With the rain falling, I slouched and sat in the gardens near my favorite fountain. My heart was breaking and the kind face of Marcellus flashed through my memories. His smile, his eyes and his words of one day marrying me.
I failed him.
I lost to Mars in his fight within the first thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
That was how long it took to decide the fate of my whole life.
"Forgive me, Marcellus," I whispered with a wretched sob as tears fell from my eyes like the rain. The winds howled and thunder boomed, echoing my raging emotions. My sorrow, my anger at losing and the pain of spending the rest of my life with someone I didn`t love because life decided to be cruel to me.
I cried for the boy who left me and the little girl that believed him. I cried for my weakness against Mars and I cried for what was to come.
I must have cried outside all night because the last thing I remembered was falling asleep on the ground near the flooding fountain.
When I woke up the next day, Willow was seated near my bed reading and a table of food behind her. She scolded me for being reckless and sleeping outside only for my new husband-to-be to carry me back inside.
"He stayed to make sure you were going to be alright before leaving for his castle," Willow informed me.
I ignored the information and instead asked for my breakfast.
Forty minutes later when there was food in my system, Willow stood and approached my closet, "Now to find you the perfect outfit."
"Why?" I asked as I put the tray on my night stand and tugged my covers up. I just wanted to lie in bed all day after my defeat yesterday.
Willow stopped and turned to me with a sly smile, "Your fiancé has requested that you visit him at his castle today."
I arched a brow, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Mars wants to see you and talk to you."
"Why?!"I blurted," I`m already going to be his trophy wife. He doesn`t need to talk to me in a marriage."
"Marina," Willow started as she moved back to stand in front of me with her hands on her hips," I think you`ve misunderstood him, he`s a good man that fought fairly to win you instead of just demanding your hand as payment for rescuing your brother. You need to give him the benefit of the doubt."
I folded my arms and pouted, "I still don`t like him."
Willow shrugged, "You don`t like Camilla but she is still your sister."
My shoulders fell, "Speaking of, has she come to see me?"
Willow looked away, "She…sort of threw a tantrum yesterday and destroyed her room after your fight. I heard that she had promised her friends Mars would marry her instead of you."
I sighed and shook my head as Willow turned back to give me a sly grin, "The bright side of this situation is that you get the incredibly handsome Mars as you future husband. Something to hold over her head for the rest of your lives."
"I guess so."
"Just go and hear him out, please Marina. "Willow said as she pouted at me, "For me. Your beloved sister-in-law."
A few seconds flew by before I reluctantly nodded. With a happy squeal, she demanded I get out of my bed and shower while she searched for my clothes.
When I left the Estate, my mother wished me luck and Elias hugged me tight. The trip would be long considering the fact that he lived in another kingdom and I would have to go through customs.
I didn`t bring much with me but Willow made sure I looked nice. She chose a green strapless dress, knee high boots and a black jacket. My hair tumbled down my back freely and was left unadorned. I didn`t really care and so made no comment.
Within two hours, our family ship had crossed the border and was in Azazel. I was feeling numb until the pilot announced that we were flying over the Elites Grounds. Looking out the window, my jaw dropped as I took in the six castles, training grounds and lauchpads full of ships of many kinds. Some looked new and no-where near the designs of ships in the market.
Mars was seriously the definition of next level and as was his company.
When I stepped out of the ship, three Elites, whom I recognized as his Alpha Squad, stood waiting for me. The three of them looked quite formidable and very, very tall.
I walked down the ramp and stood in front of his Squad. Elias told me that Dalton was the brunette who was referred to as the liaison and right hand man of Mars. The tall raven headed man was Nikolai and he was in charge of weapons. Basically I heard that he builds guns that are custom made for the Elites and they were amazing. Finally, Brad the blonde was in charge of communications, recruitment and reconnaissance. Three men that Mars trusted above all.
"Lady Marina, welcome to Castle Paravel," Dalton greeted and the three men bowed slightly.
I gave them a small smile,"Thank you. Your home looks..," I gestured to the castle behind them,"Really breathtaking."
Nikolai smirked,"It`s Mars, not ours. "
"We live on the other four corners of the Grounds," Dalton filled me in.
"Anyway, Mars instructed us to escort you to his study," Brad stated.
I raised a brow,"Afraid I`ll get lost?"
"Not at all, My Lady, it`s just that most of the men know that the future bride of our leader is coming so-,"
"They want to check you out," Nikolai broke in.
At that, Dalton face palmed while Brad slapped the back of the head of his friend and muttered," Loud mouthed idiot."
"Sorry about that, we`re still trying to teach him proper manners and speaking etiquette, "Dalton explained.
I snickered lightly and nodded,"It`s alright. Lead the way."
