Bound to the Prince (14 page)

Elathan pushed her behind his broad back so
she was blocked from the mythical creature’s view. “Centaurs,” he
growled. “It's always the same with them. Never able to control
themselves in the presence of a female.” He laid his hand on the
hilt of his spear, making sure the centaur would see the warning
gesture. “She’s mine, Aegis,” Elathan said. He gave the centaur a
warning look, his eyes glowing dangerously now. “I would not advise
you to touch her. Now where are your friends?”

Aegis watched the prince with open challenge,
but just for a short moment. Then he quickly averted his eyes from
Igraine and raised his hand. One after another, three centaurs
stepped into the clearing, joining their leader. They were strange
companions for a prince, Igraine thought. Every one of them had a
different coloring, their hair always matching the fur on their
horse half. One was very pale with light hair, similar to
Elathan’s; the second reddish brown while the last was the color of
polished ebony, his white teeth flashing in his handsome face when
he grinned at Igraine. They were beautiful creatures; yet they
looked wild and untamed. Obviously they respected Elathan, every
one of them bowing his head to the prince as they left the shelter
of the trees. Igraine had the distinct feeling that she didn’t want
one of them as her enemy if she could avoid it.

All of a sudden she noticed that the clearing
wasn’t bathed in golden sunshine anymore, the thick canopy of
leaves filtering out a good part of the light. The autumn colors of
the trees looked duller now, and it was rapidly getting darker. The
silence of the woods was only broken by the occasional sound of
small night creatures searching their way through the
undergrowth.

Elathan turned to her, his face cold and
unmoving again.

“Brace yourself, Igraine. As soon as night
falls, the hunt will begin. The rules are quite simple. You only
have to run and try to escape me and my hunting companions.” He
gestured to the centaurs. They seemed to enjoy themselves
immensely, grinning while they watched Igraine’s shocked face. She
had just realized that the prince intended her to be the prey.
Slowly, she shook her head, unable to believe that he would do this
to her.

“The ritual will last until the sun rises in
the east,” he continued, clearly unconcerned. The question is not
if I catch you – there is no doubt about that, but how far you will
make it before I hunt you down. Thus, you will prove yourself
worthy of being a slave of pleasure, strong enough to cope with the
desires of an elven warrior.”

He saw the panic in her eyes, so he put his
hand under her chin and lifted up her face to him. “Don’t be
frightened, sweet Igraine,” he added gently. “You are strong. Our
blood has become one. I’ll do everything in my power to protect
you, and the centaurs will not dare to touch you. Their only task
is to chase you towards me. But be warned, this forest is very old.
My people magically changed it for the sake of the Fae who live
here, undisturbed by meddlesome humans. But there are also other
creatures that still dwell in these woods. Some of them might prove
dangerous to a human foolish enough to stumble into their way.

“I am the hunter, your master. You are the
prey, my slave of pleasure. Run as fast as you can. I’ll give you
one hour’s head start. Then I will not rest until you are mine.” He
lowered his head and dropped his voice to a whisper, so the sharp
ears of the centaurs wouldn’t hear what he told her. “I knew how
beautiful you would look wearing this elven attire - like Diana,
the goddess of the hunt. You can't imagine how much I want to be
inside you, right now. But when your time comes and I take you, do
not expect me to hold back, woman. You will surrender yourself to
me completely, and I will claim what is rightfully mine.”

At this very moment the last beams of light
shining through the leaves were gone, and the clearing was filled
with dark shadows.

“The hunt has begun,” Elathan announced
loudly, his voice rolling like thunder between the ancient
trees.

Igraine hesitated only for a second. She
threw one last glance at the prince’s face, just to see the
expression in his eyes. They were dark, deep amber now, and showed
no emotion except the thrill of the hunt. Terrified, she turned
around and began to run.

Chapter 9: The
Hunt

Igraine raced through the woods, the mocking
battle cries of the centaurs still ringing in her ears. The fallen
leaves rustled under her feet while she ran as fast as she could.
She hoped to be at a safe distance when her one hour’s head start
was over. She knew that she could never outrun the prince and his
rowdy hunting companions, but maybe she had a chance if she found a
good place to hide. The forest was plunged into darkness. However,
a full moon lightened up the sky, shining through the leaves now
and then, so she was able to proceed.

She had no idea where she was going, but she
assumed that she was fleeing deeper into what seemed to be an older
part of the forest. The undergrowth was thicker here, twigs leaving
bloody scratches on her face and naked arms as she struggled to
find a way through it. The trees looked gnarled and ancient, and
they stood closer together now, making it difficult for her to walk
between them without stumbling over their roots.

Eventually, she came to a place where the
forest became so dense it swallowed the last bit of moonlight
passing through the canopy of leaves. Igraine paused for a moment
and looked for a way out, but it was pitch dark. She stretched out
her arms and made a few cautious steps forward, careful not to run
into a tree-trunk. It would be too humiliating if Elathan found her
lying knocked out on the forest floor. But the darkness deepened
even more, and it was clear that she would never make it to the
other side of the woods this way.

Deciding that it was the best to return to
where she had come from, she noticed that she had lost her sense of
direction completely. Not knowing what to do, she turned to the
nearest tree and threw her arms around the trunk. There, she
pressed her cheek against the rough bark and closed her eyes.

When she felt a paralyzing fear rising up
inside her, Igraine forced herself to breathe steadily. She
couldn’t help thinking about Elathan. Since they had united their
blood, she was bound to him with heart and soul. Even if he wasn’t
near, even if he was the one who sent her into this utter darkness,
she still could feel his powerful presence, his strength comforting
her.

