And the Tree Of Life has chosen her and its gift is what she needed... He does love her!
~next day, late in the morning, Caroline's palace~
Diana's pov
"Did you like it sweetheart?" Caroline asks me smiling and I nod excited.
Alright, the tour in her palace was amazing! This place is awesome, I had never seen anything else like this! It's not so large like Daniel's but it's like you are living in a dream. It's more classy and romantic with sweet colors and lots of plants everywhere.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the palace's roof is from crystal and all the sunlight is getting in naturally?
We can see the sky and all around the palace there are mountains and forest, everything is green and Caroline's people are very friendly and special.
Okay, they are magical creatures, they are using magic but I mean that their behavior is special. They are warm but quite distant yet simple at the same time.
Weird, right?
"Your palace is breathtaking, really! Daniel had told me I would be speechless but I hadn't imagined anything like this!" I reply and she looks at Daniel that smiles innocently.
Yes, as you understand he kept his promise and once we greeted Adam and Elena we left to come here! Also, I was excited to see that we would be alone, we came with his car, he drove of course and our drive (it lasted about two and half hours) was nice! We had the windows open, the day is warm, the sun is up the sky, there are no clouds or wind and I really enjoyed it.
Both of us were really comfortable I have to admit. After last day everything feels different and I guess it is different! I feel great with him, I am relaxed and so is Daniel, we like talking, we have fun, we laugh...
It's great, really!
So, when we arrived Caroline was already waiting for us to take me and Daniel for a tour with her niece, Amanda! She is going to become the next Queen after Caroline because Caroline doesn't have kids and Amanda lost her mother when she was about five years old. From that moment Caroline is raising her and I honestly loved Amanda! She is about 35 years old and I know she sounds to be old but for the witches she is not! She looks like Caroline as well, her hair is blonde but too long and her eyes light blu. She has a normal height and weight and she is elegant and her behavior reminds me of Caroline's.
"I see..." Caroline murmurs with meaning giving Daniel a meaningful look and the four of us stop outside a big, double white door.
We are at the main corridor on the second floor exactly after Caroline's throne room and probably at the middle of the entire palace. No one else is here with us and from Amanda and Caroline's expressions I guess they have something else to show me but I can't think of something.
I mean I have seen everything...
"Now... This is the last room I would like you to see Diana! Daniel has already seen it but he hasn't gotten inside." Caroline states after she clears her throat and I stiffen nervously.
I look at Daniel with a confused expression but he smiles warmly and this is not helping me at all. I don't understand why he has just seen it but he never got inside. And does this mean I won't get in as well?
"Why hasn't he gotten in the room?" I ask timidly and the three of them exchange gazes.
Um... I don't think I like this, what is wrong?
"It wasn't the time for him to get in." Caroline replies after a while and I nod timidly.
"But today you will get in the room!" it's Amanda's turn to say and I blink my eyes surprised.
I think I feel something weird building up and my skin shivers. Daniel is smiling emotional, it's something new, I have never seen this expression of his and to be completely honest I love it but this is scary as well. I have no clue as to what is happening and what they just told me is really difficult for me to understand.
Daniel couldn't get in the room but I can?! And it is just my first time here!
"Amanda, take Daniel to the throne room and wait for me there! I will show Diana..." Caroline speaks up after some seconds in silence and Amanda nods quickly.
Daniel that is next to me all this time, takes my hand in his, gives me a squeeze and leans to kiss my cheek. I close my eyes blushing when his hot lips touch my skin and I smile at him in excitement. He looks very happy and I don't know why!
Um, okay, we are doing perfectly fine now, we are close and I can feel the difference in his feelings but he seems like there is something more now.
"Relax, yes?" he asks me softly and I nod biting my lower lip.
Alright, he is reading my mind and body language now...
"Come Daniel!" Amanda says warmly and he leaves my hand walking away and I turn to Caroline that is already staring at me touched.
"I don't understand a thing..." I whisper more troubled than before once Daniel and Amanda are away and Caroline giggles while opening her arms for me.
I hug her without losing time and she kisses the top of my head. I look at her in the eyes for a while and soon enough her vision gets blurred from tears but her smile is never leaving her face. More emotions I guess...
"I am going to explain everything sweetheart but first I need to tell you something and then we will start the whole process, yes?" she asks and I nod weakly with my curiosity killing me.
"Daniel told me about the rogue yesterday and I already knew about your parents from the ball some weeks ago! I know you want to know about the prophecy and I am going to tell you everything I know and I want to help you the most I can! In this room there is something unique... Our magic comes from inside this room!" she starts and I take a step back.
