Chapter Seventeen
A Queen Playing Queen
Phobos could not believe the risk he took.
The first real chance at freedom in years, and he did this.
But rational sense left him the moment Wilhelmina dropped before him, eyes dancing, tongue hot, and dared to tease him. No, she was meant to shiver from his pleasure, to chant his name. They could do other things later, but this first time he wanted to leave his mark as deep as possible. Leave himself etched in her memory, on her skin, a part of her soul.
Claim her as his as best he could in their borrowed time.
So he, oh so foolishly, called on the untested powers of Achilles.
It worked, to a degree.
The frog could not remove the bonds, but held them back for a short time. Elyon had noticed when the nymph, a far more powerful and experienced magical being, had pushed back a small section on his hand. So he knew his whole body being free would draw her soon.
It should be seen as a waste of the stored magic that Achilles had siphoned from Meridian's Heart through Phobos' chains. Yet, helping Wilhelmina to her feet, her naked body slick with sweat, shaking from her still uneven breaths and the aftermath of their union, it didn't feel like a waste.
In fact, it felt like the best choice he had made in a long while, as her rich brown eyes held his.
Achilles alerted him of the queen drawing near and Phobos, reluctantly, pulled away, already tempted by her dark eyes again.
"We should get dressed," he said, wishing he could indulge more in her warmth, even with his bonds back. She had tasted sweet of magic from the center of the universe. The mage in him reveled in the feeling, the hum on the tip of his tongue, the pulsing, living magic he consumed. She was addicting to someone like him, who craved magic and power. As she was filled to the brim with both. "We have made quiet the ruckus. I imagine we will have visitors soon."
Wilhelmina, her senses returning, nodded. She released her magic, and she returned to her human form, wearing the same green dress she vanished in four days ago. While the change had refreshed her, hair neat, skin clean, clothes whole, he could see the clear signs of their lovemaking on her skin. Her perfect skin was darker around her neck, where he had been a bit too excited, along with a minor cut on her bottom lip. Glancing down, her short Earth style dress showed the same discoloration on her inner left thigh as she walked.
Feeling pleased, Phobos retrieved fresh clothes, trying to make it look natural as he removed the circlet and tucked it away. He donned light blue robes, thin enough to deal with both the summer heat and his still warm body. Phobos needed a bath and, he realized with a flash of want, Wilhelmina would happily join him.
First, he had to deal with his sister and…
"You have rendered my bed unusable," Phobos said, coming to stand next to her, who was staring quietly with wide eyes at the damage she caused.
The wooden headboard, broken in two, with a huge chunk ripped from the center and claw marks gouged in the wall. Feathers, from one pillow she ripped apart, were scattered not only on the bed, but on the surrounding floor. The silk covers were in strips, with a section of the mattress torn open.
"Ah, I see you enjoyed yourself," he stated with a chuckle as he pulled his hair over his shoulder and started braiding. His hand ached a bit where she had gripped him, but luckily he had his magic active, so nothing was broken. He had craved to have her in her warrior form, but any future encounters without his magic would be best with her as her human self. Not that the thought didn't sound deeply appealing.
"Wait," she said, sounding urgent. "How is your hair long again after," she asked, only to stop herself, eyes lost in memory. The event of their last encounter hit her full force, and she was in front of him, hands on his jaw, eyes filled with worry, searching his.
"Shit, that's right. Are you okay? There was blood and, shit," she cursed, genuine pain filling her as she searched him like she didn't just see him fully nude. He was glad he took the Earth Guardian's offer and let her heal him, as Irma was right. Even the idea of him hurt was causing her distress. He doubted she would have reacted well seeing the large wound across his skin.
Hating the pressure in his chest at the sight of her panicking, he kissed her. His bonds were back, and the kiss was far less charged than the ones prior.
It was a way around them he did not expect to use. Admitting his genuine affection for her, that there was a part of him that wanted well for her, wanted her not to feel distress or pain.
