Heart of Stone: Chapter One

Ainion meets his new bride, Natalia Delia

The House of Talos

Heart of Stone

Chapter One

Atheritan Kingdom, Flora Courtyard

Out of duty, he would marry, and due to duty, he’d do his best and keep the little chit happy. As much as any civilized man could keep a barbarian girl happy. He mentally shuddered at the thought of her, this Natalia Delia.

Her name was almost enchanting but savages never were. Ainion had dealt with enough to know that. Nonetheless, duty commanded him to have an ugly barbaric wife and so he would. Children would come after some very drunken evening he was quite sure.

The thought alone was enough to make any man want to be celibate. Was it too late to take the oath? Ainion stood up straight with his hands behind his back. Any moment, his future bride would come to greet him or so Ainion had been told nearly an hour ago. If she never showed, would they still have to marry? Perhaps so and even still Ainion gave his word and he intended to keep it.

The doors were pushed opened and someone stumbled out. It was a blurry mess of golden brown hair and white. Even with the girl’s head bowed, Ainion could tell there was at least six to seven inch differences between them. The chit was short and the Prince didn’t like that. His preference for women were tall, and curvy in all the right place. This girl had none of that, she was petite and lacking in all areas according to his standards. Ainion easily towered over at his six foot one.

“Princess,” The Prince found his voice. She wasn’t dressed in any extravagance so he didn’t want to assume.

The lithe woman rose her head slowly. In an instant, all of Ainion’s bad opinions of her flew from his mind. He saw the most beautiful light green eyes surrounded by honey-tone skin, perfectly framed by golden brown hair with streak of blonde gleaming in the sun. She was enchanting and it stole his breath. And to think Mortarus lead him to believe his bride-to-be would be hideous.  The b*****d loved to play games with him.

“Forgive me, I was not near here,” Her voice was laced with a strong but intoxicating accent that filled his ears and tickled his arousal.  Mortarus may be the skirt-flipper in the family, but Ainion was still a man with desires, he was just more discreet about his.
“Its not polite to keep your guest waiting especially when you are suppose to wed them in the morning,” Ainion mock scolded.

Natalia threw herself against the hard stones of the floor. Ainion winced at the sound of her delicate body slamming against the rock. She bore no pain on her face.

Natalia Delia only clutched at the front of her dress. Tears stung her eyes. Could a man such as him really want her? He was nothing like the Atheritan men she was use to seeing. Even this Prince’s matter of dress was different than any men that she had seen. His chest and arms were completely covered, his shirt was a dark red embroidered with golden leaves at his collar, down his chest and near the sleeves. There was leather tighten against the lower half of his torso decorated with a sword and a knife. His lower half was covering in tight dark pants,or what she thought was pants, unlike anything that she had ever seen. Whatever the cloth was, it was molded to his body showing off every centimeter of his fit legs.

Then there were the boots which covered up to his knees, that looked smooth but she had no desire to touch them. He was beautiful. The sun behind him, lit his strawberry blonde hair creating a halo around his face. He was an angelus, she knew it in her heart despite his leering green eyes which reminded her of an evil daemon. Even if he was the latter rather than the first, he was better than any other man she had met so far in her own kingdom. Did he not understand with one word he could condemn her to a life of misery? It hurt her pride to kneel and beg but she wanted more than to be taken every night and used for political gain.
She was not a piece in a game. No, she was a woman and Natalia wanted to be treated as such.

“My Lord and husband, please do not be hungry with me,” her words were slow and unsure.

She didn’t know his language as well as Ainion had expected.

“Angry?” Ainion questioned.

Natalia looked up and glanced at Ainion. Blinking a few times to herself before she said the words over and over to herself softly. Was it angry or was it hungry? She wondered. The language was a strange one.

“Yes, angry.” There was still some uncertainty in her voice. “Do not be angry with me. I will not do it again,”

Ainion honestly couldn't remember, had he been angry or just teasing? He had been annoyed at her lateness but none of that seemed to matter. Well if she was going to make a habit out of being late then yes it would matter a lot. Instead of using a harsh tone or making any demands he chose a different path. Ainion just knelt down to her level, moving his sword aside so that it was not in the way.  Her green eyes bewildered him. He could see the fear in Natalia Delia’s eyes but he saw how rigid her body became. If he dared to raise a hand to her, she would take it. She would not squirm or scream. Ainion doubted she would even cry. She would take the punishment as if she was walking down the street with her head high. It made the blonde man wonder how many times had she been punished by a man.  Many, if his judgements were correct.

The elf touched the young woman’s chin gently and used his thumb to caress the edge. Her eyes gazed into his own green ones. Natalia’s eyes were like flowing waters while Ainion imagined his to be like hard, cold stone. His brothers would agree that was an accurate description of him.

“I believe you,” His words stunned them both.

The prince offered his hand to Natalia which she hesitantly took. The darker woman couldn’t help but suspect that it was a trick. She had to trust this man but she wasn’t sure if her trust would rewarded her in the end. Ainion helped her to her feet and kissed her petite hand.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Prince Ainion of the Forest Elf Kingdom and I would like to be your..”

“Lord and husband,” Natalia finished for him.

The pout against her dark lips drew him wild. It was hard to focus when he felt the need to kiss it away and anything else she wanted kissed.  It was very odd.  He should not be having these desires for a woman he just met, even if she was condemned to be his wife.

“No,” Ainion forced his eyes away from her lips to her eyes. “your friend,”

Reviews

[Bill Evans]

I'm not a fan of romance/fantasy, but the stark conflict between the characters--short to tall, wild to refined--, and the personality differences make for an interesting tension that kept me interested to the end. I've read two chapters (this and the prologue) and I plan to read the rest.

You have a very fluid, easy to read style that lends well to the flow of the story. There were a few sentences with passive voice, but nothing excessive. There are a few sentences that seem a bit confusing because of word order/tense, i.e. "...was at least six to seven inch differences..." might have flowed better as "...was an at least six to seven inch difference..."

Just things like that. I point them out, because it's things I look for in my writing when I edit.

Overall, I really like where its going. While it my never become my genre of choice, I found it entertaining and I will read more.

[ashesonfire]

Thank you very much (and I appriciate the edits).

This is a VERY rough first draft. It's actually a collab work between a good friend of mine and myself. There is a lot that needs to be ironed out, but I'm glad you like the conept. :D

Thank you so much for the review and your time!

[Will Neill]

Although this is not my usual type of read I think that you have done well with this chapter, you are wise to keep it short-long pieces do not get read here. But if you are compiling a book I would make the chapters longer for that. In all I think you certainly have talent for writing. Well done.
Will

[ashesonfire]

Thank you very much for your kind review! And thank you so much for reading.

Yes, I have noticed that on this site getting views and reviews for chapter books is much harder than for poems and short stories. My chapters tend to get a little longer after the first, but I try to keep them a bit short for here.

[RainDancer1997]

This really has my attention and I absolutely loved it:)! I hope they end up in a good relationship:) Ik there will be ups and downs but it sounds like they belong together:) Hhaha please let me know when you update!!

[ashesonfire]

I am so glad you like it. :D Thank you for your kind review. I have quite a few chapters written already, so I will update soon.

[RainDancer1997]

Great:) Can't wait:)! I'll be going to my dads tomorrow until sunday but when I get back I'll deff read and comment on it:)!

[ashesonfire]

Sounds great! Enjoy your weekend at your dad's :)

[ashesonfire]

I have another chapter posted if you are still interested :D