Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) (6 page)

His chest was half-bare and muscular with a small tuft of chest hair peeking out behind his white, toga-like gown.  His long, navy-colored hair swayed in the evening breeze as he stood there, his eyes focused on me alone.  His face was handsome yet rugged, his jaw wide with a trimmed goatee.  His eyes were a dazzling and light shade of aquamarine and looked a bit too large for his face as did his slightly crooked nose.  But my eyes focused in on the very noticeable scar across his left cheek from his many years of dueling.

“Hello, Kafkus.”

He bowed in my direction.  “Good evening, Princess Quartessa,” he said in a proper and respectful tone.

“Princess…Quartessa?” Clifton repeated.

I didn’t look at him.  My eyes were focused on Kafkus as if I was expecting him to grab me and drag me home against my will.  But he did nothing.  “Quartessa is the name I was born with.  I am Princess in the fact that my father is King of the Zolera.  But, since I no longer live in Kortis, I no longer consider myself a princess.”  I paused for a moment to keep from ranting on about the subject.  (Believe me I had a lot to say, none of it too pleasant.)  “What are you doing here, Kafkus?”

“I have come by your father’s request.”  His gaze shifted to Clifton.  “What is he?”

“What does my father want?”

“I do not think it wise to speak in front of this one.”  His eyes turned back on me.  “Could we please talk in private, Princess?”

I laughed.  “I don’t trust you enough to speak privately with me.”  His face hardened.  “Anything that you wish to speak to me about, you can do so in front of Clifton.”

“You trust him?  I can smell his tainted, mongrel-blood from here?”

I grabbed Clifton’s hand.  “I trust him completely.”

Kafkus’ eyes were filled with profound hatred aimed at my man.  Clifton’s pupils had shifted into the, all too familiar, crimson, diamond-shape.  His Boru eyes were peeking through his mask as if he couldn’t cover them with his magic, or that he wasn’t even bothering to try.  Kafkus’ eyes widened with alarm.  “BORU!” he roared while drawing his sword.

I jumped between them, stopping the fight that was sure to ensue.

“Show yourself, Boru!” Kafkus taunted.  “Let me see your true form!”

Clifton obliged.

Magic flooded the air as he dropped his mask.  And I watched as the brilliant aquamarine hue of his skin revealed itself, watched as his long, sleek hair shifted from blonde to midnight blue.  It was even darker than Kafkus’.

Kafkus stopped struggling against me, and stared.  “You are Zolera?  Yet you are Boru?  Did you know this, Princess?”  I gave him a slight nod because lying would do no good at this point.  “Then you know that I must kill him.  For the sake of our species I must see him dead.”

“You will not kill him, because I forbid it!”  I could hold my own when necessary.  It was a byproduct of growing up in a royal family.

“I take my orders from your father, Princess, not you.  I was instructed to bring you home because your father wishes a meeting with you.  But, with this latest development, I have a new task to complete before I can return home with you in hand.”

“Then take me home.  But you will leave Clifton alone.  He has done nothing wrong and he isn’t a threat to you.”

“He is a threat to our very existence!”

“I won’t leave you,” Clifton said while stepping in front of me.  “I will come to Kortis too.”  He was mere inches from Kafkus now.  Neither of them moved, but they were both poised to strike.

Kafkus raised an eyebrow.  “I will not take this, this
thing
to our home.  No Boru has set foot in Kortis in over five-hundred years.”

I stepped closer, staying where I could keep an eye on both of them.  “Kafkus, you will take him with me, or else I will not go.”  I wasn’t so sure that Clifton should come.  There would be greater threat to Clifton in Kortis.

“If I bring him he will be killed for sure.”  An evil grin crept across his mouth.  “Fine, we will all go.  I will enjoy watching your father rip him apart with his bare hands.”  He turned around, facing the ocean, and began to wade deeper into the water.  “Come,” he called out in a rather curt voice.

“Will your father really kill me for something that I have no control over?”

His face was anxious and I wanted to say something comforting.  To be honest I didn’t want to think about what my father would do.  “I will talk to him.  I am sure that everything will be fine.”  I attempted a smile but it came out more like a grimace as he stared at me with those needy eyes.  He wanted reassurance, but I could give him very little.  “My Zezka,” I said soothingly while pressing my palm to his cheek.

“Zezka?”

“My love.”

He smiled and rubbed his face against my hand.

“Are you coming?”  Kafkus yelled out impatiently.  He was pretty far out into the ocean now.

I took a deep breath and grabbed Clifton’s hand as we waded into the water.

“How do we get there?” Clifton asked.

Kafkus moved aside to show Clifton a whirlpool that was illuminating with an unnatural green light.  “I have made the portal.”  He made a polite motion to me and said, “Ladies first.”

I swam into it, dragging Clifton with me.  “Don’t let go.”  He nodded.  I wrapped my legs around his waist and threw my arms around his neck, holding him very tight.  “Hold your breath,” I told him, unsure if he could breathe underwater as I could, and felt him breathe in deep before we were sucked down with the current.

The water spun fast around us, as we revolved in the opposite direction.  It was horror on one’s stomach.  I closed my eyes and focused on holding Clifton as we were sucked down deeper and deeper until we hit something solid.

When I opened my eyes the glowing whirlpool was dissipating, leaving nothing but crystal clear water in its place.  Fuchsia and Mandarin colored fish were flitting through the nearby water.  It was a beautiful and familiar sight.

Keeping my legs wrapped tightly around Clifton, I loosened my arms to make sure that he was all right.  He was fine, and, he was breathing.  I kissed him with the relief that I hadn’t lost him just yet.  He pushed off the ocean floor and swam to the surface, taking me with him.

