Bride of the Traitor (The Prophecy of Sisters #1) - Hayley Faiman Page 0,120

gone.

He takes a step back from me and much to my surprise, his hand rests against my lower back and together we follow behind Merek as he leads us toward the office, or chancery, whatever they call it here.

ELIAS

Something stirs deep inside of me. It is merely a flicker, but it happens every single time that my gaze lands on the pretty woman standing at my side. No, she is not just a pretty woman, or a maiden, she is my wife.

Wife.

I cannot believe that I have zero recollection of this marriage, of the consummation least of all. My hand feels natural against her back, a warming sensation fills me from the inside out.

I don’t remove it, instead, I slide it farther around her waist and tuck her against my side. She follows without hesitation, a small sigh escaping her plump lips when she does.

“Tell me what’s happened.” I demand after the chancery is filled with all six of my men, two witches, and two maids.

The men clear their throats, but it is the witches who begin to talk. They tell me the tale of the prophecy, something else that I don’t remember. I don’t understand how I could have forgotten so much of the past several months.

“Ryia was full of dark magic from the goddesses, Erinyes,” Godiva explains. “She wanted to stop the prophecy by taking your love of Sybilla from you.”

Glancing down at my wife, I frown before I pull her even closer to my side. “They will not win,” I murmur. “Make me remember, witch. Make me love her again.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Aleida says, her voice sounding as sad as she looks. I want to shake the witches, scream at them and tell them to do as I demand, but I don’t.

“What do I do then?”

Sybilla takes a step forward, forcing the arm wrapped around her waist to fall away. She straightens her back, squaring her shoulders, then clears her throat.

“Can you do that binding spell again?” she asks. “Bind me to my true love.”

Godiva holds up her hand as she closes her eyes. I watch as she inhales, then her body begins to tremble. “He is still bound to you, Your Highness,” she whispers. “I can feel it within him, though the dark magic is out of his body, Ryia’s power was great when she sucked his love of you out of him. It will be up to you and mayhap the gods to replenish it.”

“How?” I roar.

“Time, Your Majesty. You are fated for one another, but the love you once shared was not purely magical, or brought on solely by the prophecy, the two of you built that love together. You will again if it is meant to be.”

We all stay silent for a moment, my Queen does not turn around to look at me again and I find that I do not like it. I want her pretty golden eyes on me, eyes that are the exact shade of gold as my coat of arms.

“You’ll continue to stay with us, if you attempt to disappear again, you will be locked in the dungeon,” I inform the witches.

Aleida dips her chin in submission, Godiva, as is her way, only arches a brow. “We must make sure that no other dark magic infiltrates us. What can you do to assure me that it will not happen again?”

There is a moment of silence and Godiva sighs. “Unfortunately, we do not gain our magic from the gods and goddesses. We are not more powerful than they are, we do, however, love loopholes, so we will stay on Your Highness and we will work tirelessly to ensure that you, your wife and your wee babe are protected, always.”

“What of my men, my people?” I demand.

Godiva shakes her head once. “Our magic is only so powerful. It would deplete us to attempt to protect an entire country, Your Highness. Then we would be useless and you would be unprotected.”

Lifting my hand, I run my fingers through my hair, tugging on the ends before I let out a breath. “What can we do?”

Aleida takes a step toward me, she extends her palm and focuses her gaze on my own. I watch as her eyes begin to swirl with black and gold. She mutters something that I can’t understand, her eyes continuing to swirl with color until a deep gray mist surrounds me.

“You are protected, Your Highness. No harm will come to you or the ones you love,” she whispers.

I