She takes my hand in hers and leads me closer the door without talking. I am too dizzy to try to speak and all I am thinking about is her words because my mind is on fire.
We stop about some inches from the door and she turns to look at me again. I give her a worried smile and Destiny moves in my mind to get more comfortably like she knows something I don't.
What is happening here?
"Everything began about 25 years ago... It was a peaceful, sweet night! The moon was full on the sky and the stars were brightening its black color. It was lovely and I was already in this room because I knew what was going to happen but I was not alone... With me I had my most trusted friend, Morana. She was a witch as well but not so strong..." she says and I shake my head in understanding quite drown.
Her face has darkened suddenly but not from anger, it's from pain... Maybe regret...
"That night Diana, was the night Daniel was born and I was here to see his future!" she states and I instinctually take a step back, my heart skips a beat and I lose my breath.
"And how did you know about it and that you would see his future?" I ask unconsciously and she smiles melancholically.
"I have a gift Diana, I am the Queen, I know many things I talk and don't talk about... And in here there is something that feeds this world's magic..." she replies not really helping me with her second sentence but I don't want to interrupt her now.
"So, I came here but I made the mistake of not being alone! Morana was with me, I trusted her blindly, she was like a sister for me. We got in and waited in silence for the moment Daniel would be born... I wanted to take a small idea of his future, his destiny! He was going to become the King one day and Victoria with Jonathan were very good friends of mine!" she continues in the same hurt tone and I stiffen nervously.
I am sure I won't like what is coming next... And I hope it won't be something about Daniel because I won't bare it now that I...
Damn it!
I think I am going to pass out in the end!
"And what happened next?" I ask in agony breathless.
"It was ten minutes after midnight when we felt a strong wave of energy surrounding us and we closed our eyes with our hands in each other's... We shared the prophetic vision, the short prophecy that had to do with Daniel..." she replies and I gasp, open my eyes widely and put some pieces together without realizing how.
"You mean... The one I listened about yesterday?" I ask trembling ready to collapse and she nods.
"When the third thunderbolt falls, the strongest and greatest one that will tear the sky in two, will illuminate everything and shake the earth, the Queen with the diamond eyes will be born! Her beauty and kindness will not be the same as any other! She will come from the darkness but she will be the light! She and her descendants will rule the world forever!" she says steadily with a blank look and tightens her hold around my hand but not enough to hurt me.
It takes me some time that feels like a century to calm down enough and breathe again. My heart is ready to explode, Destiny is silent without moving and I find it weird but I decide not to think about her behavior for now and I keep on observing Caroline that is ready to cry.
She is in pain and I don't understand why... I can't understand a thing anymore, I don't even know how I feel!
"The prophecy was about Daniel's mate, the future Queen, it was about you Diana! From that night I had been expecting you and I knew you would be someone special, your destiny was already written! One day you are going to rule the entire world through your descendants!" she continues noticing that I can't speak and takes one step to me, raises her hand and caresses my cheek.
Her hand is warm against my cold flesh now and I blink my eyes sometimes trying to come back to reality. I knew she had a gift but all these are just too much! I don't know why but I hadn't taken that rogue's words so seriously even though I didn't doubt him. I felt he was saying the truth but now... Everything is more intense, Caroline is not a common woman!
"And I am the reason the wrong people learned about your arrival in this world! It was my mistake because I hadn't realized that Morana had been working for the rogues' king! She run away the next day and from that moment I never saw her again no matter how much I tried to find her! I am sorry, it was my mistake and I was ashamed to tell Daniel, Victoria and Jonathan! Do you understand now? All the rogues or the people that had been working for him got informed... Your parents knew because she told them all..." she says next with tears falling from her eyes and my skin shudders with me staring at Caroline shocked.
"What?" I whisper gasping for air and she nods fighting to hold back a sob.
My Goddess... Everything makes perfect sense now, I mean... How they knew!
They knew from the very first moment I was Daniel's mate and this is why they hated me so much, why I had been always being their first target, why they wanted to kill me with every chance and how they knew about me and Daniel that day at the forest when they tried to kill me!
And...
They were sure he would reject me in the mess I was, this is why they had taken me with them! They wanted him to reject me and Samantha... She was in the game from the beginning, she knew...
And in this way my entire world collapses!
The pain gets doubled and my heart breaks for good! They chose money and power over me! I wish they didn't want me because I was a mistake and the second child they just didn't want because they didn't want more!
