Chapter 16 Aurelia
Aurelia
Cedar's hand in mine was the only thing keeping me from rushing into the castle. I took the steps one at a time instead of running like I wanted.
She was at my side, whispering hopeful things, but I couldn't believe a single word. How did this happen?
I knew sending Vesper to follow him was a risk, but I never thought he would deliver her right to the council.
Atlas was behind us, silent. Unusually silent.
None of us wanted to be here. Any wrong step, and the council could punish all of us.
Especially Atlas, since she wasn't supposed to be taking in any new clan members.
But all of that seemed so small. I felt it all happen through the bond, so fresh that I could feel every lick of pain that went through her.
Unbearable. The grief that blasted down the bond was something I had never experienced.
The only thing similar I could find was when my mother had died right in front of me.
“She’ll be okay,” Cedar said in a whisper.
“She has to be,” I whispered back.
The time it took for us to get to the entrance and finally to the throne room, where Kyan was sitting—more like lounging with her legs over the side—felt like an eternity.
She looked regal as always, with her red-tipped claws, her long silver hair, and some type of coat embedded with red jewels. Her eyes were narrowed, and it was like her body had been sculpted from rock.
She perked up as she saw us, a slow, cat-like smile spreading across her lips as she got up to greet us.
“Aurelia, congratulations on your new marriage. A pity to see you didn't bring the husband today.”
“This doesn't involve him.” I bowed in front of her, and both Cedar and Atlas followed my lead. “I've come to retrieve—”
“The silver-haired hunter, I know. There's just one issue with that.”
She motioned to her guards, and they disappeared for a few minutes. When they brought in Vesper, she looked worse for wear. There was a large scar running down her neck that didn't seem fully healed. She was lethargic, and I could tell it took an immense effort to look at us.
The bond was painful, begging for me to go to her, but I took one step before I was pulled back by Cedar.
“She was finishing her servitude with the Leclair family. So, actually, I can't return her to you, Aurelia.”
Atlas stepped forward. “She was transferred to me. This can all be confirmed by them—“
“Which is why I invited them here as well.”
The door opened and the Leclair family walked in. They had been noticeably absent from both the engagement party and other events my brother held.
The father came first, the daughters followed. There was a rumor about the second daughter being from an affair he had, but I had never seen her out in public. She had mismatched eyes and scars all over her body, and she never once looked up at Kyan.
“Mr. Leclair, can you please confirm?”
“My daughter made the trade,” he said, obvious disdain in his voice for the actions of his daughter.
“Charlotte?” Kyan asked with a sickly-sweet tone.
“That is correct.”
There was a pause before Kyan looked right at Atlas.
“Do you think I'm an idiot?” she asked, the smile never leaving her face.
The question was rhetorical, and obviously no one would actually confirm or deny.
Kyan looked around at all of us, waiting for someone to answer, but no one dared to speak. Then she turned to me, her eyes already red, a warning sign of how mad she was, before they finally landed on Vesper.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, Vesper Monroe? I like the new look, by the way.”
Her voice was harsh, contempt dripping from every syllable. The last part was dropped as an obvious insult, no doubt because she knew what happened to Vesper. Anger boiled in my veins.
“As you can see, it's true. So we'll just take Vesper back—” Atlas said, taking a single step forward, keeping her head bowed.
“I wasn't talking to you,” Kyan spat, then looked back at Vesper. “They made a deal, you were transferred, and somehow you're now under Aurelia's care? What a coincidence.”
“It was a wedding gift,” Atlas offered. Kyan was getting angrier and angrier every time Atlas responded. “You know how the princess likes her toys.”
Kyan’s lips pulled into the slightest bit of a smirk.
“As does the whole vampire world. Vesper, do you have anything to say for yourself?”
I couldn't understand why she kept addressing Vesper. And I knew that with one wrong word out of her mouth, she would be hurt even more than she already was.
“It's as they said. I had no say in the matter. This was all a deal between them.”
Her voice was so weak. I could feel how much effort it took for her to speak. Cedar was feeling an immense amount of guilt, no doubt because she listened to us and stayed back.
“Were you unhappy with our arrangement?’
I tried to send her a wave of caution through the bond, as she wasn't looking at me anymore.
“I don’t know anyone who would like indentured servitude,” she replied, and panic grew in me.
A muscle in Kyan’s jaw twitched.
“Apologies for her crudeness. Vesper is—”
Kyan stopped me by holding up her hand.