They all led me through the front courtyard and past a fountain that had an uncompleted statue before we entered the double doors leading into the castle. The three men walked ahead whilst bickering, reminding me of three siblings joking around. My sibling would have been the same way had it not been for Nobility and Ranks. As we walked, the walls were lit with blue flames and statues of dragons, griffins and eagles lined the hall.
As we reached the stairs leading up to the second level of the castle, something caught my interest. From the corner of my eyes, I saw an open door that revealed a multitude of colors. I stopped and turned towards it.
"My Lady," I heard Dalton call out for me.
"No, let her," Another voice insisted, it came from the top of the stairs. It might have been Mars but I didn`t care to check. I just wanted to see what was inside that room.
When I stepped through the door, it was like walking into a dream. Flowers of all kinds of colors, shapes, types, sizes and smell flourished around me. The entire room seemed to be made out of glass yet the sun light didn`t really seep into my skin. I heard footsteps behind, letting me know that at least someone had followed me into the Greenhouse.
There were Crystal and Nymph wood trees inside as well, I could see from a distance that at one corner of the room, there was a dining table of sort, a circle of benches of the east side, a work bench on the west side and in the center a beautiful fountain.
It was like I was standing inside an exact replica of my dreams about the Green house that I had always wanted.
"What is this..?" I let the question hang as tears welled up inside my eyes.
"I built this place for my future wife and our children," Mars said from behind me. "I built it to keep her safe from her suitors and I filled it with all the flowers in the world. Flowers that she loved."
"That`s…how did you…," I trailed off and turned slowly to see Mars standing with his hands clenched beside him," I..I only told…," He refused to look at me and I shuffled forward towards him until a small sliver of space lay between us.
Slowly but hesitantly, I raise both my hands until they cupped his cheek and made him stare down at me. His eyes. The same blues from the orphaned boy whom I thought had perished many years ago were now gazing down at me tenderly.
They were filled pain, love and kindess.
"Marcellus," I whispered brokenly before kissing him. He returned the kiss with vigor. One hand rested on my hip while another angled my face just right for him to kiss me. My hands ran through his raven locks before they locked on them and pulled. I think I heard him groan and pull me in closer to him.
Somewhere at the back of my mind I heard cheers and I released him but still leaned my head against his lips. I took a deep breath before peeking over his shoulder to see his friends whooping and clapping. Poor Dalton was in tears and Brad was patting his shoulders whilst smiling. Nikolai was fist bumping the sky and whooping.
"My friends are crazy, Marina."
I laughed and nodded as he spun me around our Green house.
The wedding was small but intimate and to me, it was the start of my happily ever after. When Marcellus took my hand for our first dance as husband and wife, I swore everything faded away until it was just me and my orphaned boy. How he survived the fire and built up the Elites was a sad story that always reduced me to tears.
I leaned in close to listen to his heart beat, to remind myself that he was alive, here and mine. The weeks leading up to the wedding, I had gotten into the habit of doing that. Just laying in his arms and listening to his heart beat. Elias made fun of me being mushy but mother silenced him and reminded him that Willow had done the same after he returned from his kidnapping.
He never teased me again. How did mother and father take it about Mars being Marcellus being an orphan who rose to fame? Let`s just say that it was an interesting conversation. Tears were shed, jaws dropped, scolding ensued and threats were issued to Marcellus. As for Camilla, she soon left home and a few weeks after my wedding, I heard that she had gotten married to Gregory. I guess she really did become a Lady.
"And this is the end of my story, the story of Marcellus and Marina," I said as the midwives left."I wonder what your story will be…"
Marcellus came bounding through the door just to see her yawn. I looked up with tears and watched as tears ran down his handsome face.
"She`s here," he whispered. I nodded with a teary sob as my husband made his way over to my bed and sat down near me. His arms encircling me and rubbing my shoulders as his friends and my daughter`s future uncles came into my room with similar faces as their best friend. Our baby was born exactly a year after our wedding and in the days leading up to my delivery, Marcellus had to called away on a sensitive mission so he wasn`t here for my fourteen hours of labor.
"Did you already name her?" Marcellus asked softly so as not to jolt the baby.
"I was thinking of calling her Jia, a name outside of Nobility," I looked up from her to take in the faces of Dalton, Nikolai and Brad. They all looked happy and proud,"She won`t be like me. I want her to have the best of both worlds. To know that struggles in life are real and her being a Noble isn`t everything. You`ll all teach her, right?"
All three men nodded, determined to take on the roles of uncles and protectors.
Jia fussed a bit so I held her closer to my heart and rocked her a bit to lull her.
"Okay…. Jia Marina Norvel it is," Marcellus said as he reached over to run a finger down her soft cheek. I watched in wonder as she leaned into the finger, as if she recognized the hand of her father.
"My little Jia, I can`t wait to see what kind of happily ever after you`ll have."