The Queen of Elysium

Chapter 30 - Heart of a Queen

Aren feels on top of the world; there is a spring in his step and his fingers are entwined with his beloved's as they stroll about the gardens. Alone at long last.

The tiger growls in his mind as a liveried servant approaches them.

The servant bows smartly. "Your Majesty, the Watcher bade me inform you that Babylon is trying to contact you."

"OK, I'll go to my study," Elissa informs the messenger, who bows once more and returns in the direction of the palace.

She scrunches her nose. "I'm sorry. I need to attend to this."

Cradling the back of her head, he presses soft kisses to her lips. "Is there any way that I can entice you to stay with me a little longer?"

She smiles up at him with sunlight shimmering in her eyes. "I guess that Seraphina can wait a little longer."

Need drives him forward and he makes the most of the stolen moment. When they finally break apart breathless, she shakes her head as if to clear a haze. "Aren, I should go."

He pouts. "We hardly ever get to be alone. Someone or something is always demanding your time."

"Hey." She caresses his cheek. "Others may have my time, but you have my heart."

The words are like the most exquisite music to his ears. He captures her hand and places it on his chest, declaring, "And my heart belongs to you. It always will."

He is very pleasantly surprised when she threads her free hand in his hair and kisses him with abandon. However, the moment is all too fleeting and she is the one to pull away.

"OK, I really, really have to go. Will you walk with me?"

At his nod, Elissa loops an arm through his and guides them back up to the palace, though his dragging feet keeps the pace slow. When they reach the outside of her state apartments, she urges him to kiss her again; that is one request that he is only too happy to oblige.

Lost in a drugging embrace, he is overwhelmed with a sense of lightness and is not ready when she once again pulls away. Reluctantly, he opens his eyes and finds that they are on the top of her tower.

My female can fly. His eagle is overjoyed.

"Thanks for the lift. I'll see you later." Elissa winks then disappears, leaving him alone.

Cloth transmutes to feathers and he launches upward, stretching out his wings to catch the light updraft. His keen eyes spot a fish jumping up from the river below, its silvery scales glinting in the sun. He is sorely tempted to give chase but does not want to risk getting fishy breath or indigestion. Instead, he soars far above Avalon and revels in the freedom of the skies.

.....

Elissa enters her study and leans against the door, a soppy smile plastered across her face. Come on, Elle. Duty calls and you can't face Seraphina grinning like a schoolgirl – that would just be asking for trouble.

Schooling her features, she approaches the magic mirror and commands, "Link me through to Babylon."

When its silvery surface ripples, she rubs her hands and thinks, I'm finally getting the hang of this.

However, when the mirror hardens she wonders if perhaps she might have been a tad hasty, for instead of the Queen of the Dragonites there, taking up almost all of the space, is a seven-foot leather-clad warrior.

Kai! Her heart practically lodges in her throat. This is one conversation that she knows she has to have but doesn't want to face.

He gets straight down to business. "We have checked the last of the old gates to Tartarus and the barrier is intact."