Chapter 37
MAE
After consummating our bond a fourth time, Asmo and I emerge from his living quarters. His arm is slung around my shoulder and I lean into him as we walk down the dirt-lined hallway. He nods toward my door as we pass it.
“Do you want to move in with me now? Or should we move into yours?” he asks.
I hesitate. Sharing a room together sends a message that I’m eager to avoid. But now, I know Asmo’s not just a boyfriend or someone I’m dating.
He’s my mate.
“Mine,” I say, “I saw the state of yours.”
“I don’t think I should be held responsible for the way I behaved when my mate was being held captive,” he drawls.
I give him a shove. “Yes, you should be. You’re still responsible for your behavior.”
“You’re right. Plus, if I’m to be High King, I can’t be throwing dishes in anger.”
“I think you’re already High King.”
His answering chuckle fuels my soul. Despite the circumstances, this is the happiest I’ve felt in months. I feel whole. Complete.
We walk to the mess hall together in time for the dinner service. As we enter, the sweet smell of maple syrup hits me. My stomach growls as a hunger pain moves through me. I haven’t had real food in days, and breakfast for dinner was always my favorite.
I beeline to the buffet and snag a plate.
My mouth salivates as I see the spread before me.
Fresh biscuits, grandiose stacks of pancakes, sweet maple syrup, ripe strawberries, steaming scrambled eggs, and thick slices of bacon.
I pile my plate full—one of everything—and carry it to the closest table.
Asmo approaches, his own plate overflowing with food. Mostly bacon and eggs. Fine, more pancakes and biscuits for me. He watches me shovel food into my mouth with a frown on his face.
“What?” I ask around a bite of syrup-soaked bacon.
“Did they not feed you?” he asks as he sits beside me. His question comes out quietly, as if he’s scared of the answer.
I set my fork down. “They did, but it was disgusting.”
Their aim was to keep me alive, nothing more. In the three days that I was there, I lost even more weight. Living in hidden cabins and jail cells hasn’t been the best diet for the curvy figure I’ve always longed for.
His frown deepens, but he doesn’t ask any more questions. He fingers the end of the chain that’s still attached to my wrist. “We need to get these off.”
I hold my wrist up and dangle the chain around. “You don’t like the prisoner look?”
His gaze narrows. “I would like it a lot better if they were cuffs that I put on you. But these…these make me angry. Plus, I think it’s making the others uncomfortable.” His gaze pivots to the Lower House hybrids that now watch us with blatant curiosity.
I shrug. “I’m more concerned about eating right now.” I shovel some combination of pancakes, syrups, and eggs into my mouth. I demolish every single bite, then stand and go back for more food.
Asmo eyes the overflowing plate as I walk back to the table. “I’m not so sure you should be eating that much, princess.”
My answering glare shuts him up. But to my dismay, he’s right. My stomach roils when I lift my next bite to my mouth. I place my fork back down with a huff and slide the plate over to him.
He plucks a piece of bacon from the plate and eats it in two bites.
Males.
“Hurry up. I need to speak to the Herd,” I say. “They need to know about the dreams.”
He picks up the next piece of bacon with dramatized slowness. I snatch it from his hands and plop it back on the plate, then grab the plate and stand. “We can take it with us then if you’re going to act like that.”
We exit the mess hall, eyes following us as we go. Just outside, Rain leans against the wall. She pushes herself from the wall at the sight of us and forms a bow. “Your Highness!”
I smile. “Hi, Rain. How are you?” I used to hate that greeting. I’ve always found it disingenuous and overused. But I really do want to know how Rain is doing.
She returns my smile, her blue eyes brightening. “I’m doing well. Thanks to you. How are you?” she asks cautiously.
“Better now,” I say, “Do you know where I can find Etta and the Herd?”
She nods. “They’re waiting on you. Right this way.
” She turns and sets off down the hallway.
Asmo falls in step beside me, taking bites of bacon as we walk.
Rain turns down another hallway. How anyone memorizes the layout of this place is beyond me.
She comes to a stop before a set of double doors, then opens them. “Princess Etta, she is ready.”
“Thank you, Rain,” Etta’s voice comes from inside the room.
Rain stares at the plate in Asmo’s hand. “Do you want me to…take that for you?” she asks awkwardly.
Asmo hesitates, but I shoot him a glare, and he gives her the plate.
Rain suppresses her smile and hurries back down the hall.
Inside the room, Cally, Etta, Amaris, Ivan, Luca, Basil, and Holly all sit around a massive flat rock serving as a table.
