Chapter 5
Liora
Liora wasn’t sure what to expect, meeting with Maldenis’s mother. Not that she ever thought she’d meet her, much less as her new mother-in-law.
Whatever she expected, it wasn’t this.
“So,” the tall, imposing basilisk said. “You are my son’s wife.”
From the emerald scales to the golden eyes, it was obvious who she was. However, where Maldenis had that confident air and swagger, Melora simply had more. More confidence, more power. Everything more, turned up to eleven.
Even now, as they sat in the living room of her sumptuous home in the most exclusive neighborhood of Solkaris having tea and cakes, she seemed impossibly formidable.
“Yes,” she managed to reply without her voice shaking. “I’m Liora Chura.”
Her golden eyes roamed up and down Liora’s form. “Not the type of female I pictured my son would choose.”
“Mother,” Maldenis warned. “Don’t—”
A single raised eyebrow silenced him.
A brief flash struck Liora like lightning.
The disapproval.
And disappointment.
A young basilisk boy, his tail shaking.
Liora cleared her throat. “Surely I didn’t come all the way so you could judge my looks. We drove through the night to get back here. So, why don’t we cut to the chase?”
Melora’s head snapped back to her. Liora saw the tiniest twitch at the corner of her lips. “Let’s do that.” She picked up a delicate tea cup and took a sip, her slitted golden gaze peering over the rim. “You know why you’re here, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you leave Solkaris?”
The question came from nowhere. Liora thought Maldenis’s mother would interrogate her about her background, her family, her accomplishments and what she would bring to this marriage. But this was the one question she didn’t know how to answer. At least, not in a way that would not displease Melora.
So, she decided on the truth. “It all sounded like bullshit to me,” she said.
“And we really didn’t know what we were doing.
We just wanted to uh, cool off.” Memories from what happened moments before they were caught flooded her brain.
Her face must have given away what she was thinking, because there was a look of recognition on Melora’s face, one that said I know what you were doing and it wasn’t just cooling off.
“I see. But as it stands, it doesn’t matter whether or not you two knew about the marriage ritual or the ancient laws. The spring does not differentiate between ignorance and intention.”
“As we’ve been told repeatedly,” Maldenis said under his breath. “So, what do we have to do now?”
“Abide by the laws. Stay married—a real marriage, not one in name only—for a year and day.”
“There’s really no way out of this?” Liora asked. “What if…what if we declared ourselves divorced now and then take a rain check for later?”
“Do not be smart with me,” Melora warned. “And definitely don’t try it with the elders.”
“The elders?” Maldenis gulped. “Wh-what do you mean the elders?”
“You two will meet the elders, of course.”
“Of course?” Maldenis shot up from the plush white couch. “You said all I had to do was bring her here so you could meet her—”
“Sit down, son.” Melora’s voice was calm, yet Maldenis quickly obeyed.
“You must drill into your brains how serious this matter is. The ancient laws are no joke, and being dishonored reflects on our house, not just today but for the generations to come. Maldenis, if you decide to have children in the future, it will affect their standing as well. And Liora, you have your reasons for coming back too, correct?”
“Yes—wait. How did you know?”
A mysterious smile appeared on her lips. “I have connections too. Including a certain gorgon who’s been searching for the children of Zeus.”
“So, you know about our mission here in Vale Crossing.” She glanced at Maldenis, then back at Melora. “Do you know—”
“Yes, but we can talk about that later. For now, you must face the elders.”
“Wait, then you know how important this is,” she pointed out. “I can’t hang around here playing dutiful housewife for the next year. There are lives at stake, some of them basilisks.”
“Do not worry about that, child. Medusa and I have already spoken. Maldenis will join you on your missions for the time being as part of your team.”
“I’m going to what?” Maldenis cried. “I can’t go traipsing around Vale Crossing looking for demigods. I have a job.”
“That little bar you run with your cousins?” Melora scoffed. “That’s not exactly a real job. I’m sure they’ll do fine without you.”
“You do realize we’re talking about Makron and Charlie here.”
Liora cocked her head to the side. “You have a cousin named Charlie?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Why doesn’t his name start with an M?” she asked.
“It does,” he said. “At least his real name does, but he doesn’t like it, so he decided—”
“Ahem,” Melora interrupted.
“Sorry,” Maldenis said. “Go on, Mother.”
“As I was saying,” Melora continued. “You will remain together for the next year in a real marriage. What you do after that is up to you.”
