CHAPTER FIVE
“I’M SORRY, WHAT DID YOU just say?” I ask, staring at the female before me like she’s grown another head. I could not have heard her correctly.
“Cynder is your sister. I found out I was pregnant before the Winter Solstice Ball. The night everything happened. I was planning to tell your fathers the next day…” Her voice softens until it fades, unable to speak about the tragedy that happened that night.
“He took her away from me the moment she was born. I managed to convince him that she was his and not my mates’.
After all, he was convinced that I was his mate and made sure I knew that I was…
” She stares off into the distance, her body trembling, stuck in a past of horrors as she continues sounding even more broken than she did seconds ago.
“I let him do what he wanted to me, to keep her safe, but eventually he figured it out… I think… I tried… The dreams…” She takes a breath, her eyes fluttering softly.
“I’m so tired,” she whispers, and if I wasn’t sitting so close to her I wouldn’t have heard her.
I wait for her to say more, to say something else, but her even quiet breaths have confirmed she’s fallen into a sleep. She looks so peaceful despite everything, the pinch between her brow has smoothed out and the shadows in her eyes are now hidden behind dreams.
Amethyst rises from the chair on the opposite side of the bed. “We should let her rest.”
Aemon squeezes my shoulder but I’m not ready to leave. I’ve only just gotten her back but there’s something I need confirmed. “When the healer said they were keeping her comfortable…?”
His mother comes around to my side of the bed and hugs me.
That’s all the confirmation I need. My chest is tight and my throat burns as I try to keep my emotions at bay.
Yet it doesn’t take long for that grief to turn to anger.
Why my family? Why in the fucking Fates is Lord Craven so bent out of shape to destroy everything dear to me?
Because of jealousy? No. It has to be more than that.
Shifting back slightly, I pull from her embrace and stand before turning to my mate. “I need to speak to Cynder.” Fuck. “Talyn…” I whisper. “He’s going to need to know.”
“You’re not going back down there.” He winces, placing his hand on my lower back. “Maybe we should discuss this elsewhere.”
I peer down at the Queen of the realm, broken and brittle from twenty-one years of being held captive and having who knows what done to her. “I think you’re right. Lead the way.”
He wraps me in his arms and looks over at his mother. “I’ll be in my office.” And then inky black shadows seep from the darkest corners of the room before engulfing us.
It only takes a moment before we’re in his office.
The soft crackling from the fireplace in the corner gives warmth to the room, chasing away the chill that has seeped into my bones.
But I feel heavier now than before. Gauzy curtains gently blow in the wind, bringing in some of the salty sea air.
The smell is a comfort reminding me of when I was younger, and right now I cling to the memory, praying to the Fates that it helps keep me grounded.
“We should bring the others and update them on everything.” My fists clench and then loosen repeatedly as I try to get my emotions in check.
Did his father really do all of this to Damorleia because of jealousy?
Because he couldn’t have my mother? He killed my family and the Gallalous fae, plunged the realm into war because of what? He couldn’t have what he wanted?
Rage burns deep in my gut. The unfairness of everything has shadows pulsing and magick crackling at my fingertips.
Aemon cups my face, forcing me to look at him.
“Your anger is justified, Little Dream. Call your mates to you.” He doesn’t give me empty platitudes.
No apologies for life being unfair, and for that I’m thankful.
There’s no use apologizing for someone else’s actions, especially those that cannot be changed.
Nero, my ever silent companion in this moment, feels and matches the wrath boiling in my blood. “We will get our revenge, I promise you Rav. Lord Craven will crumble under the force of your magick. Leave no part of him. Not even his eyeballs. They’re probably cursed anyway.”
A sputtering chuckle leaves my lips and the anger that felt almost consuming eases a bit. “You. Turning down an eyeball? Are you feeling okay?”
He purrs, nuzzling his head against my cheek. “I’m okay, as long as you are.”
“I’m with the feathered rat on this one,” Vasari adds. “We will rain shadowflame down on that fucking bastard.” A choir of dragon roars echo through the stone walls. A promise.
Aemon’s amusement seeps through our bond as he listens to me communicate with my bonded, but he doesn’t say a thing, comforting me with his steady presence.
Once my thoughts are a bit more in order, I reach towards Jesper. “Jesp?”
He comes through at once. “Beastie! Are you okay? Your emotions have been all over the place but I didn’t want to bug you. Do I need to kill someone for you? How’s your mother?”
I take a deep breath, focusing on the bookshelves lining the wall of Aemon’s office.
The books sitting on the shelf, covered in a small coating of dust, seem to be law books and other tomes that would hold information needed to run a province.
“That’s actually part of the reason I’m reaching out.
” His warmth instantly wraps around me through the bond.
