The Three Suns Page 2

  Dende nodded and turned to mount her horse.

  “My lady,” Siluman said as he rose to once again stand. His eyes locked on Dende when she turned around, and she could see a softness in his eyes. She could almost see how he must have looked in his full human form, but the moons were full and would be for some time.

  “Protect the king at all costs, and I beg you, Your Majesty, be wise and be safe.”

  Siluman turned just as Dende opened her mouth to tell him the same. Before she could speak, he had run back into the woods and out of sight.

  Kainen and his troops had no choice but to brave the ghouls and the merfolk by the sea. If they had truly witnessed a wraith then it was possible that the sea creatures already knew they were coming. Did the elves no longer have allies in any of the kingdoms? Would there be no one on his side, or would the elves of the mountains become obsolete like the elves from the volcanoes already had?

  The king had to ask himself if this was all worth it—if the love he once felt for the vampire queen would overshadow the hatred she now felt for him and the dull ache that he felt for her. Their love could have conquered a thousand realms if they had let it, but it was too secret, too rare, and now the echoes of their love had poisoned the land.

  Kainen knew that this had to be done. A treaty had to be reached, and Kainen had to remind himself that this was all for the greater good. He would not die that day or any day before meeting with the queen.

  He was going to see the vampire queen again, even if it was the last thing that he did.

  Chapter Two

  The Queen

  ‘So, he’s making his way to the shore…’

  Queen Veri’s eyes fluttered open. Her vision of Kainen was fading. She hadn’t tasted his blood in so long that her sight on him had weakened. She would only be able to feel their strong connection if he was near to her, or if she could once again taste the sweet elixir that ran through his veins.

  Her pupils were as deep a red as her lips whenever she searched for someone, but they were fading and returning to their usual dark brown. Everything about her was pale except her eyes, her lips, and the clothes she chose to wear. Her robes and gowns had the most intricate details and came in different lengths and styles. She was the most beautiful ruler in all the realms, even more beautiful than the queen of the sea.

  Veri knew that King Kainen had never seen the sea queen—who was half mermaid and half siren—and there would be no escaping her if he laid eyes on her or heard her siren song.

  Veri wanted him alive. She needed him alive. She told her loyal friend Siluman to warn him of the ambush that awaited him. She had never granted permission for the ambush, but the wolves sometimes acted of their own accord. With no real leader, they did whatever suited them at any given time. Siluman was probably the only one that she could trust.

  Queen Veri didn’t care about the rest of the elves who traveled with Kainen; she just wanted to make sure that he was alive. Was he coming as a repentant elf to beg for her forgiveness? Veri hoped, but she knew that wasn’t the case. He was going to try and reason with her, but it was too late for that. Kainen had broken her heart. There would be no reasoning.

  No. She was going to make him pay for what he had done. She was going to ensure that he felt as alone and as lost as she felt when she found that he had taken another lover.

  Veri rose from her throne and walked through the great halls into her bed chamber. There was a small jewelry box upon a table that was a part of a large tree. The tree was the entire wall to one side, and it grew into the room to make a bed for her as well.

  No one had ever seen this jewelry box, and if they had then they certainly had never dared to touch it. The box contained many small vials of blood—blood from lovers, rulers, and even from prey lay on the black velvet that lined the interior of the box. The blood is what connected her to the creatures of this realm. If she wanted to know the whereabouts of them or project memories to them, she needed to taste their blood and feel their energy within her.

  And at this moment, there was one vial in particular that she needed. Veri needed to speak with queen Syrena, who ruled the kingdom of the sea and by the coastline. Kainen was fading more quickly by the second, and if she lost sight of him, he could very well be killed before he could get to her.

  Veri rummaged through the vials that were scattered inside the jewelry box. She knew which blood belonged to whom by the smell, even without having to remove the lid. She found the small bottle that contained the thick and deep green liquid that was Queen Syrena’s blood. She opened it and dropped only a few droplets into her mouth.

  “Syrena,” Veri whispered when she felt the warmth of Syrena’s blood swimming through her. “Syrena… Spare King Kainen. Kill any of those who are with him… but let him be safe, and lead him to me.”

  There was no way for Syrena to answer, but Veri could sense that she understood. Syrena was receiving Veri’s messages in short and faded pictures, but Veri knew that it would be enough.

  Soon King Kainen would be in her court, and then and only then would she knew what to do with the king who had broken her heart.

  *****

  Veri had not slept in days. Kainen’s energy had faded entirely, and the thought of having lost him was more painful than she cared to admit. Despite the grief he had caused her, she still loved him. What she wanted was for him to suffer and feel how she had felt when he left her, even if he had come to tell her that he wanted to rekindle their love affair.

  The sky above her had turned almost black. She had not properly fed in days, and it was now showing in the sky.

  If she’d had Kainen killed, she would live the next few centuries in regret before succumbing from a broken heart. She didn’t know how she would be able to live, to reign, or to feed knowing that in her anger she allowed him to die when she was now allowing him the chance to make things right.

  And then.

  Life.

