Heir of Night

𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 IV

Heir of Night
All Rights Reserved
© 2018 L. C. Rose

~*~

My brows knit together as the darkling girl becomes taught in my arms. The sight jars me so much, I stop breathing all together. I grip her delicate, frail shoulder and bring my free hand to wipe at her now paling lips, stroking them gently.

"Goddess damned! Wake up!"  I demand as I shake her a bit, more a prayer to some forgotten god than anything else. Desperation slowly bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

A flash of red crosses her eyes before she closes them altogether. Her rosy cheeks begin to leach of color, her features turning pointed and jagged; she's losing to whatever  pain is warring inside her.

Her hand slackens at her side. She lays lifeless in my arms.

An eternity flies by before she roars awake again, gulping all the air she can manage to swallow. The princess shakes her head in a crazed search for something I can't quite figure out. Her eyes finally land on mine and I'm relieved to see the color flush back onto to her luscious lips. Her eyes roam my face, assessing. Weighing. Not considering me, but I could tell it was something inside herself. But her face twists away, and she violently shoves my arms off only to be pulled back by my firm hold.

"What just happened!?" I bark, pulling her closer to my chest.

She bares her teeth at me again, eyes still clouded by a daze - the ruby no longer there. In a flash of motion, she's on her feet, fangs dangerously close to my neck.

"Get your hands off me!" A furious snarl, and she jerks out of my grip as I bring her to stand, only to lose her balance at the sudden movement. She stumbles away from me, eyes still zeroed in on me, and slams into the wall that is my uncle. The female freezes on the spot, taking in the blow.

Her hair comes all the way undone as she faces him. He regards her with pitiless eyes but she doesn't shrivel against his largeness. A part of me ignites in excitement at her brazenness, yet another boils in irate anger at her arrogant behavior.

"Are you hurt?" I examine her, searching for an injury.

She pats away some invisible spec of snow on the bodice of her dress and then rests her hand on her exposed chest. Her touch lingers there. "It's none of your concern."

The female's eyes swerve all about, scanning the area, looking for something. Or someone. She's careless, frantic even... and it unnerves me.

I follow her gaze but see nothing- Just trees and brush and wraithlike quiet.

"What's all the commotion!?"

A third voice yells. I see the female hunt for the new male that's made his presence known and catch her shift her weight as if to sprint into a run. I make to grab her arm but she swats my hand away and resumes her previous upright stance of deviance. 

She gives me a forewarning glare and I feel my blood run searing through my veins. The raven haired female looks away and locks eyes with my third. They blink in an unspoken greeting and then his almond-shaped eyes widen in realization.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS!?" He growls. His face turning ghostly pale as he regards me, ire sweltering off him. "How could this happen!? What is she even doing here!?"

Neither my uncle nor I answer him. The heiress takes in a shaky breath, her shoulders slumping as she releases a strain I hadn't realized she was sustaining. My eyes remain over her as she watches me attentively, her eyes tracing my body, her hands still clutching at her chest.