Chapter 37 #2
Asmo grins. “So merciful, Princess Etta.” He stands and pulls a knife from his belt. He offers it to Luca and says, “Draw blood and repeat after me.”
Luca grips the knife in his hand, and Amaris sheathes hers with a frown. He turns to Ivan beside him. “Do something!”
Ivan looks up. His face is ashen. “There is nothing I can do, Luca. You were out of line and you have pushed her too far.” Ivan looks as if he’s aged decades in the span of minutes. “Would you prefer the dungeons? Death?”
“Ivan,” Luca begs.
“What did you expect?” Ivan says, tone tinged with sorrow.
“You tried to take things into your own hands more than once. But you’re not the ruler of this kingdom, Luca.
Mae is. It’s her choice. Everything is her choice.
We are supposed to be there to guide her, but you’ve taken it a step too far.
” He shakes his head. “I cannot support this. There is nothing to be done. I support her. She is my High Queen.”
Luca’s knuckles turn white as he grips the knife even harder. But he places it to his forearm, and blood wells. He lifts his head and meets Asmo’s gaze in a glare of fury.
Asmo grins at him. “Perfect. Now, repeat after me: With this knife, I vow to forfeit my life, should I break the vow that I will make now.” Luca repeats the words, and his blood begins to evaporate, turning into a black mist that hovers over the wound.
Asmo continues, “I vow to keep Squall’s End and its entire mission a secret from anyone.
I vow never to bring anyone to the location of Squall’s End or the barn nearby.
I vow to never speak of Squall’s End, the Fae, or the Lower House resistance to anyone. ”
Luca repeats the words, each word a hiss of hatred as he stares at Asmo. Black droplets of his blood continue to evaporate into thin air. The wound on his wrist closes, now a dark scar.
“Now, Luca, tell me of Squall’s End,” Asmo says cheekily.
Luca opens his mouth, but it slams shut.
Asmo leans back and throws one arm around my shoulders. “There.” He grins at Etta.
“Fine.” She jerks her head toward the door. “Basil, get him out.”
“Where am I supposed to go?” Luca asks as Basil guides him from the room. He turns, glaring at me over Basil’s shoulder. I don’t look away.
“Not our problem,” Asmo calls without turning to watch him leave.
Ivan watches him go with a frown. “Don’t you think that could have been done a little more…tastefully?”
“He’s lucky I didn’t cut his tongue from his mouth and shove it up his—”
Amaris leans back in her chair and chuckles.
“Enough!” I hiss at Asmo. His smile falters. “Ivan, you know it had to be done.”
Ivan nods in resignation. Holly places a hand on his arm. “I didn’t recognize him by the end, Ivan. His attitude was…I’ve never seen him act like that. Not toward anyone. This time felt different than before.”
Before, when his daughter died.
“I agree,” Amaris says. She looks to me. “I’m not sure what happened prior, but it was good of you to give him another chance. A shame he squandered it.”
Her words serve as a comfort, but also as a reminder of the position I hold.
I straighten in my chair. “Let’s move on.
To answer everyone’s questions, yes, Asmo is my mate.
As such, he is now High King. Yes, Elle is my twin sister and Marik’s mate.
Yes, Koa helped me escape. A witch, Levana, also helped.
I think Koa is working with her to help things in his court, maybe even acting as a double agent and betraying his family.
” I suck in a deep sigh and continue, “That means we can’t count on Panthera to help us fight against Cora, but it is useful information.
It’s time that we go back to House Ursidae and inform them that we have the forces of the Lower Houses to help us fight against Cora. ”
Ivan is the first to speak. “This is a lot to digest. Prince, do you think this changes anything for your brother?”
I clear my throat. “King,” I correct.
Ivan closes his eyes, and I regret making the correction. “Yes, I apologize, Your Highness.”
Asmo waves the apology away and drums his fingers on the table as he considers the question.
“Yes, actually. I do. When I felt the bond with Mae for the first time, my entire future shifted. While it’s true I fought it, it didn’t matter in the end.
The bond made death preferable to doing anything that would hurt Mae.
If Marik knows of the bond, he will do anything to save Elle.
He might be our best bet to getting her out. ”
Ivan leans back in his chair, his forehead wrinkled as he stares down at his hands.
“So it changes things…We just don’t know how yet,” Etta says.
“There is a Fae princess in the enemy’s hands as we speak,” Amaris says gravely.
I nod in agreement. “And we have to rescue the enemy, too. Either willingly or unwillingly, Marik must join our forces to defeat Cora. There is no other way.”
“However,” Asmo adds, “I think it’s likely that he comes willingly if it means saving his mate.” He places his hand on my thigh underneath the table.
“We need to go see Torben,” I say, “Today.”
We spend the next hour preparing for the discussion with Torben, a sense of urgency permeating every sentence, every question.
Elle is a long-lost Fae and Woodland princess who is in the enemy’s hands. Yet, the enemy might be our best way to save her.
We dismiss, each of us rising to grab last-minute weapons before heading to Ursidae.
“Mae,” Etta says as I step through the double doors to leave. I turn, Asmo right behind me, holding the door open. “Can I talk to you for a second? Alone?”
I blink. I’ve never had a moment by myself with Etta. Every time she’s near, she’s with Amaris or Basil. She’s made no attempts to speak with me, but neither have I.
“Sure. Of course.”
Asmo gives me a look and I tilt my head towards the door. “I’ll be fine.”
He frowns. “I’ll be just outside,” he says before placing a kiss to my forehead. My heart flips in my chest.
Etta stands on the other side of the table. She snorts. “I never thought I’d see Asmo take to someone like he has with you.”
It’s so odd to think about him before me. To realize I knew of him before he knew me, technically. I knew his name, I knew the handsome cut of his jaw from the images in the newspapers. It’s hard to imagine that people like Etta grew up with him.
I smile at the thought of a six-year-old Asmo fighting with Etta on the High Castle grounds. “What was he like when he was little?”
“They didn’t come around much when they were young. When they did, they were terrified of everything. Marik more so.”
My smile vanishes. I know they had a hard childhood. That their parents were cruel and abusive. I push it to the side. Another time. I’ll deal with that another time. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Etta sinks into her chair and sighs. She reaches for the braid slung over her shoulder and tugs on the end.
“Yeah, right. I just…I wanted to say I’m sorry for avoiding you since you’ve been here.
Probably shitty of me to pop back into your life and then never address the elephant in the room, huh? ” She smiles, but it’s flat. Dull.
She’s right. But I don’t blame her. I haven’t exactly gone out of my way to find her and force the conversation. If I’m being honest, I’m scared. I don’t know what to say to her. There’s so much. And yet, every time I reach for something to say, I come up blank.
I wave her away. “No, don’t worry. Please. I get it.” I should say more. I should tell her I’m sorry, that I want to know her, that I feel uncomfortable and awkward, too. But I don’t.
She nods slowly, the chair creaking as her head bobs. “Yeah. Well, anyways. We should get ready to leave.”
“Etta,” I say, “There will be plenty of time on the other side. We’ll figure it out.”
Her shoulders droop, and I feel mine do the same. We don’t have to figure out the complicated mess of a relationship of two people brought together by immeasurable tragedies. Not yet anyway. We have a lifetime to know each other. I, for one, am looking forward to it.