A Throne of Lies

Chapter Three - A night filled with stars

The mountains consumed the sky in the west, with the massive peaks piercing the circling clouds. I gazed off into the distance as rain pelted the thin sheet of glass that separated me from the outside world. My seat vibrated violently as the wheels beneath us chewed into the rough gravel road, I shifted uncomfortably as a hand gripped the back of my seat, holding it for dear life as her seatbelt held her back. I gripped the dashboard as the wheel rammed into an upright boulder, the shock that absorbed within my lungs made me instantly despise the man driving the car.

“Take it easy Eli!” I seethed between my clenched teeth.

“You didn’t have to tag along,” Eli replied as he tugged his auburn hair back against his head as he glanced into the rear-view mirror nervously.

“You’re gonna kill us at this rate!” I shot back as I glared at the older man beside me.

“You know, I thought you would’ve learned some elegance being on that island with your sister,” Eli said with a pitiful smirk.

“It seems your wife hasn’t trained you enough!” I stated as I glared at him.

Eli sighed from frustration as he jerked the car to the left, my body slammed into the side of the car as he turned off onto a hidden path that travelled within a thick forest. I cried out from the pain as my shoulder cracked against the side door, I held my arm and whimpered quietly as I shot him a dirty look.

I hope your wife skins you alive when you get home, I silently thought, wishing I could send the message through a mind link.

“Eli!” Deya cried out as she clung to the back of my seat as the car uncomfortably swayed her weight around.

“Deya!” Eli said as his eyes grew wide from surprise.

“You forgot she was in the car, didn’t you?” I demanded.

“It’s not like that,” Eli grumbled as he chewed on his lower lip.

I hope you cower at the thought of me messaging your wife, I thought as I glared at him.

Shadows hung over us as the thicket of trees grew dense. The sky was no longer visible with an eerie silence filling the car, I glanced out the window as the brushes wavered as red eyes stared at us from the distance, examining us and determining if we were a threat or not. I shiver ran through my spine as branches scratched at the details of the car, I could imagine the twigs scraping away the beautiful red paint that adorned the exterior. The thought made me shiver from delight as the thought of Eli’s prized possession getting destroyed excited me.

I must have inherited that from Karen, I thought with a broad smile as I recalled the face of Eli’s beautiful wife.

Eli had committed a horrific sin towards my mother decades ago, it was something he is continuously being punished for as he was made into a mutt and forced into submission. His wife went as far as taking his only daughter away and placing her in the hands of another, she enjoyed stripping the joy from the man’s life for what he had done so long ago.

He deserves it, I thought bitterly.

I’d only seen his new infant once, during a full moon in which she was born. Isla was the spitting image of her father and yet he’d only been given the chance to hold the precious babe once during the time before his wife ordered the midwives to take the infant away. The life drained from his face as he realized Karen would strip him from any familial ties, a price to pay for the betrayal of his alpha and his people.

I imagine Isla is learning to eat solids by now, I thought, holding my chin curiously as I recalled her brilliant head full of fluffy red curls.

“This place is the boonies!” Deya cried out as we hit another rough patch on the makeshift road.

Her head thrust forward with her forehead colliding with the dear rest, she cried out from the pain as a red mark appeared on her forehead. She sat back and pulled the seatbelt in close from around her as if holding on to it for dear life. Her once perfectly sculpted updo was now a mess as strands of silver-gold hair fell over her face and grazed her eyes.

“I’ve told you before, it's not,” I grumbled under my breath as I glared at the erratic forestry. “I think.”

“You’ve lied to me before, Eursa,” Deya snapped as she brushed her stray bangs back.

Only for your own good, I thought as I chewed on my bottom lip as I absentmindedly touched the Taaffeite choker around my neck.

“What’s he like?” a voice asked from behind me.

Veyka’s voice startled me as she spoke up. She was sitting upright in the seat behind Eli, her arm resting on the door with her hand in her palm. Her expression was dull with bags under her eyes, she’d been sleeping the entire ride and just awoken from the rough terrain. She attempted to hide her annoyance from being forced to tag along and yet that expression faded the moment Deya spoke up.

“He eats babies,” she affirmed.

Oh god, I thought as I pushed my head into the window.

“Maybe you should marry him then,” Veyka stated with a sly smirk as she glanced over at Deya knowingly.

I bet you wish you could have her all to yourself, I thought dully as I glanced at her reflection through Deya’s window.

“No one outside of Ezra’s close aids truly knows what he’s like,” Eli stated as he stared ahead.

No one has caught a glimpse of him, I thought to myself as a shimmering rainbow hue emerged from the dense trees.

