The Blood King's Bride

Calhoun went back to the practice field he had found Elena in the previous night. It was

about the same time he saw her there, and she was practicing. He watched her for a bit as she moved fluidly, and his heart began to burst with pride. Then as he remembered why he had come there, it broke into pieces.

He took a deep breath and walked over to where she stood, so silently his footsteps

couldn't be heard.

"Elena," he called softly from behind her. She paused her movement and slowly turned to look at him.

"Calhoun?" She questioned, cocking her head. Why are you here?"

Calhoun studied her face for a while, feeling his heartbreak. Then he slowly dragged her towards a bench in the field.

"Please sit." He said, gently nudging her down. She looked at him, confused as she sat. "What's this about?"

Calhoun sat next to her, taking both her hands in his. He stared at her intensely, and she

held on to his gaze. He could see the confusion and curiosity that swam in her eyes, but he could also see the anger and hurt beneath it.

"I'm so sorry, my love." He started, bringing one of her hands to his mouth to kiss. "I am

so sorry. For everything I have done recently." Elena paused, waiting for him to continue.

"I never meant to make you feel like you aren't worthy enough." He sighed, taking in a deep breath. "When I arrived in the castle, I immediately felt that something was wrong and I headed to my parents first, thinking I might have been too late." He softly caressed the hand he held. "I saw my mother on the far side of the room, lying in a heap on the floor. My father laid in the middle of the room, surrounded by his blood."

Elena looked at him, horrified. She quickly held tightly onto his hand.

"Are they okay now?"

Calhoun nodded his head, smiling softly. "They're fine, back to their perky self." He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them.

"But I want you to understand, that though I have no excuse, the thought of you fighting

that demon Firoza made my heart stop in my chest out of fear. My father couldn't defeat her, and he was a blood king for crying out loud. Even if he isn't powerful as before, he is still stronger than most. Yet, Firoza quickly crushed that strength. I feared, still feared, that if you fought her, you would end up like him, perhaps worse. And the fact that she disappeared and is nowhere to be found makes it worse." He held unto both her hands.

"I was scared. I was scared furious. I do not think I would be able to survive without your presence. The thought, just the thought of any harm coming to you reared me up, making me react the way I did." He dragged his hands slowly atop both her hands, squeezing them tighter. "But I'd understand if you still want to participate. I never should have taken that decision away from you in the first place. I'm so sorry, and I want to apologize. Please forgive me." He bent his head towards her, taking a position of submission. It overwhelmed her, seeing a man as powerful as Calhoun being submissive to her.

"Hey, it's okay," she said, trying to lift him.

"I won't move till you forgive me." He said, his voice sounding like a pout. Elena couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"It's okay, really. I forgive you. Look at me." She asked. He slowly raised his eyes towards hers.

"I was hurt. I wouldn't lie. Very hurt. I thought that all this while, you might have been

lying to me that I was strong and all that just because you felt you were encouraging me. It hurt, even more, when you decided that Elion be part of the plan you created to defend your kingdom should an attack happen, and yet, you didn't even blink when you said you didn't want me there. I felt bad and small. Yes, Elion is stronger than me. I might be able to defeat her when she is in human form, but now, even I am not sure if that was the full extent of her power or not. Because of what you said, I began to feel like you all were cuddling me."

"Oh Ancestors, oh Elena," Calhoun said, his heart-breaking.

"It's okay now," Elena said, smiling. "Now I understand why you were against it. You

were scared for me." She removed her hands from his hold to place them on his face.

"You were so worried, and I was busy sulking."

"I don't blame you for that." Calhoun cut in.

"I know, and thank you." She said, smiling softly. "I guess I should have thought too

deeply about it. Instead of making up things in my head."

"What were you thinking about?"

Elena looked abashed. "I didn't feel like I was strong enough to be your queen."

"Elena!" Calhoun cries out, the pain now evident in his voice.

"You shouldn't think like that. Please! That is worse. How can you even think of leaving me?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Elena said, trying to calm him down. "I was thinking like that because I was so angry. I was so mad at you."

Calhoun took in a deep breath, calming himself. "Well, it's too late anyway. I have told

my parents about us. The preparations for our wedding have begun as we speak. I wouldn't allow you to leave even at the cost of my life."

"Calhoun!" Elena gasped, beating his shoulder lightly. "Don't talk like that."

"You do not understand the depth of the feeling I have for you." Calhoun said, staring at

her intensely. "I have only just found you. I wouldn't let you leave me."

"Yes, I love you too." Elena said, smiling as she blushed. "But words like that would only

make me even more annoyed with you."

"I don't care. Don't you ever think of leaving me again." He said, pouting.

"Calhoun. You're the king of a kingdom for heaven's sake. Act like one." At that

moment, Calhoun thought that Elena sounded like his mother.

