A Magical Betrayal - arabian (book club reads .TXT) 📗

been stunned and would have lost my train of thought but now at this moment the only thing his beauty did to me was to make my tired mind note the beauty but not think about it further.
“How’d you know what I was thinking?” I persisted. When I still didn’t get an answer I gave up. Why waste energy when I needed it all to take care of Hailee? So I ignored him and went to her side she had woken up while I was staring at the horizon. Without a word I handed her a fresh warm wool gown and returned to staring at the horizon.
“I am Robin,” he said after a while. I jumped at the sound of his voice because he was so quiet that I forgot he was there. His voice was rich and sweet but smooth like silk all at the same time. I wanted to drown in his voice. I laughed at myself and my absurd thoughts. When I looked at him he raised one perfect eyebrow inquisitively and smirked.
“If you knew what I’ve been through you wouldn’t be looking at me like that Sir Robin,” I said a little more icily than I meant to. His face went from mocking to regretful in the blink of an eye. “It’s all right,” I sighed slightly ashamed of my behavior.
I heard rustling so I looked behind me, approaching us through the deep woods was the leader of the centaurs. His rich, black hide still shone even in the shade of the canopy.
“Hello,” I tried to call pleasantly but my came out dry and brittle. He returned my greeting but his eyes were troubled. I’ve never been one who was good at dropping hints so blunt and straightforward I asked, “What’s wrong?”
He looked pained when he asked, “My wife is in labor and she’s having difficulty,” he grimaced and looked down,” Could you help her?” When I was about to answer I heard a blood-curdling scream. Without any hesitation I ran toward the source of the sound and what I saw caused a chill to slither up my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature. Three demons from Skotino’s pack were advancing on a female chestnut centaur giving birth. Omigod, Omigod. I closed my eyes and tried to breath. These people are possessed so I just had to figure out how to separate the spirits. I reached out with every fiber of my being and felt for the grip of the demons in the people’s bodies. It was like they were sewn into the human’s consciousness so with my index finger I popped the, seems and pulled out the stitches.
I opened my eyes and saw three men standing in front of me looking confused, a female centaur sweating in labor, and three inky, black shadows frozen in silent screams of agony and anger melt into the ground. Then without further adieu I fainted in exhaustion.


I awoke in a warm feather bed with sunlight streaming through a high window. I sat up slowly and stretched, and then I noticed I was dressed only in my undergarments. Somebody must’ve taken off my dress while I was unconscious. This thought made my face hot while I cringed. Then I remembered the dress was the magic flower I had found. I was about to start hyperventilating when I saw it draped over a table not far away. I slid my feet out from under the warm blanket that I was under and onto the floor. My bare feet turned to ice on the already freezing hard wood floor. I walked the dress and was about to pick it up when it shimmered and in its place was a necklace with a silver chain and a large blue stone dangling at the end. Tiny silver vines and leaves wrapped around the stone. The stone was about the size of a newborn baby’s closed fist. The silver vines and leaves were so detailed that they looked real, and deep in the middle of the stone was a white-fairy like figure that when I listened hard enough seemed to be speaking.
The necklace seemed to be calling to me so I grabbed it, put it around my neck, and dropped it beneath my under gown so it was hidden. I was so lost in thought about it that I jumped when there was a knock at the door. But I quickly regained my composure.
“Come in,” I called. Hailee peeked around the corner and when she saw me she rushed in and hugged me tightly.
“How are you?” I asked. She gave me a thumb’s up but didn’t stop hugging me and didn’t speak.
“Hailee, where are we?” I asked with a little more concern. She stepped back and ran over to a desk in the far corner of the room. Then she grabbed a quill, dipped it in ink, and started to write.
“Can you speak?” I asked worried. She shook her head and continued writing. I strode over to her and when I was about to peek at what she was writing she turned and handed the piece of paper to me. It said this: We are at Prince Robin Aster’s castle on the island of Zeus just 3 days journey by boat from Abiscondus. I cannot speak because when the demon children attacked me they ate my voice box.
