Castle of onyx

Chapter 3

The stranger was mere inches away from me, his clawed hands outstretched to seize me. I tried to will my magic to surface but it wouldn't come. The ground beneath his feet began to crack, until it was gone and him with it. The last thing I saw before he fell was his piercing black eyes staring right into my own, his lips twisting into a snarl.

I was abruptly pulled into the cabin, hearing in the distance the distinct sound of heavy wings beating together. Once the door was slammed closed I turned to face my saviour, Nerida stood there looking at disapprovingly. "What where you thinking?!" she demanded. I'd only seen Nerida angry a handful of times and seen her use her powers even less. Like her father and most of the royals of Stalrion, she had powers that could manipulate earth. "Thank you Ner, I'm so sorry I just needed some air and then he just appeared out of no where. Should we go? He's probably going to try and break down the door after what you did to him." Ivo stood, his face like thunder "Luckily for you, this house is charmed. If the door was broken down he'd find nothing but a deserted shack. Even luckier for you, that Nerida cares about you so much. I would of just left you out there, for endangering us all like that'. My cheeks heated, what had I been thinking.

That evening, we ate broth with crusty bread that Elex had begrudgingly cooked for us. I couldn't shake the image of that Carathen, staring at me with his spine chilling eyes. I'd never seen a person with wings before, and his were so huge they must of been 8 feet at least.

Thorin burst through the door, interrupting my thoughts. I looked him over, checking for injuries, he seemed fine. I felt relief wash over me. "Thank gods, I thought you'd be dead cousin" said Ner throwing her arms around him. "I'm fine, as is your father." He replied. She visibly brightened with relief. "It's not all good news. Your father has said its safe for you to return though. He's going to explain everything when your back." Thorin gently pushed Nor aside and strode over to me. I lifted my hand to his face "I'm so glad your ok" I whispered to him. "And I'm glad you survived two days here" he replied, offering me a cheeky smile. "I was half expecting Ivo to have murdered you both". I grinned, he wasn't far off. 

Thorin took my hand, Ivo took his sisters and we shot back to the castle. We landed in the vast grounds. The grass was muddy and bare from so many people walking on it. Other than that it thankfully didn't look any different.

We walked straight to the kings study and found him at his desk talking to his head of guard. "Sit down, sit down" he said "We were just finishing up here". We took a seat and he waited for his subject to leave. He began "As you may know, Carathen's army arrived, the day you left. They killed a handful of our soldiers, before we sent our messenger out to deliberate with their king. I was shocked to learn what he was here for. He was demanding that I hand over his mate. I had no idea what he was talking about. The messenger went back and the King of Carathen said, If we did not hand over his destined mate, then he would order his army to attack. The messenger asked who his mate was and to my absolute dismay, he said Eden of Stalrion".
Ivo's fist slammed against the table. Making the rest of us jump.
King Cicero continued "Of course I declined, I wouldnt hand my daughter over to that heathen. Eden was here with me, she had claimed you all left without her. That time, when the messenger went to the king, he didn't return. The Carathen soldiers started attacking ours and from the moment It began I knew it would be a slaughter. I demanded Eden tell me what was going on, and thats when i noticed her bracelet." The room went still.

I knew as soon as he mentioned the bracelet, what he was talking about, we all did. I looked down at my own bracelet, given to me by my father. It was rose gold with cyan teardrop jewels. Every single person in this land had one too, although each was different. The bracelets click tightly into place and cannot be opened or taken off. That is unless you meet your destined mate. They are the only person who can remove your bracelet. I had tried for hours to remove Thorin's as he had with mine. He'd tried brute force, using his powers, everything, it didn't prove successful. Of course you didn't have to be destined mates to be together or to love each other, few people ever found there destined anyway.  Once the bracelet is removed by your destined, you swap your bracelet over and put some of your powers to it. It is said that this magic will protect your mate.

The king finished the story, telling us that Eden had a pewter and black bracelet on, with jewels in the shape of the Carathen royal crest. He knew as soon as he saw it, that she had betrayed us. She walked out more than willingly to the evil king and left with him. The king had assumed that Eden had somehow met him over the summer she'd been away. What shocked us all the most, is that she'd been mated to him for months and hidden it. She'd allowed her mate to come here and kill innocent members of this court and left with a smile on her face. Ivo was absolutely livid, he had walked over and punched his fathers office door. His fist going straight through the heavy wood. I was shocked as was Nerida but we knew Eden had never been a good person. She did not value this country as me and Ner did. We loved it here and would fight for it until our dying day.

We ate together that evening in the formal dining rooms, joined by a few of king Ciceros aristocrat friends and their wives. I couldn't help but notice the atmosphere in the castle had thoroughly improved. The servants had a spring in there step and everyone was smiling and talkative. Probably knowing that the whole country wasn't at risk of being burned to ashes by Carathen anymore. No one apart from her father and brother seemed to mourn the loss of Eden. The king called a toast. "As you all may know, we are no longer under threat from enemies and my eldest daughter is newly married. With that sentiment, I am announcing the annual autumn equinox celebration will be held the day after tomorrow". His friends let out a cheer as did Thorin and even some of the servants. Me and Ner just looked at each other sceptically. We didn't technically know if the king had even married Eden, only that they were mates. Ivo hadn't joined us tonight. He had made it clear that he was not happy with his fathers choice not to fight back. His choice to give in and let his own blood go to the hands of devil.

The following day I had arrived in Ners rooms, to look through dresses for the equinox gathering. A tall willowy woman with long auburn hair and blue eyes stood beside Ner holding bags and bags of dresses. Petra the royal dress maker. She showed us many dresses, all so luxurious, in a wide variety of the different colours of Stalrion. Ner decided to try on a green gown, with a sweetheart neckline, that flowed out heavily at the skirt. "Wow, you look incredible" I told her. She giggled nervously as she looked in the mirror. The dress was a perfect match with her eyes. When it was my turn, I tried on a pink dress first. I looked ridiculous, the dress had puffed out sleeves making me look like a giant pink macaroon. I could see Petra in the corner of my eye, trying not to laugh. "Here try this" she said passing me a dress bag. I opened it up and inside was a sky blue gown, with silver jewels etched into the neckline. The skirt was a tighter fit than Ners. I looked in the mirror and had to hold back my gasp. The dress was bordering on scandalous, it fit perfectly skimming the curves of my hips and my narrow waist. Flowing out slightly at the bottom near my feet. The colour went nicely with my near white hair. "Its perfect" Ner said to me. I decided to go with it, I loved it and it was comfortable. I walked back to my rooms that evening, feeling surprisingly excited for tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading Chapter 3!! Sorry its not super exciting yet, the romance is going to be slowww burn. Again sorry for grammar and spelling mistakes, i'm going to regularly check them and update.