Blood Lily

Chapter Four

        
I feel the blood drain from my face as I stare at the lion mask. The wood seems to vibrate with energy, the lion's face remains in the same snarl but his green eyes blink slowly. I stay frozen in fear as the men sit down on the blanket and begin to stuff their packs with the food. All except the man with the stitched mouth, he simply sits there and stares at me with eyes so vibrant they seem almost red. "What...What do you want?" I ask slowly, my voice drained of energy.

         The scarred man pops a grape in his mouth and chews as he responds, "We have come with a request for you." Grape juice sprays from his mouth onto my face but I don't try to wipe it away as he continues speaking, "You see, my buddies and I plan on dethroning the king and taking over both the kingdom and the witch realm. This would mean killing the royal family, including your beloved husband, and your own parents and sisters. But we thunk it over and decided it seemed like a mighty lot of work so we decided we would just come and pay you a visit. In conclusion we want the people to stay divided, don't ask us why because we can't answer you. Your prince wants to bring the witches and humans together but if the people stay at eachothers throats we can thrive in the chaos of this world, we could even be kings in our own right."

         I glare at the man, anger causing my blood to boil, "Then...are you here to kill Ashton and I?"

          At this, the lion masked man laughs and shakes his head, "No sweet, we are here to give you an alternate option to your death and the deaths of all your loved ones. If you ruin the prince's opinion of witches and keep him from trying to eliminate the stigma against them we will have no reason to dirty our hands with his blood."

        "And how do you expect me to do that!"

          The men stand having successfully taken all of the feast, "That is for you to figure out." The scared man smiles again and runs a hand through his auburn hair, "But remember if you don't succeed, everyone you love will die."

          With that, they run toward the wood in the north where I see three dark horses grazing. I fall back on the pillows and wait for help to arrive.

          This time when I open my eyes I am looking at the ceiling of the palace infirmary. A memory, I think and scrub my face with my hand.

           Why was I remembering that encounter, it had been the second week of my month long honeymoon with Ashton.

           I hadn't seen the men again, unless you counted my dreams. I turn my head to my left surprised to see the sun about to set. "Nisla."

         I turn my head again, this time to the voice when a sudden pounding pulses through my brain, I squeeze my eyes shut and moan in pain. Ashton quickly hurries to my side and takes my hand, I open my eyes to look at him. I blink a few times in shock at what lies written on his face, fear, not of me but for me. I see tears glimmer in his eyes as he looks at me, I feel my own tears rolling down my face. "What happened." I croak in a raspy voice weak from miss use.

          Ashton shakes his head almost laughing, "That's what we've been waiting for you to tell us."

          I just furrow my brows in confusion and wait for him to continue.

         "Some of the guards found you in a locked room with the windows blown out and nothing in a ten foot radius of you. They came and got me and I carried you here. The physician found no external injuries but it was clear that something was wrong. I had your mother called on and she came as quickly as she could. She said that you had a large lack of energy as well as consistent pressure on your heart and brain from your own magic. She had to temporarily drain you of your magic, and after that you were out for two weeks."

         My eyes widen at that, "Two weeks?" I ask shocked.

          Ashton just nods, I try to keep my mind from pulling my back into unconsciousness, but my lids slowly close over my eyes and I am swallowed into the dark yet again. Before I drift off completely I feel Ashtons soft lips on my forehead and hear him whisper, "Get better my love."

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Make sure to vote for the story......please- A.K. Coffman