To Scale the Emerald Mountain (The Willowbane Saga #1)

45. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

ELLYA

“ A re you ready for me, now?” Alec asks me after I’ve rested.

He unsheathes both of his swords, the blades hissing against their leather housings. “I love watching you fight, but I fear I may now be addicted to the smell of your sweat up close while you dance gracefully with death.”

“Aren’t you afraid I might light you on fire from within?” I quip.

His rumbling laugh warms me more thoroughly than the heat of the sun. “You do that by simply existing.”

“That’s not the fire I’m talking about, my king,” I throw back at him playfully, remembering his visceral reaction to me calling him that when I reminded him to beg for me.

Alec darts his tongue over his full lips, wetting them as he begins to circle me, both weapons raised. “Mmm, I am aware. And quite the contrary, I am not afraid of your fire. I want you to give it to me.” He beckons me towards him with a flick of his sword, but I pause.

“You want me to use my currents against you?”

“Yes. I want to see how you use your power in a physical fight. ”

The cold agony of Alec’s death washes over me, and my gut clenches.

He senses my hesitance. “Who better than I?”

“I just killed you yesterday, Alec. And then—I only stabbed you. This is different. What if this amplified power sends you to true death?”

“I will always come back for you, Elly,” he reassures. “But I will not ask you to do something you are not comfortable with. Come on then, just weapons.”

Alec’s fighting style today is different, now that he’s not trying to provoke me, and he isn’t fighting with his own avalanche of emotions. Our attacks are more playful and light; we banter throughout.

Alec tells me that he fought with one sword, left-handed, because of how much I always hated it, hoping I would have the same reaction. His grin with his confession motivates me to feign an attack on his left before instead swiping his feet out from under him with a harsh blow to his calves.

He grunts when his back collides with the hot sand. I grin down at him and place a foot on his chest.

“Your arrogance got you beat,” I say with glee.

Alec grabs my ankle and pulls my leg out. I yelp as I rush through the air towards the ground and land on the sand with a muffled thump .

“And yours has put you right next to me, where you belong.”

My head is next to his legs, and I playfully pinch the back of his thigh. He laughs, and we sit up at the same time, facing each other. The rusty sand sticks to our sweat slicked bodies and is caked in our hair, like thick red clay .

“You’re a mess,” I tell him in a joking tone, knowing I look the same.

Alec pulls me towards him. “And you are beautiful.”

“Can we stay out here for a while? I want to see the stars.”

Alec smiles wide and walks over to the pack he brought, producing a thick woolen blanket that he spreads out. He shakes off some of his sand and removes his boots before sitting and patting the blanket beside him. I dust myself off and join him on the scratchy pallet.

“Tell me about the syren and the pearl.” I run my hand down the length of my staff.

“Do you like hearing my stories about the dangerous creatures I have faced for you?” Alec smirks.

“Yes, I do. Now tell me.”

He picks up my hand and plants a kiss on the inside of my wrist, then the tips of my fingers. “I visited often for three years after I healed from the lonyx wound. Each time, I chartered a small ship to sail off the coast of Brhadir where a coven of syrens is known to live. They are a fickle bunch, known for seducing and then eating the hearts of men.”

I scowl at him, suddenly not liking where this is going.

Alec laughs fondly. “As I already told you, I have had no one since you were born. Now, do not judge me for my slight manipulation. I befriended one. I lured her to the surface with both my blood and some gold. I admit, I did always have to compel her to not want to eat or fuck me. But over time, we developed a friendship over the gifts I brought and the stories of the girl I love.”

My insides turn to a gooey mess with the affection so deeply ingrained in his words. “That’ s very sweet,” I say.

“She thought so, too. It turns out, without their insatiable sexual appetites and bloodlust, a syren can be quite the romantic. She was deeply touched by the way I spoke of you, my perfect mate, still just a girl who I patiently waited for the day that our lives would truly start together. I started talking about wanting to give you a spectacular mating gift, but I was unsure of what would ever be enough to commemorate completing a bond with such a unique princess. I told the syren how nothing in the world could ever be as rare and treasured as you.”

Alec picks up my hand and brushes his lips across my knuckles, soft as the gentle brush of a moth’s wing. The sun begins to set, painting the horizon orange and red. A light breeze makes his hair dance and loosens sand to fall into his thick black lashes.

“Every word I said to her was true. The manipulation was knowing that I would tell her of our storybook love and speak of needing a proper mating gift. I told her all of this with the hopes that she would offer her precious item. And she did—happily—before informing me that she caught on to my plan the second time I came to her and had already decided that she wanted to gift us the pearl. She held out because she enjoyed hearing our stories.”

Alec strokes my cheek before shrugging his shoulder and adding, “The treasures I brought were an added bonus.”

“Did you tell her that you planned to grind down the pearl?” I ask him curiously.

“I did. She was unbothered, given the sentiment behind what I planned to do with it.”

I smile and run my hand over the staff again. “I love it even more now.”

Alec picks it up, inspecting the pearlescent sheen, his lips tilting with satisfaction. “I know that story is not quite as exciting as having to fight to the death with the creature of a god.”

My fingers trace over his jagged scars from the lonyx. “I like it better,” I say. “Is the story of getting an illegal stone from the willowbane tree as wonderfully romantic?”

“Not at all. That was nothing but treachery and abuse of power.” Alec grins mischievously. “Quite boring, actually.”

“Do tell, my king,” I say, perking up immediately.

