Chapter 24 #3
“…That’s why he needs to go…” I concluded. Audrey’s hazel eyes lifted to me, and while there were layers of emotion in them, I picked up on the most important one she was experiencing. Resolution.
“If I’m the one this prophecy is discussing,” Audrey whispered. “It’s my responsibility to ensure Ilia is stopped.”
“And if he’s delusional enough to murder his own queen to keep his titles…” I let the sentence hang.
“Ilia Shaw must die,” Sergei concluded. “Whether by the Gravhune, or the hands of the child whom Queen Astrid died protecting.”
“Gods be damned,” Liam choked. “It’s all connected. Caelena. Audrey. The siren children. Even our mating bond…” Liam stared at Audrey with awe in his eyes.
Drustan claiming he and I have a bond of our own…I shook the thought away, too overwhelmed with this context to focus on it.
“Perhaps this is why Drustan was powerful enough to crawl out of the Gravhune,” Caelena added. “The first in documented history to be able to do so.”
“He enforced the new precedent by protecting you again,” I added. “When Liam’s parents tried to kill you. Surviving the Gravhune could have been another blessing in response.”
“Who else could inspire a siren to survive the Gravhune, if not an ancient goddess?” Audrey asked rhetorically, “I doubt Drustan’s pure spite alone helped him survive five years of deadly mental and emotional torture.
It had to be Tynara, goddess of nature and balance, granting another test of good faith, helping Drustan through it, as a reward for saving Hush—er—Caelena. ”
“Thank the goddess that Drustan did make it out,” Sergei interjected. “We need someone with a decent level of spite and strength to take down his father.”
“And to lead our people into the new era,” Caelena added.
“I still don’t know how I feel about Drustan becoming King of Lyndoruun,” Liam murmured.
“But we know what it’s like with Ilia as king, so,” I shrugged with my reply to him. “This is what needs to be done.”
“Agreed,” Sergei said.
I had my own hesitations about Drustan becoming Siren King, like me kissing him as some sort of reward for doing the bare minimum, but I also knew deep in my bones that Drustan would be a much better ruler than Ilia.
My intuition hadn’t completely failed me yet, so I was counting on it not to lead me astray this time.
“Now we understand the gravity of what we’re fighting for.
” Caelena pushed herself off the wall. “If any of this is going to work, I need you all to trust me, and those I also deem trustworthy.” Caelena tapped the side of her head for emphasis.
“I just shared vulnerable information that could get thousands of Hyvenmerians killed. Prove to me that it wasn’t in vain. ”
“Your secret is safe with us.” Audrey nodded, then she glanced up at Liam, who silently checked in with his mate before muttering his agreement.
“Thank you,” I said to Caelena. She seemed caught off guard by my words, her eyes nervously glanced around the room before she asked me, “For what?”
“For everything you’ve sacrificed,” I explained.
I stepped forward, slowly, carefully, not wanting to scare her away or cause alarm.
Sergei stiffened but remained where he stood as I lifted my arms and wrapped Caelena in a hug.
“You’ve sacrificed so much,” I explained into her shoulder.
Her entire body was stiff and still under my hug.
“You saved all these women and children. You’re helping a society that just as easily would have killed you had they been given the chance. You’ve been saving lives for years.”
Caelena’s muscles slowly, barely, relaxed under me.
I squeezed her again for good measure, before unwrapping my arms and stepping away.
The look on her face caught me by surprise.
Her eyes were wide, her expression nervous as she pressed her lips together.
The unprepared expression on her face dissolved with a few rapid blinks and a clearing of her throat.
“You’re welcome,” Caelena’s voice sounded dry, uncomfortable with my hug and gratitude. “But you’re the one about to make a big sacrifice.”
I groaned and tilted my head back toward the ceiling. “Ugh, I forgot that I needed to die today.”
“God dammit, Van,” Audrey muttered, releasing herself from Liam’s arms to run after me and wrap her in a hug of my own. “I hate this plan.”
“I mean, I don’t love it,” I replied, catching Caelena’s eye over Audrey’s shoulder. “But I consent to it. I understand that this is the best option to buy us, and everyone else, time.”
Caelena didn’t say anything. Instead, she tentatively rested a hand on my shoulder, giving me a friendly squeeze of gratitude. She didn’t need to thank me out loud; her face said it all. As did Sergei’s, who dipped his chin at me once in acknowledgement.
“Also,” I said when Audrey pulled away. “Thanks for at least entertaining the fake-kill me option. You know, instead of just killing me for simplicity's sake.”
Audrey snorted while Liam pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, still in distress over the weight our recent conversation brought to everyone.
“Well…” Caelena squared her shoulders, lifting her mask onto her face again.
“Sergei and I have done our best to be as transparent as possible with the mothers thus far.” She nodded her head toward the door that led to the main cavern of refugees.
“I think it’s only fair they know the details of our current plan. ”