Viktor:Heart of Her King(20)

"I'm going to die? There's no other way?"

"No, amica mea, there is no other way."

"And you'll be with me the entire time?"

"I will not leave your side for even a moment."

"But thirty days is a long time to lay beside your dead wife, or mate,  or whatever I'm going to be, in a hole in the ground." She was talking  quickly and wringing her hands but Viktor could feel she needed her  space, so he simply rubbed her leg and let her talk. "Will I feel  anything while...while you're..."

Viktor finished her sentence and answered the question Katarina was  trying to ask. "You will feel absolutely nothing. It will be like  falling asleep in my arms and then you will awake, transformed and ready  to begin forever as my bride."

Katarina stood and slowly walked toward the window that overlooked the  gardens behind his home. He'd kept them as close to the original as he  could. His mate had loved the history of the castle where Anne Boleyn  had lived and laughed aloud when she got the irony of the former queen  being beheaded and that being the only way for a King to lose his  immortality. He'd found her by the fountain several times over the last  few weeks after intense conversations about his life over the years or  their future together. Sharing one another's thoughts and emotions was  wonderful, but during this discussion, like many others, Viktor had  blocked her thoughts.

It was important that she come to terms with all that was going to  happen and their eternity together on her own. He didn't want her to  look back later and decide she'd made a mistake. This was forever, the  kind of forever a person only escaped by being decapitated and burnt to  ashes. That was not the life Viktor wanted for Katarina. If she chose to  live out her human life then he was fully prepared to enjoy every  moment by her side for whatever time he had left. Every second with  Katarina was a breath of fresh air. Never in all his years could he have  imagined what it would be like to have her in his life instead of  simply in his heart and mind.

Gazing at her profile, Viktor was blown away by her beauty. He smiled  thinking of the way she wrinkled her nose and blushed just slightly  every time he told her how stunning he thought she was. If someone had  ever told him he would be using the word "cute", Viktor would've drawn  his broadsword and slayed them where they stood, but now, with Katarina  in his life, everything had changed.

He watched her turn, saw the slight furrow in her brow and waited for  what was to come. It took a few seconds and she kept the distance  between them, but Katarina finally spoke. "I know we've talked about it a  hundred times but I just have to ask again. I'm not going to be some  mindless crazy bloodsucker running around the countryside killing the  villagers when I wake up, right? I mean I know Bjorn was a son of a  bitch and not to be trusted, but I can't forget what I saw after some of  your guys had risen when he showed me that stupid apple. How can you be  sure I won't be like them?"                       
       
           



       

Feeling how much his answer meant to his custos animae, Viktor  responded, "Because I will be right there with you. You will feed from  me and no one else, ever. As I explained, as long as I walk the earth  it's my blood and only my blood that you can consume. If you try to, as  you say, "kill all the villagers", one drop of their blood will cause  you to become violently ill. My comrades did not drink the blood of  Bjorn's men, they ripped out their throats and only because those men  stood over their graves ready to decapitate the King as he emerged.  Remember, each one of us has a saietas, a member of a loyal family who  has been chosen to feed us until we are mated to the keeper of our  heart."

Unable to stand the chaotic and faraway look in her eyes any longer,  Viktor stood and walked toward his mate, opening his arms as he went.  Katarina willingly walked the last few steps separating them, wrapped  her arms around him, and held on as if he was her lifeline. She spoke  into his chest, making Viktor thankful for his God-given preternatural  hearing.

"I know I'm being silly. It's all right there in your mind. I can see it  as plain as day. It's just that I've never died before and," she  stopped speaking and looked up through her thick, dark lashes, "I've  watched too damned many vampire movies in my life."

The twinkle in her eyes and the grin on her face said Katarina was doing  her best to be strong but needed his support, support he was ready,  willing, and able to give her. Kissing her forehead then looking back  into her expressive grey eyes, Viktor spoke to her concerns. "I  understand your reticence. Three thousand years ago, when Zeus and the  other gods were more active, more visible, we believed in their  miraculous acts. They spoke directly to us. We didn't need faith like is  needed today. Believing in something you can't see is difficult under  the best of circumstances. Placing your very life in my hands based on  the memories you can pick from my brain and the stories my comrades have  shared with you is inconceivable, and yet here we are."

Katarina hung onto his every word. Even with his mental blocks in place  he could feel her inner turmoil and wanted nothing more than to ease her  struggle. "Amica mea, take all the time you need. Make sure this is  truly want you want. I will be here no matter what. There is nothing in  heaven or hell that could tear me from your side."

"Oh Viktor, I love you. There is absolutely no question of that.  Standing in your arms, feeling the truth of your words. Knowing that you  would gladly give up your own life so that I may keep my humanity  is...well, I'm not sure there are words to describe it. I have heard  people say "I love you more than life itself" but I never understood  what that statement meant until now. Nothing is perfect but whatever it  is between us, whether Zeus' doing, God's doing, or just simply destiny  stepping in and putting us together, I know in the very depth of my soul  that this is meant to be."

Viktor held his breath. He knew she wasn't finished. Her next words  would seal his fate. Katarina leaned back, took her hands from around  his waist, and placed them on his chest. Taking a deep breath, she  smiled the one smile he knew was just for him and moved forward until  their lips were so close, Viktor could feel her breath on his face.

Touching her lips to his, Katarina shocked him by speaking directly into  his mind as only mates can do and in his native tongue, "Hodie ipse et  in specula, tutus sum."

Viktor answered her in kind. Their kiss a promise as well as their words, "And I am yours, amica mea, forever and always."

They arrived in Greece the day before the new moon. Staying at Roman's  villa, the one closest to the mountain where Viktor had become a King of  the Blood, the couple relaxed and waited for the most important thirty  days of their life. The King knew his comrades were preparing the place  where he would take Katarina's original life. Unlike the traitor's grave  he had been buried in, his comrades were making sure theirs was large  enough for both of them and deep enough that they would not be  discovered.

The other Kings would stand guard as Viktor would be in a healing sleep.  It was the way of their kind, a part of their mating. While Katarina  became immortal, Viktor's body would be preparing for her first feeding.  She would need to replenish all that he took and he was the only one  who could give it to her.

The next morning, they walked to the helicopter pad hand-in-hand. He  helped Katarina in and chuckled when she said, "Someday, you're going to  teach me to fly one of these. You know Roman let it slip that all of  you know how to fly just about anything with wings."                       
       
           



       

"Your wish is my command, pretty lady."

They arrived at the site within the hour. The other Kings sat waiting, a  huge hole in the ground behind them. They stood in unison as Viktor and  Katarina approached. Stopping just short of where his comrades stood,  Viktor nodded. One by one the Kings approached, knelt before his mate,  and spoke the ancient blessing.

"May the gods smile upon you and yours. May your days be filled with  sunshine and your nights with love. May you and your beloved enter the  Elysian Fields hand-in-hand, always together, always in love."

Roman was the last to give his dedication and when he finished, he stood  and handed them both a perfectly polished moonstone. He explained, "I  was taught when I was very young that moonstones given to a couple on  their wedding day ensured that they would always be faithful, always be  true, and always be together. I have no doubt in my mind the two of you  have all this and more covered in spades. I can only hope that my custos  animae and I are as perfectly matched as you." To Viktor he said, "Bain  and I will be back before daybreak." He smiled and hugged them both  before joining the others at the helicopter.