48. Govern This
~ YILAN ~
Walking back to the Palace at Melek’s side, my heart was thudding in my chest—pounding so hard my fingertips tingled.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
My mate was a force. He was strength. He was magnificent.
Seeing him stand his ground and demand his due before those men who’d followed him for years—seeing him claim his throne… God, it made me melt inside. And giddy.
Also, fucking terrified.
Not as terrified, though, as the faces we found after Melek and I returned to the Palace.
They were already searching. A fist of guards found Melek and me before we’d even crossed the garden outside the Palace, their leader wide-eyed and pale, looking around frantically for a threat as they surrounded us and escorted us to the internal chamber I had instructed the Advisors to use today.
“You can’t actually mean to do this?” Turo gasped half an hour later in the stunned silence left after I’d outlined our plan. “You are joking?”
“Not at all,” I said.
“Your Majesty, you’ve already put your life on the line more than once to overcome these creatures. Now you’re going to—”
Melek cleared his throat, and I had the distinct impression that if his wings had been out they would have ruffled to show his agitation .
I put a hand up to stop Turo. “I know it sounds dramatic, but in many ways this is far safer than the mission I undertook amongst them months ago. After all, we have allies now, and… and our King.”
They all dropped into stunned silence again at that. As if overnight they’d forgotten.
“Melek and I have agreed—we want to unify the nations. If not in truth, at least in agreed peace. Surely we can all see that it would be better to hold a truce with the Nephilim, a formal agreement not to harm each other, than to walk into war?”
“Yes, yes of course,” Turo said faintly. “But at what cost? What you’re suggesting does not present you to the Nephilim as a Queen of honor—”
“She is my mate, and my Queen. They will soon learn,” Melek said darkly from behind me.
“The subterfuge at the beginning is merely to stop suspicion and open doors for Yilan to spy for me until I’ve taken the crown.
Once my grip is established she will be presented to our people for everything that she is. ”
I felt the wave of admiration and joy in the bond when he said that and almost giggled.
Melek was less than impressed by the fact that I was excited for this mission. But I could barely contain myself.
“I’ll be at far less risk this time,” I assured them all.
“Letting me find the resistors and remove threats frees Melek to take the challenges and assert dominance. Together we’ll be unstoppable.
And once we stand together on the throne—twin thrones—the Shadekin will have increased political power and prosperity. There is really no downside.”
Turo choked like he’d swallowed water wrong. “The downside is the physical risk of losing both of you!” he spluttered. “But especially you, Yilan. You admit that these men have no qualms about taking women—”
“She will remain untouched, because she is claimed by me,” Melek said firmly.
But Turo frowned. “You claimed her last time too, and she ended up almost being taken by the King!”
“And you see, he is no longer a threat,” I said sweetly.
But Turo was getting over his shock and starting to think like a fighter again. “Yilan, I do not doubt your skill or that you would be an asset to Melek in this operation, but the risk—”
I planted both hands on the table and leaned forward. “If something doesn’t change, both nations will soon go to war, and then the risk will be exponentially greater. At least in this way we get to choose the timing and control the momentum of the Nephilim’s progress.”
“You hope,” Turo insisted.
“I know,” Melek said firmly. “I don’t deny the risk to her—or to me. I don’t deny that there is danger. But I agree with my mate: This is a necessary risk. Without it, far more lives will be under threat. And both nations move towards war. In this way we carry both peoples to peace.”
“If you’re successful.”
“Together, we will be,” Melek growled.
I didn’t think I’d ever loved him more.
My mate had finally laid claim to what was rightfully his due, and he’d agreed with my plan. We would walk into the Nephilim together, and take the entire fucking continent before this was done.
We were about to make history. And he couldn’t even crack a smile?
But I felt it in him, the creeping dread—not for himself, but for me. He was terrified that I’d be hurt or worse. And I loved him even more for it.
The room went quiet as everyone chewed that over. Diadre caught my eye from the other side of the table, and I saw pride and thrill in her gaze too—but fear right alongside it. Jhonas, who’d spent the last fifteen years training me for this, looked green around the edges, as if he might be sick.
“Perhaps… perhaps this could be the back up plan?” Jhonas said quietly as discussion rippled around the room. “Perhaps we could try emissaries first—you said they came willing to help.”
“They made an attack on the Queen. Those are no emissaries,” Turo growled. “Who brought them through the Shadows, anyway? That person is a traitor and—”
“They weren’t escorted,” Melek growled. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“Bullshit,” Turo insisted.
“Jannus isn’t a liar,” I hurried to assure them. I couldn’t let them become hostile. “This team came for Melek, believing he was in danger. They now understand who Melek and I are to each other, and our roles in this nation, and theirs. There will be no more attacks. ”
“You brush off an assassination attempt like someone stole a horse!”
“No, Turo,” Melek muttered. “She humbly puts aside her pride for the good of those under her care.”
I looked up to meet his eyes. My stomach fluttered. But Melek’s eyes didn’t look any more relaxed than Turo’s. He was doing an amazing job of backing me up, but I could feel his apprehension.
He’d agreed to this plan, but he did not like it.
“There’s no time left for political jockeying,” I said, brushing off my leather-clad thighs under the table. “And besides, have you forgotten there’s no center of power with whom to negotiate? That’s why we have to go. To establish Melek’s reign, and use it to bring them under control.”
“My people will destroy anyone in their path—including each other,” Melek said solemnly.
“Unless I lay claim to the throne and establish dominance, they will eventually come for Yilan and this land. My comrades bring news of what is going on among the Nephilim. It’s clear, there is no more time. We must move now.”
Turo looked at me, then Melek. The two men stared at each other for several seconds, then Turo cleared his throat and nodded.
A moment later, he’d quietly asked Jhonas to gather the officers for orders, and blow the horns—which meant he’d deploy the ranks.
“Turo,” I said, pushing to my feet. “No, no—this can’t be a marched advance. It can’t have any numbers behind it. Melek must arrive in the swamps with his brothers and me… only.”
“I am aware,” Turo said tightly. “But we can prepare our troops and have them in position so they can be called easily and—”
“No,” Melek said firmly. “This group, at least, have infiltrated the Shadows of Shade. I doubt any real numbers could come through, but we know at least a handful can—”
“There’s no possible way they made it here without a spy, one of ours protecting them!”
“We will find out,” Melek growled, diverting everyone’s attention. “Regardless, the Neph will try to encroach on the Shadows. Even if they don’t make it through, if they catch wind of Shadekin soldiers near the border they’ll be alerted—”
Turo slammed a fist down on the table. “You’re both tying my hands at a time when it is my job to protect you!”
Melek tensed, but I put a hand on his arm to soothe him, and straightened myself, taking a breath to give everyone a minute to calm .
“Turo, you have been an asset to my crown since I took the throne, and a servant to my family since my years as a child. I know it is your way to fight, and to prepare for battle, but this is a war we must fight differently.”
His brow furrowed. “What possible way is there to fight without fighting?”
“Melek and I will fight if it is needed. But it is you I spoke of.” His face hardened, but I rushed on. “I still need your help. Just… on a different front line.”
Turo frowned in confusion, and I felt Melek rumbling behind me. We hadn’t discussed this, only because I hadn’t thought of it sooner.
“Coronate Melek before we leave,” I said simply. “Then stay here as our Governor. Lead this land as we know you can in our stead. And when we return, we will honor you for it.”
Turo’s mouth dropped open and everyone in the room went utterly still.