Kindred Souls Complete Series: Books 1-4

Chapter Eleven

A harsh sigh burstpast my lips. “Why?”

“To discuss what we’re going to do moving forward. And to see you. You know what it’s like in the beginning when you first meet your kindred. You need to be near them.”

Yeah, and the closer I was to him, the harder it would be to stay away. So far, I’d been able to ignore the ache, the missing piece. But once I started spending time with him, it would get harder to ignore.

Saber nudged me. “Come on, love.”

“Yeah, all right.”

“Don’t worry. He’s not going to hurt you or force you into anything. Even if you weren’t his kindred, he wouldn’t do that.”

“Fine.” I took a last glance at the paintings as Saber lead me from the room, filling and calming myself with the beauty Saber created.

Sky and the prince were laughing at something while Whist served up plates of food when Saber and I walked in. The humor vanished from the prince’s face at our entrance and he jerked to his feet, his eyes drinking me in. I gulped and edged around the opposite side of the table, unsure if I was supposed to curtsy or kiss his ring or something. Maybe I did need those proper lady classes after all.

He shook himself a bit and flashed me a wide, charming smile. It was too flawless, too practiced, too fake. It didn’t reach his eyes, they remained serious and intense and watchful. I dipped my head in a slight nod and proceeded to ignore him and focused on the plate of food Whist set in front of me.

He bent over to whisper in my ear. “Feeling okay from last night, gorgeous?”

I flushed and smiled up at him. “I’m more than okay.”

He nipped my ear and turned back to the stove. Saber slid into the seat next to me and placed his hand on my thigh. Goosebumps rose on my leg, but he was trying to soothe, not rile up. I assumed. There wasn’t any telling with those three though.

Sky was seated next to the prince, and he winked at me. I faked a scowl in response and once Whist sat down, I started eating. My stomach was roaring after our strenuous activities from the previous night. I was very aware of the prince’s eyes on me, so I didn’t shovel the food in my mouth like I wanted to. Though perhaps I should have in case it would have turned him off.

A few moments of awkward silence fell between us, but I had no intentions to break it as much as it turned the food in my stomach to stone. I had so many questions and worries I couldn’t begin to straighten them out in my mind.

Sky was the one to finally break it, of course. “So, fill us in, Aster. What are the plans going forward.”

Aster sat back with a cup of coffee cradled in his hands. “With this new wrench thrown in the mix? We are not certain yet. Indigo and I were up long into the night trying to sort it all out. We are delighted you three are back to assist us, and even more thrilled you will no longer be executed, but it certainly makes things a bit difficult. Indigo has a meeting with the dragons in a few weeks, they finally agreed to it. My father is demanding a ball in a couple days to celebrate me finally finding my kindred soul.”

I recoiled in my seat, my eyes widening. A ball? I would have to come out publicly as his kindred?

Aster read the alarm on my face. “It is merely a show, Rhapsody. It doesn’t mean you would have to follow through. But I must ask you, beg you really, to play your part. It is more important than ever that my father does not suspect anything. That he thinks he has us all well in hand. He will not care about keeping you four alive if he believes you are denying the bond and Indigo and I need all the allies we can get.”

I pursed my lips in thought as I inspected him, trying to read beneath his prince charming surface to what lied beneath. He seemed sincere, but he was a royal. They were bred to lie and manipulate.

“What exactly is this going to include? What will I have to do?”

Aster grimaced. “You will have to agree to sit through those horrendous classes. I am truly sorry about that, but I cannot get you out of them. Every common citizen who ends up bonded to a royal has to go through them.”

I groaned. “Fine. What else?”

“Not much. We will need to be seen together and I will be your main escort for the ball. My father will want to set up a ceremony for the five of us, but I will hold him off as long as I can. If you still have no interest in agreeing to the bond, we will need to smuggle you out of here to Havisam before the ceremony.”

My eyes widened. He’d be willing to let me go? “Do you want to accept the bond?”

His sparkling sapphire eyes met mine. “More than anything.”

“But you’d let me go?” I didn’t bother trying to hide my skepticism.

His fingers whitened on his coffee mug. “Of course. I would never keep you against your will. But I hope you choose to stay.”

I flinched. “I... I don’t think I can. Your family’s laws are the reason my family is dead. I’m not sure how to get past that.”

Aster’s eyes darkened with pain. “I understand.” A more genuine smile, one a little bit wicked, lightened his face. “But I must warn you. I am going to try my hardest to change your mind.”

My chest lurched, my entire body screaming at me to leap across the table into his lap, but I balled up my instincts and merely nodded. “Fair enough, I guess.”