The Water Prince

Morning brought with it a cool breeze from the open shutters of my private quarters. Outside, the snow-capped mountains awaited, with waterfalls of ice, and sparkling trees aglitter with tiny icicles that resembled precious stones.

I yawned, not yet ready to leave the comfort of my bed, or the warmth of the pretty Duchess of Kyrin.

As my manservant prepared my bath, I rolled onto my side and watched her sleep. She was a lovely young woman, but this would be the last time she’d share my bed. I was promised to another, and though I never believed she’d make it past her eighteenth birthday, she was now being rescued from a human prison.

Eliza opened her eyes, bright purple, with flecks of brown. She sat up, covering her perky breasts and gave me that alluring grin that had hooked me the moment she and her husband were presented at court last spring.

“Well, good morning, your highness,” she purred, leaning down to kiss my forehead, then my mouth.

“Stellan,” I said, as always. But, she insisted on calling me by my proper title.

While Jethroe prepared my clothes for the day, Eliza gave me a naughty wink and straddled me, her warm thighs on either side of my naked chest.

“Tell me it isn’t so,” she said, her sky-blue waves falling over her bony shoulders. As the blanket fell, her wings flapped like those of a hummingbird behind her.

“And, what is that?” I asked, squeezing her supple, pale thighs.

“That I’ll lose you to a dark faerie, an Unseelie whore.”

Tensing, I glared up at her. I wasn’t a saint, and neither was she, but we knew what we were getting ourselves into. She was married to an old Duke with two other wives, and I was promised to another the day I was born.

“That’s enough, Eliza. She will be your queen someday, and you will bow to her like everyone else in the realm.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I will not. No one wants to see a filthy Unseelie on the Allandrian throne. It is a disgrace to us all.”

That’s it. I shoved her off of me.

I wasn’t sure why her words triggered my wrath, but I left her in bed, confused, as I stalked across my bedroom to my bath.

“Fine, then,” she cried after me. “March off to the whore of the magic-realm and pledge your life as her pet. See if I care.”

I shook my head at Jethroe who chuckled behind his hand, and stepped into the pool of hot, scented water.

“That’s right,” I said. “And, you return to that crotchety old husband of yours.”

I heard something crash and break, flinching, and then footsteps followed by the slamming of a door. I didn’t want our tryst to end that way, but fate had already planned out my future, and Celeste meant more to me than Eliza ever could.

Waving Jethroe away, I sank into the water, arms outstretched over the sides and closed my eyes. Water was my element, and it recharged my strength and power. It also brought me solitude and calmed my nerves.

I needed it as my rage bubbled within.

Celeste wasn’t a whore. She was an Elemental, like myself, and though I hadn’t seen her in over eleven years, I’d loved her since the day we met.

* * *

After my bath, I met up with Prince Maxim in the great hall. He gave me a stern look from under long, disheveled brown hair. By the red-rim around his eyes, I knew what he’d been up to all night.

More studying.

The earth Elemental was the most boring person in the entire realm.

“Took you long enough,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back.

I held my arms out as Jethroe put on my cloak and tied it at my throat, rolling my eyes.

“Patience is a virtue, isn’t that right, Maxim?”

He smirked. “You know nothing of patience, my friend.”

“Eager to meet our beloved Aether, are you?”

Looking down, I knew the answer. While myself and the other Elementals were enjoying our childhoods, he shared more in common with the Aether than any of us. While she was imprisoned, he’d been smuggled away and left in an orphanage to protect his identity.

I’d never forget the day my mother brought the orphan prince to our palace. As teenagers, we’d become fast friends.

I never cared that he was half-human.

“I am,” he said, softly. “For years, she was so close that our power cried for one another. Now, I get to finally meet her.”

Clasping a hand onto his shoulder, I nodded. “I know. We shall be in Allandria soon. But, first, I want to visit the Trials. I’ve heard reports of dark magic.”

Maxim lifted a thick brow over pale green eyes. “You don’t think—”

“I do,” I said, leading the way out of the palace doors where our horses awaited. “There’s evil afoot, and I’d have it banished before we depart.”