Chapter 41
SHARA
Usually Guillaume leaped at the chance to escort Gwen’s knights for a visit, but with the Soldiers of Light already in the nest, Rik sent Daire to quietly update her on the situation and bring them inside.
With very little notice, Winston had prepared the larger, formal dining room that we hardly ever used.
The entire table was set with glistening china and crystal with fresh flowers and candles.
Bright eyed and silently drinking everything in, Regina assisted him in the kitchen without complaint.
Of course my Blood made themselves useful too, pairing up with groups of visiting Blood, making introductions, and offering food and drinks.
Though I didn’t fail to notice the very careful pairings to ensure no Soldier of Light was left unattended, and both Sekh and Guillaume were in my sight at all times. Not hovering. Not blatantly guarding.
But available and charmingly deadly.
Not to mention my invisible silver wolf, who glided silently at Eivind’s back.
I introduced Karmen to Gwen and got everyone seated around the table. Most of the Blood quietly stepped outside of the room so we could dine, though of course the alphas stayed at their queen’s backs. Karmen kept her closest Blood at hand.
I answered her questions and tried to explain general Aima life. Rik helped with Blood hierarchies. Despite her calm, nearly frozen expression at first, her color had improved, and the more she touched her Blood and talked with us, the more her body language relaxed.
Hopefully she enjoyed this meal far more than I’d enjoyed Marne Ceresa’s terrible tea party.
Though I had only met Karmen twice now, she seemed vaguely familiar, even though we hadn’t had the opportunity to chat casually.
As if I had seen her before, even before the attack on Helayna’s nest. At first, I accounted the resonance to her sunfires and Smoak.
Energy crackled around Vivian, and her bond hummed with the overflow of emotion.
Joy. A sense of belonging. Completeness.
Smoak was a part of the sunfire collective.
In all honesty, they probably should have belonged to Karmen instead of me.
As soon as I thought it, a surge of ugliness pulsed through me. Jealousy.
A burst of sunfires rippled around Vivian before she could control it. In her bond, the phoenix shrieked, sweeping us both higher into a night sky. Twirling us together, our bodies joined, pausing, hovering for a moment in thin, crystalline air. Just the two of us.
:With all due respect, Your Majesty, Smoak and I aren’t fucking going anywhere.:
:That’s good, because I’m not ever going to let you go.:
Karmen tipped her head back so she could look up at her alpha, and I suddenly saw her as a child. Her hand clamped over her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. Hiding. Under a bed.
So I had seen her before. When I touched the second Triskeles chair, I’d seen a child hiding beneath a bed. Karmen. No wonder she seemed so familiar.
A Triskeles chair waited for her. If and when she was ready to accept it.
She smiled up at her alpha and then turned her attention to me. “I thank you for all the assistance you’ve given us. Is there any exchange needed to make things right between us? I’m willing to swear to you like Gwen if needed.”
Chilled at how easily a queen ignorant of Aima courts could be entrapped with a blood bond, I shook my head.
What if she’d gone to House Ceresa for help instead of us? Would Marne risk trying to make her a sibling? Even if Karmen was stronger, Marne was more experienced. She knew all too well how to use her power and warp situations to suit her.
As Esetta said, there was always a way around a blood oath. With enough time and blood. If I were willing to pay the cost.
I wasn’t willing to pay the cost of losing one of my Blood for one fucking second, let alone while I attempted to maneuver my way out of a sibling oath.
I might be the stronger queen, but I wouldn’t know for sure until we exchanged blood. Even if I could command her bond, I would never want to entrap her, or any queen for that matter. Which honestly gave me even more insight into Basilia’s situation.
What choice would a trapped, desperate, starved, powerless queen have? I was fucking lucky with Leonie. I’d acted without thinking about the risk to either of us. Though I had to wonder about that human in Kansas City who’d been contaminated with Marne’s blood. If I’d tasted it…
Could I have commanded Marne then? Or would she have won? Especially given how green and inexperienced I was as a brand-new queen.
:The volume of blood exchanged matters as well, my queen,: Guillaume said.
:You gave of yourself freely to Leonie. Without the general, the amount of blood you sacrificed to heal her would have decimated any other queen.
Your capacity to drink and hold power shields you somewhat from other queens, because you could simply drain most of them.
But a strong, Triune-level queen given a huge amount of your blood to restore her power would be a devastating force to unleash on this earth. :
“There’s no debt between us,” I said. “I’m honored you came to us for help. I don’t see us becoming siblings, either, though I’m eager to build a friendship with you if you’d like to do so. I’ve seen our blood mingling in a much different manner than a sibling bond.”
Karmen stood and regally inclined her head. “I would like to be friends. Your doctor recommended I come back in a week. Is it acceptable for me to visit here again?”
I rose from my chair and went to take her arm so I could escort her back outside myself. “Of course. I’d love to see you. House Sunna is welcome to visit us any time it’s convenient for you. We’re just a Smoak away.”
The humans scrambled up from their chairs to follow us outside. At my blood circle, I paused and took Karmen’s hands in both of mine. “I don’t think Heliopolis will be able to reach you inside any blood circle. Do you have a place of safety where you can protect yourself?”
She nodded. “I do. Dagny has prepared a place.”
“Perfect. If you have any questions about Aima court life, I’m always happy to chat. Safe travels.”
She hesitated a moment, as if trying to decide whether she needed to curtsey. But then she startled me with a quick, hard hug. She clung to me. Just for a moment. “Thank you.”
“Always.” Then I dropped my voice even more. “I had a vision of a wolf wrapped in sunfires. I believe he meant you harm.”
Releasing me, she only nodded, her lips tight. “We are aware.”
Speak of the devil, before she could enter the waiting portal, a scuffle between Eivind and his human friend drew her attention. At least it was outside of my blood circle, so we weren’t responsible for any blood that might be shed between them.
I started back to my house, determined to give Karmen whatever privacy she needed to sort her personal life. If she wanted or needed my help dealing with the wolf king...
:I’m ready.: Xin stood close behind Eivind, still invisible, even as Karmen approached him. :I can kill him now before he can cause her any trouble.:
:Return to the nest,: I ordered him. :I don’t want any of her Blood to think we mean any harm to her. Unless she asks for help, Eivind is her issue to deal with.:
:Understood, my queen.:
Xin trotted after me as his wolf. When I stopped at the door and turned to him, his ears perked. “After she’s safely gone home, see what he does. If you have the opportunity, warn him about what we saw.”
His wolf didn’t howl but I heard a mournful whine in his bond. :I think it’s already too late for him.:
Choices. So many seemingly small choices could have kept Xin from me. Except for one undeniable fact—that separated him from Eivind forever.
Xin heard my Call and came to find me.
When Eivind heard his queen’s Call, he’d left her to die in an alley.
I gripped Xin’s ruff and pressed my forehead to his. “Thank you, my wolf.”
:Always and forever, my queen.: