Ileus: The Dark Prince

"Ah!" Aed Ruad gasped as he scrambled back slowly, his blood forming a trail behind him. His clothes were wet with blood. There was blood trickling out of his nose and it drained back into his throat. His eyes were wide at the question she threw at him, with the fury and shock at seeing her transformation. 

He had left no stone unturned to break her mentally and physically. She was the heir of the faes, her bloodline was pure, that of ancestors. And he knew that he would have to do a lot to break her. "You have been madder than me, Anastasia!" he barked. "You don't know what you are doing. Come out of it! It is this wizard who is controlling you. Can't you see?" 

Anastasia lunged at him and hit his face with her knuckles, which barked in agony. Air whooshed out of his chest and his lips split. "If you ever again bring up my husband into this," she panted, hitting him again. "If you ever talk about him with your filthy tongue…" She smeared his blood on her knuckles over his shirt as he cried in pain. 

"You filth!" he cried. "You are married to a bastard who is using you against me!" 

Another strike, which was a backhanded blow. She growled, "I am going to rip your throat out?" Her lips curled in disgust. "Do you understand?"

Aed Ruad turned his head on the side to spit blood. "It is you who has to understand, dickhead that that fucking son of a bitch is making you do it. You are under his spell!" 

Her blood was pounding hard against her ears that whatever little restraint she had, shattered. She shoved him on the floor and screamed, "You will keep him out of it!" She screamed so loudly that Ileus became tense as hell. He got up and rushed to her. When he was behind her, he called her, "Anastasia!" but she didn't seem to listen to him. Instead, she backhanded Aed Ruad once again. Ileus caught her by her arm and pulled her up. She had mangled his face so badly that Ileus was sure that Aed Ruad would lose consciousness. He wrapped his strong arms just above her belly. Anastasia thrashed against him, shouting at Aed Ruad. "You will not ever speak his name else I will cut your tongue!" 

"Tell me why, Anastasia," he asked, wiping the blood from his face. "No, tell it to yourself. Ask that to yourself." 

"You sick bastard!" she gulped air in her lungs, and each breath she took made her tremble. If it hadn't been for Ileus' grip, she would have stumbled. She burst out. "If it hadn't been for Ileus, I would have been dead by now. If it hadn't been for Ileus, I would have already lost whatever little sanity I had. If it hadn't been for my mate, I would have never tasted the freedom of being a fae. If it hadn't been for my lover, I would have never been able to fly. If it hadn't been for my husband, I would have never understood what love is, what caring is all about, and what self-respect is all about." She brushed her hands on his forearms, his soft hair tickling the tips of her fingers. "At the end of it, when I was at that ball you had held, I wanted to die. And it was then that Ileus encouraged me to run for my freedom." She laughed wildly. "So don't you dare to speak his name on your tongue, because if you do, I swear, I will cut your tongue!" 

Ileus had pinned her against his chest, his warm breath fanning her. 

She had said the words that had been choking her from months, from weeks and weeks. The rage made her magic seep out of her like silvery white embers that danced and crackled over her skin. It was seeping out her energy. And Ileus was getting worried. "Anastasia," he moaned her name. "Please," he panted, not caring that he was begging her to stop. "Think of our baby," he whispered in her ear and kissed her temple. "Calm down, sweetheart. Calm down."

She fell limp in his arms as tears ran down her cheeks unbridled. Her hands slipped beside her and her sword dropped to her side. Her chest heaved as her magic ebbed back into her skin. He stepped back with her, away from the man who was making her furious. "He is not worth it," he said, his words a soft caress. "You can't let yourself go there, love. Please baby…" He took one more step away from the man who was now grinning despite all the injuries on his face. 

"Oh, so you are pregnant?" he said with a chuckle. "You are pregnant with the dog's child!" 

Anastasia stared at him. She picked up her sword, but before she could do anything, Ileus had flung his hands forward. Blue and white magic flowed out and struck Aed Ruad's chest. His chest arched and he opened his mouth to scream, which didn't come out, which lodged in his throat as if it had been shoved down his gut. Next moment he became unconscious. 

Anastasia became still. "Is he— is he dead? No, no, no, no! This can't be. I had to kill him. I had to do that. Aly, how could you?" she whipped her head to see him over her shoulders, her eyes wide, her face etched with an expression that said that she was wronged. "I— I was supposed to kill him. You stole my reward." 

"Shh…" he tried to calm her. "How can I do that baby?" He lifted her up and turned to take her out of the room. "He is yours to kill." He knew that Aed Ruad was the demon that Anastasia had to exorcize on her own. "He has merely fainted. You can carry on with it tomorrow." Saying that he scooped her up in his arms and held her tightly against his chest. They exited the dungeon and Ileus snapped his fingers to click the door shut. Aed Ruad was now lodged in the palace's deepest dungeon. If Ileus wanted he could have put him in the prison of Draoidh, but no, he lodged him in the palace's dungeon, where no one could have access to him and Anastasia could torture him till she wanted even the torture meant another eight years—the time she was tortured by her family. 

"B— but, I had more to do," she said, as she looked wildly at him. "He— he whipped me." 

Ileus' heart cracked and he stopped his tears to come out. "No more, darling," he kissed her forehead. "I am there now. I am always with you. He can't do anything to you. You are safe in my arms." 

She looked in the warm honey eyes of her mate, friend, lover, husband and everything in between. A smile spread on her lips. She was safe with him. Her lips quivered. "D— do you love me?" 

"I loved you before you were born, and will love you even after death," he replied softly. He had traveled through time to save Áine in a battle when she was pregnant with her. But he would tell that story some other time. 

He carried her upstairs to their bedroom and—