Chapter 4 #3
"I know." And I did know, just as I knew that part of me had been counting on that very fact.
Once claimed, the mate bond was sacred and permanent.
Even if the elders decided they couldn't allow an Imperial to remain in the city, they couldn't force me to give her up without destroying me in the process.
Clever boy, the shadows whispered approvingly. You have secured what is yours.
"Breaking a mate bond would leave you vulnerable to the Veyr-sha," Aytara continued, confirming my own thoughts. "The darkness would claim what remained of your mind within days."
The Veyr-sha. The madness that had taken my father, that lurked at the edges of every shadow-touched mind like a patient predator.
I had felt its pull growing stronger over the years, especially since the first whispers had begun.
Only my control, my training, and my sheer stubborn will had kept it at bay.
"You'll speak to the elders?" I asked, hating how young and desperate I sounded.
"I will." She reached over to squeeze my shoulder, and I felt some of the tension leave my body.
"They cannot afford to lose you, not now.
The Empire grows bolder with each passing season.
Their attacks push deeper into our territory, and the resistance movements within their borders have been systematically crushed.
I fear the Emperor means to finish what his ancestors started centuries ago. "
The weight of her words settled over me like a shroud. War was coming—real war, not the skirmishes and raids that had defined my lifetime. The Empire would not be content to test our borders much longer.
"But Taveth," she continued, and steel entered her voice again, "you must understand something. She may be your mate, but she is still Imperial. She was raised to hate us, trained to see us as monsters. She fought against us in that very battle where you claim to have found her."
“She does not hate me,” I insisted, though the thought struck me that when he woke after last night and found herself bound to my bed, that might have changed. I pushed the thought away. “I led her through the city, and she was only awed by the city and fascinated by the people. I saw no malice.”
"Perhaps. But a lifetime of Imperial conditioning doesn't disappear overnight.
She cannot be trusted, not fully. Not ever.
" Aytara's eyes bored into mine with the intensity of her conviction.
"Take what you need from her. Breed her if the gods will it.
But never, ever trust her completely. The moment you let your guard down, the moment you begin to believe she truly belongs among us, she will find a way to betray everything you hold dear. "
Her words hit me like physical blows. Part of me wanted to argue, to defend Livia's honour and integrity. But another part—the part shaped by years of warfare and betrayal—knew that Aytara spoke from hard-won wisdom.
She is right, the shadows murmured. The Imperial cannot be trusted. But she can be controlled. Kept. Used.
"I understand," I said, though the words tasted like ash in my mouth.
Aytara studied my face for a long moment, as if trying to determine whether I truly meant what I said. Finally, she nodded. "I hope you do, child. For all our sakes."
I rose from the bench, bowing formally to show my respect and gratitude. "Thank you, Mother. For everything."
"Go carefully, Taveth. And remember—power without wisdom is destruction waiting to happen. Don't let the shadows convince you otherwise."
I left her there in the gardens, surrounded by beauty and warmth, while I descended back into the darkness of the temple proper. Her warnings echoed in my mind as I walked, mixing with the ever-present whispers that grew stronger the deeper I went.
The conversation with Aytara weighed heavily on me as I descended the temple steps.
Her warning about Livia burned in my mind, mingling with the shadows' whispers of possession and control.
I had hoped for her blessing, or at least her understanding—instead, I'd received caution wrapped in reluctant acceptance.
The morning sun had fully risen by the time I emerged from the temple, bathing the city in golden light.
Thal'Zereth spread before me, stone buildings nestled into the mountainside like jewels set in living rock.
My people moved through the streets below, going about their daily lives—lives I was sworn to protect.
How many of them would question my decision if they knew what I had done?
How many would see it as the betrayal Aytara feared?
I made my way through the upper district, nodding to those who acknowledged me but avoiding conversation.
The shadows followed, coiling around my ankles like eager pets seeking attention.
They had grown stronger since the claiming, feeding on the raw power of the mate bond and the conflict it stirred within me.
She is waiting, they reminded me. Bound. Ready. Ours.
The thought sent heat coursing through me again, despite my efforts to focus on more pressing matters.
The shadows urged me to quicken my pace, their whispers growing more insistent with each step closer to home. She would be awake by now, perhaps struggling against her bonds, confused and afraid. The thought should have troubled me more than it did.
Instead, I found myself imagining her testing the restraints, her body arching against the soft furs as she discovered she couldn't break free.
Would her eyes flash with anger when I returned?
Or would they darken with the desire I'd glimpsed last night, when she'd surrendered to the bond between us?
But as I made my way back toward my home and the woman waiting bound in my bed, I couldn't shake the feeling that Aytara's concerns might be more justified than I wanted to admit.
Livia had fought against us, had been willing to die rather than surrender.
That kind of conviction didn't simply vanish because of a mate bond.
Yet when I thought of her sleeping in my furs, marked by my touch and claimed by my magic, none of that seemed to matter. She was mine now, for better or worse. And I would make sure she stayed that way, no matter what it cost.