She kissed him back before pulling away, still looking worried.
"Calm yourself," he said, tucking a lock of ruby hair behind her ear. "All is as well as it can be. Given my situation in life."
Her brows pulled together. "I thought," she started, glancing back at the bed. "You were acting different. I felt your magic."
"You are smart," he stated, pulling her closer, kissing her again. "You know enough to answer many questions. And to know what questions must go unanswered."
Ah, back to cryptic bullshit. Good thing he was already proficient in it, thanks to his upbringing.
There was a hard knock at his bedroom door that drew their attention. Only he kissed her instead of answering. A little longer this time, her fist bunching at the fabric on his chest, her gasping against his mouth. Another knock, more insistent, and he pulled away, already craving the feel of her again as her dark eyes shined up at him.
Addicting was the right word for the aching pull in his chest at just the sight of her.
Phobos walked over and cracked the door, blocking the room with his body. As Wilhelmina was still trying to get her bearings, and he wasn't sure she was ready to face her companions just yet.
"Sister," Phobos said, all pleasantness in him seeping away at the sight of her. He knew she was coming, but seeing her invoked all the disfavour he had for her.
A child playing queen.
"Phobos," Elyon said, sounding relieved. Did she think he escaped? Until he broke the spells that bound him, he was always going to be within her sight. She could always hunt him down.
Actually, that wasn't true. Being close to an opposing Heart obscured her view, as he learned from his trip underwater with the sea dragon's and the Keeper.
Behind her was the worse guardian to be there at the moment, as she looked both nervous and upset, waiting for Elyon's direction. Any of the other three would have been preferable, but there was an uneasiness in the group that was splintering them while the Keeper was away, making the Earth Guardian seek his sister's company more than the others. So of course she now accompanied the queen in the potential emergency.
"What do you seek?" he demanded, voice agitated, wanting her to leave him be. He, frankly, didn't care for their worry of Wilhelmina, as his want to spend time with the red-head was far more important than what they felt. She would make her way to them, eventually. But the Keeper had other plans as she squeezed her warm body past him, glancing at him with disapproval at his tone, and stood in front of him.
"Hey, Elyon," she addressed the queen, looking nervous. Whatever she was expecting, she wasn't prepared as Elyon sniffed, eyes watering, and threw her arms wide around Wilhelmina, hugging her tight.
"You're back!" she sobbed as Wilhelmina hugged her back, confused as she noticed the Earth Guardian tear up as well and leap at them, soon also crying.
"Back?" she questioned, trying to calm her distraught friends as they clung tight to her, kissing her cheeks in sisterly affection, and refusing to let her go as she struggled.
The weight of them cause her to stumble back, where Phobos reached out with both hands to steady her by her shoulders, releasing the door. The Earth Guardian was the first to notice the chaos in his room. Pulling slightly away, she gripped Wilhelmina's arm, looking at the bed, then at him, a slew of negative emotions cascading in her blue eyes. She gripped Elyon and pulled the two Lights away from him.
"Will," the tall blond called, voice darker, tears rapidly drying. "What happened to you? Where have you been?"
Wilhelmina was confused for a second before she realized where her fellow guardian was looking. Her back stiffened, and he saw the skin at her neck flush with color.
Phobos stepped out of the room, closing the door, not wanting to give them fuel to start an argument with Wilhelmina, but not before the young queen spied what was beyond. She turned red as well, but didn't seem as angry, only uncomfortable as she looked between the prince and the High Witch.
"Where have you been for four days, Will?" the Earth Guardian pressed.
Wilhelmina's embarrassment faded, and she gasped in surprise. "Four days? What the hell do you mean I've been gone for 'four days'?"
Then, as expected, she shook them free and spun to him, looking angry. "Why didn't you tell me I was gone that long?" she demanded, eyes shining for a new reason.