And why didn't they kill me from the beginning then?
They had their chance, they could, it was way too easy!
"I think I am getting crazy!" I mutter lost and stumble unconsciously but Caroline holds me in time and prevents me from falling.
"Breathe Diana! It's fine, calm down! You need to get in the room with me now, trust me! Everything is going to be alright, I promise you! You must get in, okay?" she says while capping my face and forcing me to look at her and I nod without thinking about it.
I can do nothing else except from agreeing to follow her. I am still shocked and a wreck but I can't do otherwise and the sooner we are done, the sooner I will see Daniel again because right now he is all I need. I wish he was here but he is not and not because he didn't want to but because it was someone else's decision!
"Come baby..." Caroline whispers and the door opens from itself when Caroline takes one step forward.
I don't feel ready to walk but when my eyes land on what there is in the middle of the big room I lose my body's control completely and I don't understand when I get in with Caroline and the door closes behind me.
It's a massive... Tree!
"This is the Tree Of Life! A gift from the Moon Goddess, our magic comes from this and for centuries it decides its chosen ones!" I listen to Caroline saying while I am observing the tree amused and I think Destiny reacts for the first time these last minutes because she purrs.
The tree is so tall and its trunk is... Way too large, it's like it's a big room on its own, the roots are getting out of the ground and the branches are long, dense, big and full of light green leaves with small buds all over them.
And as I lift my head up I realize that there is no other floor above this room, there is just a ceiling from crustal and the sunlight falls in the room in the most beautiful way there is making the leaves shine and the smell...
I have never smelled anything like this!
I think I am dreaming, this can't be happening! I am losing myself in this tree, it's like there is only the tree and I!
I had no idea about it, even in the craziest imaginations of mine I had never thought of it!
"It's... Beautiful!" I whisper breathless and Caroline taps my back making me turn to look at her.
She is smiling emotional again, she is happy and relieved, like she found redemption by telling me all these things some time ago and I don't feel pain anymore. I can't have any negative feelings when I am in here, the tree is... Something unique and so is his energy!
"As I told you at the beginning, Daniel couldn't come in here because he had made a mistake, he had rejected you! But you can, the Tree gives me signs as to who can get in here or when... And it allowed you to come because you have a pure and kind heart Diana! It's like a gift for you, it had been waiting for you from the day you were born!" she explains calmly and I nod smiling weakly.
It's an honor I have to admit and I am happy but I can't hide the fact I feel sad Daniel couldn't get in here and he is not here with me now. I think I know what Caroline means but he is not an evil man, he had a good heart! He never wanted to hurt anyone...
He has a kind heart as well!
"I don't know what to say! Thank you, I wish Daniel will be allowed to come here and see it soon..." I mutter sadly and she wraps one arm around me with a sweet, sympathetic smile.
"Diana... Before we continue because there is a gift for you, I want to ask you something... I see how well you and Daniel are doing but I want to ask you how you feel! I love you two very much and I need to know if you are happy... How do you feel?" she asks with affection and I can't stop myself from blushing.
I am getting overwhelmed when I hear his name and I think of him and I miss him like crazy when he is not next to me. From the night before he is necessary for me, these two nights I have found my peace for the first time and I owe it to Daniel.
I know the answer but... Am I ready to say it out loud?
"Caroline..." I mutter and pause nervously forcing myself to talk.
I trust her and I need to admit it clearly for once. I have to win my fears!
"I love him, very much, more than I had ever imagined!" I say ready to start crying and she smiles pulling me in her arms.
I bury my face in her neck and breathe her scent while the tears start falling from my eyes like rivers.
I feel great I said it out loud, I finally did it and I am proud of myself! I know I have to tell him one day but I am not going to rush things about it! My heartbeat is way too strong but slow and I think I have butterflies in my stomach although Daniel is not in this room.
My tears are from happiness and I am enthusiastic I made it!
"I am very happy for you baby because Daniel loves you right back! He really does, I have never seen him like this!" she says with trembling voice and I smile in her neck.
"I know, I feel it now! I can't doubt him or his love but I am scared of losing him Caroline... He wants to protect me, he doesn't care about himself and now with the rogues' king... I want to help him, I can't lose him!" I say doddering scared even in the idea and she tightens her hold around me.
This is the truth! I just found him, I have so many hopes for the first time, I feel closer to find my peace more than any other time and he became the man I always needed but I didn't know or I was denying it. I can't lose him now, I don't accept it!