She imagined him standing in the clearing,
motionless like the age-old trees, as his sharp eyes scanned the
darkness, searching for her. There was no doubt that he would come
for her as soon as the hour had passed, and try to reclaim what was
now rightfully his. She didn’t dare to think about what would
happen when he caught her. Despite the fact that he was the hunter
and she his game, the knowledge that he would find her eventually
gave her the courage to move on.

Something tickled her nose, not more than a
wisp of air. She opened her eyes and winced when she saw a tiny
light ball dancing directly before her face. At first she thought
it was a glow worm, but when she took a closer look she recognized
a little, human-like creature flying inside the orb, so small she
could hardly see it. Instantly, she realized that this must be a
fairy, one of the magic beings inhabiting the forest.

Igraine smiled at the fairy, and it answered
with a high giggle that sounded like bells on a winter sleigh. She
stretched out a finger to touch the tiny creature, who quickly drew
aside and flew away, stopping in the air at a few paces’ distance.
There it paused and called out to Igraine with its fine, melodic
voice. Igraine was so enchanted that it took her a while to realize
that the fairy wanted her to follow.

There was no way to know if the fairy would
show her a way out of this pitch-dark wood, but so far she had no
better idea. Moving on in the direction the dancing light bulb
indicated, she passed two trees, the space between them just large
enough for her to press through. There was a high giggling from the
right, and when Igraine turned her head, there were more little
light balls flying towards the place she stood, joining the first
one. They danced all around her, whirling around her head until she
was dizzy, leaving tiny sparkling stars that lingered a while in
the air after they were gone. The night was filled with the
fairies' laughter. It sounded like hundreds of silver bells ringing
at the same time.

After a while they seemed to form a row and
flew ahead, hovering in the air until Igraine began to follow. They
led her to a forest path so narrow she never would have found it on
her own, then urged her to walk on it. The fairies were constantly
swirling around her, their high voices chatting in a language she
couldn’t understand.

The trail wound its way through the forest,
and she went along with the fairies for a time that felt like
forever for her. Amazed by their presence, Igraine nearly forgot
that she had to escape Elathan before he caught up with her.

Suddenly the path came to an end, and she saw
that they had left the shelter of the trees. She was standing
before a vast expanse of open land, another part of the forest
hardly visible in the distance. The moon shone brightly, and she
breathed a sigh of relief when she could see her surroundings
again. Pools of black water were everywhere, with dry ground in
between where grass and bushes grew. There even stood some forlorn
trees here and there, stretching out their twisted, naked branches
to the night sky.

Igraine became aware that she stood at the
edge of a moor. There was no sound aside from the occasional call
of a night bird. Igraine looked around, realizing that the
high-pitched voices of the fairies had fallen silent. The little
lights were nowhere to be seen, it was like they had never existed.
She wondered if they had merely been an illusion her panic-stricken
mind had conjured up to calm her. But the fairies had been there,
just a moment ago. Her skin still tingled in places they had
touched.

She looked back at the darkened forest, then
out towards the marshes, contemplating where to go now. After a few
moments she shrugged. She didn’t have the desire to walk in total
darkness again, so there was no other choice but to try her luck
with the bog. It had its own strange beauty. The silver light of
the stars was reflected in the black, calm surface of the water,
and Igraine assumed that there wasn't anything to fear from such a
peaceful place. If she chose her steps carefully she would stay on
dry land and make it to the forest, where she could look for a safe
place to hide. Besides, the moor would be easier crossed by foot
than on the back of a horse. Elathan and his centaurs wouldn’t be
able to follow her as quickly as they usually might, she mused.

So it was the moor, then. Igraine went to the
nearest patch of green and began to search her way to the other
side. When she made the first step, she heard a rustle in the
leaves behind her, followed by a soft, high giggle. But as she
turned her head, there was nothing, only the dark, silent trees. So
she shrugged again and went on, feeling sure that it had only been
a figment of her imagination.

Elathan rode through the forest that had once
been his home, long before his people were forced to build
strongholds and fight back the hordes of barbarian humans advancing
into the elves’ beloved woods. The mortals had always been like
that, breaking truces every time one of their kings died and was
succeeded by the next. Wherever they went, they left behind a trail
of death and destruction.

Despite the excitement of the hunt, he felt
strangely at peace, knowing that he would catch his lovely slave of
pleasure and make her his own before the night was over. The
centaurs searched the outskirts for his precious prey, while he
proceeded into the depths of the forest, using his elven senses to
find her.

He was sure that Igraine would make it to the
other side and wait for him to claim her there. Her daily training
had made her strong enough to be his mate. She was proud and
courageous, and always held her head high, no matter how frightened
she was. Sadly, however, she was human; but she had the heart of a
lioness, his little wench. No other mortal female would have had
the courage to face him so fearlessly, whilst being aware of his
superior strength. He could have killed her at anytime, with
ease.

Suddenly, an unknown fear overcame him, and
he threw back his head, listening to the voices of the night. The
trees were far too silent. They weren't shaking their leaves and
whispering as they usually did when the beautiful full moon shed
her light on their crowns. The falcons didn’t cry out their joy of
the hunt, calling him their brother while he went after his own
prey, his heart filled with wild satisfaction.

Igraine. She was in grave danger. He suddenly
knew it, deep in his heart. In his mind, he could hear her calling
out to him. Quickly, he tried to read her thoughts, hoping to learn
anything that could tell him where she was. However, she was so far
away that he only received blurred images. For a very short moment,
he saw what she saw – trees, a tiny dancing light, and a black pool
of water reflecting the stars…

The moor. Now he knew where he would find
her. He only hoped that he was not too late.

Igraine clung to the thickest bough of a
thorny shrub that grew at the edge of the muddy pool she lay in,
sinking deeper with every move she made. The fact that she had made
it nearly to the other side of the marshland had made her careless;
moving forward too fast while not paying enough attention to the
treacherous path under her feet.