Alcina was a slave, if she was even that. To the world she was nothing, and thus the world meant nothing to her. She worked every day for her master, until the day the war ended. That was when the rulers took pity on the people like her and forbid s...
The man's death was the talk of the town during the morning breakfast. Cebrus has barely left my side, worried that we could have a run-in with that shadow at any moment. "I hear that there was a key amongst his ashes," Sheila said looking up and down the table at her peers.
"A key?" Who was the poor guy that had to clean up the ashes?
She nodded, "the Maeve has the key now, they are thinking about sending it back to his family for them to bury." She sighed, "I wonder what happened..."
"I wonder..." giving a glace in Cebrus' direction. "Wait! You mean to tell us there was a key in the ashes?" My eyes widen, surely that means something.
She looked puzzled and nodded. I stood from my seat. "Where can I find Queen Maeve?"
Shelia looked to her mate a bit confused, "she is probably in her personal garden." King Zaivinth nodded.
"She's been spending a lot of time there after... well, the death of her mate." He looked from me to Sheila. Rumor has it, Sheila was the one to kill him, and she didn't let him off easy, he was a traitor after all. Betraying the mythical's in the way that he did. "Are you going to ask for the key?"
I nodded my head, "there must be some importance to it," I think it was my thieving instincts that were being triggered, but I couldn't let this go. I turned to leave and I heard another chair slide away from the table. I look back to see Cebrus gobbing down the last of his food to come with me. "You can stay, I'll deal with this." I waved him to sit down again.
He shook his head, "I'll go." He grabbed my hand and lead me to the entrance.
—
We to a room with a huge door, "this is the gate," he said, the gate is the only connection between the Mythical realm and the Mortal Realm. On the other side of this door is where Meave's garden would be. Its the border between the two realms. It was a beautiful pearly white gate with golden bars between them.
We saw the two guards at the entrance. "We demand access." Cebrus glared that the two. They nodded and stepped to the side. Cebrus can go anywhere in this castle, its practically his after the war. The Fae kingdom was now nothing but a puppet state. Though I hope to see it improve over the years.
The gates opened with a loud scree, then a huge garden appeared before my eyes. I gasped, surprised by how beautiful it truly was. There were a bunch of red roses paired with white ones. We stepped onto the grass. Then a second later Cebrus was gone.
Then there was a feminine scream in the distance. I knew that Cebrus has found her. I walked through the high hedges, in the direction of the scream. Soon enough I saw my mate glaring down at the Queen of Faeries. She had black hair and red eyes, her black dress standing out on the white marble she was sitting on.
"I deserve a notice!" She raised a bony hand shaking it in front of Cebrus' face. He didn't move as he was glaring down at her. "Well! Tell me why you are here." She crossed her hands in front of her chest, a growl erupting from her throat.
He slowly moved his head to me. He nudged his head in the direction of Maeve, urging me to tell her. I walked besides him, my hands on my sides. "Hello, I'm Alcina Willith, Cebrus' mate. I'm here for the key that was discovered this morning."
She raised a brow and reeled back in disgust. "Why do you need something like that?"
"Why do I need to tell you?" Honestly I didn't know. But I think it would be a useful tool to use for later.
"It was the only remaining object of my dead soldier." She said, holding a hand to her chest, acting hurt and pained.
"Cut the shit." I huffed, crossing one arm over the other. I leaned over her, she leaned back, a little bit of fear sparking in her eyes.
"Give me the key."
"I don't take orders from a slave." I sucked in a breath. How did she know? There is no way any of my resumes said that I was a slave. I looked over to my shoulder where my mark was. Then there it was, the diamond with the line through it, on full display.
There was a growl, then out of nowhere, Cebrus reached pass me and pushed her off the bench. She squealed, landing on the ground. "Don't talk to my mate like that." He started to walk around the bench, but she hopped to her feet.
"I'll give you the key. I'll give you the key." She held out her hands, defending herself from Cebrus who was stalking closer. He looked to me, wondering if he should continue or not. I just shrugged.
"We'll be waiting." I gave her a hard look before she ran off.
There was a long thick silence, before the question I knew I would have to answer someday entered the air. "You were a slave?"
I choked on my words. Who knew it would be so hard to say. I looked away and up at the blue sky above us. I just nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why do you need to know?" I snapped. "Is this going to change how you look at me? Yes, I was a slave, but that doesn't mean anything, I'm still me," I pointed to myself. I watched his eyes soften.
"That's—" he paused stepping closer, a slow, calculating step. "That's not what I meant." He shook his head, reaching out his arms to envelop me. "That's not what I meant at all."
I allowed his arms to circle around me, drawing me into his embrace. "I just—I just didn't know. Know you have gone through something like that." I pushed out of his arms.
"I'm sure you have gone through much worse." I turned my back to him. "I'm not weak, I can take it." I felt him wrap his arms around my waist.
He kissed the name of my neck. "I think I'm saying the wrong things." I looked towards him, to see his green eyes looking serious.
"Alcina, You are my mate, regardless of your past, or what you might do in the future." Then he placed a kiss on my cheek. "I love you, Alcina, you and all of your past."
Love me. Me? I leaned into his touch.
Being loved was nice.
— VALENTINES DAY ...pt. 1
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