The Seduction of Jac Frost (by Tatienne Richard) novel Chapter 74

The Temple

“Holy!”

Jacqueline stared incredulously at the temple her brother had teleported them to.

“Nice, right?”

“It’s gorgeous,” she felt her heart racing as she took in the enormous building in front of her. Where they stood was on

the cusp of entering the temple, but what stood ahead was

stunning. The first part was wide open, a garden of sorts and it was filled with flowers in bloom despite the chill in the air. There were large columns of ice with twisting vines of silver and green foliage with big snow–white flowers in abundance.

Beyond the garden was a large building with massive windows and a wide–open door which, as she stared through them, Jacqueline could see all the way through towards a smaller building which, somehow she felt drawn towards. She had an aching need in her suddenly to reach the building furthest away.

“I need to go there,” she pointed through the temple to the

back

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“That is where the high priestess goes. Only she is permitted.”

“I must go there.” She held her chin up defiantly as Jack started to argue with her.

“Okay. Let’s go.” He took her by the hand and led her through the gardens and then into the larger part of the temple.

She looked around in awe at the painted murals all over the interior of the temple. “It’s painted on ice.” She released his hand and spun slowly as her eyes pulled towards the ceiling where it was decorated with images of naked fae, tons of blossoms and greenery and yet a wintery background. In the center of the ceiling was what she knew was supposed to

be an image of the original queen and she stared at it for a moment and then said softly, “the eye color is wrong.”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“The eyes of the original queen are not blue.” She paused, “well not both eyes. She has one blue eye and one brown eye.”

Jack frowned at her, “what are you talking about?”

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“The original queen, Queen Mother,” she spoke a name

she somehow knew in her heart of hearts the creature who created all fae, preferred to be called, “has one blue eye and one brown eye. Warmth and ice. Hot and cold.”

Jack stared at her, “you would know this how?”

“I don’t know. All I know is the more I am here, in this space meant for the Queen Mother, the more I know who she is.” The phrasing made her smile, “is, not was. She is not gone. She is all around us in every bloom, every petal, every root, and every limb.” Jacqueline stared at her fingertips. “She is

me and I am her.”

“This is too freaking weird, Jac,” Jack spoke softly, “the blue in your hair is almost glowing while the blonde is nearly white and your voice is strange.”

“Take me to the priestess.” She turned her head back to the closed doors on the other side of the temple’s altar. She noted a group of young women coming in a side door and her head cocked to one side and her heart skipped a beat as she stared at them.

White dresses tied at the shoulders, faces devoid of make–up

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but their arms tattooed with flowers in elaborate designs.

The women stopped and stared at her as if in shock at her

presence. They looked at Jack inquisitively.

Jack nodded to them and then whispered to Jacqueline, “they are new priestesses. As I explained before there are distinct levels of priestesses. They begin their training, when chosen by the high priestess, in their youth. As they age, they progress through the years, their devotion, pledges, and prayers bringing them closer to the creator.”

“Queen Mother,” Jacqueline corrected ignoring his startled

expression.

“The roles move from new to intermediate to experienced or

high–ranking and eventually one of them could potentially become a high priestess depending on their devotion

and love and only the Queen Mother,” he used the word Jacqueline provided, “can bless the incoming supreme high priestess. There is only ever one high priestess per realm. The priestesses here, all refer to themselves as priestesses, they don’t really differentiate between their titles other than they are in various stages of their learning, but the high priestess is always referred to as high priestess.”

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at Jacqueline’s presence and she stumbled forward and fell to her knees, her forehead touching the ground. Jacqueline squatted in front of her and lifted her chin with her finger. She stared into the woman’s eyes and then smiled at her before creating a small cluster of snow flowers in her hand and pressing them into the woman’s trembling fingers.

“She feels your love. My mother feels your love. Continue on your path, love as purely as you do, and you will be rewarded

with a fantastical life.”

“Jacqueline?” Jack whispered softly as she stared at the scene in front of him. “What is happening?”

She looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a gentle

smile, “I am here to meet my mother.”

“Your mother? Your mother is in Colorado, in a ski lodge, sad

that you rejected her.”

“True.” She rose from her crouched position, patting the hair of the woman who was crying foars of ice as she clutched the flowers to her chest. “Let’s continue on our journey, Jack.”

“This is weird shit,” Jack mumbled as he followed her. “Tell me what you’re fooling, Jacqueline.”

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“Clarity. I am feeling clarity. Things are becoming clearer and clearer, and I do not know why only that I am where I am meant to be. I do not know how, or why, or what exactly is happening, but I do know all will be revealed in the time it

should.”

As they approached the doors to the sanctum of the high priestess, Jacqueline flicked her wrists and the doors opened without anyone touching them.

