The Kingdom of Life (EPIC ROMANTIC FANTASY - BOOK 1)

Chapter 12

Pyrrho's was waiting for me on the balcony of the west wing when I arrived. His eyes swept over me with delight as I walked, an outstretched hand now awaiting my arrival. He took my hand and kissed it, and yes I felt guilty. He whistled as he twirled me around before him, showing off my every angle.

"Magnificent" he murmured, bringing my lips to his face and pressing on a kiss. "I have a surprise for you tonight. '' His eyes were eerily dark with delight as he spoke. "So I've heard." Nobody could keep a secret around here. Especially not Edith.

"Are you ready?" His smile was daring, teasing me to find out. "Ready for what?" He wrapped his arm around my waist and tossed me into his arms. "I hope you're wearing underwear this time. Or actually...I take that back." I couldn't help it as a smile exploded on my lips, my heart thrumming as he blasted us into the sky.

I only screamed once this time during takeoff. In my defense, it was extremely unexpected. Or maybe I'm naive and should have known. Either way I knew I did not want to throw up in this outfit. Talk about a material nightmare. "Where are we going?" I whispered into his neck as we flew, splitting through the clouds at breakneck speed.

This time I'm able to look down, and even though its dark, the view is still incredible. The way the city was speckled with lights, the vast difference between light and dark. The ground was a sky all in itself.

"You'll see soon enough. Drink this and sleep." He snagged a bottle from his pocket, and yanked the cork off with his teeth, spitting it in the air. My heart sank as I saw the potion. Something else to make me drink. Maybe it was him that night at the club.

He could see the shadows in my eyes as I thought. "Ri. It's a sleeping potion. Are you going to make me spoil the surprise by telling you where we're going?" My eyes said yes but my heart said no. Somehow, somewhere, my heart felt trust. And then I forgot why I had thought no in the first place, and my fingers were around the bottle, tongue licking the tube clean.

My eye's cracked open as light streamed in, the world still blurring behind me. "Morning." His voice was groggy from the overnight flight, hair tousled from the wind. With how dawn still kissed the sky above us, splashing it in peaches and purples, I assumed it was still very early in the morning. "The sky..." I managed to croak, clearing my throat from the sleep that had settled in it. I could see the grin warm his face as I did, his eyes peering down to meet my own. "It's always like that here. Welcome to my Kingdom of Love."

I blinked in awe. He took me home?

Holy gods.

He really did like me.

I could feel us dropping by the way my stomach wanted to leap out of my throat, but by the time we made the ground my nausea had come and left. He placed me carefully on the ground once we landed, steadying my stumbles as I got my walking legs back.

What lay in front of us was beyond magnificent. How does one process beauty? What defines it? In this moment, I did. The red stones that lay ahead bore a path that led up to their Castle. The ruby red, blazing palace shot up directly into the sky, combining with the painted sunset that bore hues of purples and pinks. It was forever sunset here. Not dawn. It was dusk. Beyond where we walked was a massive wall of roses thick and full of thorns. It reminded me immediately of The Hedge. "Is this your wall?" It was impressive. Not as tall as ours, but the thorns were definitely something we were missing. I pocketed that for Omen later.

"Yes." His grin was almost infectious. "Its called Thorne. Its our first and most important wall of security. I believe your Kingdom has one similar, not that you would know." He tapped me on the nose with a crinkle of his brows.