Loving a Prince Charming - By Danielle Monsch Page 0,28
the air from her body. Sara said it was fake and the elderly godmother had her trust. Her wrist burned as never before as she pointed her sword at the magical creature. “Show your real self, servant of the Elf King. I have no time to be dealing with illusion.”
“Ah, you are one of Sara’s.” The voice came from inside the dragon, but not its mouth. It had an echoing quality that suggested its source was far away. “Do you trust the fairy so deeply that you will take her words to heart?”
“Yes.” And she did. At this moment, Sara and Seth were the only two she trusted – and that trust was absolute.
With that, the burning of her wrist flared and deepened and burst through every nerve-ending of her arm. With a yell, Kira thrust her sword forward through the dragon’s eye.
She felt nothing solid underneath her blade. The dragon shimmered and disappeared, and the same fey they had encountered on the road was now before her, reptilian as she remembered, his dark eyes malevolent as they took her in. She was violated, stripped raw, every dark and dirty part of her left out for consumption.
He smirked then, circling her. She moved with him, not allowing him access to her back. When they completed their circle he said, “I see you became his whore.”
Rage beat against her skull at his words penetrated. How dare he mark and soil the night that was everything to her? What right did such a disgusting thing have to talk about her love? “Shut your mouth. I don’t expect something like you to know about people in love.”
He laughed, the high-pitch turning her stomach to such a degree she feared she might vomit. “You might have been in love, but was he?”
The insidious voice poked and prodded her defenses, but she refused to allow it to penetrate. “I never required him to be. Now get out of my way or I’ll force you to move.”
“What can you do?” His smile was a repulsive sight, vile and malignant, without a shred of warmth or human feeling. “You are alone. No father or mother, manipulated since birth by two pompous and prideful kings. Considering your background, I’m not surprised you’d fuck another woman’s betrothed. Did you want him to alter his course?”
Only Seth mattered. She would pay for her sins however this life required of her, but she would not allow Seth to suffer for her choice. She would not let this creature manipulate her. He was nothing but an obstacle to be removed.
He stepped closer, his head tilting in a mock semblance of empathy. “Of course you did, but didn’t you deserve it, after all? After everything they’ve done to you, to him, don’t you both deserve some happiness?”
So seductive. She could almost feel the words petting against her, freeing her from her guilt. Their fault, their fault, not you, take what you deserve, make a life with Seth. “No one deserves anything in this life. Things happen. Rosamund proves that.”
He dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “One spoiled princess feels the bite of life. How does that compare with what you’ve been through?”
She recalled Seth as he talked of Rosamund that night, the pain he still felt when thinking on the princess. “None of us deserve what she’s been through.”
“Then if no one deserves it, why go through all this trouble to take it away from her?” He approached her, his body displaying a slithery grace that had an almost hypnotic quality. His eyes were a swirl of colors, never stopping on one shade long enough that it was identifiable. “You don’t deserve the misery either, do you? Does Prince Seth? Of course not, and I can help. I can give the curse back to her if you work with me. Think on it—the princess will be locked away, and Seth will be yours forever.”
Against her will, his words worked themselves into her skin. Why not her? Rid of her, and Seth is yours. “I can save Seth without you.”
He reclined against a large tree, crossing his arms in front of him in acceptance of her challenge, his eyes holding hers fast. “Maybe, but even if you do, all you’ll have done is put him out of your reach forever. He will be married to her, and you will live the rest of your miserable life alone. You can’t tell me one night was enough for you.”
No, it never would be. Being