********************

I took a moment to look around my home.  Kortis was as it had ever been.  The ever-changing sky was a bright, yet light, shade of red and the intense orange sun was just peeking over the horizon.  Time ran a little behind here.  We were close enough to the shore to see the beautiful landscape.  The sand was pearly white and a large stone castle stood alone in the distance.  There were many tropical trees and plants blocking the other homes from view, but I knew they were there.  The sight brought tears to my eyes.  You never really know how homesick you are until you go back.

Clifton was looking around with amazement in his eyes.  “So you are really Quartessa, princess of this extraordinary place?”

“Yes.  I see that you can breathe underwater.”

“I thought you told me to hold my breath for another reason.”  He stared loving into my eyes.  “I will always do whatever you ask of me.”  His lips found mine as I embraced him, and for a moment I forgot where I was.

“Ahem.”

Kafkus was looking pissy.  I hadn’t even heard him break the surface.

“If you are quite finished, Princess, we need to be going.”  A lone vein was throbbing on his neck.

“Don’t be jealous, Kafkus, it doesn’t flatter you.”

“I am
not
jealous.  I just think that you deserve to be with a
real
man, one with an untarnished bloodline.”  He started swimming towards the shore without another word.

Though a few retorts were brooding in my head, I didn’t voice them.  It wasn’t worth it.  I just motioned for Clifton to follow him.

The sand sparkled beneath my feet like millions of tiny opals.  I dug my toes into it, relishing in its warmth on my bare feet.

“AHHHH!”

I spun around to see Clifton sinking deep into the sand.  His legs had already been swallowed.  The ground had just reached his stomach when I grabbed his arms and pulled with all my strength.  I was too weak.  “Help him!”

“There is nothing I can do.”

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”

“Your father had a curse placed upon the land some time ago.”  He laughed.  “Any Boru that comes in contact with it will be swallowed.”

I focused all of my energy on keeping Clifton from being sucked up by the sand.  But just as soon as the sand had reached his neck, it stopped.  His arms had been raised, leaving the two appendages and his head sticking out of the sand.

“It appears that Kortis knows that he is Zolera as well.”

“That’s good to know and all, but how do I get out of here?” Clifton asked while struggling to free himself.

“Kafkus, go get my father!”

“Why don’t
you
go get him?”

“And leave the two of you alone so that you can finish the job?  I don’t think so.  You
will
get my father.  If he dies, I will make sure that you do not live another day.”

His smile faltered but it didn’t disappear.  “I am not afraid of you.”

I knew that he wasn’t afraid of me, but I also knew that he wouldn’t dare hurt me.  If I challenged him to a duel, I would win.  Not because I was stronger, but because my father would kill him if he killed me.  I held my ground, staring him down.  After a minute or so of this, he skulked off towards the castle muttering something incoherent under his breath.  I didn’t care what he said as long as he did as I asked.

I knelt next to Clifton in the warm sand.  “I
will
get you out of this.”

“I know that you’ll try, but somehow I don’t think that your father is going to like me.”

“When he sees what I see he will accept you.”

“That’s if he lets me live long enough for me to explain myself.”

I sighed, thinking of no more helpful words.  I just sat there, stroking his hair and trying my best to comfort him without words.

The sudden noise of footsteps in the distance caused me to spring to my feet, prepared to defend my man.  I caught a glimpse of something purple coming at me and dropped my guard at once.  “Violet!” I shouted and saw her smile.

“Friend?” Clifton asked.

“Best friend,” I answered through a huge smile and I felt him relax a little.  Well, relax as much as he could with being held prisoner by the ground anyway.

Violet’s name matched her well.  Her skin was a very pale shade of lavender.  Her hair was a darker, more plum color and it was long, much longer than I’d remembered it.  It was loose, falling down to her lower back and swaying with her long, striding steps.  Her eyes were two-toned, sky blue on the outside with a rim of lilac around her pupil.  She was all Zolera; even though you wouldn’t know it by looking at her.  Her purple tint didn’t match that of the traditional Zolera blue.  Most of the Zolera witches were like that: different.  My father had always said that it showed that they were
more
.

She hit me hard and threw her arms around me in a hug so tight I could barely breathe.  “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” I lied.  “How have you been?”

She let go of me abruptly, looking as if I had struck her.  “There is terrible magic upon you.  It is feeding on your essence, sucking the very life from within you.”

Her words frightened me a little though I tried to ignore it as I lifted my pant leg, exposing the silver jewelry strapped to my ankle.

She clasped a hand over her mouth, stifling a squeal, and took a step back.  “The Ring of Eccus?  How did you get that?”

“You know this thing?”

“I do.  It belonged to the Yaro but it has been missing for some time.  We have had Yaro visitors from time to time to check in with the castles if there have been any updates in its status.  They used it to gain the strength and life from others.”

The Yaro were fire demons that inhabited the Eastern territory of Kortis.  They were evil, power hungry beings that were always trying to become more than what they were.  I could easily believe that they would use this ring on lesser creatures to gain their strength.  But it wasn’t a Yaro who attacked me.

“A Boru put it on her,” Clifton said and I jumped, momentarily forgetting he was there.

She judged the head and hands protruding from the sand.  “Who is this?”

“This is Clifton, my Zezka.  He is half-Boru and half-Zolera.”  My words came out calm, but inside I was screaming.  “Can you release him?”

She eyed Clifton with interest and apparent conflict.  “I can, but I will need your father’s permission first.”

“Please?” I begged.  I was hoping to have Clifton free from the ground before my father showed up.  I didn’t like the idea of him being caged in and unable to defend himself.  Not that it would be much use for him to be able to fight.

“You wish me dead?”  She was reminding me of the consequences of direct disobedience from my father when you were not his child.  I’d been away too long.