The thought of Alec asserting his dominance as a foreboding king just to get something for me makes a silly smile spread across my face.

“I have only returned to the Mother Continent a handful of times since I became king. The last time was six years ago. I went to the Gleisheon Territory, where the petrified willowbane tree sits in Willowood, under the guise of solidifying a trade agreement between the Territory and Salhaas. Though Salhaas may not have much to give in terms of sustenance, the land is rich with magical elements exclusive to the Queendom—elements the Territories desperately crave. So, I suppose it was not complete treachery.”

Alec pauses, his smile showing that he’s infinitely proud of himself. “I did finalize the deal that Gleisheon has been begging Queen Serra for centuries. Now, Queen Serra is sitting on a large mountain of gold while Gleisheon’s elite, including your grandmother, has a network of traveling and communication mirrors made with crystals from the enchanted deposits beneath the mausoleums of the Bone Grove.”

My mouth drops open. “You said this one was boring! You orchestrated a centuries old request for a trade deal to have a legitimate reason to be near the willowbane tree?” Alec gives me a boyish grin. “That is not boring, Alec!” I push him playfully, my palms meeting the tight muscles of his arm. “Continue, please,” I beg, my grin expanding.

“After the logistics of the deal were finalized, I waited until late in the night to apply a glamour. I compelled the guards of the tree to undo all their security measures and allow me access to the roots cavern below. Then, I simply used the stake made from the same tree to dislodge a stone the size of your beautiful head. I wiped their memories and returned to my apartments. The next afternoon, I boarded my ship, keeping to my regular schedule. With the strong trade agreements between Quinndohs and the Territories, the royal Quindohsi ships are never searched. Certainly not the king himself.”

“King Alec Vahnsing of Quinndohs,” I chide him, my arms tight across my chest while I give him a playfully scolding look. “Nana told me that to be caught with a flake of those stones is punishable by death.”

Alec nods enthusiastically. “It is. When the tree was still alive, sap seeped down and gathered in the roots, leaving tar like balls that had great healing properties. It was often given by Ellhora to her people. By the time the tree was poisoned, the resources were greatly depleted. There are not many stones left.”

“Do the stones still hold power?” I ask curiously, wondering if there are more facets to the power of my staff than I knew, but he shakes his head in dismissal.

“No, any power they carried died over time since the tree was poisoned. If I had been caught with that stone, the repercussions would have been catastrophic,” Alec says, excited light gleaming in his brown eyes. “The trade deal I orchestrated was also an added insurance—in the event that I did get caught. ”

The weight of Alec’s actions is not lost on me. If he had been caught, not only would he have been put to death, but he would have certainly killed all the trade agreements with the Mother Continent.

Trade of goods that our people rely on.

Alec watches me innocently, his dark eyes managing to look boyish and playful while he leans back, propping himself on his palms.

I’m at a complete loss for words while the weight of his actions wraps around me like a loving hug. I stare at him, my mouth parted.

“Why would you do that?” I whisper in disbelief.

He swiftly pulls me into his strong arms, holding me close.

“There is nothing I would not do for you. Seeing the pure joy on your face when I tell you about the lengths I would go to, just to see you smile, is worth every risk. As you said yourself, you are the true gift. There is nothing I could give you that would come near the worth of what you give me, Ellya. Do you believe in my devotion to you now?”

Leaning forward, I run my fingers through his coarse beard, the contrast of the scruffy hair against my soft tips stark. I kiss him deeply, giving him my thanks with radiating intensity, using no words.

The sky above us is rapidly darkening; twinkling pinpricks of light shine through the increasing velvety darkness. To my right, the lights of The Capital glow bright, a great splash of vibrancy in the desert. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. I’ve never felt more beautiful.

But a dark stain seeps in to taint the moment, a deep fear I have yet to speak .

I break free from our kiss, and Alec frowns at me. “What is wrong?”

Biting my lip, my teeth hold in the last bit of poison that I can’t seem to shake. He sees that I’m fighting myself for words, and he pulls my lip free from my teeth.

“Speak to me. Remember your promise.” When I still don’t talk, Alec’s hands rest on my cheeks before pushing into my hair, pulling my head to look up at him. “Why are you holding back from me?”

I swallow hard and will myself to speak my fear.

“You loved the girl I was so much.” I trace my fingers against his jaw, searching the depths of his dark eyes. “What if I can’t find her again?”

Alec drops my head and pushes me to my back, resting himself gently on top of me. The position feels like an emphasis to whatever he’s about to say.

“You do not have to find anything, Ellya. I will always love what is right in front of me, at any moment, of any day.” He strokes my cheek with the backs of his fingers in a loving caress, eating away at my lingering doubt. “I am yours.”

His eyes bore into mine, communicating a thousand things and nothing at once. A wordless plea to accept the care he has for me, and I return it right back hoping that he can sense my need for him.

Because I do need him.

Nana was right. Alec is as much a part of me as my own heart, my own soul. The two of us were not brought together by the Fates, because I was made specifically for him. To continue to deny myself the part of my soul that is begging to be whole—to fuse with his—would be to condemn us both to a slow and torturous death .

Alec places his large hand over my hip and squeezes over his unofficial claiming mark, putting pressure on the deliciously sore bruise. “I am yours,” he repeats quietly. “And you are mine.” He places a kiss on my lips before rolling onto his back beside me, holding our laced hands to his chest.

I gaze up at the stars, feeling easy in the soft luminescence of the moons.