Chapter 24 #2
“Aela,” Tarek sighed, exacerbation heavy in his tone. “If you cannot behave, then wait for me in our rooms.”
“Ha!” Aela barked a laugh, causing the Sagittarian sentinels at the doorway to glance at her and then each other.
“Me behave? What about you, Tarek? Who’s going to keep you in check?
And another thing.” She jabbed a finger into his white-clad chest. “You’re delusional if you think I’m staying anywhere close to you. ”
She turned away, dismissing him, then pushed open the doors and stepped into the meeting room. Her long ashy hair swished against her bare back as she marched to Taurus’ section.
Tarek caught up to her in a few long strides and grabbed her elbow. “This is not over,” he gritted through his teeth.
Aela bared hers in kind. A shrill laugh interrupted what she intended to say as it rang in the room. The Gemini twins were giggling to themselves as they watched Aela and Tarek.
“Such ferocity. Does she bite him with those? I have half a mind to ask her to bite me.”
“Cad, Pollux. Truly,” Castor grinned at his brother.
“What if she bit my—”
“While I’m sure Aela is very interested in your fascination with her teeth, may I suggest we get on with the point of this meeting?” Heze said.
Heze kissed Sulae’s hand before clearing his throat, motioning for Aela and Tarek to take their seats. “It truly pains me, but dear, it is now your time to leave us. Thank you for watching over Aela.”
Aela’s head darted to where Sulae hovered behind her bonded.
“Someday, you all will see the wisdom in having a female present in these closed-door meetings. Or perhaps the day is already here.” Sulae squeezed Heze’s shoulder, gave Aela a parting nod, then gracefully swept herself out of the room.
Five sets of eyes latched onto Aela. She refused to squirm in her seat.
Do they know who I really am? Maybe I should just tell them. Sulae said I could be free. Would they help me get home?
“Ae-la,” one of the pale Gemini males said aloud, as if tasting her name on his tongue. “I am Pollux, Primary of House Gemini, blessed of Gemun. My brother and Adjacent is Castor,” he said, laying a pale hand on the male with a scar seated to his left.
“Not bonded?” asked Eros.
A boyish laugh escaped Pollux’s lips as he dragged his other hand down his throat. “Oh, you’re so much more fun than your predecessor.” Pollux sucked in his lower lip. “What did he taste like when you fractured him?”
Eros smiled wickedly.
Kaus grumbled something, cutting the males off.
Tarek’s hand rested on Aela’s shoulder. But she leaned forward to rearrange the skirt of her dress, causing his hand to slip away. She didn’t need to see his face to feel the irritation wafting off him in waves.
How am I going to aid the rebellion and get Zosma out without being at Tarek’s side?
Sulae had offered her asylum, but she’d be a fool not to take the first chance at freedom that came to her.
The list of things vying for her attention, along with answers she didn’t have, were mounting.
She needed time and space to figure it all out, and she couldn’t do that while being bound to Tarek.
Knowing him, he’d rush them through the ceremony to gain back the control that was slipping from his grasp.
“What is this about interrogating my intended? How am I to overlook such an infraction?” Tarek demanded.
Heze snorted, “I hardly consider confirming the female you wish to bond with reciprocates your desires an interrogation, Tarek.”
Tarek opened his mouth, but Kaus forestalled him. “Remember you are here as a courtesy. Given your last proposal, you should be grateful I agreed to this meeting at all.”
Aela did her best to appear demure, but her mind raced, cataloging the new bits of information she heard while trying to determine the hierarchy among them. Something kept pulling at her, like there was a density to the room that was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
“How long can we neighbor?” Tarek asked Kaus. The formidable Primary regarded him, but it was Eros who spoke next.
“That’s a curious question.”
Aela had been doing her best not to look at the male but finally gave in and watched him assess Tarek. The only Primary who hadn’t come with an Adjacent Star or large retinue, bringing only a single attendant.
A Line restructuring indeed.
As if sensing her thoughts, Eros smirked at her as he stood, holding the room’s attention captive by his simple statement.
He walked toward a bar cart near the wall of windows looking out over Theora, splintered after Kaus’ energy blast from earlier.
Shards of light glinted in from the floating starcity, etching lines of gold on the ruined glass.
Pouring himself a luminous drink, he took a sip before letting the glass tumbler dangle from his fingertips.
“You jump your city here, and you are only now asking for safe harbor in your intended’s system?” Eros said.
“Sagittarius isn’t my system,” Aela said without thinking.
Tarek went rigid beside her. Kaus’ piercing blue gaze swiveled to her. She expected him or Tarek to explain, but it was Heze’s voice that filled the room. Eros casually made his way back to his seat, drink in hand.
“Your Prime Apparent initially proposed bonding with Proxima, for which this meeting was necessary. Peace and balance of power among the realm and all that.”
“That’s in the past,” Tarek snapped.
From the months of watching him in meetings and various court dinners and events, Aela could tell, despite his bite, Tarek was nervous. The meeting wasn’t going the way he wanted at all.
“The past can be very illuminating,” Eros replied and took a deep swallow from his glass, looking at Aela over the rim.
Aela’s eyes bounced back to Heze, who settled back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other as he took over the conversation.
“As is his right, Tarek can select any celestial to bond with, though in the recent millennia it has been done from within a Primary’s native House.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Prime Apparent,” the Virgo said, “but your true desire is protection for your House while you Ascend. Not a bond. So it’s curious to me—to us—whether you understand what a bond entails, seeing as,” he inclined his chin toward Aela, “your first request to bond was denied, and instead of reflecting on why that might be, you demanded we uphold the meeting and petition a bond with a new female. Your concern for your Line’s safety while you are Set in the sky is valid, though that is why you have an Adjacent.
Why you build a strong Asterism that will guard you as you guard them. ”
Tarek shook his head. “You all would have done the same had you felt her enter your city and had seen her easily best one of the greatest warriors of our age.”
Aela tried to mask her shock. She knew by now that all Tarek wanted her for was her power, yet she was unaware he had proposed a bonding with Proxima, only to be denied.
A minor thought chased the last: Zosma would find it hilarious that I bested him.