Chapter 32 #2
His admission leaves me much to ponder. It explains her vile hatred toward my parents, to humans.
But I am not my parents.
“What do you know of Carina and my parents?” I ask him, remembering what Carina said the night she was drunk.
“What do you mean?” he asks, and I shrug, wanting to know what he knows.
“I know she helped kill them; she handed them over. They tried to flee to the Dresden Kingdom afterward, but Carina and her father brought them back. Your mother Rosaline was Carina’s handmaiden,” he tells me.
“And my father? Emil?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’m unsure, I always felt he was innocent; he begged they spare you; that is why you were given to your uncle,” he tells me.
“If she was Carina’s handmaiden, why were they here?” I ask, confused. The Dresden Kingdom is hours away from here.
“The Dresdans were visiting for Christmas; they came to discuss the treaty agreements.”
“The arranged marriage?”
Javier shakes his head. “No, that came later when Xandros failed to find his mate.”
“I don’t understand,” I admit, confused by all the council politics and royal rules they seem to follow.
Javier sighs heavily, pausing in his cleaning.
“Lycan men turn mad without their mates; the original treaty, though, was put in place after King Rehan gambled the kingdom away; he failed to pay taxes to the council; King Vin Dresden is the one who bailed them out, and, in turn, Xandros was placed in charge of running the kingdom. His father was deemed unfit; he was a terrible gambler. Xandros has been running this place for over a century. It just wasn’t known; he holds the title of king, yet legally, it couldn’t officially be announced until after he found his mate or married; it would have caused panic to those living here.
An unmated king is seen as a dictator, well that is what history books show for Lycan’s, unmarked and unmated they can turn rabid, their souls untamed. ”
“So all Lycans?” I ask, my curiosity piqued. I had never thought about what kind of power a Lycan would have; it seemed like a fairy tale granted to only the most powerful rulers.
Javier let out a hushed chuckle. “No, not all Lycans. See, royal bloodlines stem from the gods, and once they get into power, it goes to their heads. It’s why they need a mate around to share the burden with. That kind of power changes people.”
“What kind of power?” I inquire further.
“The power of command,” Javier replies darkly.
“Lycan auras are stronger than even vampire compulsion, and with a mate, that command is shared between them both. Xandros has had the command for over two hundred years, yet despite being under constant oversight by the council, he’s managed to remain mostly sane…
so far. That’s why you’re so important; once you mark him, you’ll be just as strong as him,” Javier explains, his eyes boring into mine.
“So why doesn’t he just command his parents to accept me?”
Javier shrugs. “Guilt, he has some stupid guilt over his aunt and sister. Xandros pretends he doesn’t have a sister; most say it’s easier.
Not only that, his mother will pitch a fit if you’re stronger than her.
Carina and he are already legally married, there are rules around mates and wives, and divorces when it comes to treaties.
I know Xandros is worried that if you challenge Carina for his hand, she’ll kill you. ”
“What do you mean?”
“A challenge is to the death, Sienna. If she kills you. Xandros’s hand will be forced, he’ll have to mark her to keep his sanity and ensure the treaty.” I chew my lip nervously. I am definitely no fighter, especially against a vampire. I might as well offer her a vein, she’ll take it, anyway.
“So why does he feel guilty?”
“Because he gave your parents the key to Neve’s quarters.
Your mother said she was taking lunch up to her.
He mistook her as one of his own servants.
Neve was on bed rest, and paranoid; her quarters were always locked down.
Anyway, Xandros gave your mother the key to her quarters, yet when she didn’t return it, he went looking for her and found his aunt dead, and your parents had fled the castle grounds. ”
I swallow, sick to my stomach.
The questions die on my lips as I leap off the rock that had been my refuge for far too short a time. Gripping my toothbrush, I drop next to Javier and get back to the never-ending labor from which there is no escape.
Hours become an eternity of pain and suffering, and when the sun finally begins to set, marking the end of another agonizing day, I trudge back to my room desperate for Xandros’s comforting scent.
Instead of finding relief, all I find is bleach—an acrid smell that burns my nostrils and chokes me with anger.
I collapse onto the floor with a deafening thud, and Javier’s horrified gasp resounds through the air behind me.
Immediately he summons a maid who trembles as she speaks.
“Queen Adina… she ordered us to clean it.” Her words strike me like lightning bolts, hammering home the painful reality that my last source of comfort had been taken away.
Xandros’s scent—my only source of comfort—is gone.
Hot tears cascade down my cheeks, blurring the reality I’m now forced to endure. A deep void surges within me, aching with loneliness and sorrow. I curl up on the cold floor, feeling even colder as the sterile smell of bleach fills my nose and lungs. Javier crouches beside me.
“It’s going to be alright; I can call him right now and he’ll come back,” he says in a gentle voice.
My throat tightens as I attempt to swallow the lump that has formed inside it when he mentions Xandros.
Rational thought clouds my mind as desperation fills my heart, yet I simply nod, unable to utter any words.