Phobos, not interested in having this conversation in front of the two people he detested most in the castle, if not Metamoor, simply said, "You distracted me."
"How?" she started only to grow frustrated, fighting down her spikes in emotions. "Gah! You could have still said something!" she countered, pointing an angry finger at him.
"Let's go," the Earth Guardian demanded, pulling Wilhelmina away, who was crossed between her anger at him and her worry at the time she lost. "Everyone is worried," the tall blond pressed, still distrustful of him, still looking suspiciously at the closed bedroom door.
"Yes," Elyon, spoke up, clearing her throat. "Please, lets go get the others and meet in my office. I will return to speak with Phobos later." And then firmly added as she looked at the High Witch. "Alone."
Wilhelmina looked ready to argue, but stopped, now looking unsure, as the fight between the two would still be fresh in her memory. Instead, she tried to explain, face aflame, "I broke the bed on accident during-"
"I get it," Elyon quickly said, refusing to look at him as she ordered. "Stay here until I return, Phobos."
Wilhelmina glanced at him, eyes now filled with nothing but worry. Letting the other guardian remove her from the room, Elyon following with a glance back at him.
An hour later, where he didn't dare venture to check on Achilles, paranoid he was being watched, Elyon returned.
Now alone with his sister, Phobos shifted, skin crawling at the idea of being forced to share what transpired between him and Wilhelmina.
Elyon, standing before him in her blue royal robes, crown on her head, chin up, took a deep breath and leveled a steady gaze at him. She was making a commendable effort to control her somewhat wild emotions.
"Last time when I couldn't sense you, when I recalled you to the tent, were you with Will? Yes or no," she asked, magic twisting around him.
No games, no trust, just answers.
Like it should be.
About time she was learning.
Phobos readied himself. He needed a clear head to find ways around her questions. But her blunt question this time showed she was starting to understand the weaknesses in her spells.
"Yes," he answered, not seeing the harm in this first question.
"And when I sent Cornelia to check on you, when your bonds were tampered with, were you with Will, previous to that? Yes or no," she asked again, blue eyes steady, voice even.
Phobos narrowed his eyes, wondering what Wilhelmina had told her. "Yes," he answered, feeling the magic still twist around him.
"And now…" she stopped, glancing at the closed hallway door before looking at him. "To the best of your knowledge, does Will know she's interfering with my spells? Yes or no."
Oh, so Achilles might make it another day undetected, after all.
"No."
"Are you intentionally using Will to break your bonds? Yes or no."
Ha, even he couldn't believe his answer on some level. It was remarkable, his growing dislike of lying to Wilhelmina or tricking her. She would not be a pawn in his hands.
"No."
She nodded, a strange look now on her face. "Do you…?" she stopped, eyes crinkling in pain, but still forced out. "Do you love her? Yes or no."
The questioned shocked him like water thrown on his hot skin, unsettling and making him feel unbalanced.
Even more shocking was his inability to say 'no' as his bonds stopped the lie.
But it wasn't a lie.
Because he equally couldn't say yes.
He just didn't know.
Because love wasn't an option for him.
It never has been.
But she had stirred something in him that he didn't understand.
"Do you intend to hurt her? Yes or no," she asked, face crestfallen at the sight of his inner struggle. His stomach twisted at her pity.
"No," he answered. He wasn't planning on hurting her. He was just planning for his freedom.
"If given the chance to escape by an error on Will's part, will you take it? Even knowing she will be held negatively accountable?"
Considering that was exactly what was happening, "Yes."
Elyon nodded. She sighed, deeply, looking tired. "So even when you get something good in your life, you still can't appreciate it?"
He felt his anger at her hit full force at the idea he did not value what was given to him by the Keeper. By Wilhelmina.
Was it such a terrible thing to value his freedom over what may be a passing fancy on either of their parts? To not want to be a slave to his sister's magic? Muzzled like a rabid, sick dog? Unable to have a normal encounter with her? If valuing his freedom over this magical slavery, where he had only stolen moments with the Keeper, made him more of a monster in his sister's eyes, then so be it.
