The Queen Revealed (26 page)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Sometimes Love Just Tastes Like Loyalty”

After her long nap, Stella had woken up still tired and irritable, and made everyone crazy with her incessant whining at the dinner table that night. Adele had chosen to pass on Rainere’s offer of a family dinner. She selfishly wanted to get the children tucked away in bed as quickly as possible, so she could spend the whole evening alone with him.

They were planning to leave tomorrow morning to make it back in time for the Steeple Chase at the Belvoir Estate, and then the Royal Family was to return to the Golden Palace the day after. Unless another ominous letter arrived from High Wizard Ohren, of course.

So as far as Adele was concerned it meant that she only had this one night to ask Rainere every question that she had concerning the Prophecy and her Magic. It wasn’t exactly a secret to him that her Magic was powerful but Rainere still didn’t know what she had done in Sandar. It was the time to come clean and tell him everything.

Adele dressed quickly for her dinner with the Prince. Her gown was a violet silk with an embroidered neckline and a wide sweeping skirt that rustled like dry leaves when she walked.

“You look so lovely, Your Majesty,” said Lady Olivia as she draped an amethyst necklace around Adele’s neck. “I think you might need to be careful tonight. It is said that Marchant Princes fall in love very easily with beautiful St. Lucidis women!” The young woman laughed gaily and gave Adele’s shoulder a squeeze to let her know she was only joking.

“The Prince and I have only boring political business to discuss, Lady Olivia, I doubt he’ll find me very interesting this evening.” Adele hoped that she had put the young woman off the subject but Lady Olivia merely grinned.

“Would you like me to come to dinner with you, Your Majesty?” she asked as she cocked her head to the side. “Or would you prefer to be alone with His Highness tonight? Not that I would blame you, he is so incredibly dashing!”

Adele leaped out of her chair as she saw General Ohrig cross the room to approach her and prayed he hadn’t heard Lady Olivia’s suggestion. The last thing she wanted was a chaperone who giggled and flirted as much as Lady Olivia.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said quickly and made her way to the door to try and avoid Ohrig, almost tripping over Aaron in her haste. Adele was annoyed that the children were still running around the room as Siobahn hadn’t managed to get them into bed yet, but she was in too much of a rush to get back to Rainere to care overly.

Unfortunately, General Ohrig followed her to the door of the apartment and he stopped her just as they passed out of earshot of everyone else. “Your Majesty, a word?”

Adele turned to the General with a sharp retort on her lips, but she stopped when she saw the expression on his face. The General’s eyes were red rimmed and he looked almost desperate.

“Queen Adelena,” he said, surprising Adele because he almost never used her name. “I know you don’t want me there tonight to protect you, but please, for the love of the Goddess, don’t do anything stupid, or promise the Prince that you will do something stupid.”

Adele was shocked by his honesty. Obviously, the time for discretion had passed. “General, I…”

“I’ve seen the way you look at him, and I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Only a man in love would do something so crazy as to defy the Curse of Belvoir and risk his own life just to see a woman, even when he knew he could never have her.”

Adele froze. She felt like the General had just ripped off her dress and stared at her naked. Ohrig’s eyes softened as he held her gaze and he lowered his voice even more.

“Ever since I saw you at your first Coronation and the High Wizard told me to guard you with my life I have felt a loyalty to you that I do not question. You looked so tiny and alone that day and I knew immediately that the Queen’s Guard’s only purpose was to protect you from all of the dangers in our world, both political and physical. I believe the Goddess herself sanctions the vow I made to keep you from danger and I will not be forsworn. Queen Adelena, I know you don’t believe it now, but you really
are
our Goddess-given Queen. Unisia needs you and Evendaar needs you. But no one will
ever
want a Marchant ruler in the Golden Palace and if you join yourself to this Prince then your union will only lead to one thing: war, in the capital and between every nation. Unisia will be destroyed.”

Adele looked down as General Ohrig covered her hand with his own and squeezed it tight. He never touched her and the intimacy of the gesture made her feel his emotions so much more keenly.

“Please, Queen Adelena,” he whispered. “That Wizard will eat you alive.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Up Until the Stars”

“Would you like to see the Observatory,
cara mia
?” Rainere asked. “We should have a fine view tonight, as the sky is cloudless. Perhaps that would please you?”

“I would like to see the stars,” said Adele, forcing a smile as she took Rainere’s hand in hers. She knew she was being too quiet with him.

Their dinner had passed quickly, supervised by Grotto, who had watched Adele like a hawk the entire time. Though her appetite was healthy again, Adele waved away dessert and asked Rainere if they could go somewhere more private. His eyes had lit up at the request, but since walking the hallways to his bedroom, Rainere had picked up on her somber mood and led her to the portrait gallery in an attempt to amuse her. Unfortunately, seeing paintings of Rainere’s terrible ancestors had just made her feel worse.

One nasty ogre of a man particularly caught her attention. His long black hair hung over his face in strings and his mouth was drawn in an ugly smirk, he wore animal skins over his Kings robes and the crown of Unisia perched crooked and tarnished on his large head. He sat on a throne made of bones and each foot rested on a Human skull. Engraved in the little gold plaque on the frame was his name:

“
King Rainex, the Savage…commonly known as, Rainex the Raper, reign lasting 112years
”

It had made Adele cringe and Rainere had hurried her away out of the gallery, and then offered to show her the Observatory.

