Their Bonds of Love

Conri stood up at the same time as Efa and Lord Cadwin after Eleri fled the room. He looked at the both of them and put his hand up. “Let me go see her. I am sure it was my words that made her run.”

“I think it was a combination of a few things,” said Efa. “But you should go. Listen to what she has to say. I know you want to keep her safe, but who says she will be any safer here than in Niamhan. If she lets Lord Fellen’s bond overtake her, there is no telling what her magic will do. She could be in the palace in a blink of an eye if she wished it.”

Conri nodded. “I’m not sure I can just let her go, but I will try to listen to what she has to say.”

“I will trust you with this because I know I must let you start being the man who cares for her,” said Lord Cadwin. “But if she needs me, come find me. I don’t care what time it is.”

“Of course, my lord,” said Conri as he left the room.

He hurried up the stairs and went straight to Eleri’s door. He knocked on it quietly before opening it. The room was dim, and he found Eleri standing by her large window looking out into the night lit by the half-moon. He was again struck by her beauty as she turned slightly to glance at him. The light streaming through the window illuminated her delicate features perfectly so that she hardly looked real.

“If you have come to tell me I cannot go with you, you should save your breath. You know you cannot stop me even if you command it. It may make me a terrible queen and wife, but I will not obey you if I believe you are wrong.”

“I haven’t come to tell you what to do,” said Conri as he moved towards her. “I came to check on you. I know it had to be shocking to hear that version of the prophecy. I spoke out of turn in the dining hall. I was thinking of myself when my only concern should have been you.”

“I don’t know how to feel. I have tried to ignore the prophecy my whole life. Even when I started falling in love with you, I told myself it had nothing to do with some words spoken long ago. I still don’t think it does. I may have been drawn to you from the beginning because of some magic or power from the goddess, but that is not why I love you.”

He stood by her side. “I feel the same way. I don’t love you because I was told to do it. I love you because of who you are.”

He saw a few tears run down her cheeks. “But now you believe what it says. You think this version is the truth, and I shall have to die for us to save Elathia.”

“I don’t know, Eleri. I only know when I heard about sacrifice and a king’s tears, all I could think about was losing you. I think it is my greatest fear at this point.” He took her hand, and she leaned into him.

“I’m scared of so much, Conri, and almost all of it has to do with you. I’m scared of losing you, of course, but I also fear I will disappoint you. I’m scared I will be your downfall somehow.”

“You will only be my downfall if you leave me. Much of my strength comes from you. I have always been very selfish, Eleri, and even if you tried to leave me, I don’t think I could let you.” He leaned his head against hers. “You could never disappoint me.”

“I have to come with you to Niamhan. I cannot stay here. If you leave me here alone, I don’t think I will be strong enough to push back this darkness inside of me. The only time I find real relief is when you are with me like this.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her into his full embrace. He could feel her crying against him. “I know it is risky with me going. I don’t know what is going to happen when I see him. I think with you there, I can fight any connection he has with me, but I was serious earlier when I said if I can’t, I won’t blame you or anyone else for whatever you have to do.”

“You will be strong enough. I told you I would remind you who you are, and I will do so constantly until then. I will make sure you are so full of my reassurances and love that there is no room for him to take over. We all need you. I think you are the only reason your father is still here. Efa not only loves you, but she feels she must keep you safe for your mother. I know Caerwyn hurt you, but he still cares for you. I don’t believe he could go on if you were not alive. This land and all its people need you.

“I know you hate thinking of the prophecy as real, but your very existence has given so many hope during a dark time. I know that people accept me as the king because of my bloodline. I hope to one day convince them that I am worthy of the title in more ways than who my parents were. People believe you should be queen because of the prophecy. I have no doubt it will take no time at all for people to see that you weren’t just meant to lead them, but that every part of you is worthy of being called their queen.”

He held her tighter as he felt his own tears fill his eyes. “You have no idea how much I need you, Eleri. Before I met you, I never took anything seriously. I saw life as a joke and my future responsibilities as some faraway thing. You awoke something within me that made me want to be better.”

She laughed a little through her tears. “But I like it when you are still flippant and silly sometimes.”