She stepped through the doors and into the sanctum to find the high priestess in a white dress similar to those the other priestesses wore waist deep in a pool of water which had swirls of steam billowing around her. Her eyes were closed and her head tilted backwards as she prayed.

Jacqueline looked at Jack and then began removing her clothing. Jack’s eyes widened.

“You can’t get naked with me here, Jac. That’s creepy. I’m your brother.”

“You aren’t going to get turned on, Jack,” she smacked his chest, “and I’m going to be wearing my undergarments.” She removed the boots she realized she was still wearing from

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skiing. “I do need you here. You are the witness to what is about to happen.”

“This is crazy,” he turned his back to her.

“Jack, call your wife to the temple.”

“What?”

“She calms you when you are stressed. The priestess and I will be having a conversation, and she is going to help me remove some spells which are containing my powers, and you will be wanting to intervene because this is going to hurt me. As my big brother you will want to stop her from hurting

me, but it needs to be done. Your wife will keep you calm. Get

her here now please.” She looked at Jack as he called for his

wife telepathically, “you are going to feel the pain I feel, the

loneliness, the desolation, the anger and you are going to

want to make it better because you,” she put her hand to his

back, “are a very good big brother.

He looked over his shoulder with a smile, “you think I’m a

good big brother?”

“Can’t you feel it Jack?” she asked him with a smile and then

watched his own smile pull his face.

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“I do feel it. You love me, little Jac.”

“Stop calling me that,” she widened her eyes at him and then grinned as the cutest woman she’d ever seen, and the first very real depiction of what Jacqueline would have considered to be a fairy appeared in front of them. She was barely five feet tall, dainty with massive curls of blonde hair, bright blue eyes and rounded rosy cheeks.

“Jack?” the woman questioned curiously.

“My sister.” Jacqueline moved to hug the woman who stared back in surprise. “Aspen, it is so lovely to meet you. I am Jacqueline. There is so much we’re going to see today but first I want to say, thank you for loving my brother.”

“You are Jacqueline,” Aspen hugged her back. “You are beautiful.

“Thank you. You are as well.”

“What is going on?”

“Well,” Jacqueline made a show of waving to where the priestess still had not acknowledge their arrival, in a trance

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as she prepared for Jacqueline to join her in the pool, “I am

about to meet our maker, literally. It’s going to hurt like a bitch. Jack is going to try to pull me out of the pool, especially when it looks like I’m going to die. You are going to need to stop him.”

“Me?”

“I don’t care how you do it. Heck, make that baby you want if you must, but I need him here to keep me grounded to my family in the Northern Realm.”

“I will not be having sex with my wife in public, Jacqueline Frost!” Jack chastised as he turned to glare at her and then averted his gaze when he realized she was down to her panties and bra. “Must you be naked?”

“I am not naked. Pretend it’s a swimsuit.”

Aspen giggled, “this is fun. I love it when Jack is flustered. You should have seen him on our wedding night. He married me the day he met me. He was so scared he would hurt me because I’m about the size of one of his thighs, that he wept.

It was so cute.”

“Aww,” Jacqueline smiled at him, “how cute. He’s such a

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“He really is.”

“I must ask, Aspen, how do you feel about Jacinta?” As Aspen blinked in surprise at the bold question, Jacqueline pushed, “what did she say to you on the day you first met her? She said something which upset you and made you want to avoid

her. What was it?”

Aspen looked to Jack nervously and shook her head, “how do you know that?”

Jacqueline waved to the pool behind her, “you will see soon, however, I am curious to know exactly what she said to you.”

“She said I might be Jack’s mate, but I will never belong in the royal family because I was nothing more than a commoner. She reminded me how powerful they all are with all their powers and abilities and each time I would be with them all as a group, she would make sure the way I lacked

in comparison to the more powerful fae in the room, was brought forward for all to see.”

“What?” Jack put his hands on Aspen’s shoulders, “why did you never say anything?”

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“She didn’t say anything which wasn’t true and for many

of her comments, you were present. You would defend me the way you do but it was enough to make me feel inferior. I eventually found my peace by simply staying away from the palace life and sticking in my gardens or visiting my family.”

“Aspen,” he seemed in shock at the revelation. “My darling,

surely you know you are superior to us in every single way. You are grace and beauty personified. I am a better man because of you.”

Aspen grinned at him, “I know I’m better than you. I simply

don’t want to deal with your bitch of your sister, and you

love her so much it is easier for me to stay away than it is to engage in her poison.” She looked at Jacqueline, “I like this sister better already.”

“On that note,” Jacqueline turned and looked at the priestess

in the water. “It is time.”

“When you said meet our maker, are you intending to die, Jacqueline?” Jack asked seriously.

She took a breath and began descending into the frigid water, “only time will tell.”

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