Because he had been living a dull, colorless life for years, ready to embrace death, but unable to even feel that bitter, permanent freedom.
He meant it when he said Elyon should have killed him once she learned how.
Phobos had wanted to die for a long time. He would have thrown himself into the never-ending void at the Tower of Mist over an endless life, jailed, enslaved to another.
Wilhelmina had rekindled a drive to even want something.
Anything.
To do more than stare at nothing in a courtyard surrounded by those who laughed at and mocked him. More than just numbly watch as he was assaulted and bled dry. As he starved himself over eating poisoned food, that had him choking up blood and his insides on fire.
Phobos would not have that devalued because staying this way, listless and empty, was a disgrace to the fire she ignited him.
Him finally fighting for his freedom, his life, was honoring what she awoke in him.
"Just because I refuse to stay at your mercy, does not mean I do not value her. Free me, then, and let me decide my own fate."
Elyon looked torn and, for a moment, he thought she would.
"I can't. Not after everything you did, Phobos. You destroyed this kingdom, stole the people's life force, let countless people starve from the disorder you caused. Sent even more to die in pointless wars with their own brothers and sisters. You should be in a cell. I have to fight every day to let you have this little bit of freedom." She stopped, taking a deep breath, still holding on to her resolve to face him with her head high. "I have to fight every day to keep this kingdom together because all they learned from you was how to tear themselves apart."
She stepped back, expression conveying her discomfort at her next words. "But Will is right; the bonds have been too harsh." So they spoke of him. Interesting.
"Dehumanizing," she said with remorse as she went on. "I will remove one more; I have no say over who you share your bed, as long as its… consensual." She looked ready to run as she forced out the last word. Even he was uncomfortable with this topic.
He felt the bonds shift, making the needed alterations.
It was a new low, his little sister giving him permission to have sex. He never wanted to leave his cursed life more than at this moment.
Phobos' discomfort grew as Elyon opened his bedroom door. She paled at the scene before quickly waving her hand, a massive amount of magic flowing from her. In seconds, his room repaired itself, his bed whole, the wall intact.
"Next time, I'm not fixing it," she warned, still uncomfortable. "Stay in your chambers until dinner. You will join us, tonight."
Phobos bristled. "No, I will not be-"
Elyon, shockingly, glared at him. The sight was enough to make him snap his mouth closed.
"This isn't about you, brother," she said in a tone reminiscent of his own dislike. He hated seeing himself in her. She had been stronger today, remembering she was in charge here and not letting her own emotions rule her. It was almost respectable.
Almost.
"You know exactly how this looks," she went on, real heat in her words. "How there are people who still support you as king, now with the idea of her as queen consort. Do you really want to drag her more into our world's mess?" she demanded, worry for her friend clear. "Do you think Will is cut out for this political nightmare? These games of the court? For the assassination attempts we both face?" Elyon shook her head and added, grimly, "The Court of the Temple of The Congregation, of Kandrakar, of her kingdom, has already denounced her courting you. But the only reason her connection to the aurameres hasn't been severed is the Oracle has assured them she has no ill intentions. That she's not your thrall. Your puppet."
Phobos was genuinely shocked to hear that gossip had traveled that far. That it was already a problem that might be beyond her abilities to handle.
Elyon added, growing more agitated, "Of course they know," she answered the question on his face. "The castle knows, Meridian knows, Metamoor knows. Why not her own kingdom, Phobos? They already want her to step down as Keeper. Do you think having you around is going to make that go away?" She laughed, like he was the clueless one here. "And not make it worse? So the least you can do is behave like you actually get along with the people who are sticking their necks out for you, so we all don't end up screwed over."
She headed to the door where she stopped and added, "And keep the noise down. These guards were hard to find. I don't need them resigning."
And she left.