“I will never lose it completely, but now I know who I have to be. I think the main reason is you. It always felt like something was missing in my life, and I tried to fill that void in so many ways. I now know it was you.”

She looked up at him, and he reached up to wipe one of her tears away. “I don’t want to leave you, Conri. I look back on those weeks I lost memories of you, and it scares me. I can’t do that again. I’m afraid that I will lose the war going on inside me, and I will forget that I belong to you.”

He leaned down and kissed her. “I won’t let you forget.”

She kissed him again and again. He eventually picked her up and took her to the bed, laying her down gently. She reached for him and pulled him down on top of her. As he continued kissing her, all he could think was he could not get enough of her. He could love her his whole life and beyond, and it wouldn’t be enough.

His lips moved from hers down to her neck. He settled in over her mark that looked red and bruised. He gently kissed it, and she arched up against him. He kissed it more firmly, and she moaned. Settling his lips over it, he ran his tongue over it.

“Please love me, Conri. I need you,” she gasped.

He leaned up to undo his pants before using both his hands to bring all her skirts up. He moved back over her, kissing her as he circled her center with his thumb. She squirmed against him as he stroked her. She gasped his name in need, and he positioned himself. He entered her quickly, and Eleri cried out his name.

He loved her without restraint, bending down to suck on her mark as she moved her hands under his shirt to dig her fingernails into his back. He had never loved her like this. Usually, their times together were slow, drawing each other’s pleasure out. This time he was driven by the instinct within him to show her she was his, and as she dug deeper into his back, he believed she was feeling the same thing.

As he felt himself coming to the brink, he leaned up and looked at her. “Eleri, I need you to mark me.”

She closed her eyes as he moved even deeper into her. She managed just to get out his name before he kissed her. “No excuses. I need it, please.” He moved his head up so she would have access to his neck. He felt her tongue run across one spot, and he almost lost all control. “Yes, Eleri.”

She leaned up further, and he groaned with the effort of holding himself back. He would not let her go until he was fully hers in every sense. He felt her hesitation as her teeth scraped against his sensitive skin. He moved down closer, and she shuddered under him before he felt her teeth sink into his flesh.

The room faded around him as he called out her name. The pleasure he felt was indescribable. He felt so tied to Eleri that he knew nothing could keep him from her. Any fears he had of losing her went away in the moment as he thrust fully in her, releasing deep inside of her.

She let go of his neck and said his name so loudly, he was sure even the thick walls could not hide her cry. He kissed her deeply, his tongue tasting his own blood on her lips. He moved within a few more times before collapsing. Her hands finally unclenched from his back. He rolled over, bringing her into his arms. She settled against him before softly kissing his fresh mark, making him moan.

“You are mine, Conri,” she said before kissing his mark again. “No one will take you from me, no matter what they do.”

He moved her up in his arms until he could gain access to her mark. He leaned in and slightly sunk his teeth back into it until he could taste her blood as he undid the ties at the back of her dress. As he pulled it down, he kept his lips on her mark, his tongue swirling around the bit of blood there as she moaned loudly.

“You cannot forget who you are, Eleri.”

“I cannot,” she whispered. “We are so tied together that we could never be apart. There is nowhere I could go that you could not find me.”

He felt the truth in her words, knowing she could never be fully away from him. He wasn’t sure if it were fate, some magic spell, or maybe just the euphoria of the moment, but it felt as if they were beyond just bonded. It was as if they truly were a part of each other, so essential that one could not exist without the other.

He pulled her dress completely off with her help, leaving her only wearing the thin shift she wore underneath. He took off his shirt before helping her to pull off all she wore. He wanted nothing to be between them. Once she was bare, he pulled her to him so he could feel all of her against him.

“I will go with you to Niamhan, Conri. There can be no other way. Whatever happens, we will have to trust the goddess and each other to see us through. We will face what we must together.”

He leaned down and kissed her. “I know, Eleri. Remember, we do things together.”

She gave him a small smile before he moved back on top of her. He spent their last night in Cadwin Manor, loving her as though he might never have the chance again but resting in the hope that they would have forever.