"Shh honey! Real love wins anything! And the rose I gave you is the proof there is real love between you!" she says while caressing my back and I break our hug a bit remembering about it.
I wanted to ask her...
"This is why the roses are silver and it is growing up so quickly?" I ask impatiently and she nods laughing in a low tone.
"You see, I wanted to give you something special! This rose is getting fed from love, pure love and the more you love each other, the more it is going to grow up! It is going to have roses all the time and its size can't be predictable, it depends on you, Daniel and your love!" she explains quickly and I bite my lower lip shyly.
Alright, this sounds promising and it's really romantic!
One more proof about Daniel's true feelings! Okay, and mine as well!
"And as for being scared of losing Daniel..." she begins and I almost jump up in alert.
"A man is strong because he has a strong woman on his side Diana! With your love and support he can do anything he wants! He found you, he won't lose you again, trust him!" she adds and I nod more relieved than before but not completely calm.
"And now there is one more thing, a gift from the Tree!" she says after some moments and I narrow my eyes confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I told you before that you are its chosen one. It can show you something, give you signs or give you some answers. It decides what to give you..." she replies, takes my hand again and we start walking to the tree with me getting ecstatic.
Really now?
I can't believe I am living all these! I am dreaming and I am going to wake up, right?
"Relax and push away all your fears and negative thoughts and feelings my dear! Trust it and it is going to show you its generosity and greatness! It knows what you need the most!" she says as we get closer and about three meters before it, we stop and she smiles.
"Walk to it, stop close enough, relax completely and when you are ready place your right palm on it and close your eyes. Stay focused and don't be scared!" she explains calmly and I nod immediately.
She taps my back and I start walking to the tree again, this time on my own!
I do my best to relax and be positive, I feel nothing negative to be honest but I am in tension from the excitement. The room has a powerful but peaceful aura and I feel it in my bones!
I stop about two steps from the tree and exhale before I take a long, deep breath that fills my lungs with its scent. I try to stop thinking and raise my right hand to place it on the tree and when my skin touches it, my breath get cut, my heart skips a beat, my skin feels like when I touch Daniel and the energy that runs in my veins is warm and... Redemptive!
I close my eyes slowly and stop moving, I just focus on the tree and what Caroline told me and...
The darkness faints with a scene being created and it doesn't take me long to understand...
Daniel is sitting on a chair next to a bed on which I am lying.
It seems to be almost dawn and he looks to be tired.
He is crying nonstop on my side with my hand in his hands and his eyes locked on my face.
I am clean and dressed with clothes but I am having some small spasms probably because of the pain but I don't look so bad generally.
Suddenly, Daniel sits up because I move a little bit while groaning with a painful expression on my face and he faints, he is shaking with his eyes shining wet from the tears.
I think I am reacting to the pain, Nikki had told me about it, my body was trying to deal with the pain in any way it could the two times I got shot...
I leave out some low sounds full of pain and Daniel sighs in despair not knowing what to do. He raises his right hand in hurry and caresses my cheek as gently as possibly with a broken expression that makes my heart break and I calm down immediately with my tensed expression softening.
It's like his touch is my cure and now it is not a surprise for me that I reacted in this way although we weren't close back then.
The bond was too strong from the beginning even though I was denying it and I didn't want to see it, I was keeping my eyes closed willingly, I was accusing him of being a liar but... He wasn't!
Daniel stands up after a while and leans on me slowly. I observe him burying his face in my neck and I listen to him taking long breaths in order to take my scent.
I feel a pleasure and warmth all over my body just by observing this scene and I feel the need to cry!
He... Cared! He wasn't acting, he had just found out who I was and he was next to me, he was crying...
"It is going to be alright Diana. Nothing is going to happen to you again! I won't allow it, I promise!" I listen to him whispering still with his face in my neck and I hold back a sob that fight to leave my lips.
He really wanted to protect me, he...
Oh my God!
And when I woke up I was cursing him, I wished I had died!
"We will never be apart. You will stay here with me, we will be together, I won't leave your side no matter what." He continues and pulls a little bit back.
He stops some inches away from my face and smiles in the sweetest way there is while observing me and with his right hand he caresses my hair.
His eyes fall on my lips and I wish I could turn back the time for him to kiss me because he hesitates like he is thinking of something.
He leans again on me and touches his forehead on mine gently. I smile as I watch him closing his wet, puffy eyes and the next second he purrs my skin shivers.
Tears fill his eyes again and they fall on my skin. I think I feel them now and I can't control my tears that run down my closed eyes.