“We’re here,” Eli said with a nod.

“What?” I asked confused as the vibrant ward held my attention, captivating me and forcing my mind into a hypnotic trance.

“How do you know?” Deya asked curiously as she leaned forward to peer out the windshield.

“Home. Home. She’s come home. She’s home,” words whispered in my mind as the ward grew closer. I’m home, I absentmindedly thought as I finally blinked, silencing the voices in my mind.

I shook my head and discarded the useless word out of my mind, I was a nomad, sent where I was ordered to go with no sense of belonging anywhere. My place of birth was unknown with the soiled bed I’d been born on being long since burned to the ground. I was a pitiful child, born from rape, and raised in the arms of many changing arms, the faces of those who raised me were constantly shifting as my mother pawned me off from one person to the next.

Only Karen has stayed a consistent guardian in my life, I thought.

I learned to fight from her, how to hunt for prey and the undying sense of loyalty I have towards my family who was both spectacular and endangered.

“It’s beautiful,” I thought out loud as we passed through the magical ward.

A gentle head spread from my stomach and through my fingertips as I closed my eyes and sighed from relief as the remnants of its effects washed over me.

“What is?” Veyka asked puzzled as she leaned forward until her face was next to Eli’s and glanced out the window, attempting to see what held my gaze.

Do they not see it? I thought puzzled.

“I don’t see anything,” Deya whimpered.

“No one ever does,” Eli grumbled as he leaned forward in his seat and gripped the steering wheel as the trees finally parted.

A large mansion appeared within the distance; black bricks stood strong amongst the foundation with crystal windows drawing in the light. I leaned forward and gripped my seat expectantly as I examined the beautiful structure. It was both ancient and marvellous in size.

The wheels rattled from under us as we drew closer, the red eyes I’d peered at before became more prominent as large beasts emerged amongst the tree line. The wolves had been watching us during the entire ride, determining if we were a threat to their territory or not, if we had been they would have pummeled the car with their weight and killed us all the moment we were torn from the vehicle.

“Will they attack us?” Veyka asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

“No,” I murmured as I watched the beasts’ large structures prowl the grounds as they snuck suspicious looks towards our direction and yet there was not a sense of hostility.

“Ezra is just weary,” Eli confirmed with a frustrated grunt.

“Why are the wolves all black?” Deya asked curiously as she pressed her nose against the window as she took a better look at the mysterious beasts.

“Deya, you can’t just ask why a wolf is black!” Veyka shot back.

“Oh,” she murmured as she shrugged.

We finally came to a stop, gravel knocked into the frame of the car as Deya thrust the door open. The seatbelt clattered against the seat as she jumped out of the car, her heels were hot as she ran towards the arched front door. I sighed, frustrated as I pushed open the door, Veyka quickly fled the stalled vessel as she ran behind Deya. Veyka’s’ pixie cut bounced around her ears as she paced herself and linked her arm affectionately with Deya’s with a mysterious grin on her face.

She must be in heaven right now, I thought as I kept my eyes on Veyka.

“Eursa, wait,” Eli said as my foot pressed into the ground.

“What?” I demanded as my hand hovered over the open door, my body halfway out of the car.

“Keep your eyes peeled, we don’t know if this is a setup,” Eli stated.

“I’ll make my own decisions,” I firmly stated as I pulled myself out of the car.

I can’t rely on anyone but myself, I thought bitterly as I left the man behind.

The door loomed before me with a sense of familiarity sweeping through me. I breathed in deep as I took a step forward and towards the space, my sister and Veyka disappeared. I bit my bottom lip nervously as I pushed my way through the large wooden door, the hinges creaked uncomfortably as I approached a still figure before me.

“Deya?” I asked questioningly as I put my hand on her quivering shoulder.

“It’s beautiful,” Deya said after a moment as the gold inlaid walls reflected upon her gray eyes.

“It-“ I started to say, my words were cut off as I met the eyes of a man.

His eyes were strikingly beautiful, black in appearance with golden specks surrounding the iris, it was as if I were gazing amongst the night sky. His appearance caught my attention, with black curly hair that hung over his eye and an undeniably strong scent of the forest. I felt a sense of calm as he held my attention, with our surroundings seemingly stilled, as if the flow of time stopped the moment our eyes met.

I licked my lips as my throat grew uncomfortably dry, his built frame glistened from sweat as he gripped a set of papers in his hands. He nodded in acknowledgement as he passed the papers off to a close aid who stood before him, and yet I could hardly pay attention to the other man.

It can’t be, I thought as my heart quickened.

“Ah, Ezra!” Eli called from behind me as entered the foyer.

My mate, I thought bitterly as I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.