They walked back through the East wing of the palace and made their way up to a large hallway lined with white marble statues that they followed along to an enormous ballroom.

Moonlight shone down through a huge domed window in the ceiling of the ballroom and made a large silver circle on the parquetry floors. Piles of chairs had been heaped into the corners, their spindly legs broken and askew, and gilt wallpaper hung off the walls in great long lengths.

“Oh!” breathed Adele struck by the dismal grandeur of an entire ballroom left to dust and decay. “It must have been magnificent in here.”

It was so sad that this palace had obviously been as wealthy and thriving as the Golden Palace was now. Adele wondered again how it didn’t drive Rainere mad living in the ashes of his family’s once great fortune.

“The Observatory is just through here, Adelena,” said Rainere, gently laying a hand on the small of her back as they walked across the floor. Adele paused as they stepped into the circle of moonlight and looked up at the bright white globe. It was nearly a full moon.

“Do you remember the first time we danced, Rainere?” she asked. “At the Coronation ball.” She stepped in to lean against him and stroked a hand along his cheek. “I thought I had died and gone to heaven in your arms.”

“I was so anxious,” smiled Rainere. “I kept doubting my wits as you felt so fragile in my arms,” – he caught her hand and kissed it – “I couldn’t believe my dreams had come true.”

“Would you care for a turn about the floor with me, Your Highness?” Adele asked formally, twirling off without waiting for an answer. A moment later, she felt herself caught up in Rainere’s arms, as he seamlessly joined her in the steps.

“Why are we dancing?” he asked curiously. “There is no music here.”

“Of course there is,” said Adele, feeling drunk on melancholy. “Can’t you hear it playing? And all the ghosts are dancing around us. Listen to their whispers.”

She looked up at Rainere and tried to smile, but her lips just wouldn’t curve upwards. “And no one is staring at us or thinks we are wrong together. It’s only the ghost ladies who are thinking, ‘Who is that stunning young Prince’? And who is that extraordinarily happy woman he is dancing with?’”

“Perhaps they are thinking that they had never seen two people more in love than that Prince and his beautiful Queen?” said Rainere and laid a soft kiss on her forehead.

“This is one of the happiest moments of my life,” whispered Adele, but when she closed her eyes tears wet her lashes.

Rainere waltzed them over to the bottom of a wide staircase at the other end of the ballroom and swept Adele up in his arms, cradling her against his chest. He carried her up the steps to a wide balcony, which overlooked the ballroom, and then up another smaller staircase off the balcony that brought them to the ancient Observatory.

As she entered through the narrow door, Adele was struck by the beauty of the bare room. The ceiling of the Observatory was made of rectangular glass panels and the walls were curved to make the chamber a circle. The plaster walls had been painted with the images of the constellations of Evendaar and though they were faded now, the blue and gold paint peeling and flaking to the floor, Adele could still read the map of this alien Universe written out in a long stretch around her.  A huge brass telescope dominated the center of the room, poking out through a wide hole in the glass ceiling. There was a little padded stool near the telescope and a large chaise longue near the empty fireplace. A desk stood behind it, covered with piles of old papers and yellowing scrolls. Dust covered the floor like a pale blanket. Adele shivered in the chill air.

“You’re cold,” said Rainere, concerned for her comfort and he carried her to the chaise longue, laying her down as gently as a child. He moved to the fireplace and built a little fire, striking the first spark with a flint, but then there was a flash of green and the fire roared to life. Rainere fed it with the logs stacked close by. He returned to sit next to her on the chaise.

“What is it,
cara mia
?” he asked, stroking her arm and collecting her hand in his own. “What troubles you so much this evening?”

Adele felt the Magic inside her stir and pulse at Rainere being so near. The Chime Voices sang sweetly in the background suggesting all the wonderful things she could do to him and how good it would feel. But they were quiet, like having a radio on in the background of her thoughts.

“I don’t know where to start,” said Adele honestly.  She turned and gazed at the fire and picked the easiest issue that was bothering her. “Even if you come to the Steeple Chase at Belvoir tomorrow, we leave for the Golden Palace the day after. It makes me anxious not to know when I’m going to see you again.”

Adele looked up when she felt Rainere’s smile light upon her, sending a thrill of energy over her skin. She saw the happiness in his eyes.

“
Cara mia
, dearest heart, I can fix that. I have a plan that means we will be together for as long as I please you.” He leaned over her and kissed her once on the mouth.

“You always please me,” whispered Adele and slipped her hand around the back of his neck, pulling him in for a deeper kiss. She felt a moment of guilt that they weren’t talking about all that needed to be said, but the urge to have Rainere’s skin against hers was too strong. The talking could wait.

*              *               *

Adele wasn’t sleepy so much as completely satiated. The Chime Voices hummed happily in her head. She had tasted the Magic inside Rainere, and twisted it up in her own but gently this time. At his first cry of pain she had let go and pulled her power back into herself, letting Rainere take the lead and give her an orgasm so powerful her legs still shook. Adele was proud of herself. This time she had been in full control of the lust and hunger of her Magic and Rainere had not suffered like before. At least, not much more than he liked to.

