Chapter 318: Not her!! Please!

She didn’t have fear in her heart but sadness. It had already been arranged that Xylia would take her instead of the guys. Her blood would bring her back instead of harming the princes.

“I see, and what did she have to say.” Xylia asked as she spun the hag in the ball.

“That you would feed on the first fae that came into the cave. It would be the death of them. I told you to take me instead of the princes. That way there would be no war. The thing is we have another fae you can drain. The person who did this to you. The king of the wood elves. It is your right to judge him and punsh him for what he did.” Ailive told her as she finally stood to looka t Xylia.

“I see, and what are you doing here?” Xylia asked as she stood from the throne.

“No idea, something pulled me here and closed the way to everyone else.” Ailive told her as she stood her ground watching Xylia come closer.

Ailive couldn’t keep her eyes on Xylia the whole time. When a hand touched her should she jumped slightly.

“You aren’t going to fight me.” Xylia pulled Ailive against her body.

“Why would I do that? I told you, I talked to you in Ashland. I gave up my life to save yours. It would be kind of stupid to fight you now. Just do me a favor and tell Dakaath that I love him and I’m sorry.” Ailive told her as she tilted her head to the right.

Ailive expected Xylia to attack, but she didn’t. It was like the young woman didn’t know what to do with a prey that didn’t fight—someone who didn’t want to live. Xylia stayed behind her while she thought about what to do. The hag in the bubble laughed so hard she fell over in the bubble.

“You can’t attack a living nonfighting victim.” Minx laughed again, making the bubble float around the room.

Xylia wasn’t sure what to do about this. She didn’t attack people who didn’t fight back. It wasn’t how it worked. In a life before this, she would have taken bagged blood. It all flooded back into her mind, all the memories of her life before. Xylia screamed as she attacked Ailive, sinking her fangs into her neck. The blood flows into her body. Light filling her brought back a part of herself that she had lost.

When that light part was closed, she saw what she was doing and stopped. Ailive fell to the floor. The cave lit up with candles. Xylia fell to the floor screaming as she looked at Ailive broken on the cave floor, with blood on her neck.

“What have I done?” Xylia screamed as she looked at the bubble that had the hag in it.

She wanted nothing more than to crush it, but didn’t. It wasn’t right to kill others. When she heard noise at the mouth of the cave, she looked up to see her father, Ehlark, and some other man coming toward her.

“No! Ailive.” The man she didn’t know ran to Ailive, pulling her into his lap.

“Daddy?!?!” Xylia looked up at him, confused. “Ehlark?”

When she saw the last man enter the cave, she was sure that he was Myrddin.

“Please, please tell me I didn’t kill her. Please!” Xylia begged as she looked over at Ailive again. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked at her father.

They arrived at the forest kingdom two days later. Xylia hadn’t stopped crying since they left the cave. Myrddin was still tied up back in the cells. Dakaath hadn’t left Ailive since he found her on the cave floor. When they arrived Lindaat had fallen to the floor in tears.

Ailive had been placed in a chamber on a queen-sized bed. Flowers were arranged around her body. A white gown that flowed down to her toes covered her. Lace that looked like flowers with silk under it, that had cream under the bright white lace. Her brown hair was fanned out on the pillow. She had been cleaned up, and her skin was pure white. Two small wounds marred her throat.

Xylia wouldn’t come into the room. She blamed herself for Ailives death and waited to be punished. Knowing that Nix would kill her when they told her. Lindaat wouldn’t look at her, and when she did, Xylia cried harder. Ehlark held her close when she cried, but it didn’t help.

Dakaath stayed in the room with Ailive, holding her cold hand. Whispering to her that he wished he had taken her up on her offer that night. That he was so stupid to not see how much she had loved him. That he would never love anyone as much as he loved her. Seeing her amazing smile when she teased about cutting out body parts. Tears would drip down his face, hitting the floor. Dakaath knew that his mother had come into the room a few times, but he never spoke to her. His heart was on the bed, dead. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

How was he supposed to live without her in his life? The light that she had brought into his life was gone; it was so much darker now. Wanting to go into the cells and kill his father had grown, but he wouldn’t leave her.

When he heard screaming in the castle, he was rather sure it was Nix coming to see her daughter. Dakaath didn’t move from the room. He wouldn’t leave her in this room, in a place she didn’t know. The door opened, and Nix entered the room with Aarshon beside her. Ailive looked just like her mother.

“No! Ailive…” Nix screamed as she came toward the bed. Her whole body was shaking with fear and sorrow. Her baby girl was dead, lying on a bed for her to see.

Dakaath didn’t say a word to her, nor did he move. Just let her take her time with her daughter. Aarshon nodded his head toward him as tears ran down his face.

“Why? Why would Xylia kill her…I’m going to kill her. Where is she?” Nix screamed again, looking around the room. Aarshon held Nix close to his body as she fought to get away from him.

“Honey,, you know that Xylia didn’t want to harm Ailive. Never in her life would she want to kill her.” Aarshon tried so hard to talk with strength but his words cracked, and he choked on his words.

“Nix, I can tell you that Ailive offered to take my brother's and my place. To keep the fae from going to war. I would trade places with her in a moment.” Dakaath told her as he felt fresh tears stream down his face. He kissed Ailive's hand as he looked at Nix, then at Aarshon.

“You didn’t save her!” Nix screamed, crossing the room to smack him.