"And if it doesn't?" she asked quietly.
"It could kill you both."
"I'm not scared for myself, but he'll never go for it." She rubbed her face with her hands.
Oron cupped her face. "How much time does he have?"
Amelia was about to answer when she heard an inhuman roar to their right. Oron looked up and had just enough time to shove her out of the way before Darian tackled him to the ground.
"She is mine! Mine! Mine!" Darian growled and spat.
"Guess that answers that question," Oron said and grunted as Darian's fist made contact with his stomach.
"Darian, stop!" She didn't move in time and was knocked to the ground by their flailing bodies.
"Quinn! Tangled Web!" Oron yelled wrestling with Darian trying to keep him under control.
Amelia watched as a warrior ran over already reciting a spell. She felt a rush and her magic sung! He was using earth magic.
Trunculi Laqueumin!
Oron jumped out of the way as hundreds of thin tendril roots shot from the ground and wove themselves around Darian. Her mate snarled and hissed, his eyes completely black. She pulled her knees to her chest unable to face the reality that she had lost him.
"Oron!" Aiden yelled running up to them.
"I have to take him home sir. It's his only chance."
Aiden helped her to her feet. "Don't give up yet. I don't make it a habit of losing men, and we're not going to start now." He kissed her forehead.
Oron searched the ground for the silver ring he had pulled out earlier. He picked it up and slid it on his right ring finger. He easily picked up Darian and slung him over one shoulder. He held a hand out. "Amelia, hurry!"
Startled, she took his hand.
He looked down at her. "Think of him, and in your mind, keep him in the light. "
She closed her eyes and remembered how he looked walking with her in the fae gardens. Him trying not to smile at something she said. The look on his face when he finally admitted his feelings and the way he seemed to glow as he stared down at her while they made love.
She felt her body wrench and jerk. Darkness and ice seemed to pierce her body, and just as she was about to give in to the pain, it was gone. She opened her eyes and blinked.
She looked around. They were in a large courtyard. A warm sun was overhead and hundreds of flowers bloomed around them. Sprites of every shape and size flittered around screaming their heads off.
"Halt! Who dares to trespass in Her Majesty's royal garden?"
Her Majesty?
Amelia looked at the group of very large fae warriors dressed in identical uniforms bearing down on them.
"Oron!" she whispered urgently.
Oron set a still hissing and spitting Darian down on the cobblestones and rose to his full height.
"Seize them!" The guards surrounded them. A set of hands grabbed her and pulled her away from Oron. She watched in horror as a guard lifted a radiant, silver sword over Darian's neck.
"Oron!" she screamed.
Oron grabbed the warrior by the throat and lifted him off his feet. "I know you weren't about to hurt my baby brother, were you?" He swung his eyes over to where she was being restrained by a guard. "And get your hands off my sister!" he ordered.
"You have no authority here. How dare you bring this feral filth into the Queen's gardens!" A guard said removing his helmet.
"Malcolm, you're Captain of the Guard? Mother must have been desperate after I left." Oron said, his tone insulting.
The captain stopped in his tracks. "Prince Oron?"
Prince?
Around them, the guards froze instantly. The hands holding her let go in shock. She immediately returned to Darian's side.
"What is going on here?" A soft feminine voice demanded.
"Your Majesty, Prince Oron has returned, bringing a feral and a witch with him," the captain reported.
"Oron? Feral?" A tall, willowy figure stepped into the light. Amelia had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life. She embodied every human fantasy of what the fae looked like. This woman was the Queen of the Fae and the heart of their race.
The queen looked down at Oron's feet and gave a low wail. "Darian! My son!" She hurried over and dropped to her knees.
"Prince Darian?" the men around them whispered.
Oron knelt beside the queen. "Can you help him, Mother? This is his mate, Amelia. She is the reason we were able to get him through the portal."
The queen didn't answer. She waved a hand over Darian, and he quieted instantly. Seconds later, the roots were gone and she was pulling him into her arms. She rested his head against her breast and rocked back and forth, keening softly. "This is all my fault! I never should have said what I did. Please Goddess, do not punish my son for my foolishness. Take my light, let it pass to him." A warm light enveloped them.