  Veri raised her head and looked down to the far end of the great hall. The mighty oak doors swung open. All she could see were shadows, but she knew… She knew that it was him. She could smell his sweet blood. A heart she never realized could feel was now aching for him.

  Kainen walked along the length of the hall, his reflection shining in the white marble floors. He was so beautiful—his brown skin against his pale eyes and jet black hair. His hair swung gently from side to side when he walked.

  The few companions who were with him were by the door. A few humans from the queen’s court stood silently alongside.

  Veri waited to see if Kainen had sustained any injuries. She could smell that he hadn’t, but she needed to be sure. When he drew close enough, she rose from her throne and looked down at him.

  “Queen Veri,” Kainen said. He bowed his head. Veri waited for him to rise and look at her before she acknowledged him.

  “You look unwell, King,” was all she allowed herself to say. His eyes were weary, and she could see dark circles forming beneath them.

  “I’m well enough to stand. And I am still well enough to rule. I’d like to speak with you privately, Your Majesty.”

  Veri remembered a time not too long ago when Kainen would say ‘My Queen’ rather than ‘Your Majesty.’ They were the rulers of their own kingdoms, but she was still his. They were in love then. If he loved her once, she would find a way to make him love her again.

  Veri stretched out her hand and gently moved it to her right. She was leading him to a chamber on one side of the great hall of her castle. Kainen paused. He had been in that room before, but no one knew that other than the queen. She lowered her head slightly as if to let him know that she was aware of what he was thinking, and she stepped down from the marble stairs her throne was placed upon.

  She raised her head to look at the remaining elves. The doors of her castle had been closed, but they hadn’t moved or spoken since they had arrived. Kainen followed behind her. He watched her every step. Her dress practically floated behind her
. She was almost more than a queen given how beautiful she was.

  “What do you want?” she asked when they were both inside the room that was down the great hall and to the right of her throne. She closed the door behind them and didn’t take her eyes off of him when she spoke. It was a small room without corners. It was perfectly round with grass growing from the floor. On one side, it was floor to ceiling shelves bearing books and scrolls of the ages. A window showed what appeared to be a peaceful sea and the edge of the forest. The sky was so black now from Veri’s hunger and heartache that it was difficult to see anything.

  “We must stop this,” Kainen said. “Your Majesty… Veri, we cannot kill more of my people or risk your kingdom and all of our allies for something that they have taken no part in. This is between the two of us.”

  He wasn’t pleading with her as she had hoped. He was almost scolding her. He was shaming her on top of hurting and leaving her.

  Veri became infuriated. The skies outside burst from an almost black to a bright blue that quickly turned dark. Kainen paid the skies no mind. They were always shifting and forming into new colors depending on the mood and the heart of this realm’s ruler.

  “You have clearly not lost someone who is most dear to you,” Veri said. Her voice cracked, and she choked on her last words. Kainen moved toward her, but she raised a hand to stop him. “I told Syrena not to kill you. I asked the merfolk and the sirens and wraiths to spare you so that you could be left to me.”

  “Because you wanted to kill me yourself…” Kainen said.

  “Because I wanted to have you beg for my forgiveness, and now here you are. And instead all that I feel is rage.”

  The sky burst again to that unfamiliar bright blue. Her anger was manifesting itself in the clouds above.

  “You have every right to…”

  “How could you leave me?” Veri started. She tried to control the cadence of her voice even though she knew that they were both safe from curious ears while they were inside this room. “How can you walk away from this and fall in love with a human?”

  Veri spat out the word ‘human’ as if she were speaking a curse.

  “It wasn’t my intention to ever leave you, you must believe that,” Kainen said. He moved forward even as she began to recoil. He took her hand and brought it to his heart so that she could feel it beat.

  “Your words now aren’t going to make up for your cruelty, Kainen. Intent or otherwise, I am still left with nothing while you are in love with someone else. I wanted you to remember. I wanted you to see what it was we had, and what it is that we can have still. We could have united our kingdoms…”

  “We can still unite our kingdoms. We don’t have to be in love to want peace for our people,” Kainen said. He was no longer a lover to her; he was simply a king addressing a queen.

  “But imagine what it could be if we were,” Veri said. She didn’t want to plead with him, but she wanted him to see—needed him to see—what she saw in her own heart. Maybe things could go back to the way they used to be if she could convince him to stay.

  Kainen’s pale eyes searched Queen Veri’s dark and brooding orbs. They were so different. He was so tall, but in a way that had never made her feel small before—not until this moment. She looked up at him and searched for any love or hope in his almost-white eyes.

  His face was chiseled and serious, more so now that he was tired and worn from trying to escape the creatures on the coast. His cheekbones were high, and his jaw looked like it could cut through anyone’s soul. Veri’s face was soft and almost round. There was an innocence to her with how large and curious her eyes were. The brows were pale like her skin and her hair. What gave her such elegance was her naturally bright red lips and the magnificent robes that she wore.

  “Show me,” Kainen finally said. The corners of her mouth rose in a tentative smile. He was giving her a chance to remind him of their love. There was hope.

