shoulder, she loved pizza and chocolate, but most of all, she loved Niyol.

THE END

Samantha Leal

Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Thank you so much for your interest in my work!

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Laurie lay back in bed and looked up at the ceiling. It was almost midnight and she had been waiting for her moment since earlier that evening. Brad had come home drunk, again… it was the fourth night in a row and with each one he had become more angry and uncontrollable than the night before. He was lying next to her, face down with his mouth lolling open and a big string of drool snaking its way onto the flattened pillow beneath him. She could almost taste his breath as the sweet tang of whiskey lingered in the air between them. He breathed in and out deeply, snoring as he inhaled and puffing back into the bed sheets. Laurie closed her eyes and gathered her courage. She would have to do it soon.

She’d known for at least two months that this day was going to come, but now that it had and as she was finally getting ready to make her move, she was terrified. Her and Brad had been together for a year, and for at least half of that he had been completely unbearable to live with. It had started with the odd dig at her clothing choice or selection of friends and had progressively gotten more and more belittling and cruel. One moment he had loved her and the next he seemed to despise her. The compliments she had been honored to receive had turned into sneers, and instead of wanting to spend time with her and appreciate her, he had done nothing but lay around in bed all day. Then when he had had his fill of sloth, he would drag himself to the nearest bar, get wasted, and eventually come back home in a terrible mood, goading for yet another fight.

Laurie remembered what it had felt like to fall for Brad. He had been the first person she considered herself to have been in love with, but as his true colors revealed themselves, she had just felt foolish and naive. He was a brute of a man and wasn’t nearly good enough for her. The night he had come home so drunk that he could barely stand up straight and had then preceded to accuse her of having an affair with a man at work had been the tipping point. He had physically pinned her against the wall by her throat. She knew then that she was going to have to get away from him. He wasn’t stable and she wasn’t safe being anywhere near him at this point. If she didn’t get away from him who knew what would happen when he’d had one shot too many again? Surely it wouldn’t be long before the threats turned into even more serious aggression, and she wasn’t going to wait around for the inevitable.

She never could have been prepared for what happened next though. She had not even known that he had ever been engaged, but when a girl walked into the jewelry store where Laurie worked she knew the minute she laid eyes on her that she was somehow connected to Brad and that she was going to drop a bomb.

“Laurie Miller?” she said quietly, as timid as a mouse when she opened the door and stepped inside. “Do you have a minute?”

Even though her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry Laurie had agreed to meet her out back and excused herself for a ten minute break. She rounded the corner at the side of the store and turned into the alley. As she looked at the girl in front of her she saw for the first time the shadows that seemed to play just behind this woman’s eyes. She appeared completely broken and scared.

“You need to get away from him,” she whispered, “He’s not sane.”

Laurie had already figured this out for herself, but had been taking a more measured approach to her withdrawal from the relationship. Now, though, with this woman standing right in front of her confirming all of her worst fears, her sense of urgency was peaked and she knew the time had come to leave. No more excuses.

“He knocked six of my teeth out,” the girl said quietly, looking down at the road and instinctively putting her hand to her mouth. “I had to get a restraining order.”

Laurie’s head was spinning. She didn’t even know how the girl had found her. She said she’d been engaged to Brad three years before and that it was after they’d moved in together that he had started his mind games and abusive behavior. He’d made her life hell, blaming her for things that hadn’t happened, criticizing her appearance, and had verged on violence many times. Then one day he’d finally snapped completely and shoved her head against the refrigerator door.

“I heard he was with someone new,” she said quietly, “Took me a while to get the courage, but I had to warn you…” With that, she turned and made her way to the end of the alley. As she approached the road with its steady stream of cars driving past, she turned and added, “Get out while you can.” With that she turned one last time and was gone.

Laurie stood in the alley, resting against the wall and for the first time in months she went into her handbag, rooted around in it for bit, and pulled out a cigarette. She dragged on it hurriedly three times before throwing it on the floor and stamping it out.

“Fuck,” she whispered to herself. She leaned her head back and looked up to the sky as she felt the tears well up behind her eyes.

It was after work that day that she’d gone home and started to pack. She’d dragged her clothes out of the drawers and thrown them into the trunk of her car. A lot of her things were still in their shared wardrobe but she didn’t dare touch them in case he went in there when he got home and saw that they were missing. She would just have to leave them behind. Her car keys were on the central island in the kitchen and she put them in her handbag which she then placed by the door. When she heard the familiar sound of his truck swerving onto the street she turned out the light and pretended to be asleep, although underneath the covers she was mostly clothed.  All she would have to do was throw on a pair of jeans with some shoes and she would be good to go.

Brad practically kicked open the front door in his drunkenness before he staggered down the hallway, stopping at the kitchen to grab yet another beer. Finally, he crashed into the bedroom, the still unopened fresh beer in hand, and fell down next to her, face first on the mattress. He dropped the unopened bottle on the floor and she heard it roll under the bed. He was asleep within seconds and she was very glad she hadn’t waited up to face him.

This is it
, she thought.
This is the first day of the rest of your life
.