Protected by Emeralds (A Dance with Destiny Book 5) by JK Ensley, Jennifer Ensley Page B

gently stroked the rough bark again. “He lifted me in his arms before the pain hit him. He tried to hold on to me… but it was simply too much. When I fell from his arms, I looked back up to find my beloved friend twisting and writhing as the Queen’s witch-work transformed that beautiful man into what we now rest beneath.”
    “What we now rest benea—” She glanced up, her eyes widening with realization. “You mean… this tree?”
    He nodded. “That’s why this side of Princess Falls must always be mine. It’s where the only person I have ever loved now rests. I lie beneath his swaying branches… and pray for the end of all things to finally come.”

Chapter 6
    Vittorio
    (vit-TOR-ee-oh)
     
     
     
    When he saw the sun dancing off her golden curls, his chest tightened.
    “Aye, Lass. I knew if I came here every day, I’d eventually find ye sitting right where ye are now. I am blessed beyond my worth. So, my wee rabbit, were ye waiting here just for me? Or are ye hiding oot with yer Dragon up there?”
    He pointed to Nilakanta’s resting spot high atop the mountain.
    “Both.” She half giggled. “In truth, I came here to think. But the heartbreaking story Shaemon Green just shared with me…”
    “Aye. It was as tragic a tale as I’ve ever heard… until I met ye. Yer sorrow ootweighs them all, Lass.”
    His accented voice brought a smile to her forlorn face. It was her favorite voice in the whole of the universe.
    “Ahh, Vittorio.” She sighed. “I have missed you, Brother. More than words can say.”
    He sat down, letting his feet dangle in the pristine pool alongside hers.
    “Aye, have ye now?” He took her hand in his, squeezing it. “An’ I’ve missed ye more, my wee darlin’.” He tucked her hair back behind her ear. “Yer lovely eyes still shine, Lass. Yet they nae longer sparkle with the joy they once held. Now, they seem tae glisten with the flame of rage. Tell me, wee lamb. From whence comes this fire?”
    “My current fire…” She blinked the burning tears away. “…is the distant reflection of my dead husband’s pyre.”
    “Aye.” He nodded his head knowingly. “After three years of mourning, yer torch still burns for the lad, does it nae?”
    Her brows furrowed as she cast a questioning glance his way.
    He chuckled. “Aye, Lass, ye caught me.” He playfully yanked one of her curls. “I kept an eye on ye while ye were away. I cannae help prying where yer concerned.”
    “So… you know then? You know where I’ve been hiding these last few years.”
    “Aye, that I do. Alas, it wasnae a big surprise. I knew where ye’d eventually end up the day we found ye on Val Hal. It pained my heart. Yet, I knew.”
    She chuckled softly. “Is that so? And just how could you be knowing a thing like that, most beautiful of my brothers?”
    He bumped her with his shoulder. “When I saw ye with Finnean… I just knew.”
    She turned to him, wide-eyed. “Ahh, you knew my Finnean?”
    “Aye, Lass. I knew him well.” Vittorio tightened his hold upon her tiny hand. “He was of me.”
    She stopped breathing. Her eyes glassed over as her mind took her back to the beautiful man she had loved and lost, all too soon.
    “ Of … you?”
    Her pained whisper wasn’t truly a question.
    “Aye, Lass, of me.”
    Fresh tears burned the backs of her eyes, made her jaw bones ache. “That explains so much.”
    “Aye, an’ Vareilious has been the devil tae live with ever since we stood in that palace hall, watching ye melt intae my fair son’s arms.”
    Her gaze remained fixed on nothingness. “Your… son…” She echoed his words automatically, numbly.
    “Aye, my son.”
    She swayed slightly then shook her head, bringing her mind back to the present.
    “Here now, Lass. Are ye well?”
    “He was my whole world.” Her words were tiny. Her voice, distant. “When Drostan’s blade pierced his noble heart, mine stopped beating as well.” She dropped to a whisper. “In truth… I’m not