  He released her hand that was still pressed against his chest, feeling the way his weary heart was racing. He held up his hand to her with his index finger extended. He was asking her to drink his blood, to have them joined once more by their memories and feelings. Her memories were so vivid that they even aided him when he was ever blessed with premonitions, whether they came to fruition or were just fantasy longing to be fulfilled.

  She looked at his hand, and after a long moment she took it. The sky outside shifted and changed to a very dark pink with wisps of a deep green floating through the clouds. Her anguish was bringing the darkness, but her love for him was giving her away with the pink and green that broke through the darkness.

  She wrapped her small hands around his, brought his finger towards her mouth, and Veri took a bite and gently began to suck his blood.

  Chapter Three

  The Lovers

  Kainen awoke to find himself in a familiar field. He wasn’t too far from his kingdom. This was one of the few patches of true green between the volcanoes and a trail near the southernmost part of the forest. No one wise would enter the forest from here. The trolls did not take too kindly to visitors who were not the descendants of the elves who had lived in the volcanoes, and neither did the witches. For what could have been potentially ruthless beasts, the witches and trolls enjoyed their solitude.

  The elves who had once lived in the volcanoes on the other side of the mountain elves’ dwellings had long been extinct. The foot of the volcanoes had caves and were the land of tall and fierce trolls, but became soft when the witches had come out of the forest and were nearby.

  The mountain elves were the closest relatives to the elves of the volcano, and the mountain elves were the clan that Kainen now ruled. The wailing winds from this dark entrance to the forest were all that was left of the elves from the volcanoes.

  The elves from the volcanoes, the incubi, and the succubi were the only creatures of this realm that had become extinct. Kainen had saved his own people, and that was partially how he had met with the queen of the vampires. Her reign had not been as long as his, but he was willing to let go of a feud in order to have the world around him become a better place. Sometimes he felt like he was too good and wanted too much from this realm. He was a fierce warrior who much preferred balance and peace between all kingdoms.

  King Kainen scoped his surroundings. The gentle warmth of the suns was beating down on him, and for that short time in his solitude, he closed his eyes and took in the rays. The field he was in was a brighter green than the forest trees surrounding it; so bright, in fact, they made the ash of the volcano so black that it almost looked like an obsidian liquid was coming from the distant hills. The forest was thick and dark, and one could barely see beyond just a few trees. No creatures needed warning not to enter the forest from this way. The forest elves hailed from the west and had not gone this far south to visit their cousins in the mountain; they had traveled a different route. The queen of the witches, Ragana, had made a treaty about the lands in which she and her people ruled, and how far into her territory any known creature could travel before succumbing to some dark magic—or at the hands of the witches or trolls themselves.

  Kainen looked around him, suddenly remembering why he was in this memory and who it was he had come with. The field was mostly peaceful on that day. The air was so still that not even the leaves of the trees stirred. The sky was a clear blue with clouds only above the volcanoes.

  But where was she?

  “My king.”

  Kainen heard her voice before he saw that she was standing right behind him. He had no way of knowing how long she had been standing there admiring him. He didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that she was there with him now. He no longer had to wait.

  The queen was exceptionally beautiful today. Her robes looked like silk and were the same color as the sky above. The sleeves and front were embellished with patterns that danced between the colors of wheat and the brightest gold. The dress shimmered under the pale yellow suns.

  He was
seeing her with fresh eyes, and he had to remind himself that this had all happened before. There was nothing he could say or do that would be different from the last time he had lived this moment. He felt himself smile and lean forward to kiss her. His heart raced. He had not yet gotten over the thrill of meeting his love in secret. No one in any world knew about them but them.

  “My queen,” he whispered when he had pulled his face away from hers. He was still holding her close, now smiling to himself because of how small she was compared to him. How could someone so petite be so deadly? She was always meant to be a mighty ruler, killing her own uncle to secure her place on the throne. She was ruthless and cunning, but she always found a way to be soft around him.

  “Soon we won’t have to meet like this,” he told her. A very gentle breeze blew, and a small tuft of hair blew into her face. She was stunning. Kainen didn’t want to move or even brush the hair out of her face. He wanted to remember her just the way she was.

  “I will be with you until that day, and for all the days after,” Veri said. Her smile revealed her small fangs. Even those looked beautiful to him. He admitted to himself that he had never feared her. His only fear was losing her.

  “And I with you,” Kainen said. “Forever.”

  He leaned forward once again to taste the lips of his beloved.

  *****

  Kainen was brought back into the small chamber in Queen Veri’s castle. That moment seemed like such a distant memory, but he soon realized that that wasn’t too long ago.

  “We promised each other forever,” Veri said. Her eyes welled up with tears the color of Kainen’s blood. Her face hardened then, and she wiped the tears away before they had a chance to roll down her cheeks.

  “But…” Veri started. She paused and grew stiff. She was sensing something in Kainen’s blood; a memory that she had not been a part of. Her eyes widened, and she reached out at nothing. She was no longer in her castle. She was no longer herself.