“Well, I do not appreciate her candor. But I will allow it. Once. Vesper, General Lee sent the body of your father along with you. It was actually in my mind to go after the hybrid vampires of your family. Now tell me, where are the other three?”
Her father? The pain coming from her felt like a punch to the gut. Her grief was now starting to make sense.
Vesper let out a growl and tried to fight the guards holding her, but it was no use.
“Don't spoil the fun, Vesper. I'm just teasing. I can find them myself.”
A wave of relief shot through me. Thank Krae she’s not going to push it.
“Atlas.” Her tone was sharp, forcing all attention back to her. “You may have been exiled from our family, but it seems you still have the brazen confidence you once had.”
A tremor of shock went through the whole group, landing right in my chest. Only when Atlas clicked her tongue and tilted her head to the side to meet my gaze did I realize that she wasn't looking down because she was scared of Kyan.
She’s mad.
I knew the rumors about Atlas coming from a royal family, but we had never discussed it. This was something new altogether, even if not totally unexpected for me.
There was shock from both Cedar and Vesper in my bond, but their eyes were on me. Like I had been keeping something from them, when, in reality, I had just guessed.
Looking at Kyan and Atlas now, it was almost laughable that anyone was oblivious to this. The ridiculously long hair, their love for jewels, and their attitude all matched. The only real thing we needed to figure out was why she got exiled in the first place.
Them being so harsh with her accepting new people into her clan also made sense now.
“There are no rules against me taking an indentured servant,” Atlas told her. “We made a deal. We saw it through. That was it.”
Kyan pushed herself from the throne and walked slowly down to Atlas, who, this time, met the vampire ruler dead-on, a low growl forming in her chest.
“Cute,” she said with a smirk, and in the blink of an eye, she had Atlas on the ground, her face pressed into the rune on the floor. “You have embarrassed us by going around me so blatantly, and for that we have some changes to make.”
She pulled Atlas up by her hair. From my position, I could see droplets of dark vampire blood fall to the ground.
“I have ignored the complaints that you have been running wild without someone to tie you down. Both clans and families alike were worried. Too much power, too many vampires, zero ties. I think it's time we fixed that.”
Tied by marriage.
Kyan let her go and smoothly got up and walked straight to the Leclair family. I thought she was going to grab Charlotte. After all, Atlas had told me she only got Vesper because she promised to date Charlotte.
They would've been a good pairing.
But she went straight to the black sheep of the family instead.
The girl stepped back, obviously shocked that the royal was standing right in front of her. Luckily for her, Kyan only smiled at her and held out her hand.
Hesitantly, the girl gave it to her.
“Rose Leclair,” she said in a purr. “So adequately named.”
She brushed her hand down the side of Rose’s face, the one with the scars.
My heart twisted at the look of embarrassment that spread across Rose's face. Kyan was being extra mean but disguising it as flattery, without fooling anyone.
“I hereby declare that Rose Leclair and Atlas Nox are to be wed. But because Atlas has been so disgracefully exiled from the family, there won’t be any royal customs, nor will Rose be accepted into the family. Instead, Rose Leclair will join your coven and rule by your side. Any objections?”
She looked back specifically at Atlas for this one. But instead, it was Rose and Charlotte Leclair’s father who spoke up.
“We are honored, Your Majesty. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine a marriage hand-picked by Your Majesty. Though Charlotte is a clearly better option for Atlas. Rose is nothing more than a weak human mutt that has cursed our bloodline—”
“Careful, Leclair, or I may think you consider yourself above me. Did you mean to correct me?”
“No, never. I apologize. I only meant—”
“That your daughter, the one you fostered with your own lascivious ways, is not good enough for an exile of the royal family?”
Answering that question would be digging his own grave, and he seemed to know it, so he mumbled a quick apology and stepped back. If I wasn’t so worried about Vesper, I might have found this whole thing laughable.
Charlotte managed an obviously forced smile when Kyan took a look at her.
“Congratulations to the new couple. It is true that originally I wished to marry Atlas, but I see that we are ill-fated.”
Kyan, satisfied with the answer, took Rose to Atlas’s side. Atlas rose, not looking at the girl even once.
“Such a beautiful couple,” Kyan spat and then turned to saunter back up to her throne. As soon as she sat down, she sneered at us. “Now get out of my sight and don't think of disrespecting my ruling ever again, or next time I'll take all of your heads.”
Vesper was thrown to the ground, and Cedar and I were there to help her up in seconds. My heart ached for her, but we stayed silent as we exited the grounds, walking back to Atlas's car that was waiting for us.
My Little Mouse. We’ll take care of you now.