“Morrigan’s magic has corrupted this world to the core,” I whispered.
“How do we climb?” Alasdair craned his neck to look up at the tallest tower. The vines were too thick to cut through without wasting days to do it, and we didn’t know how the inside looked.
“We climb,” Fergus responded when he let himself hang from a thorn above his head. With him being the heaviest, we knew it could support our weight as well.
Not wasting time, we got ourselves ready and hoisted up to the first level of prickles, steadying our forms on the uneven terrain. Some of the vines were weaker, so we had to gently move to the next as though we were rock climbing.
The others joined me with some grunts as we got higher and higher. Time kept going on, but we didn’t let the lowering sun bother us. Climbing wasn’t something we could do as easily as a monkey. The closer we got, we fought the elevation created thinner air.
Watching from below, I saw Cullen tumble in through a window first thanks to the winds helping him be lighter. Alasdair was right behind him with Fergus hot on his heels. I was the last on purpose to think through what we were about to do for our own selfish reasons. The only thing I could tell myself to feel better was, this princess had lost her kingdom to the same monster claiming our land. Hopefully, that would be enough after she learned of her prince’s death.
No words could describe the sorrow filling my vessel. Muir was Áine’s son, the next in line for her throne. But more importantly, he was our childhood best friend. We lost that over one hundred years ago, and it wasn’t for the vain reasons we once believed.
“Hurry, Bain. We don’t know if there’s something lurking near us,” Alasdair whispered through the window to see me right below it. His green eyes sought out my white ones for an answer because this was the first hesitation I had revealed about our plan.
“Sorry, I’m sore from digging.” The lie fell easily from my lips because it was a half-truth, being on my mind from the burn in my shoulders.
Pulling myself over the ledge, we stumbled into an immaculate room. A four-poster bed resided in it, centered against the far wall. Shades of light blue and pink canopied over the resting form. An armoire was staged with a vanity matching the rest of the mahogany wood. This royal family didn’t spare any expense when it came to showcasing their worth. It made me know the princess was going to be a spoiled brat we were all going to have to bear. I wasn’t equipped for a babysitting gig of some posh princess. Why did Áine send us to her?
Though, it didn’t take a blind man to see her beauty, easy to see why Muir had chosen her. The Cupid’s bow of her lip was prominent, pushing it out in a succulent way, matching the roundness of her lower one. Gold tresses laid around her face, ending just over the swell of her breasts, showing us that she hadn’t changed this whole time. If she had, her hair would’ve reached the window, and wrinkles would’ve weathered her skin. Average in height, I knew most females of her race were her stature. We’d be giants in comparision.
Alasdair whistled in appreciation of the resting princess. “Well, the third part of this trip just got easier.”
“Don’t be a pig,” I sighed, knowing he wanted to fuck her. Alasdair had always been known to have a way with the ladies, but that was not the first impression I wanted Briar to have of us. Not with her being engaged to our oldest friend. Alasdair and Fergus didn’t know about Muir’s identity, but they could still be respectful.
“Third part? What were the first two?” Fergus scratched his head. While he was a wise man with nature, he lacked a certain level of understanding that came natural to the rest of us.
“First was getting the skull. Second is waking her up with it. Third will be when we fuck her senselessly as she thanks me endlessly for saving her life.” Alasdair shrugged callously. Cullen gave me a pointed look to keep my mouth shut because we knew this princess wasn’t going to be swayed into his bed so easily.
“Just get on with it.” I waved my hand at Cullen. He moved to the bed and positioned the skull. Holding my breath, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
3
Briar
Tingling, my limbs were feeling my nerves come back online. The sensation was nearly painful, but I knew what it meant for me. Heavily-lidded, my eyes took a little bit longer to open than I thought they would. I knew Philip would be standing over me from breaking the curse, creating a throb in my heart that pounded through my veins faster to see him.
While waiting to open my eyes, I tried to speak, but only muddled sounds and groans came out. It made me question how long I had been asleep for. A few days shouldn’t have made me feel as though I have been asleep for thousands of years.
When the lids of my eyes finally cracked, I only saw light and shadows in my view. Was it dark out? Maybe it was the same night as when I fell into the curse, but my body told me that was a pipe dream. Still, I knew the only way I’d wake was from true love’s kiss. That was all I needed for me to push my body harder to come alive again.
Forcing my hands to prop my body, I groaned in disbelief of how sore I was. My whole body felt like it had fallen asleep like my legs felt sometimes when they were crossed too long, but it was ten times worse with it being my whole body. “
Philip?” I was finally able to say his name. When my eyes finally saw the room around me, only a scream left my lips. Where I thought I’d be greeted with my love’s face, I only found a skull from a skeleton.
Four enormous men stood around me as one with auburn hair held the skull to my lips. Even with my body not being fully aware of how to respond, I skirted away and climbed farther back on the bed to be by the headboard. Hugging my knees to my chest, I wasn’t prepared for the sight before me.
“You’re not Philip,” I stated. They all got a glimpse of my fear before I could mask it, but I knew I had to appear as strong as possible to not let it happen again. With who I was, certain people would take advantage of me.
The man holding the skull smirked, his eyes delighting in my response to their presence. “No, we are not him. But this is.” Dangling the bone face next to him, he made sure I understood that Philip was no more. They had woken me up with the only thing that might have power to ensure my rousing.
Not caring who they were anymore, I ripped the skull from his hands, letting my fingers run over the hollow of his eyes. For me, it only seemed like yesterday I was put to sleep, but I knew that to be a fantasy now. If his body had time to decay, then there was no telling how long I had been out for.
“Oh, Philip,” I cried saying his name. This new grief radiated from me in ways that humbled the men around me. Two of them were kind enough to cast their eyes to the floor, knowing I had lost the love of my life.
My eyes burned for many reasons, understanding that the future I was promised would never happen. Covering my face, my long tresses blanketed me, shielding my tears from their view. There was a burn along the edge of my eyelid, telling me that I was going to combust with grief. Everything in my body wanted to give up, forging a new promise to just give into the darkness.
How was one to go on when their soulmate was missing? How was one to live with all the memories filling their mind of their missing heart? That’s what Philip was to me. He was my heart and my soul, and it burned of a thousand suns in his honor. I knew there would never be a love like that for the rest of my existence.