“And what constitutes real marriage, exactly?” Liora asked, then she took a deep breath. “Do we have to…you know…”
Melora frowned. “No, I do not know. Speak up, child, and say the words you mean.”
She tsked. “You know. Consummate the marriage.”
Unfortunately, it was at that moment Maldenis had taken a bite of cake, which he choked on. Both Liora and Melora rolled their eyes as he coughed in an attempt to clear out his airway.
“We have to have sex?” he sputtered as he wiped crumbs from his lips.
“What you do in your nest is no one’s concern, of course,” Melora said in a cool tone.
“But to anyone looking, especially here in Solkaris, you must act like a real married couple.” She rose up from the couch with languid grace.
“Now, I must arrange your meeting with the elders.” She waved when Liora began to stand up.
“Please, finish your cake and tea and stay as long as you like. But, come back here tomorrow at the same time and we will talk some more.”
She glanced at Maldenis, her expression inscrutable. Liora waited for a flash of…anything really. Emotion, memory, even a smile or a frown. But Melora’s thoughts and emotions remained a mystery. Perhaps she didn’t have any or maybe she was immune to Liora’s powers.
That would be a first.
“So,” Liora said once they were alone. “We really are going to do this huh?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.”
She sank into the couch. “Not to make things more complicated…”
A reddish eyebrow, so very like his mother’s, rose. “But?”
“There is the matter of my siblings.”
“What about them?”
“They don’t know what’s going on.”
“Oh. Is that going to be a problem?”
“I don’t know. But I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” His jaw dropped. “What do you mean tomorrow?”
“Elian’s driving here as we speak, and he’ll be here tonight.
And Zara and Hektor will follow tomorrow, once Lord Eros can get away from his duties to transport them back to Vale Crossing.
” Apparently, they had kissed and made up, according to the text from her mother.
The Drakkon had followed her all the way to Santa Fe and won her back.
“Look, will you let me handle things? Especially with Elian?”
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” he said with a shrug. “Your siblings will at least understand that this is all a misunderstanding and it’ll be cleared up in a year.”
“Just let me tell them, okay?” She blew out a breath. “Zara will probably be okay. But Elian’s unpredictable.”
His teeth worried at his lip. “Is he protective?”
“Not exactly. He’s just different, okay? You don’t want to get on his bad side.”
“Fine.” He picked up another piece of cake and popped it into his mouth, swallowing the whole thing in one bite. “Whatever.”
Liora still wasn’t sure what to tell her siblings. “Hey, I’m married” didn’t seem like it would cut it. She glanced at the clock on the mantle, the tick-tick-tick of the second hand seemingly mocking her, telling her she better come up with something.
By the next day, Liora still hadn’t figured out how to tell her siblings about her current predicament.
The truth was, she was worried they’d be mad that she kept this from them for this long.
They were siblings—no, they were more than that.
They were triplets who shared a womb for nine months, bound together by blood and magic.
But really, she could only tell them the truth. There was the matter of Elian’s unpredictability, so she decided to tell Zara first.
Of course, that would mean she would have to intercept her sister before their meeting at ten o’clock at the lobby, hopefully without Elian seeing them.
Her brother had a tendency to be early—“If you’re on time, then you’re late,” he would always say—so Liora had no choice but to catch them before then.
An hour before the meeting, she decided she would go to them first. Unfortunately, as soon as she exited her room, Maldenis was standing there, looking infuriatingly handsome in a yellow shirt that made the color of his eyes pop.
That confident grin was pasted on his gorgeous face as usual.
“Good morning, wifey.”
The word sent a strange sensation pooling in her belly. It didn’t help that he was staring down at her with those hypnotic golden eyes.
She swallowed and pushed those thoughts away. “What are you doing here?” she groused. “And don’t call me that.”
He tsked. “So cranky in the morning. Is this what I have to look forward to everyday for the rest of my life?”
“For the next year at least,” she reminded him. “Why are you here? How did you know this was my room?”
“I have my ways,” he said mysteriously. “So, are we going to talk to your siblings?”
“We?” she exclaimed. “What do you mean ‘we’? You barely cared about what they thought yesterday and now you want to be here when I tell them?”
“Me? Who said I didn’t care?”
“‘Whatever’” she said, mimicking his voice and tone. “What changed?”
“Nothing.”
“Maldenis….”
“I swear—”
“Maldenis.”