Chapter 64
Chapter
Sixty-Four
HAVEN
Remy and Zane escorted me to a space so massive that the throne against the far wall looked tiny.
Snowy-white granite pillars stood like sentries along the hall’s length, their surfaces etched with wintry designs.
Between them, braziers flickered merrily, casting a golden glow on walls hung with banners in Rymarian red.
Outside, the wind blew and snowflakes danced, both held at bay by the walls of stained-glass windows that lined the throne room.
The room was nearly full, and every single person in it was staring at me.
I lifted my chin and smoothed my skirts, trying to calm the flutter in my stomach.
This wasn’t about meeting a queen—I’d faced monsters and rebels and assassins without flinching.
This was about meeting Remy’s mother. What if she decided I wasn’t good enough for her son?
My boots clicked on the carnelian floor, and I grimaced.
Would she think I was unrefined? How did Remy and Zane, who walked next to me, move so silently?
I took a calming breath. The queen would not dislike me because I walked too loudly.
No, if she was going to find fault, it would be because I came from the worst neighborhood in Altos and had six bondeds, one of whom was her son, four of whom were arguably enemies of the Rymarian state.
I swallowed my nerves and forced my chin higher.
After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the throne. Carved from white marble and dotted with rubies and gold, it looked impressive (and uncomfortable).
“You’ve got this,” Remy whispered.
I smiled—grateful for his presence. Only days ago, I would have thought that impossible.
Yet I wanted Remy with me. Not because he was a prince; I’d never aspired to a crown.
I wanted him for his crooked smile and the devilment in his blue eyes.
For his kindness. For his clever tongue. My cheeks warmed at the memory.
“Haven Ford, welcome to Rymar.” The queen rose from her throne and looked down upon me.
The heat drained from my cheeks. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” I dropped a perfectly executed curtsy and silently thanked my dance tutor.
“Rise.”
I stood and looked at Remy’s mother. He looked like her—they had the same up-to-trouble twinkle in their eyes.
“We’ve known of your coming for many months now. How do you find your new home?”
Dangerous. “Rymar is beautiful, and its people are kind.”
She nodded her approval. “Walk with me.”
I gave Remy and Zane a desperate, pleading look, but they remained rooted in place, offering no help.
“Come, Haven. It’s not as if I’m a nian. I don’t bite.”
My cheeks flushed. Again. And I hurried to join the queen, brushing past the banners and braziers to catch up with her stride.
We walked twenty paces, and she stopped in front of a stained-glass window that depicted a verdant valley dotted with thatched cottages. Farmers worked their fields. Cattle grazed. And in the cerulean sky, a crimson dragon soared. “This one is my favorite. Do you like it?”
“It’s lovely.” What else could I say?
“Peace.” She pointed at the valley, then lifted her finger until it pointed at the dragon. “And the strength to maintain it. It’s what Rymar wants.”
Unsure of how to respond, I made a humming noise.
“What do you want, Haven?”
“I’m not sure that matters.” Fate had plans for me. Pain, suffering, and death.
“Oh, it matters. The road ahead of you is hard, and you have no hope of prevailing without a clear goal.” She resumed walking.
I fell into step beside her. “I want equality for women.”
“And?”
“Justice.”
“Whose justice? Yours? Mine? The gods’?”
“It seems there should be a scale that measures the good or evil a person does.”
The queen laughed softly. “Wouldn’t that be handy? Zane has shared his visions with me. He saw a warrior.”
I heard the unspoken question in her voice. How could I be that warrior when I wasn’t sure of what I fought for?
“According to Zane, my son is one of your bonded.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you have feelings for him?”
“I do.”
“And for Zane?”
“The same.”
“The other four?”
“That’s complicated.”
“Men are always complicated. The poor dears can’t help it.” She stopped at the base of the dais. “Will you accept all of them?”
Without waiting for my answer, she climbed the steps, settled herself on her throne, and gave a tiny nod.
A door opened, and Grayson, Pierce, Teal, and Flynn filed into the throne room, forming a neat line. Grayson’s expression was sour. Pierce looked pensive. Teal smirked. And Flynn bounced on the balls of his feet.
