The Sun's Shadow

Chapter Eighteen

Before news of the banquet even made it to the ears of the Prince, he knew something was being concocted by his parents. The way they avoided him, even when he confronted them soon after his father made the irrational decree of a public mating, made him on guard for anything lurking around the corner.

Tricks rested in every hallway of this castle.

Temptations awaited behind doors that weren't locked... Ele never locked her door. Either too trusting of the vampires who gave her shelter or too hopeful that Kaanan might wander in at any moment. That's where he set off to right after breakfast. The kitchen staff were bustling about, getting ready for this spur-of-the-moment banquet that had the entire castle whirring with excitement.

What shall I wear? What's on the menu? Will the Prince find a mate?

All the questions made him lose his appetite. The only thing to satiate his needs now rested two turns away and through one unlocked door.

Along the way, he bumped into the trick. His cousin wandered the halls that morning hoping to find him before his mother did. News like this better come from her lips.

"Oh! Kaanan, I-" Although she went looking for him, it startled and took the words from her when they bumped into each other turning a corner too hastily. He couldn't be walking to the near point of a sprint just to find that faenix, right? She shook off the jealousy. "I just want-"

"That's nice, Sloane." He only looked beyond her. One more turn. One unlocked door. "Now if you'll excuse me..."

"There you two are!" The sound of the chipper Queen in the morning had Kaanan do a double take to ensure it was her voice that produced the words.

He blinked away his look of shock. "Mother?"

"Well, who else would it be?" Hmm.. Maybe a morning person, a thing she's never been? The smile on her face at the sight of them together stretched wider when she saw no faenix interference in sight. "How perfect that you two are gathering before the banquet tonight. I've been so preoccupied with the preparations to inform Kaanan of tonight's events. Sloane?"

The unspoken question hung between the pair of devious woman and Kaanan put his mind to work to guess what was left unanswered.

It didn't take long for him to put the pieces together. His mother's delight. The way Sloane blushed. And his father... The master of deception. "No, tell me you didn't."

Kaanan felt his world shatter and then implode when he peered past his mother and spotted Ele hesitating around the corner. He felt a tug on his right arm; it was Sloane. His cousin. Who attempted to wrap her arm around his to steady him, all the while over-explaining her part in this. The Queen spoke over her, but their voices drowned when he couldn't look away from his little faenix who overheard everything.

Ele turned away fast before he even had a chance to pull away from Sloane.

"Stop!" He roared, on the verge of giving into the monster within just to terrify anyone interested in marrying him. If he killed Sloane, news would spread and he'd never have to worry about being unwillingly paired...

Kill. Kill her. A multitude of sinister voices whispered in his skull. Voices he'd never heard before.

Sloane pulled away from him and the terror in his mother's eyes ultimately stopped him from acting on what the voices commanded.

She held her hand up to her mouth and unsteadily sucked in her next few breaths. "Curse all the gods, it still lives in you."

Now both women went to hold on to each other and backed away from the threat.