“Could you grab Killian and the others and meet us in Aemon’s office? ”
“Of course! I’ll be there faster than you can gut someone with two short blades.”
My hand finds Nero, a habit from forever ago, and I stroke his inky black feathers. I move over to the shelves I was peering at, feeling Aemon’s eyes on me as I search around.
“Sorry about the dust. I haven’t had much need for this space lately, and I don’t like the staff coming in here. It was the only place that I could escape everything else before you got here,” he says, coming up behind me.
“You don’t need to apologize for the upkeep. Things have been…hectic.” I move slowly as I turn towards him. The day isn’t even half done and exhaustion is setting into my bones already. “So this is your office?”
“The one and only.” He smirks.
The door bursts open and Jesper comes running in, panting. “My Beastie!” Pant. “I’ve missed you!” Pant. “Fuck, I hate those stairs.”
I smother a laugh with my hand and try to push the guilt away for feeling any kind of joy. Honestly, I just want to sit down and curl into a ball. My limbs feel weaker than normal, like I felt before all the training after I got here.
Jesper tsks, swooping me up into his arms. “Let me be your moving chair. Then if you still feel tired after, we can sneak off for a nap.” His lips brush against my ear and a shiver rolls up my spine as he whispers.
“Don’t let the darkness in this realm steal the joy from you.
It’s okay to grieve, but the ones you love wouldn’t want you to wallow in sadness. ”
I nod, leaning into him.
He sets me down in Aemon’s chair, causing my mate to raise his brows. “You’re lucky she’s my mate, Jesper. No one’s ass should be in that chair but my own. It’s a good thing her ass is one of the many things I love about her.”
Killian, Ember, Roz and Lennox all file in next.
Once everyone is settled around the room, I take a steadying breath before filling them all in on everything we learned from my mother.
But the drain that I feel reminds me of the ache, deep in my bones, from before arriving here in Vathia, after I left Phixmery.
The moment I finish, the air is a charged stillness, filled with their shock and confusion.
Ember holds up a hand while she gathers her thoughts before blurting out, “So Cynder isn’t Talyn’s sister, she’s yours? Are you going to tell him?” She glances at the others before settling her gaze back on me.
My body seeps deeper into Jesper. “Yes, I’m not going to hide anything from him, but I also want to speak with Cynder first.”
She nods, seemingly satisfied with my answer.
Jesper’s arms squeeze me lightly. “So all of this… The war, killing of the Gallalous bloodline… Everything was because Talyn’s father is a jealous bastard?”
“So it seems,” I sigh, the weariness somehow getting worse.
“I’m sorry everyone. After everything today, I feel like I need to rest. We can come up with a plan of attack tomorrow.
I think it is wise that we all digest this information anyway…
” My thoughts fall away, drifting towards my mate in the dungeon.
“Can someone check on Talyn and make sure he’s comfortable? ”
Lennox nods. “We got you Rav. Go get some rest while we still can. I don’t think we will have much of it once we have a plan in motion,” he states gruffly before leaving the office like his ass is on fire.
He’s always been a bit on the stoic side, but since Mel… It’s been understandably worse, and we will need to keep an eye on him. Losing anyone, especially a twin, the other half of your soul—I can’t imagine what that must feel like.
Killian watches me as my friends file out of the office with murmured goodbyes, but it’s almost as if he sees right through me.
The mark on my side burns with our unfinished bond but he’s made it clear he has no intention of completing it out of fear he will hurt me.
But I have patience. The energy between us burns, and I can only hope that with some more time he will trust himself enough to let himself love me like the Fates have written in the stars.
After a moment he nods towards Aemon and leaves the room.
And then there were two—Aemon and Jesper.
Nero hops along the desk towards me. “Rav, are you sure you’re okay? You feel… off.”
I dip my head. “I’m okay. Why don’t you hunt around the grounds and keep an eye on things while I take a nap.”
Jesper kisses my cheek. “Come on Beastie, I think your bed is calling our name.”
“Oh, before you go,” Aemon moves towards the desk, opening a drawer. “I thought you might want this back. If not, that’s okay.” He pulls out the necklace his mother removed from my neck when I first arrived here.
I hold out my hand and the pendant hits my skin first like a lead weight before the chain follows. The sapphire jewel lays heavy on my palm, as if it’s almost pulsing while the silver of the intricate flowers shimmer in the light. I swallow, placing it in the pocket of my tunic. “Thank you.”
“Of course, now go on. I’ll have dinner brought to your chambers if you’re not up before then. We can resume all royal, realm-saving duties tomorrow. I have some letters to write for the pixies anyway.” He smiles softly, but worry creases around his lavender eyes.
I nod, pulling on my shadows, which is a struggle with how exhausted I feel, before dropping us into my bed. I’m out before my head even lands on the pillow.