62__The Healing stones

Natalia marched casually into the castle as though the moon wasn’t high in the sky, munching on an apple.

A servant greeted her in the front hall, holding out a silver platter.

“Is everyone still awake?” Natalia asked her, surprised to see the woman.

“Not at all, my Lady, I just thought to wait for your return,” she responded, holding out the platter when she saw the eaten fruit in Natalia’s hand.

“Thank you.” Natalia placed the apple core on the platter, glancing up the stairs as she wiped her fingers on the towel offered to her. “Is the King asleep?”

The woman shook her head. “He isn’t in. He went out about an hour after you.”

With a frown, Natalia looked at her. “Where to? And everyone else?”

“I haven’t a clue, my Lady. Everyone else is asleep. Princess Veronica and Princess Milana tried to wait up for you, but have fallen asleep in your chambers, Princess Evelynn is at Prince Cyrus’ castle tonight.”

None of that sounded particularly exciting to Natalia and she made a face. What was Evelynn plotting with Cyrus again? The thought made her uncomfortable. “Does Princess Evelynn often stay the night at Cyrus’ castle?”

The woman smiled, her face aged, but still glowing. “Yes, it’s normal between them. It would be just as if Princess Veronica were to do so, they are all siblings.”

Nodding slowly, Natalia turned to leave. Siblings, her foot. She was controlling him like a puppet. “Go on to sleep, it’s late.”

“Yes, my lady.”

With a curtsey, she hurried off towards the kitchens and Natalia carried on up the stairs.

Where the heck had Raiden gone? If he wasn’t home, there surely weren’t any of the alphas here so she didn’t even have anyone to ask.

With a sigh, she made her way to the castle tower chambers where she found Nicki and Milana curled up together on the bed. Now why on earth had they fallen asleep here, of all places?

She looked at their matching nightgowns with a snort. They were even matching gowns now, how ridiculously cute.

There was an open book beside them and, curiously, Natalia picked it up.

She scoffed when she looked at the cover. “Taken by the Cold-hearted Vampire King?” She looked at them with a twisted face of both amusement and disbelief. What on earth were these girls reading?

She could only imagine them falling over each other and giggling at all the naughty bits of the book. Shaking her head, Natalia put the book back down and went into her dressing room to change.

A few minutes later, she shuffled out with warm, fur slippers on her feet and soft silk on her skin.

She took one look at the girls in her bed and turned for the door. She’d sleep elsewhere tonight.

“Elsewhere” was dark as a pit of hell when Natalia entered. Only when she turned on the lights did Raiden’s chambers become familiar to her.

Hurrying into the vast room, she looked about the place and was hit with how blatantly it lacked his presence. Still, his scent was here and traces of his aura still wafted through the air.

She decided it was enough for her and quickly climbed into his bed, staring at the closed doors all the way on the other side of the room.

Where on earth was he? He definitely didn’t go out for pleasure, Natalia had learned that much about him, all he did was work. The only time he got pleasure was when the alphas forced him to by bringing the entertainment or party to Raiden.

She frowned. He wouldn’t have gone after her, would he? The thought suddenly seemed very possible and she groaned.

Why on earth would he do that, after sending her off with his blessings? Rolling out of bed, she donned her fur slippers and walked about the room, too restless to sleep.

She paused for a moment, looking at the bed. It wasn’t overstepping her bounds to be sleeping in his bed, was it? Of course not! Overstepping bounds would be if she wore his clothes or something.

The thought came with a flood of curiosity and Natalia found herself tiptoeing to Raiden’s dressing room.

When she opened it and came face to face with the department store that was his dressing room, her jaw fell open.

“Holy cow,” she whispered, going further in. His bath chambers had been luxurious, but this?

Natalia looked over the wide variety of clothing, noting how they seemed to have arrangement by category.

She looked at where she saw piles of denim and spotted a few jackets that looked like they would look sinful on Raiden. She’d make him wear one of those as soon as she could. She glanced at the section that held his royal garments and gasped at the beauty of them.

It turned out she hadn’t seen him in the most beautiful of those garments yet and yet the ones she had seen him wear had been unbelievably stunning.

Walking further in, she came to a glass cabinet with an endless selection of casual shirts. Not a single thought went through her mind as she pulled the silk night dress she wore over her head and dropped it to the floor. Picking up a white t-shirt, she slipped it on and sighed at the soft, cool material covering her skin. It was filled with the scent of Raiden and, not thinking she looked weird, she inhaled the scent until her lungs were full.

Natalia then saw a long table sort of thing which turned out to hold drawers when she came near it. Through the glass top, she saw the biggest selection of jewellery she had ever seen. Raiden didn’t even have pierced ears and yet there were jewel earrings of every kind.

There were more drawers beneath the ones with a glass top and she pulled a random one open. Her eyes went wide at the all the jewels in there. Did Raiden just take all of his royal treasure and shove it into his dressing room drawers?

