"Did you…" Theo began to ask, unable to finish the sentence.
"Is this some kind of trick?" Fleur's expression suddenly changed from one of shock to anger. She yanked herself free of his grip and put a few paces between them, glaring at him so hard he was sure she was the angriest he had seen anyone. "I'm not just some common maid you can trick into thinking I'm your fated mate just so you can add another notch to your bedpost!"
Theo cringed at the accusation. A few nobles in his friendship group had been rumored to have done just that but he had never imagined that someone might accuse him of such a thing.
"Fleur, I would never…" he began, taking a step toward her but she lifted a hand, warning him away.
"Please, don't touch me." Her voice was little more than a whimper now and he could see the deep hurt flaring inside her. She wrapped her arms around her chest as if she were cold and began to wade the rest of the way out of the pool.
Even before she spread her wings Theo knew what she was going to do. He could see it in the way she bounced up onto her tiptoes.
"Fleur, don't!" Theo called after her but she was already in the air, clearly too upset to worry about royal flying rules.
He opened his wings and leaped into the air only to come crashing back to earth, remembering all too late that his wings were still sodden from the lake.
"Damn it!" he exclaimed, punching a fist into the surface of the pool where he knelt. Water and mud splashed up, blinding him for a second.
"Well, well, brother, you royally messed that one up," came the overly amused comment from the rockfall. Theo looked around to see the fiery haired Ember lounged on the rocks.
"How long have you been sitting there?" Theo grumbled. What had just happened was bad enough without witnesses.
"Long enough to know that girl's accusation was unfounded," Ember responded. Unlike Theo, his wings were dry and he easily fluttered from the rocks to stand at the edge of the pool. "So what are you going to do about it?"
He crossed his arms over his naked chest and started at Theo.
"Nothing," Theo shrugged. He picked himself up from the shallows of the pool and ran his hands through the surface of the water to wash off the mud. Even as he did, he could feel his brother watching him closely.
"So you are just going to pretend like nothing happened?" Ember sounded utterly disbelieving before his voice became sarcastic, "What would Mother and Father think after their fated kiss saved the entire kingdom? I mean, they are the very reason you are about to receive a kingdom of your own!"
The mocking in Ember's tone was enough to make Theo want to throttle him but he could picture it now. If he tried to charge his brother he'd flit off just like Fleur had and who knows what he would tell people if he became vengeful for an attempted throttling.
Instead, he shrugged and pointed out, "Tomorrow I set sail for the Summer Isle."
"Yes, and in a few months to a year your bride will follow."
It was becoming harder and harder for Theo not to throw himself at his brother and wrap his fingers around his throat.
"I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it."
Ember's charcoal eyes danced with amusement and he wiggled a strong red eyebrow, "Be careful, Brother, you know the stories as well as I do."
That's the problem, Theo thought. He knew all too well that it was next to impossible to run from the promise of a fated mate. Then he reminded himself, she ran from you!
Yet deep down he knew that if he had really wanted to, he could have ordered her back to the ground. He could have threatened her with the palace guards or even threatened to have her brought before the council in light of her flying in the royal presence.
"Don't think too hard, Brother, I'd hate for your handsome head to explode." Ember chuckled and Theo grabbed a pebble from the shallows to aim at his brother.
"You have a terrible aim," Ember mocked further as he dodged easily out of the way.
"If I had wanted to hit you, I would have," Theo snapped. "Get out of here before I do."
Chapter 2 - Fleur
"Can you believe that today is the day?" Delilah's voice made Fleur jump. She had been absentmindedly folding clothes into a trunk, consumed by thoughts of the journey they would soon be taking, a journey to the Summer Isle, to him.
"How could I not? You have been talking about it for the last six months!" Fleur rolled her eyes as she had been doing more and more.
6 months, 3 days to be exact, she thought to herself. That was how long it had been since she had last laid eyes upon Prince Theo, now King Theo of the Summer Isle.