I was in physical pain back then but Daniel was in an emotional one and it was worse for him. He was the strong one for both of us and the weight on his shoulders was heavier because he was regretting his mistakes already...
He was in more pain than me because he was dying emotionally!
"I... I love you Diana! I love you so, so much!" he whispers gasping after a while and...
My heart stops!
I am ready to pass out, these words...
This is what I needed to hear, I was wondering why he is not talking to me about his true feelings and I needed from him to say that he loves me and now...
He has already said it!
He loves me, he did love me!
"Now I know... What I did... I..." he continues and pauses gaining my attention again and I smile crying.
"I am sorry, please forgive me! I regret it now! I know you can listen to me, I... " he cries out lowly and with gentle moves he caps my face in his shaking hands.
"I love you and it hurts!" he states and I cry more from relief, happiness, joy, pride!
Daniel loves me and...
I love him!
Gradually everything turns black again and I know what this means! Caroline was right, the tree knew what I needed and maybe this is the best gift I had ever had!
Now I know and I want to run back to him, I need to hug him, he needs to know I have already forgiven him, I can't continue living in the past anymore!
I have a new life with Daniel and I am ready for it!
I want to listen to him saying that he loves me, I am dying for this moment but I have a feeling it won't take him long to tell me and then I am going to tell him but not only that I love him. I will tell him about Grayson as well, he has every right to know!
I open my eyes slowly and when I do I find Caroline next to me. She is wiping some tears from her eyes and I am sure she also saw what I did, she has the gift anyway and I have no problem about it!
"You heard him, didn't you?" she asks me with adoration and I nod immediately wiping my own tears.
"I did and I want to thank you! I wish he was here with me now! Don't you think he deserves it? He has been suffering in silence and I never knew!" I say forcing myself not to cry again and she gives me a mysterious smirk.
"It doesn't matter what I think Diana, the Tree decides but you are lucky... Daniel earned the right to be here with you as well..." she says and the next second the door opens and Daniel appears with Amanda smiling on his side.
He looks to be nervous yet in pain and I am certain he was worried all this time, maybe he felt my tension and Destiny purrs like a lazy puppy asking for him to approach us.
He looks more handsome than any other time and I feel complete for the very first time!
"Come Daniel..." Caroline says walking away from me but I stay on my place and just observe him getting closer to me in impatience.
The second he reaches and takes both of my hands in his, a small refreshing breeze hits our bodies and I give him a bright, breathless smile.
Yes, I do feel it now, he loves me and I love him!
"Are you alright?" he whispers leaning closer to me with his eyes burning mine and I nod.
"I am now that my King is here!" I whisper back and for a moment he freezes, blinks his eyes and before I react he does something I wasn't expecting!
He gets on his knees, bows me to and brings my hands on his lips to kiss them.
"My place is always next to you my Queen!" he states while looking at me in the eyes and I feel something weird on my bare skin on my right arm.
Huh?
I stiffen confused and Daniel seems to read my thoughts as he stands up worried and his gaze falls on my arm. He opens his eyes widely with a confusing for me expression and I look at my arm as well to see a...
Crown!?
Yes, it is a crown and it's right above the mark I had from when I got shot! It is covering it now and I snap my head to the tree to see its white blossoms open and with silver dust falling from them on us.
"What is happening?" I ask amused and turn to Daniel that has gotten emotional again.
"Well done, you did it! This is..." Caroline says with strong voice full of pride and I lose myself in Daniel's big, light green eyes.
I can't believe I am not dreaming! This day is...
"The Tree's Of Life blessings!"
****************************
Hello my friends and welcome to the chapter 35!
First of all there are two new books, Cleo's Heart Decisions and Thorns Of The Past so if you are interested check them out please!
And now back to our story as I am looking forward to know your thoughts and opinions!
How do feel about this chapter? What do you think of the so called prophecy? What about Caroline's mistake? How do you feel about the truth now? Did you like the Tree's gift? What is going to happen next?
As always at this point I would like to thank you very much for your love, support, commends and impatience in order to read the chapters and I am sorry if I don't reply to some of your comments but I forget because of the books and all the plots and things I have to do but I read them all and thank you for commending! Also the book has reached about 50.780 views and I don't know what to say, I am at least grateful. I am trying my best so continue showing me how much you want more and:
1) Vote,
2) Commend and tell me your opinions and thoughts, or
3) Share the story.
This is it for this time, see you again in the next chapter. Be safe and happy until next time!
I love you all,
Marie...