A Game of Crowns

“Every shadow’s a proof that every dark path has its light.”

-sayquotable.com

*ROWAN’S POV*

I continued to scour the maps of the territories, trying to find the entrance to the Hidden Realm. We were close to finding it. I could feel it.

It was an excuse to distract myself from thinking of the gray-eyed beauty that was Penelope. What had I been thinking last night? She had been vulnerable and a part of me knew I was only a distraction for her.

I knew she was attracted to me, that was obvious, but she also cared for me. Maybe not as much as she did for Tobias but enough that she showed up at my door. She wouldn’t have done that if she didn’t. She wasn’t the type to be with someone physically if she didn’t harbor some sort of feelings for them.

When she began to undo her robe, I should have stopped her, but I couldn’t. I selfishly wanted her any way I could have her. Her body was burned into my retinas. I’d close my eyes and be ambushed with visions of her on my bed. If I tried hard enough, I could hear the echoes of the moans that came from her lips. The night ended with me taking several cold showers. I’d need one now if I didn’t stop my line of thinking.

I groaned and tossed the maps of the territories across the room. They did nothing to distract me. I fell onto my bed, pissed as hell at myself for falling for a woman I could never have.

I knew she was in love with that idiot, Tobias, but I still fell anyway. I probably knew she loved him before she knew it herself. No one else was to blame for the pain I now felt but myself.

I couldn’t be mad at her for saying his name. My ego sure as hell took a hit but I wouldn’t hold it against her. I’d give her some time for herself before I’d find her and apologize.

She would win the game. I knew she would. She’d marry her partner and there would be no room in her life for me. I’d have to accept that.

My door burst open, interrupting my thoughts. Tobias’s manic face put me on alert.

“He took her,” he yelled.

I jumped off my bed. “Who?”

“Thelonious and some Guardians.”

I threw on a shirt and shoes and darted out of the room, Tobias on my heels.

“Explain and where did they take her?” I growled.

My heart thundered in my chest. Thelonious wouldn’t make such a public move on her without cause.

“I don’t know where they took her but it’s your damn fault he did,” Tobias fumed.

I stopped in my tracks. “What do you mean?”

“Last night. Someone saw her leave your room.”

I flinched.

Tobias’s pain was evident. He couldn’t stand the thought of her with me even if he held no claim over her. As much as I wanted to continue letting him think we were together the night before, I didn’t.

“Nothing happened.”

Something had happened but not exactly what he was thinking. I picked up my pace again, feeling the urgency in every second that passed.

I knew what that bastard, Thelonious, would do to her and it would not be pretty. Where would he have taken her? He must have known I’d find out.

I could feel my power burning through my veins, wanting to be used. My sisters would feel the spike in our powers and would come and find me.

“Which way do you think they went?” I asked Tobias.

“Towards the main entrance, I think. I can’t be sure. I came to find you.”

I wanted to punch his damn face into the wall for not staying with her.

It seemed the look on my face gave me away.

“She asked that I find you,” he muttered.

Penelope.

I started to run towards the entrance. I knew where he’d taken her. It was obvious now. I wondered if Tobias knew of the place. His father and family had been murdered in those rooms, after all.

We didn’t make it past the tapestry. The group of Guardians were already slipping out of the narrow door, one by one.

The Guardians carried out one of their own, unconscious. I think her name was Diamond. I’d seen her with Penelope before. More Guardians followed, holding the other sister.

She was cursing up a storm. She had a mouth on her, no doubt, but I spared her only a glance. I had eyes for only one woman. Where was she?

“He branded her,” the conscious sister yelled.

She continued to fight her captors, but it was useless. The woman was at a disadvantage.

“Branded?” Tobias asked.

I couldn’t answer. My sight was tinged with red. It was as I expected. My vision honed in on the next pair of men who carelessly carried the most precious person in my world.

Her body in their arms angered me but the angry looking H on the skin above her breast sent me over the edge. The paintings on the walls began to shake and the air around me seemed to thicken. The next man out of that door was Thelonious himself. He paled as he took me in.

I heard Tobias yell in the background, but nothing mattered but the woman in the arms of our enemy. I walked up to the guards carrying her and they visibly shook at my approach. They had heard of my power. Good, let them cower. I took her sagging body into my arms and cradled her lovingly.

I walked to Tobias and placed her in his. He was strong enough to hold her weight.

I turned to face the collection of Guardians again. The sister who was being held captive grinned menacingly at my approach. She wanted blood as well.

I broke the hands of the Guardians holding onto the woman. She pulled free of their grasps and away from their howls of pain. She ran towards her sister who now lay on the ground. Those Guardians were smart to put her down.

My breathing became ragged and my nostrils flared with my anger.

Thelonious sputtered, “I had every right to do what I just did. The punishment was under my purview. I did nothing wrong.”

His words meant nothing. He had hurt the woman I loved and all I could see was her branded skin. I pulled on the tether of my power and pushed it towards Thelonious. He was pushed against the wall, by a force he couldn’t see, and I reveled in the fear that played over his face. I pushed the wave of power harder into his neck and thrust him higher against the wall. He struggled to breathe as he held his neck, trying to remove the invisible force.

My power was starting to feel dark and abused. I knew I shouldn’t be using it for this, but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to act. Just as I was about to snap his neck, I felt the presence of my sisters.

A touch on each arm sucked all the power from my veins. It was an ability we hadn’t ever used on each other, but I was glad they did it now. I would have gone down a very dark path.

Thelonious’s body fell to the ground, gagging and choking as he gasped for air.

“You’ll pay for this,” he gasped.

I turned away from him and walked towards Tobias. I figured he would have been looking at me like I was a monster, but he wasn’t staring at me. He was looking at Penelope. He loved her, I could see that, but was it enough?

I left my sisters to deal with the fallout of the situation. Tobias and I walked towards the infirmary, with the woman that linked us.