Tamed by the Prince (Elven Lover) (7 page)

M
erlon woke up
to the delicious feeling of total happiness. The previous night had been unbelievable. He had felt how close he and Cherry had become. It was not simply the sex. It was so much more. The knowledge that she was the woman with whom he would spend the rest of his life filled him with such a feeling of happiness that even the prospect of his crowning no longer worried him.

He stretched out his arm to pull Cherry close to him again but his hand grasped emptiness. With a sinking feeling he opened his eyes and saw his suspicion confirmed. Cherry was no longer lying next to him. Instead, he saw a note. He frowned and grasped the piece of paper. His heart pounded as he scanned the brief note and his heart cramped painfully. He screwed up the piece of paper in his hand and uttered a cry of rage and pain. How could she? How could she just disappear and describe everything that had happened between them with such a banal word as
beautiful
.
It was like the stab of a dagger into his heart.

In one movement he leapt up from the bed and in his anger and despair he ripped apart the covering on the couch and tore the pillows until the furniture looked as if a pack of lions had attacked it. Without noticing he had transformed into his elf form and his golden pupils were absolutely glowing with rage. His inner beast had awakened and had made his nails into claws and his canine teeth into fangs. It happened only rarely that his beast reached the surface. Normally he had it fully under control. But the pain of losing Cherry had robbed him of control. After the couch it was the armchair’s turn and after that he grabbed other pieces of furniture. Not until everything was in pieces did he stop. Bewildered by his own action he forced the beast back below the surface into the innermost corner of his being. He needed a while for the roaring of his blood in his ears to subside and for his breathing and his heartbeat to become calmer.

Merlon looked at the completely destroyed room and sighed. What should he do? Run after her? In frustration he shook his head. It was not as if he had given her a reason to run away from him. They had had an unbelievably beautiful time together and he was certain that he had in no way pressured or frightened her. She had been willing and passionate. Why she was now suddenly running away from him was a mystery to him. It could only mean that he did not mean half as much to her as she to him. He had clearly misunderstood what was happening between them.

“Damn it!” he growled, full of angry despair. “Damned women!”

Merlon immaterialised and a moment later he was standing in his bedroom in the palace of Amarantus.

“Your Highness. It is my unpleasant task to t…”

Groaning, Merlon turned round and interrupted the dwarf’s speech, irritated.

“I know Axelous. It’s forbidden to materialise or to immaterialise in the palace. Paragraph 5 section 4b of the palace rules.”

“Quite right, Your Highness. If you would please follow me.”

Merlon gritted his teeth, but said nothing more as he followed the dwarf through the palace to the dungeon. With stoic acceptance he marched past Alexous into the cell and watched the Master of Ceremonies bolt the heavy lock on the cage door.

Angry with himself, he fell onto the wooden bench and lay on his back, his hands under his head. It was his fault. How could he forget these stupid rules that had been hammered into him ever since he had been able to string three words together? He really was in a mess because of Cherry leaving. He could think of no other reason for him not to bear in mind that all magic was strictly forbidden in the palace. That was a rule that did not even exclude the members of the royal family.

Merlon woke up when he heard his cell door being unlocked. He sat up quickly. The pain in his limbs made him groan a little. He felt exhausted. How long had he slept?

“Good morning, son,” sounded the concerned voice of his mother.

Queen Molwina looked at him, worried.

“Good morning, mother,” he mumbled uncomfortably. 

He was glad that it was not his father visiting him here. King Assgard would definitely give him a proper scolding.

“I asked for a royal pardon and have been able to convince the king that your injuries and difficult recovery must have led to you forgetting yourself. He has agreed to pardon you. You can come with me now and thank your father.”

“Thank you, mother.”

He raised himself with difficulty and swayed a little. He must have slept for a long time to be this weak.

“Are you OK, son?” asked Queen Molwina gently.

“I’m OK. Just a little weak. I’ll be OK once I’ve had something to eat.”

“Once you’ve thanked your father you can strengthen yourself with a hearty breakfast. Come now!”

Relieved at being able to leave the cold and uncomfortable cell, Merlon followed his mother out.

King Assgard was sitting on his throne, looking tense, as Merlon entered the hall with his mother. Queen Molwina hurried to her husband’s side and took up her place on her throne. Merlon realised that most of the council was present to witness his humiliation. Some of those present would very much enjoy the spectacle. Well, let them! What could be worse than losing the only woman that had ever conquered his heart? His life was torture anyway without Cherry at his side.

He walked across the hall, his expression grim. Every step resounded in the silence of the enormous hall. The walk seemed endless - mainly because he knew that all eyes were directed at him. When he finally stopped in front of his father’s throne he prepared himself for the most difficult part. He had to publicly request a pardon. Something which never came easy to the proud elf. There was barely anything worse for a warrior elf than kneeling to beg forgiveness. It was all the more unpleasant for Merlon because he was a prince and the future king. He glanced at his mother and she smiled at him encouragingly. Then he turned to look at the king whose expression seemed hard and impenetrable. Merlon knew that his father loved him with all his heart but he was too much of a king to treat his son differently to the way he would treat others. He would be more likely to treat his son somewhat harder so that there was no doubt whatsoever that he was judging him fairly.

Sighing, Merlon knelt down and bent his upper body so far forward that his forehead touched the cold marble tiles. Then he straightened himself up again and looked up at King Assgard.

