Elysium's Diamond
By: Axia Hayden
Summary: It was a marriage based on a joining of lands and hopes of providing an heir; love was nonexistent in this sacred union. But at the altar, Darien Shields looked deep into the eyes of his bride and burned with desire for her – but his heart was pledged to another. Looking into the eyes of her future husband, Serenity Donaveux swore her enmity to the dark-haired Lord who took her body but rejected her love. Fortunately, destiny has a way of stepping in…
Acknowledgements: To Katherine M., my wonderful editor, who has always believed in me as well as serve me enough coffee to keep even the Titanic afloat during the writing of this story. You never failed to put a smile on my face. This one's for you.
Prologue
Serena Donaveux laid in a heap on the cold, stone floor. One eye was swollen shut and a trickle of blood steadily ran from the corner of her mouth, staining her wool dress. Her arms branded red handprints and her throat was already turning green from being recently held into a tight, deathlike grip. But despite the obvious discomfort it should've cost her, she felt nothing, and instead focused her undivided attention on the smirking man towering above her. She felt no love for the man who was her father. He was a despicable excuse for a human being, and despite all of the things he had done to her over the years, she felt no fear of the man.
All her life she had been trained by her mother for life in a nunnery. Not one of religious education where she would have to spend the rest of her life praying and chanting, but one of high practicality, leading to the only career open to a noblewoman. She had been trained to become an abbess, the superior of a convent, where she would be sought by both women and men alike for her wisdom. An abbess ruled and was ruled by no one. She had spent 21 years of her life learning things that women weren't traditionally taught. She could read and write, manage a reception for a king, run an entire estate; everything she would need to know to become an abbess had been drilled into her. Now, she was expected to throw all of that away and become the servant of some man her father had chosen for her?
"I will not." Serena said in a quiet voice, her voice raspy from being moments earlier strangled half to death, each word causing her pain. But despite all of that the few words could not have been louder and clearer if they'd been shouted.
Drake Donaveux, looked at his daughter in bewilderment. No female had ever defied him with such a firm look before. In fact, if he hadn't known she was a woman; he would've cowered from the look she was giving him and had to repress the urge to cross his person. When he recovered from his shock, he grabbed her by her hair, pulling her up into a standing position before him, her toes only barely grazing the ground as his face contorted into a snarl. He practically dropped her, as she stared down at him with absolutely no fear in her eyes, merely disgust and a touch of hatred. His breath caught for a moment at what he saw. In a way, the girl almost frightened him.
"You will do as I say," Drake said, his voice low and ominous. "You will provide me with grandsons. I need someone to carry on my name. Unfortunately, you're all I have." At that, he threw her back down on the ground, her silvery hair twirling like a giant blanket around her.
Drake held his breath, a slight stirring in his groin changing his menacing looks into one of a man in heat. Looking over his shoulder, he frowned at where his wife stood. Serenity was pressed up against the wall, her eyes holding a glazed look as she looked at her daughter with fear and concern. Now here was a woman he could understand. She had since long ago lost her spirit, having been beaten by her husband for 20 years. She was a meek and timid little woman, with hair as light as her daughter's, eyes that had once been a dark blue that held such fire already doused from years of abuse.
"Come here," he snarled, "wife." He smirked as she gave a visible shudder and sunk even lower toward the floor. "Come here! Or shall I personally go there and get you myself?"
If it wasn't for the slight flicker in her eyes, he would've thought that she hadn't heard him. For years, she had kept her and her daughter locked up in the castle tower, alone with their books and ledgers, and for years Drake could have cared less. He had what he wanted from her. A good rump in the bed, her dowry, as well as the vast amount of land that his marriage to her had provided him. He had since long ago acquired many mistresses and at times, he had even forgotten he had a wife and daughter who had isolated themselves away somewhere in the castle.
Slowly, and with great pain, she shuffled her way towards her husband, her left leg threatening to give in from under her. Moments ago, her and her daughter had been pouring over the castle ledgers, going over the financial hitches since Lord Donaveux was very well known for his gambling habits, and due to his lack of skills, it was costing them an abundant amount of money. He had barged in, his presence shocking both women, for up in their tower, they had a life free of Lord Donaveux's violent ways.
From the moment Serena was born, Serenity took one look into her young baby's blue eyes and vowed to keep her daughter away from her husband as well as the life she had to live through. A couple days after giving birth, Serenity had confidently strolled into her husband's study, shocking him, his son from his first wife, and herself, as she demanded that they allow Serena to enter the convent.
Drake took one look at his wife, and laughed. "What does it matter to me what you do with the wailing babe? She is of no use to me. Throw her out the window for all I care." His son snorted in amusement at the prospect of throwing a baby out the window. "Now leave me woman, and do not enter my study again without announcing yourself. This is my warning to you, now leave us to our business."
Serenity left the study, and for the first time since her marriage to the man, a spark of hope ignited deep inside her. For the first time, she had a reason to live. She was determined to have her daughter lead a life away from men; where her life wouldn't be scarred from abuse from drunk, greedy noblemen. She ordered a maid to move all of their things into the east tower's room. The room hadn't been used in years, the furniture already dusty from neglect. Serenity carried her daughter in her arms, and smiled. "Soon, my precious daughter, soon. I'll save you from the likes of your father and all men in this world. I curse the day God made men. I will train you. You will be a part of the convent when you come of age. I promise you."
Twenty-one years later, Lord Donaveux's son was murdered by the husband of a serf he had raped. And now, for the first time in Serena's life, Lord Donaveux looked at his only daughter with avid interest, much to the chagrin of Serenity. He had demanded that Serena marry. He no longer had an heir, and he needed her to provide him with grandsons. Upon hearing this, Serenity could only see red. All those years of preparing her daughter for the church seemed to disappear within her very eyes. Without any conscious thoughts, she flung herself onto her husband, beating him with all her pent-up rage. With only a slight hesitation of surprise, he flung her against the hard, stone wall, her leg twisting beneath her as she landed on it in an unnatural angle.
Serena, with one quick look at her mother's rumpled form on the ground, had taken her eating dagger and lunged at Lord Donaveux. Being recently attacked, he wasn't quick enough to dodge the dagger, as he found it lodged into his shoulder. With a loud, earth shattering growl, he began to pummel his fist into her face.
Now, as Serenity was walking towards Lord Donaveux, he grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to him. Serena could only look on as he held her mother by her hair and extracting the same dagger that was lodged into his shoulder ran it lingeringly across Serenity's throat. "Such beautiful skin. After our honeymoon, you were always in my dreams. My mistresses paled in comparison to you. I pined for you as well as our daughter." At that he gave a small cackle. "I sometimes wonder if that girl is even mine, for she looks nothing like me. Pity. I'm sure it would've at least made my blood stop from boiling every time I see her." He ran the dagger along her jaw and towards her cheek, the sharp point digging into her skin causing a trickle of blood to run down her jaw line. Holding her at arms length, he looked back down at his daughter, her eyes turning the color of the midnight sky as she snarled up at him.
He smiled down at her as he held his wife's forearm in his powerful hands and snapped the bones as one would break a twig.
Serenity never said a word, only crumpled at his feet.
Drake looked back at his daughter where she still lay, not yet able to comprehend his brutality. "Now girl, I'll ask you again. Do you marry or not?"
Serena could only nod before she turned to aid her unconscious mother.
AN: This will be probably be the shortest chapter I'll write in this story. So brace yourself for longer chapters soon. Let me know what you think.