Chapter 24 #3
“Feel her pull,” Tarek went on. “I’ve chosen her as my bonded as is my right, and I will receive your blessing. Give it, and we can be done here.”
Aela wanted to laugh. If those were the humble words the Primaries were expecting, Tarek was in for a rude awakening.
“Do you take us all for fools?” Kaus’ voice cut through the room. Though Heze’s voice was less forceful than Kaus’, their tones shared the same unnerving quality and rumbled with different yet equal authority and power.
“It wasn’t even a full cycle ago that you asked for a blessing to bond with my daughter. The answer is the same now as it was then. No.”
“You can’t do that. A vote has to be called!” Tarek yelled. “You’re all liars if you think you would have acted differently had you been in my position. If I were already Ascended and your equal—”
“Drift off, Tarek,” Pollux drawled with a roll of his pale pink eyes. “You might be next in Line to be the Primary Star of your House, but you have a long way to go before you can lump yourself in with us.”
This is what Sulae had to step away from?
Aela blinked, as if the motion could clear the male arrogance from the room.
“Perhaps we should hear from the stunning creature beside you of her thoughts?” Castor said. Aela had almost forgotten he was there.
Why is he here if he’s an Adjacent? Are they really so opposed to females?
“It’s not that,” Castor replied.
Aela hadn’t uttered her thought out loud.
“This meeting doesn’t exclude females intentionally, only that there aren’t any current female Primary Stars. Sulae, Proxima, and Tala are Adjacents. Pollux and I are a binary star.”
At Aela’s confused expression, he clarified, “We started off with our own gravitational pull—”
“—but collapsed in on each other shortly after reaching maturity. I emerged the stronger of the two and was classified Primary,” Pollux said as he stroked the large scar over his brother’s jaw and neck. Castor leaned into the touch.
“I’d like to know your thoughts,” Castor reiterated, settling his blush eyes on her. “If you’re willing to share them,” Castor spoke into her mind.
Aela clicked her teeth. Sending a massive wave of water within her mind to wash away any other presence aside from her own, then fortified her mental walls.
“That’s an… unnerving ability of yours, Adjacent. If you don’t mind me saying,” Aela said. “And as for my thoughts—”
“We’ve discussed our bonding for some time,” interrupted Tarek.
“That’s a bold-faced lie,” Aela scoffed, standing from her chair and dusting her hands on the black skirt of her dress.
“Hush, Aela. Do as you are told,” Tarek whispered fiercely, matching her position so he could loom over her. One hand was in his pocket, the other clenched in a fist.
Aela sucked in a sharp breath and flexed her fingers wide as the crystal bands around her wrists grew unbearably hot. The rest of the Primary Stars rose to their feet, and Aela trembled under the strain of keeping her power from thrashing out of her. Heze intervened.
“Despite what Kaus said, we are no closer to reaching a decision about your bonding, though I must say, your dynamic does not help matters. We will not bless a union where half the pair is bound against their will. That is not how things are done.”
“Easy for you to say,” Tarek rounded on the Virgo Primary. His hand slipped from his pocket, and the heat around Aela’s wrists abated.
“You have your soulmate, a fated bond. What choice did either of you have? You didn’t. I’m left to make the hard choices for what is best for my House.”
“And what of her choice?” Eros said so quietly, Aela almost didn’t hear him.
“Be very careful how you refer to a sacred bond you know nothing about,” Heze warned Tarek.
Kaus watched Aela with an infiltrating gaze, as if he wanted to cut her apart and see what lay within. The Geminis were already heading for the side exit from the meeting room.
“See you at the social,” Pollux sang over his shoulder as he wound an arm around Castor’s waist.
“By all means, seek to control her. See what happens when you initiate a bond with someone you force your will upon. Who needs trust?” Heze mused.
Eros stood and gathered his empty glass from the ground near his chair and walked it back to the bar cart. Without a parting look, he left. Aela frowned. Tarek looked down at Aela, and though it was too late, regret painted his features.
Heze stepped forward and offered his arm to Aela. “Come. You will stay with Sulae and me until the social. Let’s take some time to recuperate. Kaus?”
The Sagittarian Primary nodded, then spoke to Tarek.
“Use the distance from your intended to contemplate not only the health of your constellation and if they are ready for you to Ascend as you are, but also the integrity of your bond. We will not grant our blessing and allow her to be bound against her will. If you push us, you risk your alliance.”
Heze led Aela out of the room. Rather than mulling over how little impact Kaus’ words would have on Tarek, all she could think was how Eros hadn’t acknowledged her before he left.