The two of them lay on the floor before the fire, using Rainere’s clothes as a rug. Adele had draped herself across Rainere’s chest, as he lay on his back, one hand tucked behind his head for a pillow and the other playing with strands of her thoroughly messed-up hair. Too relaxed, an errant thought passed through Adele’s head and headed straight to her mouth without her checking it first.

“Do you think Lady Olivia is pretty?”

Rainere raised a perfect eyebrow at her. “Do you?”

Adele grinned and gave his stomach a poke. “She is
very
beautiful and she obviously likes you.”

“Is she the insipid blonde or the bitter looking brunette?”

Adele rolled her eyes. “You know she is the blonde.”

Rainere ran his hand across her back, lightly dancing his fingers up and down her spine. “I find the fragility of modern women disconcerting and slightly repulsive,” he answered matter-of-factly. “I couldn’t imagine being with a woman who couldn’t completely consume me with her power. Such strength as you have over me,
cara mia
, is nothing less than intoxicating, and very addictive.”

Adele sat up in surprise at his response, but then threw back her head and laughed. “Right answer,” she said happily and then leaned over to kiss her perfect, alien Prince on the lips. “Would you like me to consume you again?”

Rainere stretched languidly after her kiss, but winced at a pain in his side. “Perhaps in a few minutes,
cara mia
,” he said and rolled onto his stomach. “I need to regain my strength.”

Adele sat up and tickled Rainere in the spot he had winced at before, making him growl – “That feels delicious, don’t stop” - so she continued, running her hands all over the incredible tattoo that covered every inch of the skin on his back. If she hadn’t been told it was a powerful spell etched into flesh she might have even guessed for herself. The pattern was tightly packed and intricate. But within the long swirling lines she started to see small geometric shapes tangled in the branches and vines travelling across his shoulder blades and down his lower back and along his side. She touched a small diamond that had been drawn inside a leaf.

Rainere hissed at the same time that the Chime Voices sang a clear word of Command in her ears.

“Oh!” she was surprised at both reactions. “Did I hurt you?”

Rainere smiled at her over his shoulder. “You always find ways to hurt me,” and his voice rasped with desire. “That’s one of the reasons I love you.”

Adele smiled back and bent over to kiss the little diamond, running her tongue over the tiny shape and laughed as Rainere’s deep groan. The Chime Voices sang prettily in her head, a song that made her feel happy and reckless.

Adele ran her hand up and over Rainere’s ribs, right at the edge of the tattoo. Long tails of ink licked across his ribcage and hipbone. Adelena hummed the same tune that the Chime Voices were singing as she trailed her fingers over the bumps and undulations of Rainere’s wing muscles and ribs. Rainere’s body was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen and she loved touching him.

“Adelena,
cara mia
?” Rainere rolled onto his side and gazed at the fire, but Adele could still tell he was entirely focused on her.

She kissed his shoulder to let him know she was listening.

“Let’s get married now, tonight.”

Adele could feel his fear. The chill of it rippled off his skin and against her lips. He wanted her so badly to say, yes.

“Darling,” she said soothingly. “I am already yours. We made promises to each other, you and I. What more could a priest give us that we need to belong together. I love you and you love me.” She kissed his side and pressed against him.

“
Cara mia
, you know why we need to be joined in marriage. It will be so much safer for you and your family and the world must see us as united as we see ourselves. Please, my heart, do me this honor.”

Adele found it easier this time to resist such a political proposal, but she was also finding it hard to take Rainere seriously as the Chimes in her head sang and laughed, and his power rolled deliciously through her veins. She decided to have some fun with her serious Prince.

“Rainere, answer me this: will you be mine forever, to love, to cherish, to protect and to obey.”

Rainere flipped onto his back and faced her, his eyes wide, as he recognized the sound of vows.

“I will, Adelena. Forever.”

Adelena trailed her hand across his stomach and grinned as she saw he was ready for her again. She teased him slowly then let go and let her hand rest on his side. She spoke the words that the Chime Voices whispered in her ears:

“Then in front of this fire and the stars looking down on us I pronounce us joined forevermore.” She signed her name on his skin with a flourish and giggled. “See, now we are married!”

Rainere constricted in pain suddenly and sat up, gasping. He held his side where her hand had been. “Gods, what is that?” he winced and gritted his teeth. “It’s burning me!”

The light, loose feeling instantly left Adele. “I didn’t do anything did I? I was just touching you,” she protested. “Rainere, please, let me look at it.”

Still wincing Rainere pulled his hand off his ribcage. A silvery grey swirl now joined two of the long tails of the tattoo together. It was a swirl in the shape of her insignia.

Adele covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh Rainere, did I do that to you? I didn’t mean to! I was just thinking about…”

“That’s a Mark,” said Rainere, gazing down at the silvery scar in shock. He looked up at her and all trace of his sexy huskiness had gone and he just looked angry.

“You Marked me!” he repeated. “How did you do that? How did you know
how
to do that?”