Bailey Ardisone - Sweet Redemption (Sweet Series #4)

Sweet Redemption

(SweetSeries, Book Four)

by BaileyArdisone

Copyright 2014 BaileyArdisone

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www.BaileyArdisone.com

Cover art created by BaileyArdisone

Photograph by Felicia SimionPhotography

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Editing services provided by RareBird Editing.

Elvish language sources:www.grey-company.org, www.bladesofanarion.net, and J.R.R.Tolkien.

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To my mother, for never letting go.

Amin mela lle.

Have you everfallen in love with someone youshouldn t? If you could goback in time to the exact moment before you plunged head first intothe deep pool of heart-hammeringaffection a cavernous abyssso large you could never possiblyreturn could you resist,knowing if you didn t, itwould cost lives? If you were standing in that precious moment oncemore, would you choose love, or life?

I m Nariella AshwynWoodlinn, and I ve fallen inlove with the king of my mortal enemies. Because of it, countlesslives are now hanging precariously on the edge of destruction. Mybest friend is also my enemy, not to mention theking s brother, but in anironic joke, he somehow managed to elicit my heart as his re Dae a.k.a Heart Shadow.In other words, he s myofficial appointed Guardian. I guess it could happen becauseI m half his kin andtechnically only half his enemy, but yaddayadda you get the picture.The point is, our hearts are connected in a way neither of us couldever possibly truly understand. But now,he s the one that needs myprotection. And I will rescue him fromdeath s waitingdoom.

My very existencehas tainted the lives of those I love most, and I am determined tofight through the tall flames of hell, through the belly of thebeast, and on through the most violent of storms. I will be thevictor.

But either way,as I stand here facing the ominous loom of the desolate castle ofAselaira with the towering, cracking mountains behind me,I ve come to realize onething that this is thebeginning of the end.

That which starts sweet, ends bitter; and thatwhich starts bitter, ends sweet.

~Nari~

My fingersslipped through the silk of Liss s white mane and knotted into a tighter grasp than what washumanly possible. I kept my eyes on the brightening horizon infront of me, using it as a focal point to subdue my flaring nervesas my F a galloped againstthe hard ground with all her might. If I could keep my fear at bay,I might have a chance. But that was if .

I hadEnder s I mean myfather s plan burningdepressions into my shoulders. It felt extremely heavy, as itrested upon my ability to succeed. If Ididn t if Ididn t succeed with thisplan, it would cost the lives of those I held so dearly in myheart.

And Icouldn t have that. I wouldn t havethat.

The problemwas and this was where thefear came from that I couldliterally be running head first into death in this moment. Therewas no telling. No inkling of whether or not I even stood a chanceof succeeding with this outlandish plan. Who was I kidding? I hadno real confidence that I would accomplish the impossible, but Iabsolutely refused to acknowledge that. No, I buried that doubtdeep down. Because I forbade myself to be that person again. Irefused to let fear dictate my actions and mylife.

Optimism. If Icould manage positivity even in the darkest of hours, thenmaybe justmaybe we could all live intothe breaking of light.

Liss sent a sensationof warmth and comfort straight to my heart, and I dropped myforehead onto the smoothness of her neck. The snow-like hairs ofher mane tickled my face in a way that provided even more comfort.It was soothing and familiar, despite how recentlyI d found her. MyF a was the other half to mysoul the other half of myspirit and once we bonded, itwas as if we had never been apart.

I thought of howEnder had said Mycah's and my souls were joining together. If theend result was anything like the way my soul felt being bonded withLiss s, then I already knewhow mutilating it would be ripping the fresh threadsapart.

No, scratch that.I didn t actually know. Icouldn t even imagine whatit d be like. Severing oursouls from one another seemed unfathomable, unattainable, andincomprehensible. And yet, that was exactly what I was beingrequired to do.

The vision ofMycah s mother slapping himacross the face due to our forbidden indulgence absolutely refusedto leave my thoughts. I kept seeing it play out right before me, asif I were stuck in an endless cycle of punishment and guilt forwhat I ddone.

I d been warned. Warnedby my father warned byMycah s appointed Guardian,and yet I had done nothing. I had let my soul deceive me. Let itentice me to the false belief that Mycah had the ultimate say inhis destiny, but I had been a fool. Yes, though he was the trueking of Aselaira, he was ruled by principle and tradition. What hedesired meant nothing when an entire kingdom outnumbered him,reminding him of where his loyalties should trulylie.

And thoseloyalties couldn t be withme.

Itdidn t matter that I was anabomination in the eyes of theTavas Elda the wood elves. Itdidn t even matter that I hadthe same Isil blood running in my veins. Even if they were to bemade aware of it, all the kingdom of Aselaira would see when theylooked at me would be the Tavas blood running side-by-side withtheir own. They wouldn tacknowledge that I was one of them.They d exile me, or sentenceme to death as an abomination just as my own kingdom of Lassairahad done.

And so,they d left me with nochoice.

This meant war.

If the people ofAselaira insisted on hanging Mycah all because he fell in love withthe princess of their enemies, then that was exactly whatI d be. Their enemy. And damnwould I rain fire upon their lofty mountain.

A horrendous squawking rung out from thehighest point in the sky, drawing my attention to a large-wingedbird in flight. It glided effortlessly through the playful wind,and in that moment, I envied it.

Freedom. Pure, blissful freedom.

Drawing in a longbreath that filled my lungs completely, I clenched my jaw andfisted my fingers even tighter into stone aroundLiss s snow-white strands.Worry and fear were bubbling like hot lava in my chest, and all Icould think was Please.Please be strong enough to save them.

I knew I washeaded to my very doom, but what else could be done? Mycah andRydan s lives were now leftin my trembling hands. On top of that, so wereNamin andCathar s. This was the onlyoption before me, and I had to give it a try.

I held my breathas we slowed to a standstill. Though we were shrouded in the shadowof a large l aurinqu tree, it did little to actually conceal us fromany danger. There could be no hiding from the ever-watchful eyesthat protected these forests , but I tried anyway. I took great pains to slide offLiss s back as quietly as Icould, terrified that even the whisper of cloth against her smoothhide could be heard by these merciless creatures.

Shhhh, I echoed in my head, as if whispering the thoughtto Liss would bring comfort.I d have to go the rest ofthe way on foot. It was my best chance of remaining undetected, ifI hadn t been unknowinglyseen already. Which, of course, knowing my luck was exactly thecase. But there was no time to dwell on the ifs.