I woke hours later, sitting up with fright. After seeing Anton dole out his punishment and the subsequent relief of knowing that everything was over, I felt the weight of lethargy pull me down. I remember Anton lifting me into his arms and saying that everything was okay now, that we were free of the council and that his plan had worked perfectly.

It made me smile. I had feared for our future that was within the hands of people that liked to cause misery and of course, that one woman who had a real disliking for Anton. She was out to cause him serious pain. But that was all over, she was now in her own world of pain.

"Hey, lay back down, the worst of it's over." Anton cooed.

"Lay with me." I quietly begged as I laid back down, rolling to my side.

"You did so well Sarah."

His voice trailed off, raw with pain. As he nestled in behind me, I thought that even though I had just gone through the worst imaginable pain and that he should have told me how bad it was rather than saying it was painful, I couldn't hold it against him. He probably thought that I wouldn't agree to any of it if I knew. He was wrong.

I looked at the ring on my finger, the chips that were embedded in the crown had gone from white to red.

"What does that mean?" I whispered.

"What's that?" Anton said low.

"The chips in the crown have changed."

He sat up and looked at the ring and smiled.

"The ring acknowledges the sacrifice that you have made to be with me and has altered itself accordingly. It now shows the marker of an immortal queen."

"We are free now, aren't we? No more people telling us what to do?"

"Yes, we are free. No waiting to see each other, no time apart. Our lives are our own, as it should have been right from the start."

I rested my head back against the pillow, feeling safe in his arms. It looked like we were in a hotel room, it certainly wasn't my apartment. Then I remembered that Anton had sent Nick and Rowan to a hotel for safety to protect Castian.

"Igor is here, he came to wish you well for your transformation."

I smiled as I thought about Igor.

"He is a wonderful person. I hope that you do not drop him into the pit, Anton."

"Surprisingly there are quite a few demons that I know will never upset me. You have been blessed to know a few of them."

Rolling over to snuggle into him, I wrapped my arms around him. Happily soaking in the fine moment.

"How long have you known that things would happen this way?"

"I've been gathering information over the past few days. Only recently did I learn of the grand councilors misbehavior, without those photos I would have been in a worse position. Of course, I did have a backup plan which was the presence of Hemoi to ensure that the councilor for Faelen sided with me. It was all that I could do to ensure he gave me a positive vote. The councilor for Meuna would have followed the Faelen councilor with whatever vote he cast, not sure exactly what's going on there but assumption would say that it is most definitely sordid. As for the councilor for Tresel well, he basically doesn't care. He'd go with the sway of the council and be out the door before the gavel hit the table if he was allowed."

Anton rolled onto his back, keeping me tight to his body. Slowly I slipped into a light sleep, snuggled against him and refusing to let go.

It was dark when I woke again, the bed was cold and I was alone. Somehow Anton had managed to slip away from me. Sleepily I sat up and looked around the dimly lit room.

Candles flickered on a table that had been set for two, meals covered with metal lids and a bottle of wine resting in an ice bucket.

"Good evening."

His voice filled the darkness, smooth and sultry as it wrapped around me and made me smile.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did."

The light rose in the room, slowly my eyes adjusted to it. As I looked around the small room, I saw Anton sitting on the lounge as if he was waiting for me to wake while allowing me are more peaceful sleep. He stood and walked over, helping me to my feet.

"Easy does it, Sarah, the transformation will take a little longer before it is finished."

Anton held me in his arms, looking down at me.

"You picked a life with me." He whispered.

"What do you mean? Of course I picked a life with you."

He shook his head gently as he trailed his fingertips over my jaw.

"You woke in a lake, did you not?"

"Uh, yeah."

"And there were two birds, a dove, and a crow."

I thought I dreamed that this was odd, to say the least.

"It was the final test Sarah, one that no one could tell you about. If I warned you then they would have revoked the acceptance."

That was just plain rude of them to expect such things. I was grateful the council was now gone, how could they do something like this?

"I am darkness, I am fear. In taking the path that seemed scary you accepted that this is my life. You turned away from the light and accepted the darkness. How can I ever show you enough gratitude for it?"

"Love me, Anton, love me for an eternity with enduring faithfulness and happiness. A home filled with the laughter of many children and their parents who do not rest of a night without the other beside them. All you need to do to be thankful is always show me that you love me."

Anton smiled and traced his lips over mine.

"I can do that Sarah, my heart and love are yours."

Hi everyone

As you may (or may not) know, my work on wp has been ripped off by a few websites on a quite a few occasions. This story is by far, the one that is ripped off the most. It bugs me no end because this keeps happening and as a result, the stories will be coming down from WP as I have mentioned in one of my previous messages to my followers.

So, that means that this story will be leaving WP in the near future. For now, it (like my other stories) will be set to private. At this point in time, I am only going to put books 3 & 4 into private chapters. If you want to read these chapters, you need to follow me and then they will appear.

Long term, I would suggest that you subscribe to my email newsletter and then you will be notified of when I am doing deals/freebies. Find me at www.tm-watkins.com

If you see this story anywhere other than here or Radish Fiction then I ask that you tell me or report it to Wattpad. Plagiarism is theft, plain and simple.

xxM