Etta sits at the head. Everyone stands as their eyes fall on me, then on the cuffs that still dangle from my wrists.
They all form bows, and I shift the cuffs behind my back.
Cally is the first to approach me. She pulls me into a tight hug, and I squeeze her.
“I’m okay,” I mutter into her chestnut hair.
Her arms tighten around me. Over her shoulder, my gaze snags on Ivan.
The look on his face threatens to break my heart.
He watches me carefully, like I might fall apart any second.
I pull away from Cally, then turn to address them all.
“I’m fine. I promise. I learned a lot while I was gone, so I’d prefer to just dive into it.” I take a seat in the closet chair. Asmo snags the seat beside me and scoots it closer to mine.
Across the table, Luca stares at me with a look I can’t quite interpret. His gaze falls on Asmo’s neck, eyes widening as they land on the tattoo.
“Tell us everything,” Etta says. Or more like commands. Her posture is erect, her hands folded delicately on the stone table, her gaze sharp. She was born to be a leader.
I recount the story of how I was lured and captured, how I was kept in the dungeons at the top of the Panthera mountains, and how Koa helped me escape.
I tell them of the dreams that I was gifted by the Mother and of the truths she revealed.
Nobody speaks at first, the silence feeling like a thick, suffocating blanket.
“You didn’t tell me Koa helped you escape,” Asmo mutters beside me.
“You didn’t exactly give me a chance,” I shoot back.
Ivan is next to speak. “Elle is your twin?”
I nod slowly. It feels impossible, yet it also feels impossible that nobody noticed. We are somehow opposites, while also being identical.
“So, you two are mates, then,” Etta says, nodding between Asmo and me.
I don’t miss the fact that she ignored having another half-sister.
But I don’t blame her. Learning there’s another person in the world that you share blood and bone with, that you’re a little bit less alone, is a lot to digest. Now isn’t the time for her—or me—to dive into those emotions.
Amaris watches me, a knowing twinkle in her eye.
I nod. “Asmo and I completed a mating ceremony to officially accept the bond. That should make him High King, correct?”
Ivan blinks twice. “Yes, that would be correct.”
Luca drops his head into the palm of his hand. “For the Mother’s sake,” he mutters under his breath.
Asmo leans forward in his seat, placing his elbows on the table and steepling his fingers as he stares at Luca. “What was that, Luca?”
Luca shifts in his seat. He doesn’t meet Asmo’s gaze. Instead, he looks directly at me as he says his next words. “Have you forgotten the mission here? Rescue Elle and get the throne back? It didn’t work out with the first Serpent Prince, so you—” He slams his mouth shut and shakes his head.
I take a measured breath and tilt my chin up. “Finish your thought, Luca.” His cheeks turn pink, and his jaw works silently. “Go on,” I order calmly. “So I…What?”
He looks around the room, as if someone will jump to his rescue. Ivan stares at the table, despite Luca burning a hole at his profile. Everyone else watches him silently, unmoving.
He turns back to me, and—I’ll give it to him—has the balls to look me in the eyes. “So you went with the other one?”
Although anger warms my veins, I smile. Because that is exactly what I expected from Luca.
“Did I or did I not say that the next time you disagreed with me, you would speak to me about it respectfully?” I ask, again, calmly.
He grips the armchairs of his seat. “Did we or did we not have a conversation about you questioning my virtues?”
Black shadows have begun to fill the room like wisps of smoke. Cally glances nervously at Asmo.
Luca sits up straighter. As if that would help him regain any ounce of reverence I once had for him. “All due respect, Your Highness—”
I hold my hand up. “No, not all due respect. You treat me like I’m beneath you. I warned you, Luca. There’s no place for males that disrespect females in my court. Basil, please escort him from Squall’s End immediately.”
The color drains from his face. Etta whips her head toward me. Ivan doesn’t move an inch.
“Mae, we can’t just let him free,” Etta objects. “He could tell someone of our location.”
“Make him swear a dark oath,” Asmo suggests. “There’s no way he’ll be able to lead anyone to Squall’s End or tell them of our existence.”
Etta’s lip curls into a scowl. “I don’t feel comfortable encouraging the use of dark magic. How does that make us any better than them?”
Asmo shrugs and leans back in his chair. “The only other way is to kill him, then. Or keep him locked in your dungeons.”
Amaris extracts a blade from her leather vest and dangles it from her hand. “I’ll do the honors.” Her smile is wicked as she stares at Luca.
Etta’s jaw twitches. “Fine. Do the dark oath,” she orders.