They weren’t alone. A woman followed behind them. She wore the crimson uniform of the Rymarian army, and her dark-blonde hair was pulled away from her face.
Our gazes met, and I saw guilt and desperate hope swirling in her gray eyes. Eyes the same shade as mine.
My breath caught. This was the woman who’d given birth to me.
The guard had taken her before I could form even one memory.
As a girl, I hadn’t missed her—a child can’t miss someone they don’t know—but I’d missed the idea of her.
I’d wanted a mother. The guard had stolen that from me—from us.
Or so I’d thought when I believed her dead.
But my mother was very much alive and a ranking member of the Rymarian army.
She’d chosen silence, chosen to let us believe she’d died.
I studied her face, searching for resemblances while anger simmered in my chest. She was taller than me, with the same cheekbones. Her nose was different—stronger—and I idly wondered if I got my nose from my unnamed father.
“Haven.” She took a small step toward me. “I thought about you every day.”
The murmur of conversation in the room died as people realized something significant was happening. If anyone had bothered consulting me, I’d have asked for this meeting to be private. Instead, we were on display like fish in a bowl.
“Did you?” My voice came out sharper than I had intended. “Because Grandmother and I lived in the same house you grew up in. We weren’t exactly hiding.”
Her face tightened. “There are things you don’t know.”
I was so tired of cryptic pronouncements that I could scream. “So tell me.” What excuse could there be for letting us mourn her?
“I couldn’t risk it.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Your father … if you’d been discovered, you’d have been killed. Distance was the best protection I could give you.” My father? She’d hidden me from my father? Why would he kill his daughter? But before I could ask—
“Who claims this woman, Haven Ford, as their bonded?” The queen reclaimed my attention.
She couldn’t give me five minutes to talk to my mother? I had questions—important questions. But inviting six men to claim me took precedence. I glanced at Remy and Zane, worried they’d hidden the queen’s plans from me. But they looked as shocked as I felt.
The silence in the enormous room was deafening, and I thought the men might remain quiet, that we might escape this moment unscathed.
The weight of the room’s attention thickened the air, making it difficult to breathe.
It was Remy who stepped forward. He took my hand, lifting it to his lips and brushing a kiss across my knuckles. “I do.”
Two paltry words that changed everything. He’d pledged himself to me. Forever. My mouth went dry, and I searched his face for any hint of doubt or regret. I didn’t find them.
With a gentle finger beneath my chin, Zane tilted my face toward his. He gazed into my eyes, and I saw a flash of his gold, as if his dragon approved. Leaning down, he kissed me. “I do.” When we parted, his triumphant, adoring smile made my knees go weak.
Pierce fell to one knee, bowing his head. “I do.” The words were spoken quietly, but they carried the weight of an oath sworn in blood. His intensity sent my pulse skittering.
“I do.” Teal waved his hand, creating a single perfect white rose, which he presented to me. As I accepted the flower, our fingers brushed, and I felt a spark of his magic—playful and dominant. Like him.
“I do.” Flynn grinned as he bounded forward and kissed my cheek. “I can’t wait to feel your fire.” His boundless enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself smiling.
That left one.
Grayson would never pledge himself to me—not in a million years.
“I do.” The admission seemed to cost him, but once it was spoken, his shoulders straightened. Like he’d made peace with a fate he couldn’t fight.
Their pledges left me speechless, torn between happiness and worry.
The queen gave a satisfied smile. “Haven Ford, do you accept these men as your bonded?”
How could the queen spring this on me? Why now? Why here, in front of an audience? “Your Majesty, forgive me, but I wasn’t expecting a bonding ceremony today. Why the rush?”
“Circumstances require us to act swiftly.”
That wasn’t an answer. “What circumstances?”
I looked around the throne room—all these witnesses, the formal setting, my mother. “This feels orchestrated. Are you trying to bind me to Rymar somehow?”
“You’re very direct, aren’t you?” The queen’s tone remained pleasant, but I saw the annoyance in her eyes. “Perhaps we should discuss what’s at stake. Our seers’ visions have shown us … developments. Time is not our ally.”
