Darkly Wed (Darkly Devoted Series, Book 3)

Chapter 7 - Memories

Chapter 7

IN THE PAST year, Blake had been happy to finally rid himself of Tercel, but now he had a new obligation to fill his days. He left their penthouse early the next morning to go to the palace. He had checked on Vivienne sleeping in her bed before he left. In slumber, she was once again the playful, messy, forest nymph he had fallen in love with. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to find in seeing her again after all this time. Perhaps, he was expecting her to be cold and sinister, like the former Melody Balan. It would have been better for his sake if she had been.

Yet, after he left that morning, all he could think of was the arch of her back, the plump curve of her bottom under the sheets. There was also the memory of her perfectly formed breasts in his arms. He wished he could focus on the task at hand instead of giving in to the reveries of an easily aroused twenty-six-year-old man.

As Blake entered the town car that morning, Glenn was holding open the car door more nervously than usual. As he started driving, Glenn asked if he could take a couple of days off to look after his sick wife and his young daughter. Blake felt rather sheepish and ashamed that he didn't even know that Glenn was married. After everything Glenn had done for him and Vivienne in the past year, Blake immediately agreed to whatever terms Glenn wanted. He even offered Glenn a paid leave of absence if he wanted. Glenn cheerfully said he would think it over.

"Can you bring Vivienne to the palace later?" Blake asked as he arrived a the Royal Palace. "I believe my discussion with her about Nivarrin isn't finished. Hopefully, you can catch her before she goes running back to her father."

Arriving at the Royal Palace, Alesandra was awaiting him in the reception room. She had a habit of rising early too. For the most part, he had always liked Alesandra. She had a righteous streak to her, and she always acted the part of an older sister to him and his cousins. As far as he knew, she had no vested interest in the politics and mind games of the ruling families. For that reason, he never challenged her place as a steward of the throne.

"Do you need any help finding your way around?" Alesandra asked. She was a proud, stately woman with fiery red hair and green eyes. Standing beside him, in kitten heels, she was nearly as tall as he was.

"I think I can manage. I was told there is a map available for tourists?" Blake asked in jest. Although Maglania had chosen Alesandra to succeed her, she oddly never told Alesandra anything regarding Blake's involvement with her through the years. By habit, Blake never enjoyed revealing more than he absolutely had to. He was always, by nature, extremely secretive. It was a trait he had probably acquired from his mother's side of the family. As Blake allowed Alesandra to give him a cursory tour of the palace, he felt himself reliving old memories.

As she showed him the private lounge areas just off the Throne Room, Blake was reminded of the charity ball when he had first approached Maglania about binding himself to her. He had been so young at the time, what was he? Barely seventeen? His father had died and left him plots of land containing a substance called Dark Waters which could transform those who drank it into demons. He had started selling that addictive substance as medicine which didn't cure any illnesses but managed to give the user temporary relief and an illusion of painless euphoria. It was medicine in some cases, a drug in others. Either way, it made an obscene amount of money. Under Tercel, he used the alias William Oseth. In the drug underground, he was known simply as Chairman Oslen.

By sixteen, he was presiding over a billion-dollar empire, and here, during that charity ball, he had approached Maglania under a false name. It was regretful that combining a teenager's lack of impulse control and a natural talent for wreaking havoc, he would later go on to murder Maglania's son and consort.