“Father. I come to you as your most humble servant to ask your pardon for my violation of the rules.”

King Assgard looked at his son in silence and at last nodded.

“You are forgiven, son. As always. But you will not escape a punishment. For today and tomorrow you will be answerable to Master Axelous and complete all tasks that he sets you without complaint. Furthermore, tomorrow you will recite by heart all of the palace rules before me and all present.”

“Yes, father. I thank you for your caution. I will do as you say.”

With a further nod King Assgard dismissed his son and Merlon turned and left the hall with hurried steps.

Merlon was extremely ill-humoured. Not only did he miss Cherry painfully. Now he also had to play the errand boy for Axelous and learn by heart the one hundred and fifty pages of the palace rules. He would have preferred to spend the rest of his punishment locked up. That was no royal pardon, but rather an increase in the punishment.

“If Your Highness could please take these documents to the treasurer,” said the Master of Ceremonies, gloating.

Merlon groaned quietly. He would have very happily throttled this little scoundrel, but he did not say a word and silently took the pile of papers. It was a ridiculously long way to the treasurer. This task would take Merlon an hour. Muttering disapprovingly to himself he left the Master of Ceremonies’ room and stomped angrily through the palace.

“There you are!”

Merlon turned and glared angrily at his younger sister.

“What do you want? To gloat at your big brother running errands? Just leave me alone, Ifitia!”

Ifitia stared at him in bewilderment.

“What do you mean? Why should I gloat? What errands?”

“Are you trying to tell me that you haven’t heard that father has sentenced me to doing any task Master Axelous sets me for two days?”

Shaking her head in astonishment, Merlon’s sister stood there searching for words.

“I … I had no idea. But why? Whatever have you done for father to give you such a drastic punishment?”

“I materialised in my chamber.”

“You did what?” cried Ifitia in disbelief.

“I wasn’t in a good state emotionally and I just didn’t think about the damn palace rule,” Merlon tried to explain himself.

“Come on, I’ll accompany you on your errand and you can tell me what has upset you so much that you’re in such a mess,” said Ifitia, giving her brother an encouraging smile.

Merlon sighed. He did not like talking about his feelings, but he knew from experience that his stubborn little sister would not leave him in peace until she had found out what she wanted to know.

“OK. Come on. I have to take this to the treasurer,” he finally gave in, and they set off.

Cherry was staring out of the window at the rain. The furnished room that she had rented was small and the furniture was shabby, but it was cheap and anonymous. In this area no one was interested in their neighbours. This was the best place to disappear to. No one would find her easily here – neither Justin nor Merlon. At the thought of the elf her heart beat faster and a yearning sensation spread throughout her body. Every centimetre of her body tingled at the memory of his tender love-play. She was grateful to him for showing her that there could also be beautiful feelings between a man and a woman. Perhaps, at some point, she would be ready to enter a relationship with a man – although at the moment the thought of giving herself to any other man but Merlon seemed absolutely impossible. She was sure that the memory and the yearning would subside at some point and also the pain that gripped her heart right now.

There was a knock at the door.

“It’s me. Mina,” sounded the voice of her flatmate.

Cherry was sharing a flat with three other girls. Mina was the main tenant. She was a little, strapping blond in her late twenties.

Cherry opened the door and made an effort to give a friendly smile. She had only moved in on the previous evening and still had not met the other two tenants.

“Hello, Mina.”

“Did you sleep well? The girls were a bit loud when they got home last night. I hope they didn’t disturb you too much.”

Cherry shook her head.

“No. I slept deeply. I only woke up an hour ago.”

“Ellie and Molly are still asleep, too. I was just going to get breakfast. Are you hungry?”

“I haven’t been shopping yet,” said Cherry. “I’ll go and get something first.”

“What? On your first morning I’ll invite you for a fry up. With that you also get my very special cheese on toast. Come on!”

“OK,” Cherry agreed. “But I’ll return the favour and cook for us all this evening.”

“It’s a deal. The others will be pleased. Apart from egg and bacon we hardly ever cook anything. We mainly eat microwave meals.”

When Cherry lay in bed that evening she simply could not sleep. The evening with her flatmates had been a lot of fun. First they had eaten the lasagne that she had baked, and a homemade tiramisu. They had all been full of praise for her culinary skills and Cherry had felt happy. For a while she had forgotten both her difficult time with Justin and her passionate affair with Merlon. After the meal they had played Monopoly and drunk wine. Cherry was slightly tipsy and when she closed her eyes her bed seemed to turn like a carousel.

Groaning quietly she turned onto her side and stared at the wall. How beautiful the few nights had been in which she had fallen asleep in Merlon’s strong arms. She missed his warmth, his aroma. It had felt good to feel him snuggling into her from behind. At that memory tears filled her eyes and her heart nearly stopped. Damn it! Could it be true? Had she perhaps really fallen in love with him? This acknowledgement unsettled her. She absolutely had to forget him. He was not the right man for her. He was too … dangerous … too exciting and … he was almost immortal compared with her. No! She could not bear growing old next to him and him losing interest in her. He would no longer be able to desire her when she became wrinkled and unattractive. It was simply out of the question. A future with him was … impossible!

She sighed. Hot tears ran down her cheeks and her nose blocked. She reached out clumsily for the box of tissues on the bedside table and pulled out one of the tissues to blow her nose. She sat up in bed and tried to ignore the slight dizziness. Blinded by tears she grabbed for the next tissue.