"So, we are really getting married, huh." Elena said, slowly feeling the jitters that came

with the thought of seeing his parents. "I thought that wouldn't happen for at least a few months."

"We in the Blood Kingdom have two weddings." Calhoun said, his heart finally calm. He

didn't want to think that she had thought of leaving him. He didn't know which was worse between that and her fighting Firoza.

"The traditional, and the formal. The traditional is where the binding takes place. The

formal is where the whole kingdom participate." He shifted closer to her, resting his head on her shoulder. "The traditional consists of oy three people; the couple and the officiator. My father would be the one carrying out our binding ceremony."

"I haven't met your parents yet."

"Don't worry," Calhoun said. "That can be easily rectified."

The next day came faster than Elena wished for. She couldn't believe that yesterday, she

was still stewing at Calhoun and preparing her mind to leave and defeat her father, and now, she was preparing to go and meet Calhoun's parents.

"I'm scared," Elena said to her friends, who both stood behind her, watching as she looked at herself in the mirror in their room. She had done away with the maid uniform that she had been expected to wear and donned a dress made by the kingdom's citizens. Like most cloths in the blood kingdom, the gown was made partly from fur. She remembered buying it from one of their neighbors when they still stayed in the safe house, the first time she came to the blood kingdom, and the first time they also met Aaron. To think that it had been months ago when all that drama happened.

She hadn't believed that she would wear the dress, but she bought it to support the woman. She found herself wearing the dress on a fast-approaching occasion without any preparation.

"He was supposed to tell me sooner. We were supposed to meet his parents later, not the next day after he tells me that our wedding preparations have begun!" Elena found herself rambling.

Elion nodded her head, understanding her completely. "Men. All idiots." She chided. "Hey!" Forest exclaimed, annoyed.

"You're not included my dear." Elion said dotingly. Forest looked at her, pouting a little

bit.

"I don't know if I should be happy, or feel insulted right now." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. Elena turned around to face Elion.

"You're having problems with Aaron?"

"That man. I am the one in the position of power with our bond. How he finds a way to control me is beyond me." Elion exclaimed, slowly getting pissed. Elena and Forest passed glances between themselves, and Elion tried to calm herself down.

"But it's not about me this time." Elion said, placing her hand on Elena's shoulder. "From the story you told us, it seems like our dear blood king was scared to death at the thought of you leaving him. So he did what he could quickly do to stop you from leaving," she paused, her eyes lighting in amused seriousness.

"Which is marrying you sooner than you both planned."

"Still, I could have been warned. Or perhaps he could have shifted the meeting to a few days later."

"As you were practically avoiding him recently, I'd say the former was impossible."

Forest inputted. "And after your announcement, which I am sure scared him more than Firoza attacking you, he shifted it closer than he had earlier planned so that you would find no way to escape."

Elena looked at him, pouting.

"That man loves you," Forest said gently now. "The blood king, the strongest of the four kingdoms humbles himself at your feet. There is nothing he wouldn't do for you." He moved closer to her and took one of her hands in his.

"I know this is just the beginning of the marriage process. You are likely to have the traditional, then the formal later because you would want your family to be involved. But my advice to you Elena, as someone who is like a brother to you, is that whenever you both have a problem, talk it out. Stewing and avoiding each other isn't going to make it better. Rather, it would make it worse."

Elena looked at him, her heart flooding with profound emotions. This was the first friend she had. The first person she had talked to once she left the kingdom of Pres. He had found a way to stay by her side and has been there ever since. He has supported her and defended her anytime. She has gotten so used to him it would break her heart should anything happen to him. Not able to rein in her feelings any longer, she quickly dragged and embraced him tightly. "Thank you." She said, her emotions flowing heavily through her voice.

"For everything. Thank you so much."

Forest swallowed the sob that had wanted to escape him, and he slowly raised his hand

and began to pay her back gently. "Any time. You know that." She nodded, unable to stop the tear that fell from her eyes and landed on his shoulder.

Elion looked at them, a sad smile etched on her face. Even before her brother had told her Elena's story, even she could tell that the poor girl had gone through a lot in life. Now she had found a brother in Forest, a sister in her, and a lover in Calhoun, things she was sure Elena wouldn't have believed she would have had one told her three years ago.

"Hey, what about me?" Elion called out teasingly, breaking out of her musing. "Aren't I included?"

"Get over here." Elena said, chuckling lightly from her brother's shoulder, stretching her hand to drag Elion close to her.

The Kingdom of Pres...

The night was still. Eerily still. Yet, it did nothing to hide the bad feeling around the

shadows. For it was time for a reckoning.

Yes, blood would flow.

It would flow like a river across the land of Pres.