“What developments?”
A ripple of whispers spread through the crowd—apparently, few people questioned the queen.
Her gaze narrowed. Clearly, she was impatient with my obstinacy.
I didn’t care. She’d have to offer me more than cryptic hints if she wanted my agreement.
The queen’s gaze traveled the crowded room before she stepped closer, lowering her voice.
“You saw what happened in Banvil. I’d prayed we’d never revisit such atrocities, but I fear that what you saw there will happen again.
Our strength lies in unity, Haven. In bonds that cannot be broken.
” She paused as if carefully considering her next words.
“War is coming, and we need you.” She leaned closer, her voice barely audible.
“I will tell you more when we’re alone. I promise.
For now, know this: The ceremony isn’t a meaningless tradition.
Bonds enhance magic. You’ll all be stronger. ”
A smart reply rose to my lips, but I bit it back as I thought of Takir and the new family we’d left there. If Rymar fell, what would happen to Grace?
I pressed my palms together and leaned my forehead against my hands, thinking.
With a few well-chosen words, the queen had me responsible for the safety of everyone in Rymar. She was manipulating me. The question was whether her manipulation aligned with what I actually wanted.
Did I want peace? I glanced at the queen’s favorite window. Of course I wanted that, but at what personal cost?
I’d known the answer since I touched Gladys’s godsdamned pool. Pain. Suffering. Death. And tying myself to six men.
Did I even want these bonds? Remy and Zane, absolutely. But the others? Could I accept them without forgiving them?
I’d dipped my fingers in Gladys’s pool. I’d seen hints of the future. I’d need all of them for what was coming. The queen might be manipulating me, but she wasn’t wrong about the danger.
“If I say yes, what exactly am I agreeing to? And why wasn’t I told this ceremony was happening?”
The queen’s eyebrows rose slightly. “If you say yes? These are the men fate has chosen for you.”
“Fate doesn’t get to make my choices for me.” I looked at each of the six men. “I need to know what this means—for all of us. I won’t bind myself to anyone without understanding that.”
Remy leaned forward, whispering in my ear, “Haven, you can refuse any of us. The ceremony doesn’t create the bonds—it acknowledges what already exists.”
I took a breath, centering myself. Two of these men I wanted. The other four … were complicated. “If we’re already bonded, why do we need a ceremony?”
He winced. “Like I said, you can refuse us.”
A prickle of unease slid down my spine, unease that had nothing to do with signing my life away. “What does that do to the bonds?”
“Nothing. They’ll still be there. Just … incomplete.” That pause suggested there were things he wasn’t telling me.
It was easy to accept Zane and Remy. Less so the others. But I’d seen Gladys’s visions of my future. I needed these men. All six of them.
I lifted my gaze and scowled at the queen. She might be royalty, she might be Remy’s mother, but I did not appreciate being blindsided.
She seemed serene, unperturbed by my ire. “Well?”
I was the opposite of serene. The world, the men, and the queen had thrown too much at me at one time.
I took a moment to collect myself, looking at each man.
Remy’s blue eyes held nothing but warmth, as if he’d wait forever for my answer. Beside him, Zane’s golden gaze was steady and certain, as if he already knew I’d choose him.
Pierce remained on one knee, head bowed, but I caught the tension in his shoulders. He expected rejection.
Teal’s usual smirk had faded into something more vulnerable, hope flickering across his features before he schooled his face into a guarded mask.
Flynn bounced slightly on his toes, radiating nervous energy. His usual cocky grin looked brittle around the edges.
And Grayson … Grayson faced me with hard eyes and a tight jaw, as if bracing himself for the rejection he was certain would come.
Could I accept Pierce, Teal, Flynn, and Grayson without forgiving them?
Forgiveness was earned. And what had they done to earn mine?
They’d left behind their careers and families to follow me to Rymar. To rescue me. Even if I hadn’t needed rescuing, it was a start. A good one.
I took in each of them, meeting each of their gazes. Kind, patient, caring, impetuous, dominant, and grumpy as hell. Also, too handsome for their own good—or mine.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “Yes, I accept them.”