I shuddered internally at the pain she must have gone through. Then I asked her what I was supposed to wear. She turned and wrote that there was to be a banquet for the holiday. I asked what holiday it was and she wrote that she wasn’t sure because the holidays in this place were as many as the stars. Hailee ran over to the large wardrobe and opened it. There were so many dress gowns I just about fell over. (I myself only have 10 gowns including my everyday gowns and my riding shifts)
I shooed Hailee out of the room so that I could get dressed. After shutting the door and turning the key in the lock. (I am never changing in a room without locking the door after what happened with Derric) I ran over to the wardrobe and grabbed the first thing my hands touched. It was a bright red gown with an exceptionally low neckline that even though I wasn’t wearing it made me blush so I replaced it and pulled out a rich purple gown with just the smallest embroidery.
The purple gown had a scoop neck that only went to an inch and a half below my collarbone. There were small slits that surrounded the neckline with black silk beneath them and more slits with black silk on the upper arm. I set the gown on the bed and warmed some water for a bath. I filled the large tub and while I let the water cool down enough for me to bathe in it I took my hair out of its neat plaits I had made while staring at the horizon waiting for Hailee to wake up.
I looked in the mirror as I brushed my hair. I saw my reflection but it wasn’t mine it was like looking at a familiar stranger. My eyes were too bright and my hair was six inches longer even though it has only been about a week since I’d been kidnapped. I had purplish looking bruises beneath my eyes and my skin was pale as the moon.
I tore my eyes away from the mirror and bathed. The warm water and scented oils helped me relax and when I was finished I shivered in the cool late summer air. I got dressed and left the room I was in.
When I entered the hallway I was surprised to see that there were no paintings hung on the walls. This was because the walls were painted with beautiful murals that flowed into each other like a never ending tide. Their beauty was breathtaking.
There were murals of hunts, forest scenes with creatures I had never before seen, the list went on and on. I finally ended up in a large circular room that was a mural of the see but not just above but below to. I was staring in wonder when I heard footsteps enter from the opposite direction that I had come.
I whirled around and saw Robin striding toward me. Now that I am fully awake I examined him carefully. He had blonde hair cut short and broad shoulders. He had amber eyes that looked almost like honey and he was at least six feet tall. (Although compared to my five feet four inches he could be a little under)
“Hello,” I said pleasantly, trying not to stare at him like a dumb fool.
“Hello,” he replied. I marveled again at how sweet and melodic his voice was. Then he continued, “Would you like me to show you to the dining hall?”
I smiled thankfully. I was glad that I wouldn’t be wandering around like an idiot. I tried to avert my gaze so that I wouldn’t be dazzled by his beauty again. We walked in companionable silence. I hadn’t put up my hair so my brunette hair was curling gracefully and spilling over my shoulders. (It reached all the way down to my thighs) This made it safe for me to peek at him without his knowledge. Every time I looked at him he was staring at me with a slightly frustrated expression.
“Is there something wrong?” I finally asked. He looked down at me surprised.
“No, there’s nothing wrong.”
“Oh,” was my brilliant response.
We walked again wrapped in a totally and completely awkward silence. When I peeked sideways at him through my screen of hair I saw that he was now watching me with a look so intent that I blushed and turned my head to the opposite wall. I studied the paintings on the wall as though I was deeply fascinated by them.
Then without thinking I blurted out, “Who brought me to the room I was in?”
“I did,” he replied with a bit of amusement in his voice. I promised myself not to look at his face otherwise I would lose my train of thought and would probably stutter like an idiot. I didn’t dare ask him if he was the one who had taken off my gown for me otherwise I would probably die of embarrassment either way he answered.
Then he caught me off guard by asking, “Why did you choose the dress you’re wearing?” I peeked up at him then wondering why he would ask such a question. The expression in his eyes was seriously interested so I answered him honestly.
“I was too tired to think much so I grabbed the first gown my hands touched but I put it away because it was to showy for me and chose something that was more my style.” I blushed again at the memory of how low the neckline was for red dress I had grabbed first.
“Why are you blushing?” he asked with laughter in his voice.
“I’m not going to tell you.” I said embarrassed. My answer seemed to pique his curiosity.
“Please tell me.” He tried again, “you seem embarrassed about it and I promise I won’t laugh if you tell me.”
I looked into his amber eyes and was dazzled into telling the truth, “The neckline sunk so low on the dress that just looking at it made me blush.” He grinned and tried to hide a laugh with a cough but was unsuccessful. “You promised you wouldn’t laugh.” I accused to cover my embarrassment.
“Where would the neckline have ended up if you had worn the dress you grabbed first?” he asked instead of reacting to my