Wildfire

Eighty Two

"Emmy! I'm frightened!" There had been no hesitation to be found upon my lips when I rejected the offer of going out and joining the fight... I would love nothing more than to slam Xiang and Shen back down into their places, but there is no doubt in my mind that the safest place for Rayne is tucked away against my side in the most fortified chambers in the palace... I've left him before when I had been able to sense the animosity in the air and I had been foolish enough to walk away from him then... There is absolutely nothing in this world that would or could ever draw me away from him on any ordinary day... 

I cannot fathom why he thought I would even entertain the idea of leaving him now. When the unstable man who raised me and his last and hopefully only ally literally trying to drop in on us from above... And now I am even more glad that I have stayed with the way my sweet Moon Beam is weeping into my shoulder... It had taken mere minutes to scare him into a bought of tears I do not think will ever end so long as the palace walls shudder under the weight of the two dragons that would love nothing more than to see this entire kingdom fall. 

I keep him gathered close to my chest, Indra and Bohdi flanking either side of me while my wife's guards keep watch at the door to make sure that we are more than aware the moment anyone dares to approach... No one should have any reason to flee this far into Xiang's old rooms unless they know that it is exactly where we would sweep my trembling shard of starlight... Something that may very well be the case... 

I feel as though with everything unfolding around us that I should be able to focus on anything other than the lone note topped with that damned red rose... I cannot help but keep dragging it to the forefront of my mind trying to figure out exactly how much of a warning it had been... If I had picked it up and read the damn thing would we be hiding away hoping that Cho might send away the two beasts so intent on tormenting the two of us in our early days together... 

Just a few moments of peace... That is all I have ever asked for... If Xiang were fitter to rule over the kingdom without driving it into true ruins, then I would have gladly had the conversation over it with the man and stepped away... I would have gladly stepped away finding Rayne... I would be more than happy to retire to the countryside with my new bride to focus on nothing but enjoying our life and whatever children Rayne's full hips bless us with if it meant that the two of us would be left alone in our happiness... Rayne himself may be curious about court having never truly experienced it away from my side as less than the Queen that he is, but I would have been able to walk away from it all in exchange for a small cottage somewhere off in the woods... But instead, I was given the father I was, and he is intent on making things between the two of us nothing more than a struggle that disappoints us both.

...

Rayne

...

"I'll never let them hurt you again, Darling... They'll not even be allowed close enough to lay eyes on you, Moon Beam." Emrys does what he can in the way of comfort... But it does little to make our situation less terrifying... 

Every time I feel the shudder of the walls and hear the moaning of the ceiling I worry that the dragons who have decided to ruin our wedding celebrations are coming that much closer to collapsing part of our home and pushing their way into our unexpected safe haven... 

If I had had any idea that I would have been so right about this situation of me not being welcomed here at the palace I would have insisted on going home even after Mama and Papa sought approval from Emrys himself... I should have fled out by the palace gates... I should have snuck away before Emrys ever had the chance to sweep me around the ballroom floor with such sweet words and hopeful eyes... 

All I had wanted was to enjoy the rose gardens, and my aggressors have even stolen the beauty from that, the portion of the garden I had been attacked in forever closed off to me in my mind, the smell of the roses from the soil where my blood had been spilled carrying such a unique smell that I am able to tell them apart from the ones surrounding the rest of the palace... They make me feel weak with the nausea that rolls through my body from their scent so extreme that my sweet husband has more than once offered to burn the bushes to cinders or have them ripped up and thrown elsewhere away from us where I would never need to see or smell them ever again, but that would do nothing but further remind him of the fact that he had left me at his father's beckoning... And that his father had used the time we were apart to orchestrate an attack on me to prove that I would not be welcome anywhere near his son...

Part of me wonders if I had not heard his call if I would have let myself be swayed so easily into allowing myself to be presented... If he had not brought me to my knees with his call, I think I would have been able to resist my desire to see the red blooms... But I had... I had heard his beast call to mine and had been so moved that I had ended up on the ground begging my family to take me to him right then and there... I had known that Emrys was the one for me... Just like I know right now that he will absolutely keep his word and keep me safe... 

I know that at the end of the night my husband and I will lay down together and put this whole thing out of our minds... Or at least... That is what I hope...