Picking up a palm-sized, tear drop-shaped gem, she looked closely at it. It was a mixture, she saw. The most part of it was diamond, but there were glints of glimmering jade deep inside it.

Natalia frowned. This had been made by hand. Curious, she turned it over and studied the back. There it was. The maker. She found the initials she sought and spotted an engraved symbol of a moon and stars beside it.

The tiny engravings stopped Natalia stiff. She blinked, frowning in thought. These gems had a meaning.

She’d seen this before far too many times. Having Amie in her family meant that, back home, Natalia had a drawer very much like this one, full of gems.

Healing stones.

Natalia recognized them, these type of gems were made by Sorceresses or Sorcerers who installed healing powers into them. Amie had a drawer full of them because many of those gems hadn’t worked for her or had worked and then stopped working.

Until they’d found the last one she’d had. The one that had made her life nearly as normal as every other girl, giving her all the health and strength she hadn’t been born with. That lasted until the gem was viciously snatched away from her. Feeling bitter, all over again, Natalia put the gem down.

Vaguely, she wondered why Raiden had them. She knew it was probably for Nicki, so she didn’t wonder further. Nicki had been born weak, Raiden had told her that. Glancing at another drawer, she reached out and pulled on the handle.

It didn’t move. Natalia pulled a bit more before realizing it was locked.

“What are you doing?”

She jolted, spinning around.

Raiden stood in the room, looking at her. Natalia blinked. She hadn’t even heard or sensed him coming in! “Oh. Hello!”

His eyes narrowed and she saw his gaze slowly go down her body.

Puzzled, Natalia looked down at herself. Gasping, she whipped both arms over herself as it that would cover anything. “I’ll take it off!”

He marched over as soon as she started hurrying back to the shirts section as caught her by the wrist.

Turning her to face him, he casually took extra moments to look down at her in his shirt again. The moment he’d walked into his chambers, he’d sensed her. The lights on and his ruffled bed only confirmed his suspicions.

Still, he didn’t think he’d be finding her in his dressing room wearing nothing but his shirt. His mouth watered and he forced his gaze back to hers.

How could he think about that right now? There were more important things to deal with.

Like how Natalia could potentially learn about the ugliest side of him and want absolutely nothing to do with what he was.

“Where did you go tonight?” he asked her.

Natalia grew cautious at the dark tone of his voice. What was wrong? “The Heart of Hades. Where did you go?”

“The Heart of Hades,” he said.

She narrowed her eyes, a cheeky smile curving her lips. “To look for me?”

He stared at her for a long, silent moment. “Yes.”

Her brows drew together. His entire energy was off, it was confusing her. There was also something dark in it, something that didn’t feel like it belonged to Raiden. It was like he’d carried in a bit of someone else’s aura? But that was impossible, wasn’t it? “Is… something wrong?”

He didn’t answer and Natalia grew even more conscious. Oh, well what did she expect? Here she was wearing the man’s clothes and digging through his jewels like a vagabond.

Clearing her throat, she made to step around him. “I’m taking my leave—”

His grip tightened on her wrist. “Don’t go.”

Natalia stared at him. Something was wrong. “Raiden, what’s happened?”

His silver eyes grew troubled and he suddenly seemed like he was fighting a million demons in his mind. “Uhm…”

What to do? Was Natalia right? Was their union more problematic than anything? Would it be better to end what they had or fight to make it work? Would it be easier to let her go now before she found out what he was or should he just enjoy the moment while he had it?

Once she found out, it would be the end. Raiden felt his heart clench painfully. He didn’t want it to be the end, not with Natalia. He wanted her forever, by his side, in his arms, with him.

Wordlessly, he tugged her forward and wrapped her in his arms, holding her as closely as he could.

Natalia’s wide eyes peeked over his shoulder in worry. What on earth had happened to him tonight? Why was there… fear in his embrace?

“Raiden…”

“If one day,” he began in a low murmur. “…you hate me… will you leave me?”

She frowned, getting more anxious about his dark mood. She wanted to cheerfully tell him that she’d leave him either way but realized it might not be the best time to sound cheerful about it. Or to mention it at all.

Besides…

Natalia wrapped her arms around him, wanting to hold him.

She really didn’t want to leave him either, even if she had to.

She bit the inside of her cheek, suddenly somber. Well, all they had was today, who knew what could happen tomorrow? Maybe for tonight, she could pretend that he was hers forever and she was the perfect Queen for him.

“I could try not to.”

Raiden paused. Silently, he turned her words over in his mind. Never had he expected to hear her say that. Natalia was hell-bent on leaving him and had made it clear. To hear her say those words, even if it was a lie, felt more elating than he had imagined.

The elation quickly faded, however, killed by a cold reality check. “What if I change?”

She frowned. “How do you mean?”

“I mean…” He hesitated. “What if I become different? What if I became different in a way that… justifies your fear of wolves?”

Her eyes slowly widened. “W… what?”

She tried to pull away, but Raiden held her tighter. If she pulled away, it could be the last time he ever held her. “Natalia, what if I was… sick?”