Chapter 12 #2
Viktor’s eye twitches, and I can see him fighting it. Kai isn’t compelling him like a natural alpha would—he couldn’t even if he wanted to. Viktor doesn’t have to leave, but for some reason he does. He huffs an agitated growl and casts a venomous look our way as he stomps out of the tent.
“Is he the beta?” I ask.
Kai nods, scowling, and lets out a breath. “Let’s sit down and have a drink.”
For the next hour, Kai and I catch up. I tell him about Dyaspora, my friends, and now living in the court of Vernallis.
When I’ve finished he stares at me, stunned. “You went from this shithole, to the most dangerous prison on the continent, escaped, and now you’re royal?”
“Not royal,” I correct. “Just a soldier in a different sort of army.”
“Friend to the king, though?” He grins. “I always knew you’d do something impressive.”
I scoff. He absolutely did not think I’d do anything of the sort. The asshole thought I was dead.
Kai tells me about what he’s been doing for the last several decades, which doesn’t sound all that different from what he was doing the last time I saw him—except that he’s the alpha now.
He also apparently has children, which isn’t surprising, though I find the idea of Kai as a father hard to picture.
“How many sons do you have?” I ask blandly.
“Five,” he says proudly. “And another on the way.”
Aurelia suddenly sits up straight. The entire time Kai and I have been talking, she’s been staring into space. Now, she leans forward, eyebrows raised. “You have six children?”
“Seven. The youngest is a girl.” He beams with pride.
“You’ll meet them and their mother at dinner later, but first, we need to decide what to do with both of you.
” He looks suddenly serious. “Fox, it’s not that I’m not happy to see you, but it sounds like you have a good thing going in Vernallis.
You have a mate.” He gives me a meaningful look.
“So what the fuck are you doing back here?”
Aurelia leans forward, her fingers curling around the edge of the table. “I need to reach the palace.”
Kai’s tankard freezes halfway to his mouth. A bark of laughter escapes him, and he guffaws as if it’s the best joke he’s heard in years. It probably is—that is, until he catches Aurelia’s serious expression. “Wait, honestly? You’re fucking serious?”
“I have business there for the court of Vernallis,” she says lightly.
I shoot her a deadly glare which she goes out of her way to ignore, firmly refusing to look at me. Infuriating woman.
By sheer virtue of the fact that she hasn’t yet revealed that we are not mates and hasn’t gone out of her way to say much, I know Aurelia has grasped that this situation is precarious.
Now she’s making it sound like Daemon and Alix sent us here on purpose and her foolish, suicidal mission is somehow sanctioned by the king and queen.
Unfortunately, this works exactly as intended. Kai nods sagely, looking reassured and vaguely impressed. “I see.”
Aurelia leans forward in her chair, her excitement clear. “I’m sorry that we can’t give you more information, but it’s a confidential mission.”
I grind my teeth. Lying little witch.
Not that I can talk when I’m also lying through my teeth, but still.
Again, Kai nods, and I can tell that he’s enjoying this.
His voice drops to a whisper, eyes darting to the tent entrance.
“I understand, but I’m sure you know you’ll have a tough time getting there.
The roads there were swallowed by the forest decades ago.
Guards who patrol the perimeter come back with nightmares, if they come back at all.
” He sets his drink down, a muscle working in his jaw.
“No one’s glimpsed so much as the queen’s shadow since before your mate here disappeared. ”
“Right…” She shoots me a furtive glance, then turns back to Kai. “The other soldier, Viktor, mentioned taking me to the queen…” she trails off.
“Don’t worry, we won’t,” he says, more to me than to Aurelia.
“No, you don’t understand,” Aurelia says. “I want to go see the queen, so if you could bring me to her…” again, she leaves her sentence hanging, a hopeful note in her voice.
Kai’s eyes narrow and his voice drops to a growl. “That’s not going to happen. When we bring Fae to the palace, they don’t come back. We’re not about to throw away the first mated pair in years. If anything, once everyone hears, they’ll want to talk to you. Maybe we can figure out how it happened.”
“Mmmm.” I make a noncommittal sound in the back of my throat.
Aurelia looks slightly put out, but determined. “How often do you bring Fae to the queen?”
“Not often. Most know not to risk magic around us anymore. Now, we usually just have to go there once a month to report on any magical activity. Every month, we approach those gates and the same hooded servants meet us at the perimeter. They take our reports and vanish.”
Aurelia furrows her brow. “They become invisible?”
“No.” Kai shakes his head fervently. “Theres a…mist, I suppose you could say, around the castle.”
I frown. “I don’t remember that.”
“It appeared ten years ago perhaps,” Kai’s right eye rolls up as if he’s trying to remember while the left one remains staring blindly ahead. “Around the same time magic became illegal in the Fae villages. Not that I mind that law so much.”
