Ileus: The Dark Prince

For the next few days, Anastasia regularly visited Etaya in the celestial prison. She would use various tools to mark her torture but at the end of it she would heal Etaya with her magic. Ileus accompanied her every single day and watched her doing it. At first, he was surprised that she was healing her after every torture, and wondered what was the reason, but he never asked her. Later he realized what she was doing and why she was doing it.

Anastasia would heal Etaya after torturing her because she wanted to smoothen her skin to start giving her fresh marks of torment. His body shuddered at the thought that his wife had become so full of evil when she was around Etaya, but could he question her? No. The years of severe mental and physical pain Etaya had given her was no comparison to all this. And he also knew that she was taking revenge for what she did to Iona. 

One days, Anastasia wormed her way into Etaya's mind and showed her how perfect the world would have been if she hadn't schemed against her father. She showed Etaya the vision in which her father, the king of Vilinski, would have invited Adrianna and Dmitri along with their son Ileus to ask for her hand in marriage and how beautiful it would have been. When Anastasia slipped out of her mind, the twisted reality wrapped around them. It pained her.. And the next day Anastasia found new ways to torture her. 

Every day, Ileus walked back with her to their bedchamber and bathed her tenderly. He would massage the knots from her back to relieve her of her tension. 

His parents arrived after three days and the king and queen got busy with their old friends. It was such a lovely thing to watch the four of them picking up right from where they had left. They were back to bantering and recalling old days. Against the backdrop of Yule, this is what Ian wanted and Anastasia realized that Ileus was right. Ian wanted to come back to normal, and he was exploring everything that he deemed normal. 

Along with his parents, Kaizan, Darla and Aidan had also come. Though Kaizan had thought of going with him initially, he purposely delayed his visit because he knew he would be royally ignored, plus he didn't want to get in between Ileus and Anastasia's reunion, which he had no doubt would be intense as hell. Ew! 

When Kaizan came to celebrate Yule with the denizens, he couldn't believe what he had missed for the past few days. The days and nights were spent on the hills where bonfires kindled, where faes danced, where various meals waited for him to devour. And gods… the sex… the way he indulged in it with multiple partners at a time, it was as if he was making up for the lost days. In the end, he declared that he wasn't leaving Vilinski and was ready to be the king's dog only for all the sex with faes. He also added that Ileus was one lucky bastard to get a fae wife. Of course, he was so inebriated that time that he didn't realize that the king was standing right behind him and glaring at him with narrowed eyes. 

It was a different thing that when he woke up, he woke up with a pounding headache trapped in the body of a fluffy dog that was not even seven inches tall. He was cuddled and cuddled by the servants till he whimpered and till the king released him. 

Darla and Aidan were about to get married once they reached Draoidh. They had planned to go on a long vacation together. 

Ileus had also decided to take Anastasia with him on a very long vacation. He wanted to show her the human realm. He wanted to spend some alone-time with her. He had planned it all. On the last of the Yule, a surprise guest arrived adding more fervor to the celebrations. And it was on the last day of Yule that his parents dropped the bomb. 

They were all sitting and having dinner around a bonfire when Adrianna said to Ileus, "Your father and I are planning to extend our stay in Vilnski for another month. Ian wants Dmitri to help him out with certain things about his kingdom. For the month we won't be in Draoidh, I appoint you as my representative to oversee every day's court affairs. You will be sitting on the throne but you won't wear the crown. Isidorus and Haldir are going to help you run errands and keep you updated. Should you choose to appoint more people in the court to help you, you will have to take my permission." Adrianna looked at Dmitri who smiled at her tenderly and she returned it. 

Ileus' eyes bulged. He was thinking of going on an extended honeymoon with his wife and his mother just now clamped him to the throne. He bristled under the smiles his parents were exchanging. It was as if they were going on a honeymoon. Wait. "Mother, you can't do this to me!" he protested. "I need vaca—" 

Adrianna cut him off and snapped. "What do you mean Ileus? Stop acting like a spoiled, rotten prince who wouldn't want to take care of his kingdom and his people. Be responsible, understand your duties, and most of all, be of some use. Your parents need a long vacation. Can't you see that?" 

He blinked once, then twice. He gave an incredulous stare to his parents, his mouth slackened. "It is me who needs that vacation," he whimpered. "Look at me, mother, look at me!" 

"Oh, shut up!" Dmitri cut him. "You look like a wild horse! And you better look after Silver Vales too. I don't want to hear complaints regarding your tenure as the crown prince of my kingdoms! Don't you ruin our reputation!" Dmitri gave Adrianna a loving look and got back the same look from her. 

Were his parents conspiring against him? His wife who was giggling until now, suddenly burst into full blown laughter. He loved the sound of it. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. When he gazed back at his parents, he said, "Fine. But only for a month." 

Adrianna shrugged and walked to where Ian and Áine were. They were flying night lanterns into the night sky. 

"Come, let's do the same," Anastasia said to him, tugging his hand. Her eyes went to where Kaizan, Aidan and Darla were. They joined their friends and the servants brought more kite lanterns for them. By the time it was midnight, the king declared the festival closing. 

Hundreds of lanterns burned against the black velvety sky and it looked as if someone had painted shades of orange and ruby and blue all over it. Ileus stood behind his wife, his lover, his mate and wrapped his hands around her. She leaned against his chest, surrounded by his woodsy, misty smell and looked at the sky. 

By the time they returned to their chambers, the king had withdrawn his magic and the weather started coming back to normal. Soft flurries of snow descended on Vilinski. Anastasia curled up against her husband after they had hours of passion. They were supposed to leave the next day.