Aurelia nods, taking his causal hatred of magic in stride. “Just to be clear, you visit the palace every month, but you don’t go in?”
“Right. The queen’s invitation is the only reason we even get as far as the gates. Usually they shoot trespassers from within the mist.”
“Hmmm,” Aurelia mutters, clearly thinking hard. “When is the next time you’re reporting?”
“No,” I say flatly. “You’re not going in there, invitation or not.”
“I don’t believe I asked your permission,” she says lightly.
Kai grins, and speaks to me so Aurelia can’t hear. “I thought mating was supposed to make women more agreeable.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
He keeps grinning, but goes back to talking out loud. “I’ll leave that discussion between the two of you, but I’d have to agree with Fox. You do not want to go near the palace.”
“But I have to because of my mission from Vernallis,” she insists.
He grimaces. “That’s your decision, I suppose. To answer your other question, the next meeting is in several weeks. We always go on the last day of the month.
“That’s my birthday,” Aurelia says excitedly. “That would be when the lights will appear. It’s perfect.”
I grind my teeth, not sure how to talk to her about this in front of Kai.
Kai leans back in his chair, arms folded. “You can stay here until the next meeting, but there are conditions,” he says, eyes flicking between us. His voice drops lower. “No magic while you’re in my camp, and we keep what she is between us.”
“Viktor and his unit already know what she is,” I point out, “And we can’t exactly hide that she’s Fae.”
“I’ll handle Viktor and the others,” Kai promises. “You’re right that we can’t hide that she’s Fae, but as long as she’s not using magic everyone will get used to it. We got used to you, didn’t we.” he grins, but I don’t return it.
Aurelia flashes a wide smile. I wonder if she hasn’t yet realized what staying here will mean—not just that she won’t be able to use magic, or that she’ll be shunned by nearly the entire camp, but we’ll have to pretend to be mates.
That thought does strange things to my insides—I feel sick, and at the same time, excited. My heartbeat has picked up and I’m not sure if it’s anxiety or anticipation.
“Fox,” Kai says, in a tone that implies he’s been trying to get my attention.
I look up sharply. “What?”
“I could use your skills with the patrols while you’re here.”
“‘Course.” I mutter. I already knew that was a given. No one in these camps avoids the battlefield unless they’re dead. Again, I’m hit with that strange mixture of dread and excitement.
“Good. I’m glad to have you back here even if it’s temporary.” Kai drains his tankard and pushes back from the table, the wooden legs of his chair scraping against the ground. “But now I’ve got a perimeter check to oversee.”
I stand too, understanding that he’s dismissing us, and Aurelia jumps up. I glance at her and notice the tiny face of her squirrel poking out from underneath the loose fabric of her cloak. I scowl at it, and it dunks back into Aurelia’s hood.
Kai stretches, joints popping, then glances silently toward the tent entrance, eyes narrowing in concentration. He telepathically calls to someone outside, and a few moments later a skinny boy of about twelve with Kai’s same light brown hair and pale eyes pokes his head inside.
“This is my oldest son, Finan,” Kai says proudly.
“Strong name,” I comment, exchanging a pointed glance with Kai.
He nods meaningfully. “He’ll show you to your tent. Fin, show my old friend and his mate to Ronan and Elsbeth’s tent.”
“Won’t they mind?” Aurelia asks, looking nervous.
“Not around to mind anything anymore,” Kai says, without any change in his tone. “Both of them died last week, but we haven’t gotten around to removing their things yet and it was a large enough tent that you should both be comfortable enough in there.”
“Oh.” Aurelia’s eyes widen, but mercifully she doesn’t argue.
We say goodbye, and Finan leads us to a tent at the far edge of camp. The canvas walls ripple in the wind, the faded blue fabric patched in places with mismatched swatches.
The moment we reach it, he gives me a silent nod, and his gaze lingers on Aurelia for a moment before, without a word, he turns to leave.
“Not a very talkative boy,” Aurelia comments under her breath.
I say nothing, not wanting to tell her that she’s going to have to get used to that, as no one here is likely to be very chatty. Especially not with her.
Aurelia steps inside the tent and I follow.
The room inside is round and smaller than Kai’s tent by about half, but the ceiling is high enough that at least I don’t have to duck.
There’s a single narrow cot pushed against one canvas wall, draped in furs and a colorful patchwork quilt, and a few sheepskin rugs covering the dirty ground.
The only other furniture is a three legged wooden table and two chairs placed on the opposite side of the tent, and beside it, a battered trunk with tarnished metal clasps.
I barely have time to look at any of it though before Aurelia rounds on me. “Right. So, do you want to explain to me what the hell is going on?”